Special Gala-dinner in honour of the Best Russian Dog-2021 winners. Post release
For four years the Best Russian Dog organizing committee have collected the outstanding representatives of cynology in the Tchaikovsky banquet hall of the Four Seasons Hotel in Moscow. The aim of the project is to congratulate the achievements of the best social serving, working and show dogs, their handlers, owners and breeders.
This year the ceremony was held on the 8th of February and opened by the founder of Best Russian Dog rating Mr. Nicolas Pineiro. In his speech he mentioned that despite the difficult and tough year with all changing situations the Best Russian Dog project has developed and implemented two new online-products and made the ranking based on results of 56 closed zootechnical events in Russia. Nicolas thanked the project partners and friends who share the idea of unity, respect and equal treatment of all members of the cynological community, careful treatment of animals, for support.
The second year the main partner in promoting the principles of humanity and fairness in the world of cynology and further is the Valta Pet Product Company, the leader of the zootechnical industry. One more reason for celebration was the 25th anniversary of the company, the biggest distributer of pet products in Russia. Irina Golovchenko, the general director of Valta Pet Products, and Anatoly Golovchenko, the financial director and shareholder of the company, highlighted that the mission of the company to struggle with people loneliness is as relevant as never before. Communicating with pets and caring for them has relieved many people of stress while self-isolating. After the restrictions are cancelled, the long-awaited live meeting with old friends and newly acquired like-minded people at the Gala dinner brings twice as much joy.
The pandemic has changed not only daily routine but the rewarding as well. The best social project became a “My social assistant” project. For the first time we rewarded zoo volunteers, dog trainers, handlers, dog shelters volunteers who are professional dog people who show a proactive social position and take part in volunteer movement.
The “My Social Assistant” project is implemented by the Department of Labour and Social Protection of Moscow and the specialized employment centre “My Career”. Its aim was to help older people and people with chronic diseases, who must stay at home in accordance with the order of the Mayor of Moscow dated March 23, 2020 No. 26-UM. Zoo volunteers looked after pets and provided contactless help to the people with a high risk of the severe disease. Volunteers work was highly appreciated by the Moscow government.
The sponsor for the social nominations was Regional public organization for assistance to the protection of animal world, called “Find a friend”. The representative of the fund Margarita Erman thanked all winners for their contribution for development of the social significant parts of cynology. The best social-oriented organisation was the volunteer non-profit public association “Lisa Alert” which was founded on the 15th of October 2010 to help find missing people. The “Lisa Alert” units work in 59 regions of Russia. More than 25 thousand volunteers take part in search operations. Michael Revin, a member of the search and rescue team K9 “Lisa Alert”, and a rescue dog Martin received the reward on behalf of the group.
The next person to be on stage was Yana Volodazhskaya, the founder of homeless animal shelter “Khvostatyy dom” – the best animal shelter 2020. In 2018 the charitable foundation “Tvori dobro” decided to found a shelter for homeless animals “Khvostatyy dom”. 1300 animals are now housed there with new buildings being built and also being re-equipped. For three years more than 1500 pets have found a new home with volunteers and shelter partners help.
The best graduates of the canine training centre “Assistance dogs for disabled people” was Svetlana Telitsyna and her guide dog – a Labrador named Chester. She with another graduate Julia Pashkova have organized a club “Mudriy Pes” (Wise Dog) for owners of guide dogs in Moscow and Moscow region. The main goal of the club is to get publicity for assistance dogs and creation of a comfortable urban space within the framework of the federal programme “Accessible Environment” and support for guide dog owners.
The best canine therapist 2020 was Larisa Khozyainova, psychologist of the highest category, cynologist, canine therapist, head of the “Friend for Friend” team, head of the “Friend@KLP” interagency project and author of the book “Why does a man need a dog”. Today the “Friend for Friend” team consist of three psychologist- canine therapist and six prepared therapy dogs. Canis therapy is carried out officially in six government agencies. The youngest ward is 10 months old, and the oldest is 101 years old!
Special gratitude for the long-term support of domestic dog breeding and for the popularization of the culture of responsible treatment of animals was expressed to the Public Television of Russia TV channel, which was represented by Igor Naygovzin, Deputy Director General of the channel.
