The Royal Melbourne Show report

The Royal has come and gone again, and as you can see from the following pages all six varieties were represented.

You’ll have to excuse the photography used for the front page. Our camera malfunctioned shortly after the show started and that one is one of the few that got through. We just loved the look. Not just of the little dog, but that sensational green suit Mark was wearing.

The dogs were all up early, with many exhibitors travelling from far afield. Set up was from 8 or so in the morning, and apart from the competition itself, both dogs and exhibitors were themselves on show until 5pm. Remember, this was a Saturday, and everyone wants to pat a sausage dog. By the end of the day not everyone felt like that extra pat. Some exhibitors had a few dogs on show and were able to rotate them into the pat zone. Others only had one, and so were obliged to do as best they could. Some dogs tucked themselves under a blanked to chill out. Others barked a bit here and there.

A personal highlight was Neil Weeks’ method for keeping his dog quiet. He would wait until the barking and a visitor coincided and then would wave a brochure of some sort at the dog. The dog would then be quiet. Neil would then reveal the content of the brochure, which he’d picked up from a pet expo somewhere: “Are you worried about castrating your dog?” I saw him do this 3 times and the dog went quiet each time. Great trick!

Another personal highlight of a big dog show is seeing some of the other breeds. There were Golden Retrievers (boring) and some really unusual dogs. The Dogue de Bordeaux’s were there, as were some Neapolitan Mastiffs. These were big dogs, with their distinctive chocolate, vanilla and strawberry colouring. OK, I made up the bit about the colouring. They were more liquorice flavour, but BIG.

There was no Best In Show at the Royal. Unlike a DCV show, only the best in breed and best puppy go on to play for the car. If you are lucky enough to get that far, you had to come back a week later and do it all again. Your competition was the other hounds, and then dogs in the other groups: terriers, toys, working dogs, utility dogs, sedan dogs, panel van dogs, whatever the other ones are.

There was also a bit of drama during the competition where a mini got a paw caught in its cage. This is very stressful for a little dog, who managed to give a fairly decent nip to a fellow exhibitor who endeavoured to come to the dog’s speedy rescue. The bite took but a second, but the bandaging and subsequent St. John’s paper work will be completed in about another fortnight if all goes well.

The results are shown below:

2006 Royal Melbourne Show results

STANDARD SMOOTH HAIR

Dog CC & BOB – Emmiline The Pretender (K Brooks)

Bitch CC & RUBOB – Ch & Asian & Mal Ch Hacienda Ewe Lil Beauty (M & J Yardley

Dog RCC - Xkaliba Cricketers Box (N Weeks)

Bitch RCC - Cottesloe Vanity Fair (S Siefert)

BEST PUPPY – Nicholeyev Its All Good (N Weeks)

MINIATURE SMOOTH HAIR

Dog CC & BOB – Gr Ch Solana My Noach (M & J Yardley)

Dog RCC & RUBOB – Emmiline Stormy Affair (K Brooks)

Bitch CC – Ch Hahndorf Just Precious (B Skepper)

RCC - Ch Stardayne Soprano (A Wassilieff/ R Hackett)

BEST PUPPY – Nylsharon Red Crystal (M Kelly)

STANDARD WIRE HAIR

Dog CC & BOB – Ch Witchwood Fire Fox (M Willox-Jones)

Bitch CC & RUBOB – NZ Ch WickerbywildRose at Witchwood (imp NZ) (M Willox-Jones)

Bitch RCC – Brockway Cinnamon (C and D Redgwell)

BEST PUPPY - witchwood Mahogany (M Willox Jones)

MINIATURE WIRE HAIR

Dog CC - Chipal Geestryng (C Cornelissen)

Dog RCC - Am & Can Ch Preludes Practical Joker (C Cornelissen)

STANDARD LONG HAIR

Bitch CC & BOB – Ch Keaton Stare if you Dare (J & L Black)

Dog CC & RUBOB – Ch Keaton Rockabilly (J & L Black)

Dog RCC - Charlamagne with Panache (S Benette)

Bitch RCC - Belcara Mary Read (Belcara Knls)

MINIATURE LONG HAIR

Bitch CC & BOB – Ch Kleinedak Ginger Spice (M Kelly & J Taylor)

Bitch RCC & RUBOB – Ch Millewa Extra Special (C Cornelissen)

Dog CC - Ch Nylsharon Magin Glen (M Kelly)

Dog RCC - Ch Millewa Lite N Easy (C Cornelissen)

BEST PUPPY – Sewlowdax all That Jazz (M Read)