England - Labrador Mecca
Imagine the picturesque hilly nature of England, forests and fields. Now add a river flowing through it and sheep grazing at the foot of the mountain. To make it even more realistic, imagine the English Lord Rutland walking with his wife, with Labradors that were raised in his own kennel. Now you have an idea of the place where the celebration of the 100th anniversary of this breed took place.
Best in Show Saturday, 7.06
Sh Ch Lembas Let's Get Serious (male)
(Chris and Clare Mill’s)
Since England is the birthplace of Labradors, it was expected that the standard of dogs there would be high. As someone from a country with a less strong “Labrador culture”, I was more impressed than my fellow Finns, who had been there for several times and who had become world famous with their own dogs.
But there was a lot to look at, listen to, and listen to. I found quite a few dogs that I would have gladly brought home to show and that would have been a great success here.
However, it is clear that despite the high level of previous (100-year) breeding work, the quarantine in the country has done a devastating job and strong line breeding, which is due to the fact that they cannot use material from elsewhere, has begun to lower the breed standard. This was also acknowledged by those who have been to England before, up to 10 years ago and who have a point of comparison. A good fact to confirm this is that the dog that won the famous Crufts show this year came from Italy and the winners of the second day of the two-day special show were also from Italy and France.
The club had set up a tent for guests from abroad, where food and snacks were offered in addition to the usual magazines, books, and insignia for sale.
The program was packed, with two days of special shows and on the evening of the first day a lecture for breeders and a parade of champions, featuring 94 famous champions from both the show and the forest line, from England and elsewhere. I honestly admit that I had tears in my eyes when I saw those old Labradors, whose names were familiar from the famous pedigrees of many dogs, and who now, despite their old age, were proudly running around, as if they knew how important the parade was.
Best In Show puppy at Saturday's show
Bourbon Mist at Baileydale (female)
(Metcalfe & Hindley’s)
In the show ring
A total of nearly 1,100 dogs participated in the two-day show. Such a number of beautiful dogs is a sight to behold. On the first day, the judges were Marjorie Satterthwaite from the Lawnwood kennel, who judged the males, and Eeva Rautala, a familiar judge from Finland, from the Wetten kennel, who judged the females. The puppies were judged by Leslie Page. The best male of the first day and also the best of breed was the yellow dog Lembas Let’s Get
Serious, who is perhaps the son of the more familiar Sandylands Gadabout. Best female (and also the kind of dog I would have liked to come back with) was Eeva's winner Foulby Jessica Fletcher at Rooklane, who is also a descendant of the famous sire Lindall Morse. Best puppy was Bourbon Mist For Baileydale, parents Cornlands Perseus and Baileydale Bumpsy Daisy.
On the second day, however, foreign dogs were the ones to beat. It is quite a remarkable phenomenon that foreign dogs win specialty shows in England – the mecca of Labradors. At the same time, this is of course a warning sign of the impact of quarantine on breeding. On the second day, the judges were Guy Spagnolo from the Driftway kennel, who judged the males, and Marilyn Prior from the Priorise kennel, who judged the females. However, the winners' circle was full of foreign dogs. The title of best of breed went to a yellow female, whose performance style is hard to forget – IT Ch Amber, who has also won other shows in England and who is of English lines, but was bred in Italy. The best and best male of the opposite sex, however, was also INT FR Ch Olé, a black male with a French breeding background, who we rushed to see on the first day as well, but then his poor performance did not leave any impression. On the second day, however, this male shone so much that even though he had strong competitors from Italy and England in the best male ring, he still won.
The shows were not the only part of the program, of course. The large arena also demonstrated how dogs work, including agility, blind guidance, etc. One young lady showed a wide range of tricks that can be taught to a dog, demonstrating dancing with dogs and entertaining the crowd in between the programs. Field trials were held across the river, birds could be seen falling and gunshots could be heard.
Best in Show at the Championship Show
It Ch Amber (emane)
(Franco Barberi)
Like two breeds
I have seen so-called forest line Labradors in Finland and the difference in their appearance and character is astonishing. But I was not prepared for such a difference as the two different lines of one breed have created in England. Show line dogs are really strong and hairy dogs, but when I saw a field trial dog, I didn't believe it could be the same breed!
The dogs of the forest line have achieved this due to their lightness of skeleton, their incredibly thin coat and (oh the horror)
completely atypical head shape to the extreme. I happened to see a man walking with a group of forest line Labradors on a leash: two older dogs and one (not more than 3 months old) puppy. Even this puppy no longer resembled the tiny furball Labrador puppy we know, but was a strange incarnation on its thin, crooked legs, with a head too narrow even for a greyhound and a crooked back.
Thoughts on this topic turned into a heated debate when the evening lecture on “The Breed Standard and Its Interpretation” reached its climax. About 400 breeders were listening and contributing, and of course not only from England.
Janice Pritchard (Kennel Charway), who left an unforgettable impression on the undersigned, highlighted points whose interpretation causes disagreement among Labrador breeders. Among other things, the differences in the skeleton of Labradors, working qualities and coat were also discussed (show breeders accuse forest breeders of ignoring the lack of undercoat, while the latter, in turn, consider that the coat of today's show Labrador is no longer typical and is impractical in working situations).
Vaieldi ka saarmasaba mõiste üle. Metsaliini kasvatajad olid seda meelt, et selliseid nuiasi, nagu näituselabradoridel taga ripuvad, pole vaja ja need on ilmselge liialdus. Et oma väidet tõestada, oli laua peale toodud saarmasaba topis, mida kõik said katsuda ja vaatada.
The most painful issue was, of course, the Labrador's working ability and its development.
Complete silence
Now something about the character – during two days there was not a single barking, not a single growling, not a single conflict between the dogs! After the show, the dogs were let loose to cool off in the river and about 50 of them (!!!) took turns bringing dummies out of the water, which was not enough for everyone. Males and females together, one after another, next to each other, three to four behind one dummy, not a single growling or barking! Tell me again that this breed is not special!
I would like to thank my travel companions who surprised me (I only found out about my trip the day before) and thanks to whom I was able to establish contacts with Labrador breeders from the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Japan and Sweden. I met Erica Hayes, who now breeds under the name Sandylands, Christina Gabriel from Germany, with whom I hope to continue working next year, and breeders from other parts of Europe. The most important moment for me was meeting Janice Pritchard (kennel Charway), for whom I developed immense respect from the first moment.
We were hosted by the Boothgates kennel family with very English hospitality, Marilyn and David Nightingale made our trip extremely pleasant and it was a special experience to see their dogs and kennel.