Day 1

 

I was invited to attend the Monographica in Portugal by the APP this year. The Monographica is the largest Portuguese Pointer event held in Portugal and perhaps the world. All of the major kennels and some individuals compete in the events and it is a great opportunity to see a good number of Perdigueiros. It takes place over two days with the first day reserved for field trials and the second day for conformation. This year it was held in a small town close to the frontier of Spain called Nisa which is in the region of Portugal referred to as the Alentejo.

 

I arrived in Portugal very early on Friday the 6^th of June and was warmly greeted at the airport by the Secretary of the APP, Mr. Marques Pereira. Fortunately he  was fluent in French and and very interested in talking about the Perdigueiro so we had a good exchange while traveling back to his hometown to pick up his wife before heading to Nisa. His wife was very kind and helped me learn some Portuguese while I was there. I picked up the Continental Portuguese Pimsleur tapes a week before leaving and was amazed how helpful some rudimentary Portuguese was in establishing friendships and interacting with the non English or French speaking people there.

 

Before hitting the road we stopped in a small city named Setubal on the Atlantic coast where we had an amazing fish meal. Apparently, the Portuguese have a great fish tradition. I can attest to its greatness firsthand. You would not think that whole grilled fish could taste so good. After, eating we took off and recommenced our discussion of the Perdigueiro and the APP. The ride to Nisa was about 3 hours and I learned much in that time. Mr. Marques Pereira is a lively person who is extremely passionate about the Perdigueiro.

 

After arriving in Nisa and meeting up with some of the other kennel owners we took the dogs to some land on the outskirts of town at sunset to relieve themselves, be fed and given a little exercise. The land owner, whose permission we did not ask to use his land, showed up and within minutes was happily laughing with the others in the group. After checking in to the hotel, everyone met at a restaurant that serves food that is typical of the region and we had a pleasant meal. The day was starting very early the next day so everyone packed it in for the night.

 

 

Day 2

 

The day began at 6 am for me and earlier for the participants in the field trials today as the dogs had to be fed and cared for before the event. Inscription took place at a café in the center of town called the Café Nisense. Here I was able to see most of the participants signup and to see some of the kennel owners who did not spend Friday night in town. To my surprise, Professor Moises of Canil de Mibafe made an appearance. Normally he does not compete in too many shows but I guess he makes an exception for field trials. I believe that he had a female that he wanted to get her TAN (Test of Natural Aptitude). The TAN is the first of 3 events that most young dogs usually take to prove they have what it takes to compete in the other 2 field events. The other events are called Derby and Open Class.  I’m not exactly sure, but it was my impression that the Derby is an intermediate level of qualification and that the Open Class is the most demanding to obtain. At some point, I will get definitive definitions for these qualifications and will update the website with that info, so stay tuned. I also ran into Geronimo and Victor Mauricio, although relative newcomers to the scene are much esteemed for their work with the Perdigueiro. The two, father and son, are inseparable.

 

After inscription we went to the area where the field trials were to take place. There were more dogs than expected to participate so they decided to split some of the events into 2 groups. The only problem is they needed another judge so Dr. Jorge Rodrigues of Canil de Torres was gracious enough to judge the Open Class event. The weather was torrid to the point of being dangerous. I was walking around with a fleece hat on as it was safer to have any hat on my head than none at all. I literally drank a gallon of water and I would conservatively say it was in excess of 100 degrees. This heat made things very difficult for the dogs participating in the trials. Apparently, extreme heat plays havoc with the dogs olfactory senses making it difficult to impossible to find birds. To my disappointment, I came to Portugal to see pointing dogs pointing and there was not much of that going on. I hope Mr. Fonseca of Canil de Choupal does not mind me quoting him but he said in French “C’est un jour a oublier” (This is a day to forget).

 

Once most of the trials were over, we placed a couple of birds and then let a dog find it and produce a proper point so I did not go home empty handed. The dog’s name is Prince de Ponta Dos Corvos. He did not disappoint and held a very firm point. We then packed up and went to a lunch event in town where the judges gave the results. When they said which dogs qualified, they gave specifics about each dog’s pluses and minuses so that the individuals involved would know exactly how to improve their dogs.

