UNBELIEVABLE FEELING, PERHAPS A MIRACLE.. Article in the July issue of the Hungarian The Dog magazin

UNBELIEVABLE FEELING, PERHAPS A MIRACLE.. Article in the July issue of the Hungarian The Dog magazin

Conversation with Zsuzsa Molnár the owner of Ursinus Velutus Paloma Bianca Diva, the Newfoundland that won the group at the world dog show.

Dear Zsuzsa,

-We have been meeting only at shows, but the readers might be interested in your civilian profession.

My husband and I have a company that we operate. It is a logistics centre where we also do custom formalities and warehousing. We are not totally independent of dogs here either. Our job is also about packaging the products for an international company that deals with dog products.
Our colleagues are mostly dog owners even though we did not intentionally choose them for that reason. But we were surprised to discover that nearly everyone around us is a dog owner.

-Besides running such a big company, how much time do you have for your dogs ?

I can always find time for my dogs. I have assistants at work and everything is well organized. In the evenings or in the mornings there are always 2-3 hours to spare for them and the weekends are devoted completely to the dogs. I think that a good businessman can organize his job and is able to arrange time for the important things in life, e.g. for dogs.

-How long have you been keeping and breeding dogs? Which breeds do you have?

Actually I have only had dogs for 6 years. I started it as a hobby. My husband\\\'s favourite breed was the German Shepherd. So we bought one of those first.

My favourite was the Newfoundland and that comes from a very old memory of seeing a very nice Newfoundland on Rákóczi street in Budapest about 20 years ago.

I remember the fantastic sight of this enormous black dog that was standing in front of a shop waiting for his owner. I never forgot that moment. I waited for the owner in front of the shop. When I approached him he seemed very happy to talk of his dog. He told me that his dog weighed 80 kgs. He told me about the personality and characteristics of the breed and that it was a joy to him to own a Newfoundland. I had thought about the breed a lot after that. I started reading and studying about the Newfoundlands as well. I felt sure, even then that I would own one of my own one day. So it was back those many years ago that I had fallen in love with the breed. When we bought our first home, the moment of truth has come. We bought a German Shepherd and a Newfoundland. The German Shepherd had descended from a very good show line. He started out as nice confirmation dog. His breeders talked to us about dog shows. Until then we had not know what showing, judging and a standard meant. But then the German Shepherd got to be bigger than he should have, while our Newfoundland\\\'s just the opposite  was smaller than a bitch as an adult male.

Some time has passed before we realized that we had bought a poor quality dog from a backyard breeder. By this time we had already contacted and started to work with the local organization of the Hungarian Kennel Club (MEOE). First we visited the local dog show. Later we went to more and more, mostly looking at the Newfoundlands. I had decided that I would get to know more about the breed. I had already made up my mind to buy a dog from the best possible breeder. We had been visiting the shows now for 3 years without a dog, only looking.

-How many dogs do you have now at home ?

At the moment we have five, two bitches and three dogs. Two of them are now World Winners.

-For the Newfoundland breed, maintenance conditions are very important. What kind of place you have for the dogs ? Are they kept inside or out in the garden ?

They are in the garden, they own most of it! We have built kennels for them which meet their every need. They even have a swimming pool. They love the water and swim almost daily. We have just finished our long time kennel plan. Now they have an airconditioned kennel. So they are spending the hot parts of the day inside and they go out in the evening, when it is cooler. The dogs seem to get on with each other very well. They are great companions and love each other. When we arrive home from a show, they greet each other with kisses and licks. The older ones take care of the younger ones.

-Your first successful dog, Skipper\\\'s Ben Quick was Junior World Winner in Porto in 2001. Why did you buy a dog right from Mr. Béla Siklósi ?

Of course, it was because of Skippy. We had seen him at many shows, and had been cheering for him a lot. We went to Milan only to cheer for him once again.

It was natural that we would want to get one of his puppies. We had met the owner of Skippy, Béla Siklósi, at the Middle-East European Cup at Ópusztaszer. We had been trying to negotiate with him for a year to get a puppy. The puppy that was chosen for us was Ben Quick. Zsolt Hanó made the choice of this particular puppy.

