My Day Out at RICHMOND Dog Show 2024
Richmond Championship Dog Show 8th September 2024
by Melanie Thomas
I hope you enjoy the pictures of some of the lovely Bolognese at the show, they are owned by Dennis & Carol Mulligan, Mark & Diane Whately, Deana Mee & Hilary McArdell. My Harry is the main picture (of course)
The weather leading up to Richmond Dog Show had been horrendous and reports were coming back from exhibitors on previous days that the conditions were muddy, trolleys had been sliding over and people were having to be towed out of the car parks. Toy day was Sunday, the last day, so I was worried, but decided to risk it as I don’t enter many shows and Harry my dog was looking good. Interestingly, I didn’t go to this show last year as there was a heat wave!
When I arrived the car park was OK, so I put Harry in his new buggy and put on my wellies. Yes it was muddy and unpleasant getting to the rings, but it was not as bad as I thought. It was a benched show and under the marques and the rings were dryish. Looks like the ground had dried out a bit over night.
We didn’t have to wait long as judging started at 9 am and the breed before us didn’t take long. As Bolognese started the steward warned us that the judge will not wait for you if you are not ready when the class starts. We didn’t have very good entries (17 with a few no shows), 5 Bolognese exhibitors attended and 2 of us only brought 1 dog. Our judge was Enrique Maté Duran from Spain was very smartly dressed and he told us that he judges all over The World, implying he knows how things should go. The rings were half inside and half outside and parts of the inside areas was uneven and particularly wet (best avoided). Normally, if the weather is dry, we would use the inside and outside areas to move our dogs and it was dry enough to do this. However, our judge told us to just use the inside area, which was a shame as there was no room to see the dogs at their best. I was a little nervous as the judge went over Harry as he wasn’t gentle, but Harry was professional and stood soundly on the table.
It stayed dry for the Bolognese judging, but later in the morning there were horrendous down falls again. So it was a good job we were done and dusted by about mid morning. I stayed and had a coffee and a chat to my friends. It wasn’t the best show for an exhibitor to be honest, but hey ho, I made the effort.
Hilary & Peter McArdle brought out their 2 imported puppies, just over 6-months old and they both moved in the ring for their first show. Diane & Mark Whateley brought father & son duo Enzo & Dino. Deana Mee qualified Molly May for Crufts with a 3rd place in Open Bitch.
Best of Breed was Dennis & Carol Mulligans Donocielo Michelangelo, Best Bitch Phendelle Eida Avril May and Best Puppy Little White Wonder Jaguar At Phendelle. Best Veteran was Donocielo Seraphina who went on to be awarded 2nd in the Toy Veteran group under Paul Harding.
If I had to sum up my day out it was, a little stressful, not very relaxing, over quickly, not particularly rewarding but I’m glad I got home safely! Saying that you have to take the rough with the smooth and some dog shows are great!
PS, there were some nice Bolognese there, especially mine 🙂
we always welcome stories of members doggy days out shows or otherwise, send to info@bolognesedogclubuk.co.uk
