Quote:
Originally Posted by saschia
But, the question comes from Americas and of course most of the judges there (and in Europe too) have no idea what wolfdogs are supposed to look like and how they are to be presented. I expect that in normal show community, positioning of the dog in "correct posture" and using show leashes with heads held high looks better and more professional than just letting the dog show itself...  |
It would be so nice....
If we could show the dogs so that all their pluses are visible... The problem ARE the judges. And the breed....
Wolfdogs are in the first group FCI but they vary from other "shepherds". But the judges do not get the difference and they judge our dogs according the same patterns as other breeds - usually GSD. And in such case good wolfdogs ALWAYS have more problems than the untypical dogs. Typical faults for Czechoslovakian come from German Shepherds: wide chests, short legs, angulation in the front 90°, overangulation of the back legs, long ears, heavy heads with open lips... And such fauls are exactly what many "allrounder judges" expect from wolfdogs in the show ring. It is why we have so many untypical Interchampions and Champions...
There is no problem to show your dog if the judge knows the breed - you just go, show the dog and finito...
But on other shows you have sometimes to "cheat"....
My first show in Germany. Judge from a country with 0 Wolfdogs...
I went into the ring and came out with note "very good" because the top line of my dog was not falling. Our friends who were showing next also had a Wolfdog with good topline... But they had a good idea - they went into the ring. By the statics the owner took the back legs of his dog as far behind as possible (almost to the GSD possition
). The topline started to be falling. They get excellent and BOB...
Similar situation in Slovakia - also an allrounder judge. People who were showing the dog before us were going outside the rings saying "make the front legs wide"... We have done like this and get "good "chest". While other people who where showing their nice dogs on the "normal" way get as fault "to narrow chest"...
But in the most cases you are not able to make your dog WORSER than it is ...
There are MANY problems - where the allrounder judges want to see something what is untypical for Wolfdogs but typical for many other Shepherds:
- with the angulation - that are unhapy when Wolfdogs are not angulated and do not move like GSD
- with the chest - when it is too narrow and not deep enough (do not pass the elbows like by GSD)
- with the legs - that they are too long (even by dogs which still do not have the 55% as written in the standard)
- with the tail (character) - when especially by males it is carried to high (usually when there are other males in the ring)
Example - two males in the ring. One with good character, the second shy. The good one start to pose - tail up - "look, I'm the best". Who wins? - first is "very good" because of the tail - "dog should never carry the tail over the back line" (he lost because of too good character). Won the shy scarred dog. Nobody cares about the standard - "When dog is excited, generally raised up in sickle shape." If you have dog with stable character you will MANY times loose against shy dogs who will carry their tails as "good German Shepherds should do"...
And there are MANY "faults" so typical for Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs. By some judges you can really win only if you have REALLY untypical dog...
And I don't think it will change since there is no possiblity to influence the judges or to write any protests - and we had really cases when in the evaluation cards there were written almost excepts from the breed standard - but in the breed standard it was description of the PERFECT dog and for the judge it was a list with faults...
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PS. I know that in some countries after the "problems" with the judges the breeders decided to change the... wolfdogs and they breed dogs which are fitting to the judge's expectations. And no more to the breed standard. But....
I know that sometimes it is much harder to win with really good dog who has too many characteristics typical for Czechoslovakian Wolfdog but characteristics not necessarily liked by the allrounder judges.
BUT there are good judges and bad too... The same apply to the club judges - not all of them who have approvement for our breed really know the standard. Some of them don't even have idea how to judge at all...
Dog shows are just a sport... Sometimes you win, sometimes you loose. But a good dog will stay a good dog independent on the judgements...
And good breeders and owners will know it... A dog can be World Winner and Multi-Hiper Champion but still an untypical Wolfdog who nobody want to breed with...