The trip to Porto and the show seemed a miracle to us. It was the first time that we went to a show with our dog having good chance of winning. Ben Quick\\\'s win was an unbelievable feeling, a miracle. It was such a success we still can not comprehend. A fantastic thing. I wish it to everyone. Although we had bought him and owned him, he was a credit to his breeder, Béla. So we owe a lot to him for the success of Ben Quick. And a great part of it goes to Zsolt, who groomed and handled him. Ben Quick got the InterChampion title some weeks before his third birthday.

Diva was bred neither in Hungary nor Italy. How did you buy her ? Who did the choosing of her ?

Of course, Zsolt found Diva for us! He saw how seriously we were taking to showing and he knew we were looking for a bitch to establish our Kennel. Zsolt has seen Diva at a show the year before. Her breeder, Oton Fantur was already a friend of his. Zsolt persuaded Oton to give her to us. Diva has been here with us since last August. We weren\\\'t anxious to put her in the ring until we felt we were all ready for her introduction. It seemed right that we brought her out this Spring when we felt she was ready! She was in excellent condition by the time we got to Szilvásvárad in April. She was successful there, as she went resCACIB both days. Only the champion class bitch defeated her. That bitch had gone Best of Breed both days and went on to be also Best of Group on Sunday. (A month later at the World Dog Show the tables were turned and Diva won against the black and white bitch. Sz.G.)

We went to Poland to the CACIB of Opole at the end of April. Diva went CACIB, BOB out of 28 Newfoundland and was also Best of Group. We went to Italy with her in the beginning of May. It was the most significant club show of Europe, the Gold Cup. Diva got second place in open class and was also second best bitch there. At the CACIB of Budapest, she was chosen the best getting the CACIB title. The very next day she was club winners bitch in Slovakia. Then next on the schedule was World Dog Show. It was another fantastic result, another miracle, for us. I still can not believe how big a success we had with her. A week after that we went to Osijek and she was CACIB, BOB, BOG and reserve Best in Show.

The World Dog Show was fantastic. I do not know if there has ever been a bitch winning Best of Breed - then going on to win Best in Group - at the World Dog Show before. Maybe we will never have such a successful dog again! It was a great feeling when everybody including some significant members of MEOE, the Hungarian Kennel Club - came to congratulate us. It was great that - then and there - the Hungarian group could be together and I was touched and overwhelmed by the fact that everyone came to cheer and applaud.

-Who is helping you and what do you do with the dogs ?

My duty is to prepare the coats and work on their grooming. It took me 4-5 years to learn how to bath and groom. I only let Zsolt cut them. He is the best in Europe. I know I am not the only one to think this way. I have been told this by many here in Hungary and in other countries. He is a true professional. It is Zsolt Hanó that handles her at most shows. The Opole show was different. This is where our dear colleague, Andrea Vértesi took her to the ring. Zsolt has been invaluable to us from the beginning. He chose Ben Quick and Diva for us because he knew instinctively that we wanted to show and breed. He has the ability to see at a very early age what a puppy will become.

-You will surely not stop here. What are your future plans ?

Of course we are hoping to get good results from breeding the dogs we have. In the meantime we are putting a lot of hope into our young bitch Victoria. She was also bred by Oton and is already HJCH expectant.

We would like to breed Diva in her next season. The father will probably be Béla\\\'s male, Ronnie who has had significant success, despite his young age. This combination is exciting. It has caused world-wide interest. There were people already enquiring at the Gold Cup. But everybody found us after the World Dog Show.

We absolutely do not want to become backyard breeders so we will definitely not breed her more than once a year. As she will not have many puppies we want to be able to choose where they go and who the owners will be. Of course we want to keep some of the puppies for ourselves. It matters a great deal to us that her puppies are healthy. That\\\'s one of the reasons we have chosen Ronnie. Both Diva and Ronnie are free of hip dysplasia.

We would like to say thanks once more to Oton Fantur for Diva, the friendly and professional help to Béla Siklósi and Zsolt Hanó. We could never have reached this level of success in our dogs without them.

-Thank you for this conversation, I wish you many more successes.

Gábor Szalánczi