WITH the sound of music, Mozart and mountains, the world show in Austria really had a sensational backdrop to what was felt to be the final (Final!) event of the FCI celebrations for the centenary year.

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Its funny looking back how time flies as we have seen the Austrian organisers around the European scene for what seems like years now as they have been promoting the show and building entries from Dortmund to Crufts and Paris to Brno; and now as I write this report it’s all over!

The shows organizing director, Elizabeth Manner has been a tireless worker representing the WDS and flying the flag for Austria. The OKV President Dr Michael Kreiner was a welcoming President, always available and working at one with the Show Manager Margrit Brenner.

The shows technical director was the hard working Markus Kohler who had a team of 25 people in their blue show team shirts and outfits. Markus was determined to tackle any problem that cropped up and also seemed to master the art of using two mobile phones at ones as he always seemed to be in demand.

The whole team should receive top marks for the huge effort they put in. As ever rumours had been flying around for months that the showground was too small and that there would be problems with traffic. As it turned out, they were right about the traffic but wrong about the show ground. The Messezentrum in Salzburg was different to the expo centre for Paris last year or to Crufts at the NEC.

It seemed very handily placed near to the beautiful town centre and right next to the motorway (although that also caused the main problem!) For those travelling from town, it was a short bus ride on the efficient system but for those crossing the border from Germany or driving on the motorway you hit a big problem with everyone trying to get off the same exit…unlike my taxi driver who knew the local roads and managed to avoid the jam although I did get a tour of the alpine houses of outer Salzburg!

So day one did not get off to a great start with a lot of frustration for exhibitors trying to get in, trying to park (through barriers that spent hours going up and down!) and the ones stuck on the motorway literally picking up their grooming tables and walking down he hard shoulder with the dogs to ensure they did not miss their class. Judging was delayed for a short time to try and help out and by the time Sunday came around the problems of traffic management seem to have abated.

Learning from others

That always seems the way of course with any event management…you learn as you go along and by the time you have got it all under control….the show is over and you do not get a chance to run another world show for many years!

As I have said on many occasions, that is the benefit of having a regular team working a showground (like Crufts or in Europe like the VDH in Dortmund) over a number of years. You get to know the lie of the land…what works and what doesn’t, where the pressure points will be. I cannot stress enough to any organizer for world or European events to learn from other peoples shows and to listen to what your customers want…the exhibitors, the trade stands and yes, even the press! Austria did seem to take on board a lot and certainly learned from last year when a large number of complaints were made in Paris followed by Facebook campaigns asking for levels of standards to be reached. No such backlash this time. Without fail, everyone mentioned the fact that the hall was clean, with no dog fouling…or if there was there were adequate cleaners and pick up bags at every entrance point. Grass exercise areas outside also helped.

The signs and catalogues and most information was in German and English! That facility is not there just to help the British but as it appears to be the language of the international dog showing fraternity it helps the Scandinavians, the Slovenians, in fact anyone that comes from beyond the German speaking countries.

This was a point that really angered people last year in Paris. In fact, the use of other languages was essential with the other problem experienced at the show and that was due to the hot weather. Like many others traveling to the show, I had kept one eye on the weather app on my phone for a week ahead…was it raining, was it warm or was it snowing? It appeared that we had something of everything judging by the sunlit mountain backdrop with snowy peaks. Yet for the three days of the show it was hot!

With that heat came the inevitable problem of dogs in cars. Cars become ovens as we all know…no matter how many fans, sun reflectors or whatever that people put up; and there were problems as people had parked in the streets around the show area and certainly one, if not two dogs tragically died. Ironically the police phoned the show and asked the show management to go to the police station to make a statement right in the middle of the show! Steps were taken to remind exhibitors of their responsibilities with notices being stuck on every door, every cash desk etc and with announcements being made in about five different languages on the public address system.

Layout

The FCI delegate at the show was Mr. Bernhard Meyer of the VDH so the OKV had a very experienced eye watching over them! However Herr Meyer would have seen a well organized event by and large. The main hall for stands Hall 10 was very impressive as was the SalzburgArena where the groups and BIS took place. As is often the case with event centres like this, many of the other rings were in smaller halls and in some instances marquees outside, so finding rings became slightly harder although reference to the excellent catalogue each day would have given exhibitors a map of all the various halls. The shows main sponsor was Purina and they took centre stage in Hall 10 with other key show stands being placed here as well.

The companies advertising boards marked out the well carpeted rings and they had also laid on a fun activity for the dogs outside with a new event of dog diving….with dogs leaping into a pool of water which some dogs seemed to love especially in the heat! Each day the judges (who had been conveniently booked into the hotel opposite the show ground, so no delays experienced!) met in an excellent room which served as a judges briefing room followed by the daily press conference at 10am.

