The Welsh Junior of the Year competition was held this year in Builth, and was well supported by competitors and well-wishers from all over the principality.
A warm welcome in the hillsides was made with Welsh cakes and hot drinks on arrival. Chairs and tables surrounded the ring, which was smartly decorated with flowers and a red carpet – it felt like the Oscars!
This competition, organised by Cardiff Canine Society, is a great opportunity to see the young, promising stars of the future in a wide variety of breeds.
The 64 dogs qualified had won a Junior class at an open or championship show in 2009 and have to be registered to an owner in Wales. The programme included photos and three-generation pedigrees of the dogs.
Richard Morris and the organiser, Martin Sanders, opened the competition. The programme for the day was; Group A judging (32 dogs), Junior Handing, Lunch, Group B judging (32 dogs) then the overall winner decided by both Judges and a Referee if needed.
The draw for the order of judging was made and the ‘surprise’ judges were introduced as Mr Tegwyn Jones and Mrs Liz Stannard. The judges were offered the choice of envelopes containing details of which round of the match they were to judge. Liz Stannard drew group B, Tegwyn Jones started the competition by judging Group A.
A nice touch was a parade of the dogs in each round before judging started; this gave us all the chance to start our inevitable ‘ringside judging’!
Martin Sanders was in charge of the microphone and introduced each dog by breed, number, pet name and their individual characters. The crowd found some of these very amusing and it all contributed to a happy, informal atmosphere.
In Round A the final two winners from the 32 dogs were a male Briard, Ch. Forte Negro at Gilcoru Duovarius, bred by Mrs. D. Piwowar, owned by N.Rual and L. Stock and Miracey Fruity Fantasy, a Shih Tzu bitch bred and owned by T and M Hitt.
Daisy the Shih Tzu, won the first round. Daisy is “easy to live with, very laid back and likes to look out of the window or watch the tropical fish tank.”
Next was Bekki Williams (Trebettyn) judging the Junior Handling classes. These classes were qualifiers for the 2010 Richmond Semi-Finals. In the 6 – 11 years the winner was Libby Jones, 2nd Megan Roberts and 3rd Max Jones.
In the 12 – 16 years class Catrin Roberts came 1st, Beth Holmes 2nd and Kayleigh Williams 3rd. The two class winners then competed against each other with Catrin Roberts winning through.
After we had all enjoyed a hot meal it was time for the second round of the match, Round B. Liz Stannard found her final two in a Rhodesian Ridgeback male, Jocebec Jelani Elite owned by J.Cyprien and M.L.Williams and Kybo Bossonova, a Tibetan Terrier bitch, owned by Roberts and Price. Both were homebred.
Nova, the Tibetan Terrier was declared the winner of Round B. Her owners describe her as “crazy but lovely – she is an Olympic standard high jumper and a bit of a hairdresser – she trims the coats on their other dogs.”
The judges then went over and moved the dog they had not previously assessed, conferred and announced the winner of Welsh Junior of 2010 as the TT, Kybo Bossonova with the Shih Tzu, Miracey Fruity Fantasy as Runner Up.
The Show sponsors were Royal Canin, Our Dogs, Dorwest Veterinary and Celebration Rosettes. Bags of Royal Canin for round winners were awarded, gift vouchers from Dorwest and Welsh Lovespoons were given to all exhibitors. This was a nice touch, kindly donated by Mr and Mrs Davies (Sundeala) The Junior Handlers were given chocolate eggs and the winners, a Royal Canin backpack.
Welsh Slate with the Welsh Dragon featured were awarded to the Winner and Reserve, donated by Olive Thomas (Leshkan) and to the Judges, donated by Richard Morris (Glascoed).
It was all over by mid afternoon when we all set off home, well entertained, well fed and richer for having seen some lovely dogs.
The event was a great success run by a capable and hard working team.
Mel Vincent
Judges’ reports
Thanks to the organising committee for inviting me to be one of the two surprise judges of this event. The journey to the Royal Welsh Showground is a laborious one at any time but the last weekend in February did mean there could have been snow and it could have been even more fraught. But no the sun shone, the lambs were in the fields and the warm welcome when I arrived meant that it was the start of a very nice wekend.
The Drovers Court is a building that I had not seen before and one that is not in use for any of the dog shows held there but it should be as it is a good size for an event like this.It had been dressed up with flowers, white picket fencing and a full carpet and was very smart with covered tables around both sides for the audience to sit in comfort and watch the proceedings.
The competition was held on a match system with two sections, group A judged in the morning by Tegwen Jones and group B in the afternoon by myself. The draw for the dogs was held first and the numbers pulled out of hat with ping pong balls!
There was plenty of room in the ring for all breeds to show well and the winner of the morning round the Shih Tzu was declared well in time for lunch.
This was a hot meal and plenty of it in fact some of us would have like to put our feet up after such a good meal not start showing.
The afternoon round went without any hitches due to the organising committee being on top of everything and the winner of this round the Tibetan Terrier was declared in plenty of time.All through the competition there had been plenty of applause and good sportsmanship,
My co judge and I came to complete agreement and the winner and Welsh Junior of the Year the Tibetan Terrier was declared with much applause, photos were taken and everyone was on their way home in daylight, leaving the hardy few to take every thing down and pack it away ready for next year.
Liz Stannard
What an enjoyable day, my thanks to the committee of Cardiff CS.
This was the this year this contest has been run, but on this occasion a new venue, at the Royal Welsh Showground. A superb setting and a very nicely decorated venue, with a nice big ring which suited the big dogs.
The quality of the Juniors dogs was high. Out of my 32 dogs, my last two competitors were the Briard, Ch Fonte Negro at Gilcoru Duovarious and the Shih Tzu, Miracey Fruity Fantasy. After the final round, my co-judge Mrs Liz Stannard sent through the Tibetan Terrier Kybo Bossanova.
After going over both dogs, we agreed that the Best Junior was to be the Tibetan Terrier.
Tegwyn Jones
