The Raduno Nazionale = show took place on Aug 5 at Campo Imperatore, a big plateau in the mountains at the height of approx. 1800 m.
The show was organized by Circolo del Pastore Maremmano Abbruzzese, Delegazione Abruzzo, Molise e Marche. Mr Giacinto D'Alessio was judging and a total of 81 PMA were entered in this show, divided as follows.
Male: Libera 16, Giovani 5, Cuccioloni 7, Cuccioli 4, LIR 3, Classe Privata 1, Veterani 3, Campioni 1
Female: Libera 13, Giovani 5, Cuccioloni 8, Cuccioli 4, LIR 3, Veterani 1, Campioni 2. Furthermore there were a class called Coppie which would mean a pair, one male and one female, and then breeders with 3 entered.
Age restrictions for the different classes: Libera over 15 months, Giovani 9 to 19 months, Cuccioloni 6 to 9 months, Cuccioli 3 to 6 months, Veterani over 8 years.
LIR is a class for dogs that are not registered yet, but the owner would like to have them taken into the breed. The ancestors of these dogs are either not all known, or are not registered.
LOI the normal dog register with all parents known.
A little guide to you on the abbreviations in connection with each dog: b. is date of birth, p. is father, m. is mother, All. is breeder, Prop. is owner. CH stands for champion.
Janet Finlay and Rachel Cowgill arrived late on Friday night for the show too. The car was a bit crowded when we headed up towards Campo Imperatore (The Emperors Field) on Sunday morning. There was a Rassegna (sheep show) going on next to the dog show and the flocks were of course accompanied by the dogs.
Unfortunately I did not have any time to have a look at these dogs as I tried to keep up with the show.
The show started around 10 am. We did not stay the whole show, we simply hadn't the strength. The sun was hot and after 6 hours the judge took a luch break after completing the female open class. We headed for luch too, but did not return to the show, it was about 5 pm. at this stage and we were totally worn out. So we returned to the town of Castelnuovo and Sig. Anna, who gave us a special treat on our last night there.
The judging system was quite different from what we have in Finland. Each dog got an individual written ciritic (at least this is what I think the secretary in the ring was doing), this we have in Finland too. But from there on everything was different.
After judging each dog separately all dogs came in the ring again, the judge had them running a few rounds and then picked out some dogs. A few more rounds, he lined them up and shook the hand of the winner and that was it. No ribbons, no nothing to indicate the winner, not to mention the other placings. So I just assumed that the judge shook hand with the winner and the dog next to it was second and so on.
The judge (and his assistants) made a thorough job measuring each dog; chest, head, skull, nose and a few more measures.
If my observations concerning class winners are not correct I apologize for the mistakes.
Personally I think the male classes should be ok, the female open class is another matter.
The line-up was done a few times with different dogs up front, so I might be mistaken about the winner here.
Most dogs were not prepared for the show in anyway. They were just taken from the fields and would return there after the show. Some of them carried the Vreccale, the iron collar with sharp spikes to protect the dogs throat. Have a close look and you will see them on the dogs. The male open class winner wears one and they are so tightly fit.