They then picked up their ring stewards who waited outside with chalk boards with the judges names…and off they went. The press facilities were excellent…always a good start! This department was headed up by the efficient and pleasant Dr Katya Wolf and assisted by our old friends Maria and Thomas who had run the press room in Bratislava in 2009. OUR DOGS were again the media partners for the show and for the press there were plenty of catalogues, refreshments and a press conference in German and English.

No complaints at all. The World Dog Press Association managed the photography in the main ring and that seemed to flow very well.

Top entry

In the entry of just under 19,000 top figures went to Germany with 2,631 followed by Russia with 2286. There were just over 170 entries from the UK. This entry was good when you consider that all docked and cropped dogs are not allowed to show under strict Austrian laws. A number of club shows took place nearby in attractive grounds and by the look of some sun burnt people the next day they had enjoyed the good weather!

The show always had a busy feel about it and the organizers had certainly done a fantastic job in promoting the show in Salzburg; from the moment we left the airport on Wednesday there were bus shelter posters, adverts on the back of buses, a sign written shuttle bus driving to and from the car parks and many shops in town had ‘doggie’ displays and sings for the WDS.Well done…cannot congratulate you enough for this OKV, you have to involve the local community and encourage outside people to come to the show.

The only area in the show itself that did not seem busy was the area designated for the overseas kennel clubs, which was in the foyer area of the showground’s main entrance. Generally people passed it by unless you had a reason to go to the stands in question….for example the Finnish KC always attract a crowd as they photograph all Finnish BOB winners and upload them to their web site immediately. Trade stands seemed to do brisk business and there were a number over from the UK in addition to OUR DOGS; Rabart Pro Choice, MD10 shampoos, World Leisurewear, The Big Paw Embroidery Company to name the hardy regulars on the Euro circuit. Saturday night saw many of the VIPs and dignitaries attend a gala dinner at the Archbishops palace in the centre of Salzburg; a splendid venue and occasion where we dined well and were serenaded in the classical style as befitted the home of Mozart! In fact the whole city seemed to be well populated by dog people strolling out at night, some with their dogs, enjoying the atmosphere.

Main ring action

Of course what matters most to judges and exhibitors is what happens in the ring of honour! The Salzburg Arena, the home of ice skating and rock concerts, proved to be a great main ring. The only downside was that the collecting ring and pre judging areas were too tight for all concerned. Once in the ring there was plenty of space, music, lighting a great backdrop for all the photos, and a stunning TV screen which broadcast messages and images of the judging. It was a shame that more people did not use the venue seating to watch the principal judging after the ring was used by all the agility, dog dancing, junior handling etc.

You certainly need stamina to sit through all the group judging of pairs of juniors and the like. We were treated to a fabulous tenor singing one evening and then on the Sunday prior to BIS we had a traditional Austrian band, the flag handover to Hungary for the 2013 World Show (yes it is on!) and Hungarian folk dancing as the climax built up. Ten top dogs, some getting wild applause and support from the galleries but only two selected in top slots by FCI President Hans Muller. From Russia and in second place the well known Corgi, Andvol Pinkerton, piloted by the equally well known handler Olga from Moscow, only to be topped by the dynamic American bred Saluki, now owned in Scandinavia with Mr Mrs Nicklas Erikkson, Shiraz California Dreamin’ who stole the show just like this pairing did in Slovenia in 2010 when winning the European show.

Everyone relaxed at a delightful after dinner party where the winners were invited and we all kicked off our shoes and said ‘never again’ knowing full well we couldn’t wait for the next big show to start! Well done OKV! Salzburg 2012 will be a pleasant memory for all.
 

Group photos by SVETLANA VALOUEVA

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The World Dog show moved from Paris 2011 to Salzburg 2012 and it was another hectic 3 days at the Salzburg Arena writes Vince Hogan.

Over 18,000 dogs competed in the main WDS with another 5000 taking part in the club shows elsewhere near the city. It was a packed three days with exhibitors coming from many countries including the UK and Ireland.

The Austrian Kennel Club had done everything to try and make the event enjoyable for all although the anticipated traffic problems materialised and put pressure on events on Friday and Saturday…Sunday was better.  

Hot weather made for the usual problems with dogs being left in vehicles resulting in at least 2 fatalities.

Much of the talk of the show was also about Budapest 2013 and whether the Hungarian Kennel Club would be able to stage the event…we await the outcome of government meetings.

Most agreed that it was a good effort although there were the usual teething problems for a show of this size, but at least the floors were clean with plenty of pick up bags available! No Paris repeat here.