Judges Commentary2007




BOB Competition My Thoughts on Judging the GDCA National Specialty by Lowell Davis First of all I would like to thank all of the Great Dane breeders and exhibitors who gave me the opportunity to judge Intersex at the most prestigious Great Dane event of the year. It was truly a tremendous honor and I enjoyed every minute of it. The venue was perfect. Large well lighted rings away from the cold rainy weather. The members of the show committee were outstanding and all of the judges were most grateful for the wonderful hospitality. My Ring Stewards, Diane Powers and Sam Houston MacDonald kept me on track all day. They were very efficient and they did a great job. This was truly a showcase of the finest Great Danes in the World. There was a very large entry of about one hundred-thirty Danes plus move-ups and four veterans, and Winners Dog and Winners Bitch. The entries were almost evenly divided between Dogs and Bitches. (At most Specialties the Dogs are at least 60% of the Best of Breed Competition.) I would like to say that, with few exceptions, all of the entries were good examples of the breed. Almost all had Great Dane type and were deserving of their Championships. All six colors were represented, however there were fewer Brindles than I am used to seeing. Generally, the bitches were more typical and more competitive than the dogs. That is my overall impression of this wonderful group of Danes. Now I would like to go into some detail of my impressions of the top placements. My Best of Breed was a striking bitch with good head planes, very well balanced with a good topline and very sound coming and going. She was a beautiful mover and she had a great attitude, a beautiful Fawn with a beautiful black mask and a dark eye. In addition she had the right amount of substance for a bitch. Best of Opposite Sex came from the younger Veteran Class. He had a wonderful masculine head without being coarse, good substance good topline and was sound in mind and body. I was impressed with his parallel head planes, and nice strong back. Best of winners was a nice young bitch with a good head dark eye and black mask. She had great movement, a very strong back and was very deserving. She had come from the Bred-By-Exhibitor Class, so she was automatically Best Bred-By in Show. Best puppy was a large puppy bitch with plenty of substance without being doggy. I think she is very promising. I was able to reward 12 Dogs and Bitches with an Award of Merit. I would have liked to have been able to award a few more, but that was not the case. The bitch awards included two Black Bitches (one was a veteran) three Fawn Bitches, and one Harlequin Bitch. The dogs that received an Award of Merit included one striking Harlequin, a Mantle, a Blue, a Black and a Fawn. All of these dogs and bitches were outstanding representatives of the Breed, and were deserving of top honors at any All-Breed Show. They were all sound and had beautiful color and markings. The Harlequin bitch that received an award of merit was shown for me in the Working Group in Oklahoma a couple of weeks after the National. I awarded her Group 1 in a strong Group and this win qualified her for the coveted Hall of Fame. In closing, I would like to thank all of the breeders, exhibitors and members of the show committee for making this day and week the greatest and most memorable day of my life!

Dogs Gina M Jaeblon I equate judging the National to a 2 year anticipation of your wedding day. When the day finally arrives; it comes and goes so fast...... Yet the wonderful memories will always remain. First, my compliments go to Rita Suddarth ; the division & all it's members for a superbly organized event. They made my ''job'' extremely easy and catered to my every ''whim''. Enjoyable were the experienced stewards who made my day ''move right along'' in a most relaxing & jovial manner! Overall, I will remember how certain dogs/puppies took my breath away; The parallel, flowing movement of WD, the balance of the RWD/puppy, the stunning open mantle and an adorable 6-9 harle puppy that was totally together for his young age & begging to be noticed. ( there were several I could have given WD ! ). I appreciate all the wonderful comments and pleasantries made to me by owners, owner handlers & exhibitors ; inside and outside the ring. In general, I was bothered by the number of class dogs, bitches, even BOB - that ''spooked'' or could not be examined for some reason or other. Many were experienced in the show ring. This is disturbing as the term ''Gentle Giant'' should be synonymous with these basic characteristics ..... a reliable ,steadfast , easy going ,temperament , in any given situation. Ultimately, at a National especially ...all the exhibitors want is a fair evaluation of the dogs, as many of our up & coming novices and International guests see the danes thru the judges eyes. Last but certainly not least I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to the dane world for having the confidence in me to judge this spectacular event.

Bitches Lourdes Carvajal The opportunity to judge the National Specialty of your breed has to be the most exciting assignment any judge could aspire to. I had this experience in October 2007 by sharing the ring with a showcase of bitches from puppies to veterans. For the two years I had known about this assignment, the countdown started; I could not wait. And then....the first day finally arrived. I walked in the ring with the absolute confidence that the best of the best was going to be in every class; that proved to be correct. All my classes were most competitive, making some choices quite difficult. The quality of balance was present overall. I took on my job very seriously, with an enormous degree of responsibility and great intensity. I loved being in there, every minute of it and the only thing to regret was that it had to come to an end and a final decision. I wanted to continue this exhilarating experience forever! To all the exhibitors, my gratitude and respect for so many lovely bitches; to my ring stewards, Sam McDonald and Dottie Davis, a big thank you, we kept it running efficiently while having a great deal of fun; to the Division a big applause for a job magnificently done. As I mentioned to all present before going into Winners Bitch- "All exhibiting here come out as winners because you own a Great Dane".

Futurity - Bitches Best In Futurity One Judge’s Opinion Douglas Toomey 2007 GDCA National Futurity The Futurity is a special event for all dane exhibitors. Where else can Fanciers from all over the country and world gather and view the future of our Breed? Having won it as a handler and come close to winning as a breeder/owner it was truly an honor to be asked to judge the Futurity The overall quality of the bitches was very high. In some of the classes the placements could have gone six or seven deep, but alas, only four can place. Many of the girls looked great stacked but did not handle the surface well when moving. I like balance in my danes and feel that all my class winners had a combination of breed type and the ability to cover ground. The finalist were most deserving of their wins. The Junior Bitch excelled in movement both down and back but especially in profile. Overall a beautiful young bitch in all categories. The Best In Futurity was the epitome of what a male dane puppy should be. He had bone, substance and breed type. He handled every trip into the ring with outgoing style and attitude and never let down. In the end his style and attitude carried the day. It was a great pleasure to read the catalog after judging and discover that many of my winners were from bloodlines I have long admired and produced by breeders known for their consistency and ability to continually bring the best to the ring to represent our Breed. Thank you all for your entries and for showing your best to me this year.

We would like to thank the Judges for taking the time to share their experiences with us. Beve Hauer and Caryn Orlando