At 2am on Friday the 25 June we left home for the World Dog Show held in Denmark. It was the first time I have attended a World Show and as I am the UK’s Junior Handling representative, it was even more exciting for me.
The only thing I wasn’t looking forward to was the 13 hour journey from Oxford to Denmark! We drove through France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, before finally reaching Denmark, the countries had some interesting features although I have to say I slept through a lot of the journey.
We eventually arrived in Herning, the town the show was being held in, at 8.30pm and were all relieved the journey had ended but were very hungry so we drove around Herning, looking for a local McDonalds, and we eventually found one! Once we’d eaten and settled in, we headed off to bed as we had to get up early the next morning for the show.
The World Dog Show is a four day show and we were going to be there for the last two days so our first day of the show was spent 'chilling out',When we arrived at the show, the Danish people were friendly and very welcoming with the show buzzing with excitement. There were lots of breeds at the show I hadn’t seen before, most of them unique to Europe so I found it interesting to talk to the handlers and find out about these different breeds.
Our second day at the show was the moment I had been waiting for, The World Junior Handler of the Year Competition, where I proudly represented the UK among 25 other countries. I handled a White Standard Poodle bitch called Pitfour Glenugie Over Ice, known at home as Carli, owned by Debbie and Drew Elrick. I felt very privileged to handle Carli in the main ring as she is a beautiful poodle, very 'showy' and a lot of fun!
I had an amazing weekend in Denmark, one that I will never forget so I would like to say a big thank you to Debbie and Drew Elrick for letting me handle Carli, Lisa Croft-Elliot for finding me Carli, Jenny Hutchinson for making my beautiful suit and not forgetting my mum, June, and Kester for taking me to Denmark and making the weekend so special, without you all it wouldn’t of been possible!
Also, I’d like to thank the Kennel Club for giving me the opportunity to represent the UK as the Young Kennel Club National Handler 2010.
Hollie Kavanagh.
You can watch a clip of Hollie's big moment in the ring here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRLo0hcsj9I
