Eurodogshow Kortrijk 2019

The board of directors of the Eurodogshow is offering even more than before, with a very comprehensive ‘animal show’ open to all visitors, stallholders and the exhibitors who come down to KortrijkXpo every year.

Crufts replica

Right from the beginning, the committee has had a lot of respect for the world-renowned Crufts show, and they still like to present the Eurodogshow as a small replica of this great canine event. In 2016 the Eurodogshow even got a ‘wild card’ from the Kennel Club to award Crufts qualifications. This obviously made them extremely proud they remain very grateful for this opportunity. Exhibitors from the UK are always most welcome to the Eurodogshow. As a matter of fact, all staff and members of the board understand and/or speak English. There are also two vets present just before noon on Saturday, to complete the necessary documents for your trip back to the UK.

Exhibitors

In 2018 the show was a big success with a very respectable 4236 entries. Although you can’t compare this with the entries for the shows in the UK, in terms of Belgian standards and the rest of the continent this is a very pleasing entry. Last year, there was a substantial increase in the number of participants from the UK. Clearly, English exhibitors like the comfort that the Eurodogshow has to offer in the beautiful KortrijkXpo halls. Indeed, multiple times BIS been awarded to an English exhibitor. This was the case in 2016 and 2017. The double Eurodogshow 2018 was the only show on a continental level with over 497 entries from the UK and 28 entries from Ireland. The excellent location of the event in the city of Kortrijk is another great draw for participants from the UK. Kortrijk is not far from the Belgian coast and easy to reach from England by the HST train or by car and ferry.

Amazing prizes

From the very beginning, the Eurodogshow has been proud of its beautiful display of prizes and they continue to receive multiple congratulatory messages from a lot of exhibitors. Once again there are beautiful cups and trophies for each qualification are up for grabs. In fact everybody receives a prize from “Good” to “Best of Breed”.

Historical city

The city of Kortrijk also offers some great and inexpensive lodging. There are a lot of B&Bs that offer accommodation to exhibitors in the suburbs of the city. A visit to the historical city of Kortrijk can be very enriching during the week before or after the show. Under the professional guidance of a tour guide, exhibitors can still discover more of our wonderful Belgian history and culture.

Kortrijk Xpo halls

KortrijkXpo consists of six spacious and beautiful halls, situated just next to the city centre. I boasts heated rooms with wide rings and chairs or benches offer the necessary comfort to all exhibitors and visitors. The Eurodogshow was one of the first organisation to use the new complex back in 1967. Extremely capable international judges For this year’s Eurodogshow, the team of 39 judges comes from 19 countries all over the world. Every year they also invite many of their judges from the UK. Chairman Joël Vanlerberghe told OUR DOGS: ‘I like to work together with the UK judges, and indeed all our international judges, because they are very professional and know their breeds profoundly. ‘The European exhibitors understand the reason which led us to this decision very well, because more than 60% of our participants come from our neighboring countries. ‘Every year the Eurodogshow invites as many judges as possible from countries where the different dog breeds originated. This isn’t that obvious, because some breeds are hard to find in Europe. ‘We attach great importance to diversity in judging which will always contribute towards an improvement for the breeds. This remains for our valued exhibitors an important challenge during the competitions. ‘For the FCI CACIB Eurodogshow 2019, we have formed an excellent panel of 39 judges from 19 countries.’

Meet, shop and discover

Also this year, the Eurodogshow will co-operate with the Belgian breed clubs. Most of the active breed clubs are always present during the judging. They are also mentioned online on the website. The photos of the representatives from the different breed clubs can be downloaded with a simple click by every visitor on their ipad or smartphone. It is also easy to contact the Breed Clubs in order to receive information about buying a puppy. Good information is important because it’s still very easy to buy imported or commercially bred dogs in Belgium. The committee likes to invite judges recommended by the breed clubs to the Eurodogshow.

Shop

Every year the Eurodogshow is very grateful (and proud of) the many commercial stall holders who are present. You can find everything you need for your dog. There’s a lovely ambiance and always very friendly stand staff who have great knowledge of their products. You won’t be able to find as many quality commercial stalls anywhere else at European shows.

Discover

Once again this year, ‘discovery’ will be a very important part due to the collaboration with the Go-to-Show project. The Eurodogshow is the first show in Belgium which will engage in such a collaboration with the “Dog Major” of Kortrijk as chairman of the “Go-to-Show” project. Yes indeed, the board of directors of vzw Vlaanderens Rashondenfestival have opened a gateway for non-pedrigree dogs who are not recognised by the FCI. Now every dog owner can have his dog judged by a professional judge during the Eurodogshow weekend. First of all, there is a visual breed identification of non-pedigree dogs done online by the Eurodogshow. The Go-to-Show project is a totally new venture in Belgium.

Cooperation with Go to Show - Practical and manageable?

The board of directors of both organisations are aware of the important challenge and will do everything possible to run this integrated organisation in a disciplined manner and as smoothly as possible. Joël Vanlerberghe told OUR DOGS: ‘We can reassure you that all will take place on a well organised and structured schedule in the same halls.’ The entry fee for visitors (which is one ticket for both shows on the same day) is 10 euros online or 12 euro at the entrance)

Everybody is welcome

The whole family is welcome at the Eurodogshow 2019, as long as the necessary health requirements are met for the pets. Also all dogs with visitors are welcome for free at the Eurodogshow 2019. Every visitor has to pay an entrance fee but dogs don’t. New: Take part in the “Go-to-Show Life” for All dogs : 20 euro entry fee per dog, this includes free entry for its owner. “Go to Show Online” 10 euro per dog Open : 15 June – 15 September As with every year, the team are expecting about 20.000 visitors during both days of the show this year. See you all there!

The Eurodogshow Team