The highlight of the year in Wales has to be the Top Dog and Top Puppy event. Llandrindod Wells hosted the 20th Top Dog contest and the 16th Top Puppy competition on Saturday 26th November; this year the event was over subscribed and the hotel was fully booked.

As we entered the hotel reception we were greeted by the Our Dogs banner announcing the WKC Top Puppy and Top Dog Competitions.

The Welsh Kennel Club have two licences, one for the WKC Top Puppy and the other for the WKC Top Dog competition; it is because they hold two contests as completely separate events on the same day they are not restricted to only 60 dogs. This year there were 41 puppies and 45 dogs entered and only a few absentees.

The names of the judges are always kept secret until the day, this year both the judges were from Denmark.

There was Mrs Inga Bonnez of the BoZinku kennel. She awards CAC to Cardigan and Pembroke Corgis, as well as Labradors, Goldens, Flatcoat and Curly Coat Retrievers, plus English and American Cockers. Mrs Bonnez has been Chairman of the Danish Kennel Club - Branch 6 for 5 years, The other judge was Mr Erik Faarup who has been Vice Chairman of Branch 6 for the past 15 years. He has served on a variety of Committees, he is Chairman of the Welsh Corgi Cardigan Club, a post he has held for 22 years and has had a lot of Cardigan champions winning Corgi of the Year many times and has been top breeder in Denmark for 18 years. When asked which was his favourite dog he replied 'all my dogs are my favourite'.

Top Puppy

The Top Puppy contest is held first and the draw was made at 10.30 and the competition started at 11am. It is judged on a match formula with two exhibits going head to head in a knock out contest. The judge to take centre stage first was Inga Bonnez. She went over ten pairs of dogs affording each dog the same amount of time and scrutiny. The original 20 dogs were whittled down to the final two, the Labrador Retriever Gostwyck I Spy Linjor and the Shih Tzu Miracey Fruity Kisses. She moved each one again and her decision was made, she gave the first of the final places to the Shih Tzu owned and bred by Mr & Mrs Hitt.

Erik Faarup took to the ring to judge Group B and he too went over each of the nine pairs of dogs in the same meticulous manner and he treated each dog the same. He was soon left with his final pair the mini wire haired Dachshund Trixhund Country Lover and the Cardigan Corgi Twinam The Word Is Kerman. After moving them each again the winner of Group B was the Corgi, bred by T & K Irving and owned by Fran Fricker.

Each of the judges re-entered the ring and the two finalists were brought in. Judge A went over dog B and judge B went over dog A and they discussed each dog together. A few moments later it was decided that WKC Top Puppy 2011 was the Shih Tzu Miracey Fruity Kisses (Ch Easy Rider At Huxlor x Miracey Feeling Fruity) Maisie is 9½ months and is the product of a repeat mating which gave them Daisy aka Miracey Fruity Fantasy. Runner up went to the Cardigan Twinham The World Is Kerman (Kerman Call Me Patrick Of Stuartmoor x Kerman Top Hat and Tails) Splash is owned and handled by Fran Fricker.

Top Dog

After a break for some light refreshment and the opportunity for the WKC Committee to change into evening dress the draw for the Top Dog Competition was held and again Judge A was Inga Bonnez and Judge B was Erik Faarup.

Again the dogs entered the picket fenced ring in pairs and again Mrs Bonnez whittled her ten pairs down in the knock out contest till there were just the two left to compete for the title final; there was last years winner Belgian Shepherd Dog Ch Cairbear That Special Touch ShCM (Ch Domburg Love of Africa At Talamo x Cairbear Winter Touch) owned and bred by Mr & Mrs Morris followed by the Beagle Dialynne All Spice For Emorlen (Ch Dialynne Musketeer x Dialynne Sphinx) owned by Mr & Mrs Howell and bred by the famous Spavin dynasty.  Again Mrs Bonnez was just as efficient in assessing the dogs as she was the puppy exhibits and after moving them together and separately she awarded the first finals place to the Beagle.

Mr Faarup took to the floor to judge group B and they also entered the ring in pairs. He watched every dog carefully as he put each one through their paces and he worked through the pairs until he was left with the Afghan Hound Valkor The Truth Be Told (Fr/Irish Ch Agha Djaria World Is Not Enough x UK/Int/Span/Port Ch Saxonmill Star Style) and the Bracco Gunstrux Captain Pugwash (Int Sh Ch Rus Sk Lt Lux Ch Galantuomo Di Cacciola Ed Wog Rkfwog Ww10 x Int Sh Ch Heinaaron Gioia Di Natale For Gunstrux Sw04 Fw05 Euw06 Imp Fin. After going through their paces again Mr Faarup put through the Bracco.

For the second time in the day both judges entered the ring and the two finalists entered the ring for Judge A to go over dog B and Judge B to go over dog A. The Beagle was assessed by Eric Faarup and Inga Bonnez went over the Bracco. Both dogs were moved and the two judges conferred for a time, each clearly discussing the merits of their own choice of finalists, although they spoke in Danish much can be observed by body language. Another look and a little more discussion and the decision was made WKC Top Dog 2011 was the Beagle Dialynne All Spice For Emorlen affectionately called Spice with the Bracco Italiano otherwise known as Sam taking the Runner-Up award.

Mr & Mrs Howell were not just celebrating having the Top Dog 2011, they are also the grandparents of the most popular handler of the day: their grandson Ciaron. A very talented young handler it was a brave judge who could ignore the applause and cheering which went round for the boy who only started handling this year; he was placed 4th in the Junior Handler Finals at Discover Dogs in London.

Dinner dance

There was time for photographs and then a short rest before coming back down for the very lively and most enjoyable dinner dance. This is one of those times when all the ladies make the most of the opportunity to dress up and many of them looked very elegant and sophisticated; the men also looked extremely smart in their dinner jackets.

This is always a colourful event with an eye to charity too with monies being raised for the air ambulance service and for Help4Heroes.

The evening was started with Mervyn Evans thanking everyone who supported the event and he invited the WKC Treasurer Mr Glyn Griffith to say Grace which he did both in Welsh and in English. A delicious meal followed which had a pre-ordered vegetarian option that is just delicious and imaginative. The three course meal was followed by coffee and chocolates and then the Chairman Mr Denys Simpson gave his address. He thanked Mervyn and Pat Evans as well as their daughter Bethan Evans who do so much of the organising every year. He thanked the judges, the sponsors and the exhibitors for making the event so enjoyable and so successful. The judges also wanted to thank everyone for the entries and for their sportsmanship they also thanked the WKC for inviting them and said they had really enjoyed their weekend. The microphone then went over to Mervyn for the raffle which was very well stocked.

There was a great deal of fun and bantering going on while the raffle was drawn and this gave way to music and lights from the disco. For the brave hearted dancing went on to the early hours and for others it was time to relax in the foyer with a few drinks and good company.

Yet again this event was a huge success; the work that goes into the event is no mean feat, from collecting and storing raffle prizes, sponsors products, gifts, table decorations and all the relevant paperwork the work is quite daunting. All this then has to be packed up and transported to the venue. It must be said how much it is appreciated by all and it is all this attention to details which makes the event so popular. It is the start of the Christmas celebrations and long may it continue to be so

The pictures can be found here