Tatiana Sereda was the winner of the Best Veterinary Doctor award. More than 10 years ago Tatyana Vladimirovna began to apply Holter monitoring in veterinary practice and was one of the first in Russia who introduced this method for the diagnosis of hereditary heart diseases.
The social awards were followed by the awarding of the winners of service dog breeding – dogs and canine handlers serving in the ministries and departments of the country. Each of the nominees were awarded by members of the Presidium of the All-Russian public organization “Officers of Russia”.
Andrey Panov and the Belgian Shepherd Dog Zimba represented the FCS of Russia. In 2020, Zimba found over 80 international mail items containing prohibited substances. The police dog is the guardian of order and protects the peace of citizens. In 2020, the Rottweiler Bobby became the best dog of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. Bobby was accompanied by the best cynologists of the Ministry of Internal Affairs: Alexey Shuvikov and Margarita Mikhailova. The border collie rescue dog Akaya found three missing people in 2020. The winner of the internal competition of the Ministry of Emergencies in 2020 and the best rescuer according to the rating, Alexander Alexandrov, thanked the four-legged friends for their help and noted that rescue work is a teamwork of the entire canine crew.
The canine team of the Russian Ministry of Defense, consisting of Oleg Chesnokov and the German shepherd dog Grisha, scored the maximum number of points at the international army games last year, with which they were congratulated once again at the Best Russian Dog ceremony.
After the awarding of service dogs and dog handlers the announcement of the winners in the show nominations started. The best breeders of the Valta Breeders’ Club Daria Rudakova and Anastasia Chudakova were the first to go on stage for congratulations. Following them, the breeders – recognized masters of grooming Valentina Popova, Olga Arkhipova and Elena Pykhtar – received applause from the audience and gifts from the partners of the gala dinner.
For a whole year, thousands of Russian dogs – representatives of 10 breed groups according to the classification of the International Cynological Federation (FCI) – fought for the first places in the “Best Russian Dog” rating. And only those of them who scored the maximum number of points for victories in 56 international dog shows in 2020 were able to walk the red carpet accompanied by handlers and owners.
Following the usual tradition, the ceremony ended with the “Best Russian Dog” category. Rising star, the Norfolk Terrier Terravirtus Jo Dori became the first junior of all breeds. Memorable awards and recognition of colleagues were given to the Best Handler Olga Agapova, who took the podium for the third year in a row, the Best Handler-Owner Elena Pykhtar and the Best Breeder Tatyana Abutova. In the final, Tatiana’s champion – Newfoundland Aquatoriya Kelvin Zheneral took the stage. He was the winner of Best in Show, the main nomination of the rating. The general partner of the event “Valta Pet Products” represented by Irina and Anatoly Golovchenko, Dmitry Mamontov, director of corporate communications, and the organizer of the gala dinner, Nicholas Pinheiro, presented Tatiana with a certificate for flight and accommodation in Budapest during the European Dog Show 2021.
The organizers of the Best Russian Dog 2020 ceremony are grateful to all partners and participants of the event. Special thanks to official photographers Lana Polyakova and Olga Kovalenko for the photo report, Our Dogs magazine and their representative Maria Gomanko, as well as the Dogwinner portal represented by Sergey Sidorov for broadcasting the event. Magazines “Friend” and “Zooinform” for informational support. Volunteers of the Krasnaya Sosna shelter for stray dogs provided invaluable assistance in organizing the gala dinner. Throughout the evening the jazz cover group Playtime performed for the guests.
