The championships were held in a large
indoor stadium and when we got there, the pre-competition
party was already in full swing. 32 countries were taking
part and they had all reserved seating areas for supporters
and fans. The British were sandwiched in between the French
and the Italians, (a very noisy fate!) looking straight across
at the Swiss with their cowbells and the Japanese who on record
were probably one of the more quiet nations! All countries
were wearing different colours, large flags for each country
were flying and the atmosphere was electric, with each country
trying to find a better and louder way to chant on their competitors.
The competitions took part over three
days. The courses were fluent and looked great fun to run,
although the carpet caused problems for some of the dogs,
who lost a lot of time on turns. To my horror I saw that some
courses were made up of more than 20 obstacles (the legal
limit in Britain). Having to prepare pupils in this country
to remember 20 obstacles is a hard enough job, but 23 or more!-
What happens is, that they have a combination of obstacles
which are numbered for instance 15a, 15b, 15c!
The judging is much harsher than in
England, the slightest hesitation or movement away from an
obstacle is given a refusal and any contact at all with the
dog is marked as 5 faults even if it appears accidental. Jumping
over obstacles by the handler culminates in elimination which
one British handler found out the hard way. Bitches in season
were allowed to compete, but had to wait to the end of the
competition, when a mat was rolled out for them at the start
line. I suppose it would be very disappointing to come all
the way from Brazil and find your bitch had just come into
season!
All the countries cheered on each other
and by the third day exchanged shirts and hats. At the prize
giving the whole stadium was invaded by supporters from all
countries who danced and celebrated each countries achievement,
with cheerleaders from France trying to get some “follow
my leader” techniques going. What surprised me, was
that this friendly, colourful display of pure fun, music and
celebrations was tolerated by the Germans, but come to think
of it, they couldn’t have done a lot about it, there
was no stopping anyone!
At the end of it all we didn’t
do too badly, and came away with two places, a 3rd overall
and a 2nd in the jumping.
We had a great time and are already
making plans for next year’s travel to France!
