Judging in Colombia
Santander Kennel Club
Santander, Colombia
March 5 and 6, 2022
This was my first foreign assignment since judging the Show of the Year in Bangkok in December 2019. Due to Covid, foreign assignments were cancelled or indefinitely delayed. Now we have to fill out a lot of paperwork and forms to get on a plane to foreign countries. I did not need a Covid test to leave the States, but I did need one to return.
On Thursday, March 3, I arrived at Newark several hours early to check in for my flight to Bogotá. A very helpful United agent had to help me with all the forms that needed to be loaded into the system to check in. It actually took the young lady about 15 minutes to complete the whole process.
Bogotá is only about a five-and-a-half-hour flight from Newark. We arrived around 11 p.m., and I overnighted at a very nice hotel about five minutes from the airport. The club had arranged for a driver to meet me and drive me to the hotel. He had a large sign with my name, so he was easy to spot. Like so many people in Colombia, he did not speak English. Around 1 a.m. I settled into bed, only to get up at 4 a.m. for my flight to Bucaramanga.
Avianca was the airline to Bucaramanga. At 5:30 a.m., the Avianca check-in lines were long, but moved fairly quickly. The flight was less than an hour.
A driver met me and drove me to Santander, where we were staying for the show. The roads were only one lane each way, with constant hairpin turns. The drive took more than an hour and a half. At one point there was a rockslide, which delayed us because the traffic was one way.
Arriving at the hotel, I was surprised to see it was a bit rustic. Ivan Sandoval the show chair was embarrassed about the hotel. Ivan booked the hotel from pictures on the internet. Ivan showed me the pictures, and it looked wonderful. The problem was much of the place is still under construction. The staff could not have been nicer, and went out of their way to make us feel comfortable. We had large rooms but did not have a chair or a desk.
Luckily, a young man carried my heavy suitcase down to my room. The path was muddy, and we had to be careful walking on it, especially in the dark. The flashlights on our cell phones came in very handy walking in the dark.
There is a lot of construction going on at the resort, and it will be very beautiful in a year from now.
We only ate breakfast at the hotel, and the food was very good. The fruit and fruit drinks were really delicious. When it rained the staff brought umbrellas to our rooms for the walk to the outdoor dining area.
Frances Smith from Argentina was the other judge, and she had arrived at the hotel very late on Thursday night. Frances has been involved with Yorkies since 1965, and has also been successful with Dachshunds and some other breeds. I have judged with Frances in the States and several countries around the world. Not only is she a great judge, but she also gives seminars to aspiring judges.
I quickly settled into my room and enjoyed two cups of great coffee before departing with Frances for a day of touring. Being that Frances speaks English, it made the tour so much better. The tour-guide driver did not speak English. I was surprised how many people, including the young people, did not speak English.
After about a half-hour drive, we went to a very beautiful park. It is the largest canyon in the world. It truly was breathtaking. You have to see it to get the full impact of the setting. The canyon lies between two enormous mountains. Down at the bottom of the canyon is a very large river. There is a lot of silver in the river, and at nighttime the water looks like a sparkling silver cloth.
At the top of the mountain on one side, you go down to the river on a tram. It crosses over the river and up to the top of the other mountain. On the other side is a beautiful park with stores, places to dine and many historical statues. It was the first time I dined on goat, which was very tasty.
Friday was a tiring day, since we walked and walked with many steps, and I had only had three hours sleep the night before.
That evening around 8 p.m., Ivan and his family, along with some other club members, treated Frances and me to a wonderful, relaxing meal. Being the only guests, we were told to meet for breakfast at around 8 a.m. on Saturday. When we retired to bed around 11 p.m., Denys Jensen had not yet arrived.
Around 7:30 the next morning, I was so pleased to see Denys outside having a smoke. I love spending time talking dogs with Denys, but we do also spend a lot of time smoking together. Denys was not actually on the panel, but was a reserve judge in case something happened to Frances or myself.
I have judged with Denys in many countries of the globe. She has been a noted Pointer breeder, but is a great teacher of all breeds. At this point in my life I find my foreign assignments so much more educational than judging in the States. That’s because overseas the judges get to spend more relaxing time together, and we get to see each other judge, and then discuss the judging. Also, so many of the foreign judges have great knowledge of many, many breeds. Being 73, I now find fewer judges who can teach me a lot like I did in my younger days.
The club was going to pick us up at 8:30 a.m., but when they did not arrive until 9 a.m., we knew the show was being delayed. We arrived at the show around 9:30 a.m., but they were still working on the organization of the show.
The show site was a wonderful venue, with several nice buildings and sports areas. There were two rings under tenting with turf like a putting green. Around 10:30 a.m., we started judging. The first day Frances had 85 dogs and I had 86, and vice versa for Sunday. When the sun became a little bit strong, there was plenty of shade to keep the dogs and handlers very comfortable.
When all the breeds were finished, we had a very relaxing, wonderful lunch. We had a choice of beef, chicken or Caesar salad with chicken. All the choices were delicious.
