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.