CRUFTS, the Oscars ceremony of the canine world, is just over. And our own St Patrick's Day show, much beloved of the late Brendan Behan - it was the only place he could get a drink on the saint's feast day and he was sometimes, late in the day, disconcerted to find so many dogs hanging around his boozer has just finished its two day stint at the new Cloghran Exhibition Centre in Co Dublin. The hair dryers, shampoos and - brushes have been stowed temporarily and adoring owners are resting on their laurels for another year.
Crufts has been a great success for Irish owners this year; indeed they have been doing increasingly well in recent years, not just with the native breeds like Irish setters, Kerry blues and Irish wolfhounds, but with breeds not normally associated with Ireland. Take keeshonds, or Dutch barge dogs, for example.
Liz Wogan, a Frenchwoman who lives in Co Wicklow, saw her Deminiac Mustang Sally become an English champion, take best of breed and make it to the shortlist of eight breeds in the final of the utility group at the Birmingham Exhibition Centre. Sally, as she is known at home, is a two and a half year old bitch, bred by Liz and her husband, Jimmy.
Willie and keesie
"She won best minor puppy at seven months in the keeshond club championship show in England. Now she has won her third challenge certificate, which makes her an English champion. She won the best of breed over the dog. And she's only been shown in England seven times," Liz says proudly.
Sally's mother, Neradmik Sweet Pepper (aka Alice), was best bitch at Crufts last year and her father is an English champion, Keesland Quo Vadis.
Keeshonds, cruelly referred to as fat Pomeranians when they were introduced into British and Irish show rings in the 1920s, were extremely popular in Ireland for many years, but are fairly uncommon today. W B Yeats always kept them, and there's a famous photograph of the illustrious poet with one of his favourite "keesies".
There are 24 breeds in the utility group at Crufts, including breeds such as bull dogs, chow chows, Boston terriers, Dalmatians, poodles, Japanese and German spitz and Tibetan spaniels and terriers. In all, more than 2,000 dogs were shown in this group at Crufis. Not surprisingly, after all that Sally was awarded best of breed at the St Patrick's Day show in Dublin.
Then take June O'Shea and Noel Beggs from Slane, Co Meath. They won best of breed and were shortlisted in the working dog group at Crufts with their two year old rottweiler, Everready Deep Purple, known to all and sundry as Will. Rottweilers are a German breed.
Hand feeding
It was Will's first trip to Crufts and he beat the other 300 in his own breed and made it to the final with seven of the best of the 40 working breeds in the show.
Not that Will is a complete novice, though he's already an Irish champion. "He's got a fabulous temperament," June says. "He was one of a litter of 11. His mother had no milk, so we had to hand feed them every three hours. Only one died. We owned both his parents; his dad, Baron Jack, has just died." June says it's the first time an Irish rottweiler has won at Crufts. "With foreign breeds, it's very difficult," June says.
Other winners included two Irish Kerry blues which won best dog and best bitch; the dog was owned by Roger Good of Cork. A miniature schnauzer owned by Paul Scanlon and Monica Betts from Dublin was first in the special yearling dog category for the breed and a papillon owned by Dolly Kavanagh, also from Dublin, won first in the special junior bitch section for that breed.
Shepherds and mounties
A schipperkes owned by Paul and Jean Lawless of Carrickmines, Co Dublin, won a first special puppy dog prize and best puppy in breed; their Belgian shepherd dog won a reserve challenge certificate and was first in the special yearling dog category for the breed. Another schipperkes, bred by Rosemary Daly and John Meehan, won first in the special junior dog category for the breed. A Bemese mountain dog bred by Donie and Anna Kelly won his third challenge certificate, making him an English champion and first in the open dog section. A wire haired fox terrier shown by Harry O'Donoghue of Dundalk, Co Louth, won a reserve challenge certificate.
Northern Ireland produces more than its fair share of canine winners and this year was no exception. A chow chow shown by Terry Griffins won first in the special puppy bitch section for the breed; Jim Fletcher's whippet won first in the mid limit dog class and an Afghan hound bred by Anne Matthers won the first special yearling dog prize for his breed.
"Standards have gone up tremendously in Ireland since I started showing 20 years ago," Liz Wogan says.
"I do it as a hobby, as most people do, but they are totally dedicated to improving the standards of the breeds and it shows."