Who hasn’t seen a grandfather clock at some time? One of those in a case which reaches from floor to ceiling. Clocks with a long pendulum that mark the endless passing of time, tick tock tick tock…… Who doesn’t know that sound?
Well the ring at the European Dog Show in Barcelona was like one of those clocks. However, an invisible hand took hold of the pendulum and the only sound was the grating of the mechanism as it tried to free the pendulum, but there was no tick tock.
But enough of metaphors ….. World Shows, European Shows…. So much energy spent. Normally hundreds or thousands of kilometres travelled in a baking heat. In truth everybody deserves a first prize of some sort, if only for the effort expended. At this type of show, looking at it in the cold light of day, one feels like another piece of merchandise. Dogs and people are the goods on display. Above all the poor dogs with their unquestioning loyalty to “ the boss” under any conditions. Bless them!
The Frenchy ring didn’t have the highest quality on show. We had hoped to see some of those dogs that really stand out in Europe, those dogs that you only see in photos or from time to time at a local show in some countries. For some reason they didn’t go to Barcelona. Perhaps there was some other event of more importance, or that was more profitable……
Perhaps the thought of showing in the centre of Barcelona wasn’t so attractive. It was not the most comfortable for us caravanners. They assigned us a tiny place, open to the sun and very noisy. Not good for dogs or people. Why can’t they hold these events in place suitable for the participants? We were lucky, after two hours patient waiting we found a spot in a tree shaded avenue. They still owe us the refund for the unusable and unused parking space.
Anyway, those who didn’t come would have been surprised to see how they had to present their dogs amongst plastic bags, bottles and the odd “surprise package” waiting for the unwary to slip on. I could go on….
In reality things didn’t go so badly for us, we saw some old friends and the judge (Ilona Onsteck-Schenk, Holland) gave us fourth spot. A great compliment. But as I said, the general quality of the dogs was nothing to die for.
We didn't get the compulsory point, but in truth this point is something of a lottery. You compete and if you win, well fine, if not you try again.
So we await the next European, although not with great enthusiasm. Now it’s holiday time, in search of the “Holy Grail Frenchy”, or of any breed of dog that takes our fancy.

Best in group 9, BOB, CACIB, CAC..... Peggy is following in Monty's footsteps and repeats the great result of last year in "El Asturcon" in Oviedo. Only this time she won the group. The competition fades away when she appears. It's the fourth time we've been at this show and we've always come away with something. But we'd always go back even if we didn't win. The river Nora has won us over. It tumbles and chuckles over the rocks.... There are some great walks along the river when the weather permits, following its curves and pools, so well looked after by the staff. And this time the weather was kind. So we spent a fine Sunday. Thanks to the committee for dealing with a small problem quickly and efficiently. Peggy was judged by Annika Ulveit-Moe during the whole show, and we thank her for giving us a place in the final.

Zaragoza again. The geese on the pond greeted us as before, with a lot of noise. The Feria de Muestras where the show is held has an enormous exterior car park covered in fine sand. You have to wait there overnight and when it’s wet it’s impassable. Thanks to the solidarity of the caravanners we managed to stay inside the grounds on the Saturday night. We had to do quite a bit of convincing, but in the end we managed it, their excuses just didn’t stand up. They got as far as saying that they had to loose the guard dogs at night. At a dog show? So in the end it all worked out and we spent a comfortable if chilly night.
However the organisation of the Zaragoza Canine Club is pretty good and they did help out. Only one bad point, the cleaning service was very poor. The rings where the “big hair” dogs had shown were full of hair and powder, not easy to bring out the best in a Frenchy who loves chasing stray hairballs. I’m not going to mention other things that can drive you crazy. This last point goes to show the lack of responsibility of some dog owners, many parts of the site were a disgrace, when it is so easy to clear the way for others with just a Kleenex. Oh well….
It was our first show without Monty in competition. He now has so many CAC’s and CACIB’s that he’s taking a well deserved break from the ring. I don’t think he’s too happy about it, deep down he’s a competitor and doesn’t like to rest on his laurels.
Peggy got the CAC on Saturday under Marija Kavcic ( Slovenia). We had already seen her in Oviedo, in the Asturcon she gave Peggy BOB, but not this time. On Sunday Moa Perrson ( Sweden) again gave Peggy CAC and CACIB. We could have got BOB too, but both days we had tough competition from that Superfrenchy, Greco, handled and owned by the Club President, who made the most of his ring craft. Congratulations once again on our part! Another day, another show. Thanks to the judges for seeing more virtues than defects in Peggy. Until the next time.

We did it again. We'd said a thousand times we weren't going back to Bordeaux, it's so cold and the place isn't comfortable. But, a point is a point. And when we only needed one point for Int. Ch the craziness took hold. And we came home without the point. Just our luck! After getting up at the crack of dawn and it being so cold that our feet were numb, Monty only got Exc. 1st in champion class and Reserve CACIB. But the blooming Peggy got Exc 1st in intermediate class, CAC and Reserve CACIB also. Well the competition was tough, and they were all French, so didn't look much like Monty and Peggy. But the judge M. Jacques M. Medard-Ringuet (Fr) gave us great reports for Monty and Peggy. We may meet again, so many thanks for appreciating their virtues amongst all the other Frenchies.