© Oleg Boshkov

Everything is going according to plan: “We are proud to be a part of the most colossal fair of all the excellences of the countries of the world”.

Countdowns have the charm of hope and the rustle of calendar pages being ripped away. You think about it when words line up softly to tell of important promises and great expectations, of the desire to win and the will to wave the flag of Italian dog-loving higher still.

Dino Muto, President of the Italian canine organisation, speaks softly and with the longing to pass, soon and well, the great competition in the rings, which will be dressed in all colours from June 10th to 14th, for the event of the century, welcoming 147 nations. “Because this, he says, is our Expo, with a staggering number of dogs and handlers, visitors and operators of the sector. Furthermore, conferences, conventions, information exchange and technical experiences. The World Show is a true melting pot of knowledge. And of spectacle too. An event you don’t want to miss.

A unique occasion as unique as the great event that is being prepared at the gates of Milan and which will turn the metropolis, historic headquarters of the Italian canine organisation since the end of the 1800s, into a benchmark for worldwide dog-loving”.

The “World Dog Show”, as it is called in English, for us Italians loses a bit of its charm as always happens when the vocabulary of the northern countries is superimposed on the Latin languages. When instead we speak of it in Italian: the “Esposizione mondiale” for dogs of all known breeds becomes grandiose. Even while waiting, in this countdown, which only a few months ago seemed far away, now becomes more and more imminent.

Dino Muto listens and smiles not only with his eyes, which, blue as they are, always have something joyful in them.

“We have been working a lot and it will be more and more tiring still. But first, choices had to be made as to what path to walk and how to run along quick and safely. Now, the entire project, discussed and decided always unanimously by the board, is completed in its principal structures and well outlined even in its secondary aspects and details. It is like a mosaic which is being built and every day it looks more like the initial design to which it must hold up to. The Italian canine organisation has a precious tradition and this World Show is apt to confirm it.”

A great result already…

“Certainly. It has been possible thanks to the effort of the board, the directors, the staff of the Italian canine organisation, and all those who are collaborating on shaping this important event. Collectively, the responsibility has been taken on and is even greater when we consider that the Italian canine organisation has delivered, and continues to deliver its institutional tasks, while preparing the great event. That’s why it is important to me to thank everybody for their efforts and dedication with which this fantastic initiative is being faced”.

He quiets down and is surprised, thinking about how the noises filtering in through a closed window have the power to magically ignite your fantasy: that’s why you can compare them to the bustle of a river seeking the sea, or the breeze of the sirocco winds… In reality, it is the voice of the city which will remain anonymous and you don’t even know how to define it…

So, the commitment is close now and is added… “Yes, it is added to the usual work, which is not little, to the refresher courses for the expert judges and to many other initiatives, as well as the organisation of the different trials and the commitments in many of the shows. But these are only a few of the points I could make…”.

In short, the whole Italian canine organisation is at work… “The facts confirm this, but this is possible also thanks to an unprecedented effort by the board: everybody has contributed with their time and suggestions, in a laudable manner”.

Silence. The end of February in Milan still has fall colours which slide down late from the trees and the sky, and vanish in the gardens and let the sun start its attack on the valley and the hills of Brianza…But it is wonderful like this in a last trawling of the winter, which, when seen from behind the windows of the Italian canine organisation, looks like a surreal postcard, yellowed in time, especially when a tram passes by.

And it will be different and maybe even more beautiful in June, with the valleys of wheat and rice and this immense satellite city, symbol of the dream come true to defeat hunger in the world and which everybody wishes to be possible, and if at night the wind frees the sky the Alps seem to come even closer all of a sudden…

“We worked a lot and there will be even more work to do…”

The voice bursts the silence. “Because the days go by quickly and it is necessary to program the work to face up to unforeseen events. I think it may be incautious to only use mathematics on the Show with numbers and graphs: There is a risk to forget about the organisation altogether, the meetings, the suggestions… The registrations come in online and we have upgraded the system and taken the opportunity to make improvements, which take us to the vanguard.

We are defining hospitality for about 250 expert judges, some Italians, while others are coming from all the other continents. We focus particularly on a way to give the owners and handlers of the many dogs, which will be showcased in the rings, precise indications, secure guides and a favourable environment. The event surface extends to over 100,000 Sq m, as big as 14 football fields, divided into 6 sections”.

Is there anything that worries you?

“There are many worries, but we have already figured out the role of every single one and there is a collective and unanimous effort by the board. The goal is too important to not be met: it will be a consolidation of the prestige, which already is noteworthy, which Italian experts and breeders have acquired on an international level. Furthermore, we will have, undoubtedly, great benefits through contemporary initiatives and events and through the opportunity offered by the EXPO”.

Rodolfo Grassi
from the March issue of “I nostri cani”, ENCI official magazine.

THE WORLD DOG SHOW 2015 IN FIGURES

• 102,780 Sq m SHOW AREA
• 6 PAVILIONS DEDICATED TO THE EVENT
• 22,000 REGISTERED DOGS EXPECTED AT THE WDS
• 8,000 REGISTERED DOGS EXPECTED FOR THE CLUB SHOWS
• 100 RINGS
• 228 EXPERT JUDGES COMING FROM ALL CONTINENTS
• 460 RING STEWARDS WHO WILL ASSIST THE EXPERT JUDGES
• 20,000 PARKING LOTS
• N. 800 CAMPER VAN SPACES
• 8 SCIENTIFIC CONVENTIONS
• 12 CONVENTIONS ON ITALIAN BREEDS
• 50 SPECIALISED CLUBS AND DOG-LOVING GROUPS WITH THEIR OWN STANDS
• 15 FOREIGN CANINE ORGANISATIONS