Street dogs and pure bred dogs (18-02-22)
Street dogs and purebred dogs
You have to compliment the Chinese on 'their' Olympics. It is a pity that there is no audience, but the participants are very enthusiastic about the organization. That seems to be confided to the Chinese.
And the sport-loving fellow man is amazed at the levels. In several sports one speaks of a huge time difference, ('a gaping hole)', if it is about half a second or even less. And differences sometimes have to be calculated in thousandths of a second. For example, the difference between a 1st place (gold) and a 10th place is sometimes less than a second. It's getting faster and faster. It is no different in pigeon sport.
PIGEON SPORT
Sprint races in the better centers in Belgium sometimes last nog longer than barely two minutes. But also on the further distances, up to and including Barcelona, the pigeons get less and less time for a top ranking.
In 2022, specialization is the answer to the question of how to distinguish yourself. One can forget about participating in races of 100, 300, 600 and 1,000 kilometers in the same loft with the same pigeons. Although, participating might still go, but excel! That's another story.
SPECIALIZE
The future increasingly belongs to people who specialize. For example, there are people who only play with youngsters, others only with hens (vd Wouwer, Derwa, Daniels), still others only sprint.
A young pigeon specialist in Belgium is Olivier Geyskens. One of the best in the country. Of course you also need good ones to excel with youngsters, although you sometimes hear otherwise. And my readers know what I think about it.
You get good pigeons by crossing! You have to do inbreeding if you want to sell. Olivier wants good pigeons and that explains why all his good birds are crossing products. Street dogs are stronger than purebred dogs, says the Belgian.
TYPE OF PIGEONS?
Currently he has a kind of pigeons that can win from 100 to 600 km. With tailwind and against the wind. What kind? He had them in his loft, pigeons with dazzling pedigrees, but he couldn't do anything with them and despite their breath taking pedigrees they had to make way for others. And those pigeons from others made him who he is now; national top. Who were those others with whose pigeons he was so successful?
Lossignol, van Leest Peeters, Menten, Dockx, Helsen, Daans, Baeck, Geyskens Denivelle, Hermans, Huls, Laenen.
Not that these fanciers don't have any good birds, on the contrary, it's just that this is less known or not at all known abroad. As is the case so often. Remember what I once wrote about Gaston v d Wouwer. Around 2010 clients who wanted my birds had one condition: ‘Not v d Wouwer blood in them.’ Later the same fanciers begged me for pigeons with v d Wouwer blood !!