Top dogs have their day in Bay
Every dog has its day, but only the top dogs walked away with titles and bragging rights at one of the Bay’s most prestigious dog shows at the weekend.
The PE Cluster Weekend, held under the auspices of the Kennel Union of Southern Africa, saw dogs from all over SA put their best paw forward at the Union Cricket Club grounds for four days of strutting, posing and showmanship.
About 240 dogs, across seven categories, competed in a series of shows from Thursday to yesterday, each with its own judges and judging criteria.
According to event organiser Petrus van der Watt, each dog accumulated points that are tallied at the end of show season to determine the country’s best dog.
“Other than a few prizes from sponsors there is no real grand prize for the winner other than bragging rights,” Van der Watt said.
“The competition is in essence a doggy beauty pageant, but to be honest every dog here is a prime specimen of their breed.
“But judging is subjective and it is up to the judges to use their own discretion in appointing the winners.”
The dogs compete across seven categories, namely Gundog, Herding, Hounds, Terriers, Toys, Utility and Working.
The winner of each category then competes for the coveted Best in Show title.
One of the weekend’s big winners was Oliver, a threeyear-old bearded collie from Gauteng, who won Best in Show PE Kennel Club, as well as Best in Show Baakens Valley Working and Herding.
The breed, originating from Scotland, is known for it thick black and white coat of long straight hair. Bearded collies have also been used by paint manufacturer Dulux in some of its television commercials.
Oliver’s breeder, Michael Alberts, said: “We are happy with this weekend’s results and [will] build on this momentum going forward.
“In three weeks’ time we compete again in Malmesbury and we will keep our fingers crossed for another set of good results.”
Another big winner, despite his small stature, was fouryear-old Blake, a Chinese Shih Tzu which trotted off with Best in Show Uitenhage Kennel Club 2.
Owner Hiroshan Moodley and her prized pooch also travelled down from Gauteng, and their pre-show preparations started days in advance, with a routine of bathing and conditioning every four days, followed by a lot of brushing.
On competition day final preparation takes about two hours.