What difference do you think the arrival of continental dogs at UK shows will make?

-- Anonymous, June 26, 2000

Answers

I myself think that if it became popular with shih tzu competitors from overseas showing in the uk,it would make a big difference,for one thing they are classed as toys in Europe.But I think that once the novelty will wear off we wont get many overseas competitors as the effort of travelling to another country will be too great

-- Anonymous, July 04, 2000

Not having looked into this, does anyone know what classes they can enter. Assuming that the classification is going to be different in every country, are they only allowed to enter, say Open?

I tend to agree with Brenda. I can`t see huge numbers coming over from the Continent, but I would be very interested to see the ones that do.

Would anyone consider taking their UK dogs over the channel to show? Personally, I would be worried about bringing them back without any hitches - I understand that there have been one or two hiccups with the new system.(:o)

-- Anonymous, July 05, 2000

I also have to say, I would rather enjoy seeing some overseas dogs in the ring. Nothing like some new faces to perk things up a bit!(:o)

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2000

I was talking to Ellen Voss in the States last night (she is the lady who owns Galaxy Products). She was asking me what impact the changes to quarantine have made on the show scene in UK. I said to her that, to date, I personally haven`t seen many Continental dogs coming over for shows, but pointed out that it is early days yet.

Ellen made a comment about how different that would be if the regulations are changed regarding dogs coming in from the USA and Canada. Everyone over there would like to compete in the UK, and add UK Ch. to their dog`s list of honours - and, air travel is a way of life to them, and generally would not be a daunting prospect. If you bear in mind that the distance from one end of California to the other is the same as London to Milan, then certainly travel from the East coast of the USA/Canada isn`t really such a big deal!!!

What impact do you think that would make on the UK show scene?(:o)

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2000

I would much enjoy seeing dogs from abroad in our show rings. Impact - well we wouldn't know that until we saw them here competing. In my opinion an open mind about overseas competitors and their dogs should be kept, neither to be phazed by them or dismissive.

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2000

Gloria - you`ve hit the nail right on the head there! An open mind is exactly what we need. There are good and bad examples of Shih- Tzus from every country and a calm and constructive evaluation of the attributes or faults of individual dogs would be very educational. I don`t know about you, but I had generalisations. You know what I mean - `English dogs are all....whatever`, `American dogs are....this, or that`, `Swedish dogs are...such and such` - it`s unfair, and usually inaccurate! Personally, I think the showing scene could be truly enlivened by some overseas competition! I like to think they would bring a `breath of fresh air` rather than `the winds of change`.(:o)

-- Anonymous, July 30, 2000

correction - `I hate generalisations`(:o) Oops! Well it is six o`clock in the morning!

-- Anonymous, July 30, 2000

Yes it would be lovely to have dogs from other countries competing in any ring - and it could only help to keep things interesting . Some changes in presentation would have to be made to keep in line with the regulations in the UK. If a large influx of dogs did actually occur I would imagine that the KC would have to reconsider the wordings of their classifications - at the moment they include Irish awards - more than 3 major green stars and you have to show in Open, once out of the age classes. The FCI classifications I have seen have a lot of 'age' classes as opposed to classes defined by the amount of wins a dog has had, but I would imagine that a large proportion of competitors would be at least major winners, if not champions in their own countries, and would more than likely only be eligible for the Open classes .

-- Anonymous, August 21, 2000

Please make my Aussie Boy welcome when he arrives later in the year when he is reunited with his owner Cindy.Lise

-- Anonymous, August 17, 2001