1 Open class, Best tBitch CAC, Selcted for Best Expression, BOB
 
N Ch. Alta Colina's Donna Diosa "Elvis" (sister of Jergan, Ruben, Knerten and Celice)

1 Open class, Best Male, CAC, BOS, Best Expression

N Ch Alta Colina's Crem de la Creme "Keldo" (sun of Caldo)

1 Junior class, Best Junior, Selected for Best Expression


Alta Colina's Esmeralda "Ruth" (daughter of Keldo, grand daughter of Caldo)

1 Veteran classe, selected for Best Expression
Together with AC Donna Diosa, AC Don Diablo, AC Dorado and Belleveu de Beaute Blanche 1 Prodigee classe


Mult Ch. Cubilon's Hann-Hund Homage "Martin" (father of CH Jergan, CH Ruben,CH Knerten, CH Falco and CH Celice)

CINDY 

Cindy is an 1 year old Pyrenean Mountain dog without a pedigree and lives in a shelter in Den Hague for almost 8 months now!

Accidentally I met her and she broke my heart; what a story and what a misery in her yet young life.

Not knowing what to do with this knowledge I’ve putted it on a Dutch forum. Immediately we got reactions from people, among them Danielle and Ingrid Kalfshoven. Danielle contacted the shelter as soon as possible, and hears, just like I heard that they don’t want to put her down and they want to find a new home for her. Danielle also senses in the conservation that the shelter really doesn’t has clue about the fact that Cindy can’t live with these patella’s as they are now and tries, just like me, to convince the shelter of the need of an operation.

Because Danielle lives not that far away from the shelter she went there last week to look at Cindy. In spite of everything Cindy suffers from, she’s a dog full of life and the will to live; she’s such a fantastic adorable dog. Coming week Cindy will be investigated by a specialist because, before we can do anything for her we need to know what exactly is wrong with her and what kind of medical treatment she needs.

According to the shelter she has severe HD, 1 patella has merged to the side of her leg. The other one had gone out of its groove 3 times during the walk with Danielle. But Cindy knows very well how to put it back by stretching her leg. Is that normal? No, most certainly not; that’s why we’ve putted this emergency call on the site.

We’re looking for a very lovely boss who can give Cindy a lot of good years. If we’ve found a new boss then Cindy can be helped with several medical treatments because revalidation in the shelter is of course not an option.
As far as we can see now Cindy first will be helped on her hips preferably by gold acupuncture; at the same time or afterwards it would be splendid if she could have hydro therapy. If she has build up enough muscles then de patella’s could be operated (as the way it is now, it should only be one leg because the other one is fixed and she can us it very well in her own way.

At the moment we’re trying to raise the money which is needed for the treatments and operations so the new owner hasn’t got the burden of carrying that.

So we’re looking for a boss who doesn’t mind that Cindy walks a bit strange, who doesn’t mind (and has the time) to accompany Cindy to hydro therapy every week and who has a lot of patience. It has to be someone who has space for her (including outside) where she can safely run loose and who has preferable no small children or other big dogs. Because of her hips and the eventual recovery ahead the problems could be worse for Cindy after a rough romp. But most of all we’re looking for a boss with some room in his heart for Cindy.

We would like to thank the Dutch Club of the Pyrenean Mountain Dog the NVLPH who wants to support this action.

For more information about Cindy and how you can help:

Du Chamourel phone: 0031-115565393 email: info@pyreneeseberghond.com
Zalika phone 0031-172417832 email: danielle_zalika@pyreneeseberghond.info

As soon as the schedule of treatments is known, you can find here the account number on which you can deposit your gift. Or maybe you have some euros lying somewhere left from a holiday. If so maybe you can send them to us. Every help and every suggestions about how we can do more for Cindy is more then welcome.
Further more, this emergency call is free to be put out anywhere

     

On the picture Cindy is very skinny; she doesn’t eat well (which in her situation at the moment isn’t bad at all)

her fur is partly shaven because it has become all matted

For further information we refer to the Dutch page "Van anderen". Maybe you would like to donate for Cindy or the official foundation that since recently is founded. All the help in any shape is welkom; it's so very much needed for all those dogs who need help.

