Exposition Nationale D'Levage des Dogues de Bordeaux
A small report from the French Clubmatch, Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th of September. Dogs entered: 303

It was time again to go to the NE in France. We got up early Wednesday morning because we had to change a tire before we went on our trip. It took a while before we got it fixed, but finally we were on our way. We met up with Kalle & Carina from Doguehill's, their handler Philip and Elisabeth & Jussi from Hjärtekulla kennel in Puttgarden and from there on we drove together. The others chose to stay at a hotel and get some hours sleep while Espen and I continued to France. We were there around 1030 the next morning at we took the doggies for a walk and shopped a little before we went to the hotelroom and got a few hours sleep. In the evening we met up with the others and we all went out for a nice dinner. Also Elisabeth & David and Veronica & Totte from Sweden joined us at dinner and we all had a great time.
The next day we all went to Saint Malo to have a look at the castle, eat a nice lunch and just hang out. We met up with Sandra & Michel from Bakerville's kennel, and Linda & Fredrik from Molosse Antique, and in the evening we all had a nice dinner. Linda and Fredrik from Molosse Antique had also found their way to France and they joined us at dinner. My Finnish puppybuyers Tero and Henna also joined us, and they had brought their daughter Pinja this year. She is only 4 years old but are so nice behaved and she had a great time. This Friday it was also Elisabeth from Hjärtekulla's birthday, so in the morning I went out and bought her a bottle of bubbly. :-)

On Saturday we went to the show to watch the TAN-test and the puppyclasses and we also measured our dogs. It started to rain heavily, so we skipped the puppyclasses and went to the hotel for yet another great time with our friends. We called it an early night as we wanted to get up early the next morning to go to the show. When we entered the showground it was still very muddy from all the rain the day before, but the sun came out and after a few hours most of it had dried up. First I was going in with Damien in Senior class. There were 4 males entered, and one didn't show at first, so Mr. Triquet asked us if we could wait so he would have a chance to make it. Sure, we waited and watched the females being judged instead. After that it was the males turn, and still the last one didn't show, so Mr. Triquet asked us if we would accept the last one if he showed after our dogs were judge. All of us had no problem with this, and we could finally get our critique from "the father" of the Dogue de Bordeaux. The last dog never showed up, but Triquet thanked us for the sportsmanship. I think it fell naturally for all of us. He placed us right after judging, and Damien got Excellent and second place after his cousin Desmo. It was fun to see the three males as they are all the same age and so very different. All three came to the Ring d'Honeur where Triquet spoke a little about them and we received a nice gift.
In the females class there were even more entered and it is really great to see more and more dogues reaching higher ages. Like Triquet said to us when he approach us after judging, a douge like Damien should defenitely be used in breeding and hoping to prolong the age as they do die way to early. We couldn't agree more, and like we've said before, we hope the lifespan will increace dramatically in our breed in the years to come.
Because the judging of the males were delayed, I didn't get the time to show Modesty, so Espen were in the ring with her. She can be a handfull some times, and are not the easiest dog to show, but Espen did a good job. She got a Very Good as this judge found her a bit too much, and said she was a big baby. :-) And so she is, but in time I think she will be very nice indeed. Her sister Peppi (owned by Tero & Henna) were also in there and she got an Excellent! Big congratulations from us. :-)
Our friends dogs Alero and Barbro got picked for the Ring d'Honeur, so big congratulations for that! It was a lot of commotion at the show in the end, and we actually did not stay to watch the end. At 1830 they were still not done, so we packed up and drove to the hotel. We were all completely worn out after a long day and just had a pizza before we went to bed. The next morning we shopped some water and food for breakfast and we all sat down for a snack before we started driving home again. We have had a great time, and we would like to thank Elisabeh & Jussi, Sandra & Michel, Kalle & Carina, Tero, Henna & Pinja, Philip, Linda & Fredrik, Elisabeth & David and Totte & Veronica for making the trip special. We really enjoyed your company. :-)

Some pictures can be found here.