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This past Saturday might have been just an ordinary day for most people but for dog owners it was as exciting as for a first grader showing off a new toy at school. The Kennel Club of Greece hosted the 2 X CACIB qualification dog show for DFS Crufts 2011 in Marathon Land in Athens.

Most people might not know much about such events so let me start by saying that the first CRUFTS dog show was done in 1891 in Islington, UK, named after its founder Charles Crufts and is currently the world’s largest dog show. During that era dog shows were mainly private and many people did them for profit. Today this is no longer the case and respective Kennel Clubs in every country hold such events. Therefore CRUFTS takes place today under the auspices of the UK Kennel Club and the first non-private CRUFTS dog show took place in 1948. The UK Kennel Club has liaised with overseas Kennel Clubs and nominated specific awards at particular Shows in each of the overseas countries entitled to take part in the UK PETS Travel Scheme, as qualification for DFS Crufts 2011. The qualifying dogs for the event are the winners of the following classes: Junior Dog, Junior Bitch, Best Dog and Best Bitch.

So now that you are more familiar with the dog show, let me tell you what happened at the qualification round in Marathon Land in Athens and about the feeling this whole event left me with. I walked in the Greek Kennel Club and all of a sudden I had the feeling I am somewhere else, a better place, where everyday problems were far away. The huge area was closed off by a white fence, the freshly cut grass carpet made my feet sink and the happy faces and wagging tails around me, made me feel as if I am at a royal picnic party. Everywhere I looked there were excited dog owners and happy dogs. Some were showing off at the rings, specifically made for the event and others were casually sitting around – dogs meeting new friends and owners drinking coffee and discussing the dog show. Here is one thing interesting about dog owners - normally on some level they are competitive about their dogs but by no means is it obvious and annoying. Everybody loves the other’s dog and plays with it. Everybody is smiling and congratulating the winners, which makes the atmosphere absolutely amazing.

The Greek Kennel Club had prepared 6 rings plus a main stage, where the different categories of breeds were shown. Each breed has AKC (American Kennel Club) physical standards based on bone structure, shape, movement, temperament, and condition. A judge selects a winner dog that comes as close to the standard as possible.

To make it clearer of what a judge needs to look for, I will give you an example with Akita, which is a working breed that originated in Japan and this past Saturday was shown in ring six. The dog enters the ring with its owner/handler. The judge then takes a closer look at the animal’s teeth, which in this case needs to have a scissors bite. For those of you not familiar with dogs I can tell you that it is absolutely essential for a judge to look at the teeth because some dogs have two sets of dog teeth on each side, which will be a reason for disqualification. The ears of Akita are characteristic of the breed and they are triangular, erect and small, compared to the rest of the head. In order to be able to say whether the ear is the right length, if you fold it, it should reach the upper eye rim. Reasons for disqualification are drop or broken ears. Eyes should be dark brown, deep-set and triangular in shape.  The male height for Akita should be between 66cm and 71cm at the withers and for bitches 60cm to 66cm. Male sizes under 63cm and bitches under 58cm are disqualified. Akita has a double-coat. The under-coat should be thick, dense, soft and shorter than the outer-coat. The outer-coat should be straight, harsh and standing somewhat off body. The tail should be large, full, set high and carried over the back. These are just some main things about the breed but it should be enough to give an idea of everything a judge needs to assess. The temperament of each dog is also important and the judge needs to be able to touch and assess the animal without it showing signs of aggression.

Being a judge at a dog show is a lot of hard work but since they are all dog lovers you see the excitement in their eyes with every other dog. And when this perfect dog comes along, you can just see the sparkle in the judge’s eye! Just like in the case of Akita. The judge kept on looking and assessing the dog and you could just see how proud this person was that this specific dog existed and that he was the one who had to assess it!

It was an exciting day for all! And by the end there were no winners or losers but just wagging tails and smiles. After all our dogs are our best friends and whether some of them are going to Crufts or not, does not change the fact that at the end of the day the fur-balls make us better people.

More photos from the Greek Kennel Club dog show are available in our gallery.