The 2015 AIRK Nationals

Prior to doing the RKNA Miami Breed Show earlier this month, I hadn’t planned on doing the AIRK Nationals this year.  However, Zeus (once again) did extremely well in Miami, so the possibility of having him place at the AIRK Nationals seemed much greater, making the long 10 hour drive to Jacksonville, North Carolina worthwhile.  Here’s a photo of Zeus “praying” as we were driving though the mountains of West Virginia on our way to Jacksonville:

I’ll start out by saying that overall, it was a good show.  I went in with high expectations given that this show is the AIRK’s Nationals – presumable their largest, most prestigious show of the year.  I also was perhaps spoiled by last year’s AIRK Nationals which was hosted by the South Louisiana Rottweiler Klub.  This year the show was hosted by the Eastern Carolina Rottweiler Klub and comparing the two shows, the 2014 show was a better show.  Why?  Well, it was a lot of the “little things” – this year there were no T-shirts, and last year there were AWESOME T-shirts available.  Last year had very nice catalogs, and this year’s catalogs didn’t have a very professional appearance.  Last year there were AWESOME trophies and awards, while this year there were plain-Jane looking plaques.

I just expected more for a “Nationals” level event.  I sponsored a trophy for the 18-24 month male class, and placed an ad in their catalog, and it just felt like they could have done more to make the event “special.”

The location of the show was reasonably good – Onslow Pines Park.  It has everything we needed – ample parking, easily accessible rest rooms, and space for the ring:

The one factor which couldn’t be helped was the weather – it rained most of the day Saturday.  As a result, I didn’t take as many photos as I normally would.

The event was judged by Fernando Lucas Martin (FCI – Potugal).  Mr. Martin is the former President of the Portugal Rottweiler Club, and a long time breeder and judge.

I found his judging to be reasonable and fair – but perhaps a bit more “head centric” in his placements than would be expected as the dogs are more than just their head.  He was also willing to give feedback when asked, which was great.

The show has an impressive number of entries – eight in the class my dog and I competed in (18-24 month males) which is the largest I’ve seen in a youth class.  Many of the adult classes had 10 or more entries.  Zeus ended up placing third with a “V” rating (V3) in this class, which we were quite thrilled with earning considering the level of competition:

 

This show marks the sixth straight Sieger show in which Zeus has placed.  In fact, he’s placed in what are arguably the three most important Rottweiler Sieger shows in the US – the 2014 American Rottweiler Club Nationals (V2), the 2014 RKNA Klub Sieger (V2), and now his V3 placement at the AIRK Nationals.  Hopefully we can continue this trend!