French exhibitors were in the spotlight at the Brabo Dog Show, with the Best In Show for a Newfoundland and the Reserve Best In Show for a Greyhound, as well as several other best of breeds and best of groups.
If there is only one critic to make about the 2002 edition of the Brabo Dog Show, it would be about the timing: to organise an exhibition only one week after the Luxemburg Dog Show, right in the middle of the Easter Vacations, and the same weekend as the “Ronde van Vlaanderen” – the most popular bicycle race in Belgium – was probably not the best way to attract a large audience. And if you had to all this the excellent weather, the decrease in the number of entries and the lack of interest by the public can be explained.
However, this lack in quantity was absolutely not representative of the quality of the show, which was very good, especially in the ring of honour. The greatest majority of the finalists came from Belgium, the Netherlands, and above all from France. Indeed, a French Newfoundland, Peddler, won the BIS, while another French dog, the Greyhound Obligeante de Bleu Manoir, made the Reserve BIS. None of these two dogs are newcomers: the Newfoundland, which is only 2 and half years old, already has many victories in France, Belgium, Switzerland or Luxemburg, including a Best Young of Group at Bourges 2001, a BOB in Arras and a BIS in Anvers 2002. As for Obligeante, she could be quite familiar to you, as she appeared in our report about Le Bourget Dog Show 2001, where she obtained the BOB and finished third of Group 10. The 21 judges were selected out of 12 different countries, which conferred somewhat of a more international touch to the show.
All in all, this edition of the Brabo Dog Show offered a lot of quality to the too scarce public present around the rings. A pity that the date chosen was definitely not optimal.