This is Pyrdanti Blonde Ambition, nickname "Millie" from Steve and Penny England. She was ranked 4th in her class at the Crufts 2006

 This is the same "Blonde Ambition" but then in a whole different pose; she's trying to get into the kitchen through the kitchen window

photo by Penny England

************Advices for the succesfull exhibitors************

Try to become friends with judges of which you think they can be influenced by you. It doesn’t matter anymore then, even if you show a dog with 3 legs for them

You must especially become friends with someone who always wins and who has the necessary contacts to make sure that you can benefit from it

Also a friend of whom you think she/he has the right connections, you can try. If it turns out to be that she/he hasn’t that much influence as you thought then you can always give her/him a kick on the behind

Only enter your dogs on shows of which you know for sure that the judge will let you win. Of course we want to become first otherwise it has no use to go. And after all titles ought to be a present and certainly not something we’ve to do efforts for

What also could work is to let them share your wine/champagne. It depends on how well you know the judge if you do that before, during or -after the judgement. Some judges like to take plums on juice to take home with them???

Do not ever, never let a moment go by to treacle a judge; preferably registered (on the internet orsomething) so they can read it too.
The Golden rule: be sure to attract attention!! 

Try to stay, with your dog of course, in the field of vision of the judge during the judging of other dogs and be sure that your company shows glamorously that your dog is the BEST!!

Give your opinion out loud about that other dog in the ring and if the judge is a little bit deaf you can also emphatically point at that part of the dog of which YOU think it’s no good

Another thing you could do is, to take place at the judge’s table so you can share your opinion about that other dog with him/her

What also might be able to help, is asking the judge, during the judgements of the other dogs, if he wants to have his picture taken with (of course!) you and your dog.

And if this all isn’t enough you can always use your resources or your feminine charms and if needed, don’t
esitate to show off terribly!!!!
 
                      Tip for Christmas

You might as well use the Christmas period usefully

You can send postcards to certain judges and, for example, write in it  that you hope they’ll judge coming year on some shows. And if they do judge, you’ll most certainly enter your very beautiful dogs on that particular show. Success assured!!!

 The refined tricks for the far advanced exhibitor

-         invite judges on your birthday or invite them to stay with you while they’re in your country and trumpet everywhere around that they took your invitation

-  Should these judges judge somewhere you would like to go, tell every other exhibitors that it has no use to enter their dogs; after all; they drank coffee and stayed with you

-     You should rather travel 1500 km to enter your dog for the judges who are your friends, then enter your dog within a range off 100 km for a judge who judges the dog instead of the leash

-         Preferably do NOT mention names of judges on your site; otherwise people could make the connection: friend + certain judge =  always PRICE although there're better dogs present

-          Mention only (and this is very important!) the successes of your dog and NOT second, third, not placed and certainly NOT the VG’s your dog has gained. This to keep the illusion alive that you’ve the best dog in the world

-    Trumpet everywhere around that there’s not a dog in the world that is good enough to mate with yours; that’s the only reason it has never happened (you must be very, very naïf to believe that!)

-          Inform yourself very well which dogs will be present on a show, especially on a foreign one before you enter yours; the competition must be very easy to handle otherwise it has no use to enter

-          Harden yourself; you’ HAVE to be prepared that you, your dog and the prices he/she wins, won’t be taken seriously anymore; neither the judges that help(ed)  to keep your illusion alive

BUT………………..exhibitioners with some sense of Fair play and integrity don not ever, never lower themselves to such evil practises. And luckily they’re in the majority!

Published by courtesy of and thanks to Nicole of Parvi Sed Magni, West Highland White Terriers.

The beautiful picyures of Winter Wonderland you can find on the Dutch page "Van Anderen"

Photo's made by Hilde Stenstad

This film (with music that gives you goose pimples) I received from Andrea Avelini, Belgium. It´s a protest against all breeders whom only breed for the money. They don´t care lesse about the pain and misery they cause for the animals and their owners because they only want to make profit. The English text of the film will soon be avaible. To see the movie click hier. 

