FACT OR FICTION???

Here are a few of the more common “beliefs” about the world of dog shows. How many of these you think have merit is your call but I will give you my opinion…

1. If you want to win points you must enter your dog in the Open class.

     I have heard this from the first time I went to a dog show some 40 years ago. I honestly believe that, for the most part, the more competitive dogs are often found in the Open classes. But you know as well as I that any number of points are awarded from Am-Bred and Puppy. Let us not forget what should be (but seldom is) the most important class at the show…Bred-By. This class is too frequently misused as a “filler” for the not-so-competitive dogs in order to build majors. This should be the class that has the best competition. What is more important than a breeder showcasing the very best they have to offer? Isn’t that the very concept that drives the sport of dogs? I can tell you that I have put the Bred-By class winner at the front of the line in the Winners class at Specialties just as a way of showing off the class. Sometimes the animals involved have not spoken well for the breeding programs. Please use this class wisely and appropriately. I know of no judge that will not consider every dog in the Winner’s class regardless of how they got there. Also remember that most breeds have 6 class winners vying for points. Our breed can have 11 dogs in the Winners class. A judge normally has a few good Danes from which to select.

2. You can’t win with a puppy.

     Unfortunately I believe that there are certain judges that will not (in most instances) consider a puppy for points. I say this after many conversations with fellow judges over the last 25 years (God, I’m getting old!!!). Their rationale is that a pretty puppy does not necessarily mean a pretty adult. This is true. At our National you can sometimes see a hundred or more lovely puppies but that often does translate into a 100 nice adults. However, the judge’s responsibility is not to try to forecast what will happen in the future. They are to judge the dogs ON THE DAY, period!!! As many of you may know, I am not the least bit hesitant to award a puppy points of even BOB if, in my opinion, they are the best specimen on that day.

3. You can’t win with a Harl or Mantle under some judges.

     I have given my opinion on this subject in a previous article. But, just to reiterate… I believe that there is some truth in this conception. I do not, however, think it is as common a problem as some breeders would have you believe. No matter how many times we try to educate individuals outside of our breed, these colors simply intimidate some judges. In order not to make a “mistake” they just play it safe and go with another color. When I was exhibiting (the Dane had 3 legs in those days) the dogs with color were, with a few notable exceptions, simply not as good as the fawns and brindles. They were often very extreme… resembling, in some cases, a black-and-white Dobe or, in other cases, something that should be providing milk to the owners. Today that pendulum has swung (frequently) to the other side. It is not at all uncommon to find these color classes being the highest quality at a given show.

4. You can’t win without a handler.

     This is certainly one of the most frequently heard concerns. I believe that there is a definitive and necessary place for the professional handler. My wife and I used a handler (the late George Heitzman) even though my wife had a wonderful ability in the ring. I know the mechanics of handling and have even put a Group I on one of my dogs but I just was not comfortable and knew that my lack of confidence would not do my dogs any good. There are many owners that are in the same boat. They know what to do and may even do a great job but they just don’t want to go into the ring. (How many people do you know that would make outstanding judges but just don’t want any involvement in that part of the sport? Believe me there are plenty of those out there.)
There are also those individuals who do not have the knowledge or physical ability to go into the ring and present their dog in a way that it will compete effectively with the others. There are also a vast number of VERY successful owner handlers. It is true that the professional handlers win their share and then some. But, if they are a true professional handler (this is a different breed then those people that handle for money and will take anything into the ring) they will only present competitive specimens.

In closing I would advise new show people that sometimes the reason that your dog is not winning is simply because the competition is better. There are certain areas of the country where it is absolutely necessary to be able to HONESTLY critique your dog and those that you are trying to defeat.

Your comments are welcomed and appreciated.

Bill
                                                                                 

Use Your Mentors

A couple of years ago the AKC did away with the in-ring observer program for prospective judges. Up to that time an individual could go into the ring and be mentored by what usually was a breeder-judge. Ideally these observations took place at a large entry show and the "student" got a lot of benefit from this program when it was implemented properly. There were, however, some problems that surfaced with the program (mostly with the individuals involved rather than the structure of the program itself) and the AKC disbanded this procedure. As for myself, I loved this program and I thoroughly enjoyed trying to assist individuals that were trying to learn about our breed with my opinions of determining the merits of the exhibits. I do not pretend to be the all-knowing guru of the Dane but I do enjoy being put into the educational aspect of our sport. I've had numerous observers in my ring tell me that the time they spent with me was the most informative that they had experienced. Again, I am not telling them any "secrets" that only I have knowledge of, but it is merely the benefit of one-on-one quality time with a mentor. The new procedure is a ringside observer program where a person arranges with an official breed mentor to critique an entry from ringside. Although I find merit in this program as well, I can foresee issues when exhibitors at the show overhear comments made by the mentor about their dogs.

When I first began in Danes (just after the advent of electricity) I was fortunate to have a mentor and, to this day, the lessons I learned from him are emblazened in my psyche. The gentleman's name was Don Gauthier. Some of you know who he was but, as time passes by, the identities of former giants fade from our general knowledge. Don was the first president of the GDCA and also did the illustrations for our first standard. Interesting fact: the Great Dane was the first breed to have an illustrated standard." He judged Danes twice at Westminster and gave countless seminars on our breed. One of the true patriarchs of the Great Dane.

The information that can be obtained from others can be invaluable to anyone that is truly interested in improving our breed. Although getting other opinions on the selection of a breeding partner for your dog is pretty commonplace, it would probably be equally important to have a more critical eye evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your current program rather than repeating the same type of results. Even those with highly successful programs can benefit from the opinions of others.

Remember the old adage that the only perfect dogs that I have seen are the ones that I have pictures of in my wallet/purse.