About 3:30 p.m., or a little later, we started the 10 FCI groups. Some of the groups were rather small, but we also had Puppy groups and Junior groups along with the regular groups. On the first day, I did Best Puppy and BIS, and Frances did Best Junior, and vice versa for Sunday.
The Best Puppy had some very nice pups, and a lovely Frenchie was Best Puppy. Frances had a very nice lineup for Best Junior. For BIS, I had a lot of really top-quality dogs, and several could win well in the States. My BIS was a Bearded Collie that is the best Beardie I have judged in many years. He was bred in Colombia but sired by a dog in California. The last time I was in Bogotá, about three and a half years ago, he was a young puppy. I had a very hard decision in Beardies for Best Puppy. His litter sister also impressed me greatly. The male went on to win Best Puppy in Show under me. About two and a half years ago, his sister won the Herding Group under me at the big show in Mexico called Expocan. So the dog is not a fluke. I will be shocked if he does not turn out to be a great sire.
When the Beardie went BIS, second place from the Herding Group, a lovely Old English Sheepdog, came in to compete for Reserve. Reserve BIS was a beautiful black male Labrador. He was bred in Mexico by Manuel Queijeiro. His grandsire is a dog named “Vegas,” bred in Poland but a great sire all over the globe.
Third BIS was a Newfoundland of great quality. He and the Lab were handled by Ivan Sandoval – same name, but no relation to the show chair. Ivan has been a famous breeder of Welsh Terriers.
Fourth BIS was a very handsome Doberman. This young dog is owned and handled by a young man, and it is his first purebred dog. This dog could do well in the States.
It was after 7 p.m. when we finished taking all the pictures. In many foreign countries, nearby all the photos are not taken until after BIS, and nearly everyone who gets a ribbon wants a picture. In the States when BIS is finished, we only have two pictures to take: the BIS and the Reserve Best.
When all the pictures were finally finished, we were all tired, hungry and very thirsty. We went directly to a beautiful restaurant. Strangely it was a huge place, but very few customers were present, and it was the same the night before. In the States they could not stay in business. We enjoyed lots of wonderful wine. We retreated to the hotel around 10:30 p.m. to enjoy a good night’s sleep.
Sunday morning we got up to heavy rain, and the staff came with umbrellas to get us to breakfast. Happy to say the rain did not last very long. We started judging earlier on Sunday, but it was still around 10 a.m. before we started. Sunday, Frances judged Best Puppy and BIS, and I judged Best Junior. Frances also put the same Frenchie Best Puppy. My Best Junior was an extremely good Staffie Bull. She can win anywhere in the world today. Due to a mistake by the handler, she did not get shown the day before.
For BIS, Frances also pointed to the Bearded Collie. It was interesting that throughout the two days most of the judging was very similar.
For some reason it seemed like we had a lot more pictures to take on Sunday. This was because some people did not get their photos taken on Saturday evening.
On the way to dinner, we got a call that the restaurant we were going to was closed. The replacement restaurant was a wonderful place. It specialized in great pizza. They offered lots of different types of pizzas and great wines. We all enjoyed several different pizzas and each was so delicious. Being a pizza lover, I truly enjoyed the meal very much. It was a perfect evening to celebrate a wonderful show.
On Monday the club was putting on seminars for aspiring judges and exhibitors. Frances put on one of the seminars. Denys and I went over to the showgrounds and enjoyed a couple of hours of great conversation and coffee. We all enjoyed a nice lunch on the showgrounds.
While starting lunch, I learned that I needed a Covid test to get on the plane. I had figured I could get the test done when I arrived at the Bogotá airport for my overnight connection. The club found out I could get a test at the Bucaramanga airport, and made an appointment for me. When we arrived at the airport, the driver pulled over to the side of the road before pulling into the parking lot. He made a call, and a young lady came out to administer the rapid test. Being that neither she nor the driver spoke English, and with me not understanding Spanish, it took better than 15 minutes for the results to show up on an email on my phone.
On my arrival to Bogotá, my luggage was missing. Apparently, it got on the earlier flight. After some time, an Avianca agent determined my bag was there at the airport, but did not know exactly where. After about half an hour, it was found.
When I exited the airport, a driver was holding a sign with my name to drive me to the very nearby Habitel hotel. The next morning, I got on the hotel shuttle at 6:30 for my return flight to Newark. At the United counter, the process went very quickly, and the agent told me I could use the Avianca lounge. I enjoyed some snacks and two glasses of red wine to help me sleep on the plane. The flight took only five hours, and they served us a nice warm sandwich, chips and a chocolate bar.
When I entered the immigration area after landing at Newark, I was shocked to see there was only a handful of people in front of me. I have never witnessed this before. I think it was due to most international flights arriving at a later hour.
On the drive home I kept thinking of what a great trip it was, thankful that we now can travel to foreign assignments once again. I also started to look forward to my trip to Peru in less than two weeks.
A big, big thank-you to Ivan Sandoval and the committee of the Santander Kennel Club for making my assignment so memorable.