Chairman’s Report – Open Show

On Sunday, 16 September 2018, we had our Open Show in the morning and our Dane Olympics in the afternoon at Goldfields Show Grounds. The weather was fine and warm, with an unseasonal dusty wind which left many with brown faces after the show! A veld fire on the adjacent ridge also made conditions a little trying due to the smoke, but the fire was soon doused, without the show being interrupted.

Our judge was Jackie Ratner, with first-timer Lauchlan McCutcheon as ring steward. Jackie had some sage words of advice for some of the newer exhibitors in terms of ring craft and the exhibitors really appreciated her thorough evaluations and kind handling of their dogs.

Our main sponsor was Pawsome Raw – a massive thanks to Retha and her team for their generous sponsorship of our show, including superb prizes, vouchers and beautiful rosettes! Pro Pet, Beta Groom, Muldersdrift Animal Clinic, Herbal Pet, McKaynine Training Centre, Stelle Restaurant, Yolanda Beukes and Wayne Streak also sponsored various prizes – our heartfelt thanks!

A beautiful fawn Dane statuette was sponsored by our Club President, Brenda Wakfer, for the Best In Show winner. Thank you Brenda and thank you for attending the show as well!

Great Dane Rescue SA joined us and their Danes gave us a wonderful Lap of Honour. The club donated some prizes to them as a thanks for attending and a small token of appreciation of their hard work. We also handed out a small certificate to each of the rescue dogs. We were thrilled to also see some new faces, with a family travelling all the way from Witbank to join us!

A number of stalls were at the show too – First Aid Kits (very generously sponsored by Muldersdrift Animal Clinic), Photo Booth, Just for Paws Snuffle Mats and McKaynine Training Centre. Thanks to the vendors that gave so generously of their time to be there!

Each exhibitor received a welcome pack and leaflets from our various sponsors. Sadly there was a hiccup in the prize distribution during classes, but the club will ensure that all winners receive their prizes and will commemorate the moment.

New place markers were sponsored by McKaynine Training Centre, which will be used while the existing place markers are repaired.

Trophies were polished and where needed repaired and it was just amazing to note that some of these trophies have attended shows for over 40 years!

It really is too lovely to honour the proud traditions that have come before us.

We unfortunately had some exhibitors unable to attend due to work commitments, but the standard of the total entry of 16 dogs in the breed classes was high. The variety classes were very well supported with 24 entries – there was even a person crazy enough to enter the Team event (no names mentioned). A total of 40 entries was most appreciated and made for a colourful spectrum with all colours, baring brindle, featuring in our Best in Show line-up!