02-04-2006 The Sense or Nonsens of the introduction of the Youth/Junior Championship in Holland

On the 1st of January 2006 they’ve introduced the Youth Championship in Holland . A Junior can deserve in class 9 till 18 months a Youth CAC (Championship award) if he/she gets the qualification 1 Excellent. After to have won 3 Junior/ Youth CAC’s under 3 different judges they’ll become Dutch Youth Champion. This title is also to be considered as the first CAC to the adult Dutch Championship.

Well that’s nice wouldn't you think; finally owners of juniors are to be stimulated to enter their Juniors on shows in Holland . In the surrounding country’s it’s already long common that the junior counts during every show that is held. They can win the Youth Championship from the relative countries, special Youth Titles are to be won and on every show you see the best junior from every breed appear in the ring of honour of which the Best Junior in Show is to be chosen. Till now in Holland only the Winner in Amsterdam was appealing to enter your junior, because there you can win, besides the Winner title for the adult dogs also the title Youth winner.

The second reason for not entering a junior (and then especially the large breeds like the PMD) ) on a Dutch show with Dutch Judges was/is that there are still a few judges that strictly  handle the rules according to Raad van Beheer no matter the age of the dog. That rules is: The qualification excellent is for those dogs that live up in such a way to the standard that a minor defect or fault the ideal picture of the breed not disturbs and the quality of the dog is in such a way that he /she can be to considered Champion worthy.

A good rule you would say and I couldn’t agree more. Only I would like to supplement it nowadays with: make allowances for the dog’s age.

Juniors from large breeds are far from ready on that age (9-18 months) They need a few years to become fully grown. For instance: to get a steady and stabile movement, the growing discs which in first instant are made out of cartilage, shall have to be boned first. But still there're some judges that use the movement as an excuse to give the big junior a Very Good instead of an Excellent. But I wouldn’t be pleased if my dog already shows the movement of a grown dog on that age. That would mean to me that my dog already has stopped developing on a very early age. Of course I don’t mean that the big sized junior can stumble through the ring but may/must show the movement of a youth dog.

A great excuse to use is also:” the dog isn’t ready yet”. Well hello, can he please? The word speaks for itself; it’s a JUNIOR. The best you can compare a young Pyrenean Mountain dog with your son or daughter when they’re in puberty; they don’t know what to do with those suddenly long stilts. When I’m watching my sun during a football match, you see exactly which boy is in that stage. Before the growing spurt, the movements were smooth and easy. But when they come in the stage in which the body has to adjust to the increasingly longer growing bones then suddenly you see them bungle; they stumble over their own legs. After some time you see it decrease till finally it’s totally stabilized. If not then you can speak off a defect or in case of a qualification for the dog: A Very good, Good or in the most worst case an Average .

Now some practical samples of the judging of a young PMD

Eindhoven : a beautiful, impressive typical junior male (of 10 months) stands in the ring. Not quit used to the showing event yet but still you can’t go around his qualities and his movements are according to his age. Nice wouldn’t you think? WRONG!! According to the (another wise respected) judge is that the reason the dogs deserves a Very Good while this dog should at least deserved the Excellent and based on the dogs present, he at least deserved the reserve CAC!! He had a beautiful judging report by the way, with only a comment about his coat (he was starting to loose his coat) and the comment:” in movement not ready yet”.

Goes: For Celice her first Dutch show after they’ve introduced the Junior CAC. We already had a bad feeling about it because on this show the same judge as at Eindhoven would be judging today. Now knowing why he gave that beautiful male a Very Good then, didn’t promise any good. (and if we had known, we certainly hadn't entered Celice; we’re still not made of money) We let the dogs walk in the ring to get them used to it and Celice was certainly not inferior to the other bitches. She has the qualities; only she’s still not in full coat after her first heat. The judging began and where we were afraid of happened; she got a Very good because she was still a bit loose in movement according to the judge.

After the judging we went to the judge for an explanation about the qualification. He gave the following reason: To get an Excellent the dog has to be “Champion worthy” and that’s only possible when the dog is ready. Your dog will certainly win her prizes in future but I don’t think she’s ready at the moment. So he tells us that our dog has potential but he doesn’t reward her for it. We on our side also respected his decision and motivation, after all the dog isn’t ready yet on this age.

