The FCI Obedience Commission had its annual meeting on 14-15 May in Riga, Latvia. Representatives from thirteen countries participated. As we have had an extensive revision of our Obedience rules and regulations when combining classes 1-2-3 into one document and also composing some new exercises, there still seemed to be some work to make amendments and clarifications, many of which were discussed at our judges’ meeting in 2015. At our annual meeting also the rules and regulations of international Obedience competitions with CACIOB were dealt with. The work consisting in changing some of the practices and discussing the guidelines of the World Winner competitions in Obedience is ongoing and will continue this year.
The World Winner competition 2016 in Obedience was arranged by the Russian Kynological Federation in Moscow, from the 30th of June until the 3rd of July. A very sincere thank you to all who participated in the work and provided us with such a nice and well-organised event. The competition site was the prestigious riding stadium of the Moscow Olympics 1980. This was an excellent place. The ground of the manege, a sand-sawdust-fibre mixture, was very friendly for the dogs and they could really be at their very best.
Altogether, 80 competitors had enrolled from 15 countries. This is slightly less than usual and is probably due to the fact that the journey to Moscow was certainly long for those coming from the southern parts of Europe. Not all competitors or their dogs like to fly, and going by car did not seem to be so attractive as the journey was long. This then made it possible for reserves to enter the competition. The competition layout was a three-day event. The first two competition days were about getting the title of best team in the world, i.e. finding the World Winner team. The team competition is also a qualification competition for finding the 20 finalists competing for the title of individual World Winner on Sunday.
The judges were, as usual, from four different nations. The representative of Russia was Mrs Elena Limonova. It was the first time that Russia had a representative in the judging team. It was also the first time that Mrs Vladislava Akimova, from Latvia, judged at our WW competition. One could see that they were putting their heart into this and were extra keen to master the new rules when judging. The other two judges were Mrs Jeannine Tschupp from Switzerland and Mr Ralf Björklund from Finland, both having earlier experience of judging WW Obedience competitions. Mrs Carina Savander-Ranne, from Finland was chief judge.
© Pavel Razov
The four best judges-stewards
In the team competition the Finnish team once more won the golden medal and the World Winner title. The team’s result was impressive with an average of almost 290 points and altogether 869.25 points. The Russian team has been doing good work in the last few years and they took second place and the Swedish team landed third. Both teams also having the average result of excellent, but some twenty points less than the winning team. In the competition for the individual World Winner title all three medallists came from Finland: gold medal Oili Huotari and bc Tending Occult, silver Hanna-Mari Ikonen and bc Borderness Just Tosi and bronze medal Carita Kuparinen and bc Saunajaakon Alfa Romeo.
The majority of the dogs were border collies with a few exceptions. There were some very nice performances by retrievers. Jesús Martín with his Labrador retriever Tyson did impressive work in the qualification competition on Saturday being second. Fourth in the individual was a golden retriever from Norway, Renate Lund with Vassruggens Ålga Mildir. A more rare breed in obedience today, a staffordshire bullterrier from Russia, Amurski Strazh Germiona handled by Maya Afanasova, showed some nice work and eagerness to do the exercises. It missed a place in the finals by 1.5 points and a few places. This staffordshire bullterrier received the price “the chief judge’s favourite”.
It was again nice to see so much friendship and good sportsmanship among all. The handling of the dogs was beautiful and both handlers and dogs seemed to enjoy themselves. Having watched obedience competitions for many years from both inside and outside the ring it has become clear that only happy dogs and happy handlers can succeed in this sport.
© Pavel Razov
The new exercise
THE TEAM RESULTS FOR 2016 WERE
1. FINLAND : 869,25
Oili Huotari and Tending Occult
Hanna-Mari Ikonen and Borderness Just Tosi
Carita Kuparinen and Saunajaakon Alfa Romeo
© Pavel Razov
Gold - Oili
© Pavel Razov
Silver - Hanna-Mari
© Pavel Razov
Gold - Oili
© Pavel Razov
Bronze - Carita
© Pavel Razov
The three medalists - Finnish team
2. RUSSIA : 815,75
Galina Fedorova and Desh Miracle
Ekaterina Gurova and Nafani Fast Flying Witch
Elena Murashova and Love and Spirit Mabel
© Pavel Razov
Russian team - second place
3. SWEDEN : 814,50
Madelaine Eriksson and Seven
Emelie Wickströn and Eye Dog Glen Keith
Anna Hilding and Busy Border Grym
© Pavel Razov
Swedish team - third place
4. Switzerland 793
5. Poland 752,25
6. Denmark 752
THE INDIVIDUAL MEDALS WERE PRESENTED TO
| 1 |
Oili Huotari |
Finland |
Tending Occult |
283,25 |
| 2 |
Hanna-Mari Ikonen |
Finland |
Borderness Just Tosi |
276,25 |
| 3 |
Carita Kuparinen |
Finland |
Saunajaakon Alfa Romeo |
276 |
| 4 |
Renate Lund |
Norway |
Vassruggens Ålga Mildir |
271 |
| 5 |
Galina Fedorova |
Russia |
Desh Miracle |
269,50 |
| 6 |
Mika Jalonen |
Finland |
Tending Fireball |
265,25 |
| 7 |
Madelaine Eriksson |
Sweden |
Seven |
261 |
| 8 |
Marianne Forsell |
Finland |
Flatkiss Guilty Intent |
260,50 |
| 9 |
Tiltu Antikainen |
Finland |
Candyman |
256 |
| 10 |
Elena Murashova |
Russia |
Love and Spirit |
256 |
Carina Savander-Ranne
President of the FCI Obedience Commission