Comments

Updated 05/02/2010

FUTURE EVENTS








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Australia - from an African perspective...

I had the privilege of flying to Australia at the end of March to attend the shows held in Sydney over the Easter Weekend, as well as the IESSC Symposium and the ESSA of NSW Championship Show. Admittedly at first I wasn't sure what to expect, what the people were like and whether the dogs were really as good in person as they appeared in photographs.

I understand that the breed was relatively strong in our country in earlier years, but much has changed. Up until about 5 years ago, there were very few ESS entered at shows, if any. Myself and a few others have grown very dedicated to the breed and have made our best endeavors to improve and promote the breed in our country. When the opportunity arose for me to visit Australia I was most excited at the opportunity to see the dogs and meet those individuals who have had such a great impact in our breed, both in Australia and abroad.

I attended the IESSC Symposium, which I had been looking forward to for a long time. Although I was initially disappointed at the apparent lack of interest from certain breeders/exhibitors, I felt that it was a day well spent and crammed with knowledge and a wealth of combined experience. President Marie Merchant

Each committee member presented a certain part of the standard, complimented by photos, diagrams and in many cases, their own experiences and reflections. It was interesting to hear each presenters interpretation of the standard and to see their willingness to hear suggestions, comments and at times criticism from the delegates.

All the presenters stressed the importance of breed type and those characteristics of our breed that sets them apart from other spaniels (and gundogs) and make our breed truly unique. The articles in the Symposium Handout were most informative, an all round favourite and no surprise was "DiplomESSy" written by Gareth Lawler (Roqfolly ESS, UK).

We also had a great Master Handling Class where Stephanie Rickard (Wongan ESS) and Cam Cavallo (Sandicam ESS), both I would suggest top handlers of our breed, shared some of the "tricks of the trade" on how to present your ESS to his/her best advantage. _IGP7149

A presentation entitled "Blast from the Past" was a beautiful showcase of Australia's dogs from the past - most of whom had made an great impact on the breed and feature in the pedigrees of most of the dogs around today. This evoked many memories, laughs and was indeed a reminder to most of the quality of dogs that can be produced if like-minded breeders work together to produce Springers that exude breed type and soundness. It seemed to me that the Symposium, and in fact the whole Easter Show weekend had rekindled many a relationship between fellow breeders, friends and competitors.

I would like to congratulate Marie Merchant and the rest of the team for a well organised and informative Symposium. I do hope I can attend more Symposiums in the future and would encourage all ESS breeders to attend a Symposium when & where possible.

With thanks and regards,