 

After the barbeque, most people went back to the hotel or back home to rest for the evening festivities or to prepare their dogs for the conformation show on Sunday. A nap was well in order after this trying day. After a few hours, we all met again at the rustic restaurant to enjoy dinner together. Everyone seemed to be in great spirits despite the less then optimal results of the day. I guess I was still dehydrated as I was drinking a lot of water at dinner. Mr. Fonseca said that I was putting myself at risk for drowning by drinking so much water and everyone had a good laugh.

 

At the conclusion of dinner, Mr. Fonseca began to speak to the group. Luis Figueira, son of Mr. Carlos Figueira of Canil de Tagus, was kind enough to offer translation services. As an aside, I spent a fair amount of time with both of Mr. Carlos Figueira’s sons this trip and really appreciated meeting them and getting to know them. Mr. Fonseca began to speak of my interest in the breed and my trips to Portugal. He spoke about the importance of having a representative of the APP in the States and then awarded me an official delegation from the APP to represent their interests in America. My initial responsibilities are outlined in the delegation and I will summarize for brevity’s sake:

 

• Breed preservation
• Conformation of field and beauty standards
• Reporting to the APP Portuguese Pointer population information
• Adherence to APP statutes

 

I was honored to have been given this designation as with the APP supporting initiatives it opens up many doors to Portuguese Pointer enthusiasts in this country. Possible short term goals would be extending membership to the APP for people in America, translation of Portuguese Pointer quarterly/biannual bulletins into English and the possibility of dogs  to participate in field trials with judges from the APP to obtain TAN, Derby and Open Class qualifications for their dogs. As this progresses, I’ll keep reporting so stay tuned.

 

After dinner, I lit up a cigar and went walking with the next generation of Portuguese Pointer enthusiasts, namely the Figueira sons, their wives/girlfriends, Miguel and a Frenchman by the name of Leidier who made the trip as he is an enthusiast of the Continental Hunting Breeds, specifically the Perdigueiro. We ended up at a rock concert in the center of town and soon after retreated to the hotel to get some sleep for the conformation show the following day.

 

Day 3

 

As the Conformation show or “beauty show” as the Portuguese call it started in the early afternoon there was plenty of time to get ready and check out of the hotel before meeting up for an early lunch at the rustic restaurant where the group had most of their meals. I sat with the less senior members of the group this time and had an interesting conversation with Leidier, the enthusiast from France.

 

Lunch ended and the conformation event soon began. There seem to be a stream of dogs being shown and a flurry of picture taking. I managed to get pictures of most if not all of the dogs being shown. When you see so many dogs, it really gives you a better idea of what characteristics make up a good Perdigueiro from a morphological standpoint. I will post all of the results so you may see how the individual dogs performed. The lion’s share of all the dogs came from Torres, Choupal, and Tagus kennels. They also were awarded the top prizes in most of the categories. The best in show was awarded to Best do Choupal an 11 year old dog. The judge said that it is practically unheard of for an 11 year old dog to win a best in show but he really was “the best”. I personally agree. He is in excellent condition for a dog of any age and was one of only two dogs able to qualify in the Open Class field event.

 

The show ended and everyone convened at a local theatre where awards were given for the individual events as well as to individuals not participating in field or conformation. To my surprise, I was given an award for the delegation and was presented with a beautiful clay plate with the shape of a Perdigueiro on it from imbedded small white pieces of marble. After the award ceremony, they had some snacks in the theatre and everyone, eventually, said their goodbyes and departed for their respective homes.  Mr. Marques Pereira and his wife were kind enough to offer me transportation back to the town of Setubal which is near their home and that is where I stayed the night.

 

The next day I took off for Lagos, a town on the coast of the Mediterranean in the region of Portugal called the Algarve where I spent a couple of days soaking up a little sun. And so ended my trip to the Monographica. I hope to return next year...

 

SEE ALL OF THE MONOGRAPHICA - CLICK HERE