Partners of the event:
● The main partner – Valta Pet Products, the official distributor of grain-free food Wellness CORE and Monge. Irina Golovchenko, General Director. http://valta.ru/
● The Russian Small Animal Veterinary Association, represented by the President Sergey Sereda. http://rsava.org/
● The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, represented by the head of the canine service of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, Hetman Roman Yurievich
● The Federal Customs Service of Russia, represented by the head of the Dog Service of the Federal Customs Service of Russia Filippov Vladimir Alexandrovich
● The Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia represented by the chief specialist-expert of the Department of rescue teams of the EMERCOM of Russia Pavel Valerievich Andreyev
● The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, represented by the head of the Federal State Institution “Centre for Dog Training of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation” Kachkin Sergey Anatolyevich
● All-Russian organization “Officers of Russia” represented by Chairman of the Presidium Sergey Anatolyevich Lipovy
http://oficery.ru/
● Regional public organization for assistance to the protection of animal world “Find a Friend” (Naidi druga)
● Educational and canine centre “Assistance dogs for disabled people” represented by the Deputy Director of the Centre Elina Pochueva
www.guidedogs.ru
● Specialized employment centre “My career”
https://mycareer.moscow/
● Moscow municipal shelter-kennel for stray dogs “Krasnaya Sosna”
http://priut-ks.ru/
● All-Russian Federal TV Channel “Public Television of Russia”
● The world’s only weekly canine newspaper “Our Dogs“ https://www.ourdogs.co.uk/subindex/home.php
● „Drug“ magazine, represented by director of advertising service Oksana Gusarova
https://drougmagazine.ru/
● „Zooinform” magazine, represented by the editor-in-chief Tatyana Katasonova
● Dog lovers educational community “Dog winner” represented by founder Sergey Sidorov
https://www.facebook.com/DogWinnerClub/
Best Russian Dog 2020 ® www.bestrussian.dog
Group I (Sheepdogs and Cattledogs)
Sandauri yurai heepp
Breed: Bearded Collie
Gender: female
Owner: Oksana Zagainova
Breeder: Nadezhda Rudenko
Points: 808
Group II (Pinscher and Schnauzer – Molossoid and Swiss Mountain and Cattledogs)
Aquatoriya Kelvin Zheneral
Breed: Newfoundland
Gender: male
Owner: Tatiana Abutova
Breeder: Tatiana Abutova
Points: 1467
Group III (Terriers)
L’End Show Metti Surprise At Glare
Breed: Bedlington Terrier
Gender: male
Owner: Elena Pykhtar
Breeder: Elena Pykhtar
Points: 877
Group IV (Dachshunds)
Nezhnyj Hischnik Astra
Breed: Dachshund standard smooth-haired
Gender: female
Owner: Ivan Symonenko
Breeder: Ekaterina Domogatskaya
Points: 813
Group V (Spitz and primitive types)
LSA Angel Rising Star
Breed: American Akita
Gender: female
Owner: Vladimir Khromov
Breeder: Vladimir Khromov
Points: 957
Group VI (Scent hounds and related breeds)
Curly Pom’s Dynasty DJ
Breed: Gascon Saintongeois
Gender: female
Owner: Maria Evteeva and Linda Stark
Breeder: Dominika Hornakova
Points: 329
Group VII (Pointing Dogs)
Mila Grandset Michelangelo David
Breed: Scottish Setter (Gordon)
Gender: male
Owner: Lyudmila Porotikova & E. Nikitina
Breeder: Lyudmila Porotikova
Points: 1342
Group VIII (Retrievers, Flushing Dogs, Water Dogs)
Lozung Absolute Legend Fernflower
Breed: Golden Retriever
Gender: male
Owner: Irina Mironova
Breeder: Olga Agapova
Points: 636
Group IX (Companion and Toy dogs)
Shen de lux hummer
Breed: Shih Tzu
Gender: male
Owner: Olga Sautina
Breeder: Olga Sautina
Points: 764
Group X (Sighthounds)
Zlat O’Harry Altair
Breed: Afghan Hound
Gender: male
Owner: Gleb Kornienko
Breeder: Gleb Kornienko
Points: 917
Best Handler
Olga Agapova / Moscow / 3214 points
Best Breeder
Tatiana Abutova / Tyumen / 2356 points
Best Handler Owner
Elena Pykhtar / Saint Petersburg / 1463 points
Best Dog Junior
Terravirtus Jo Dori
Breed: Norfolk Terrier
Gender: male
Owner: Alena Poludnyakova and Olga Ivkucheva
Breeder: Victoria Morozova
Points: 197
Best dog Best in Show
Aquatoriya Kelvin Zheneral
Breed: Newfoundland
Gender: male
Owner: Tatiana Abutova
Breeder: Tatiana Abutova
Points: 727