But why then the introduction of the Junior CAC?? Hasn’t there been any consultation with the association of judges in Holland.When you introduce the Junior CAC in Holland maybe the definition of Excellent (for a Junior) has to be changed in: “a dog who has the potential to become a Champion. Or like in Germany (till shortly) or Luxembourg (still) should a Very Good be enough for a CAC to justify the feelings of judges who think that you can’t give an Ex. to juniors because they aren’t ready yet. As long as this isn’t clear in Holland , is there any point in entering our juniors dogs on shows and to waist money on it? Must we (again) go abroad where they do judge the dogs on their age? Or just don’t enter your junior anymore with judges who have this way of thinking? What do you think?

With us the result was that we didn’t entered Celice for another show in Holland , Leeuwarden . We would only go to the show on which we had already entered her. And on the hand of the outcome of that show we should decide if it was worth anymore to show a qualitatively, beautiful young bitch in Holland .

What a piece of luck we did! There’s a young Dutch judge who sees in Celice all the qualities there are and he judges her by her age. Not a word about: “she isn’t ready yet” but “already good movements for her age”. And:” already on her age she shows excellent picture of the breed” and the most beautiful comment:  “a promise for the future”. You can’t imagine our happiness on that moment; so it is possible then in Holland!! On top of that she also became 2nd Best Bitch (7 bitches present) and deserved with that her first adult res. CAC. We also went to this judge but then to thank him that he judged Celice on her age. His answer? Well, why not? She’s a beautiful dog. So simple is it then.

Beneath you’ll find the judging report from this judge who gave us the motivation to go on showing our junior in Holland . The report shows clearly that he has judged Celice on her age. And for her age she’s an Excellent dog!

A very attractive young bitch. Already on this age she shows an excellent picture of the breed. Has excellent bone and substance. Beautiful shaped feminine head. Scissors bite. Very typical set and worn ears. Eyes could be placed a fraction more obliquely. She shows a bit white but has excellent pigmentation and a very appealing expression. Already excellent front/chest for her age. Already excellent neck- and top line, tail start and -carriage. For her age already good development of the body. Splendid coat condition. Already excellent movements for her age. A Dog with prospects. 1 Excellent, Junior CAC and res. CAC. 

The judging report above belongs to this young lady "Alta Colina Den Dama "Celice" at that time just 1 year old but showing already such arrogance.

Till now we've entered Celice in Junior class but very soon she may compete with the Big Girls and then her junior time is over. We can only hope she keeps on developing like she has done untill now

Coming up the results Celice has achieved since the introduction of the Junior Championship and Junior Champion Award in Holland. One Dutch judge said about her:"she not finished yet" and gave her the Very Good. The other Dutch judge said:" A dog with prospects" and gave her an Excellent including the JCA + res. CAC. Judge the results yourself

She did 17 shows under 17 different judges of all nationalities, as well specialists as allrounders. She gained 15x an Excellent and 2x a Very Good

She has conquered 1x 3rd, 2x 2nd and 14 times first place

Of the 10 shows where you could win a JCA she has captured 7 of them and 1 res.JCA (I guess you know what happened with other 2)

From the 9 shows where they also choose the Best Youthdog she became 8 times Best Youthdog

She has 6 Junior titles and 1 Winner title

She also became Best Bitch (3 Open class bitches present) and already BOB

She became 2x 2nd Best Bitch (3 and 7 bitches present)

She's officially Swiss Youth Champion

On the 27th of August she became officially Dutch Youth Champion

She finished her juniorcarreer by becoming officially Luxembourgs Youth Champion

And if you see how our lady looks within 5 minutes

when we come home after a show.........                           

Have a wonderfull day. Live is short! Break the rules! Forgive easily! Kiss slowly! Be faithfull, laugh elated ...
Don't ever, never be sorry for something that has made you laugh
Send this to all your friends you don't want to loose in 2007
Do you get 3 back then you're a real friend!

Hilde Stenstad with her 4 "men"