All too often we hear from our specialized judges that our beloved breed worldwide shows an evolution and this unfortunately not always in a positive way.

We see an evolution in type and we experience that characteristics that have to been seen as faults and have always been penalized as such, are nowadays sometimes tolerated or even rewarded and vice versa. Moreover, both qualities and faults are often appreciated in different ways or lead to different qualifications.

As these judgings have an extremely important influence on the breed, we believe the IFR can and must offer a forum where our specialized judges can meet and discuss such issues openly between themselves.

For this reason the IFR organizes an annual meeting, open for judges that are recognized by our memberclubs as breedspecialists.

ITS PURPOSE IS NOT TO TEACH, IMPOSE OR CRITIQUE !     After all, we are all judges and we all have the necessary education and experience for this.

Its purpose is solely to offer a free forum for an open exchange of experiences and views and as such for a discussion between peers that may lead to even more knowledge, insight and especially more homogeinity.      As only judges are allowed to attend, a free unhindered discussion - even on specific examples - is possible.

Amongst the topics have already been discussed in 2009 until 2011 and will without doubt be discussed again, were for example :

• Judging conditions (dimensions of the ring, qualifications of ringstewards, translators, etc. …
• The general type of the breed and its evolution, meaning the whole of its breedspecific characteristics, including the breed typical substance, height, weight, angulations, etc. … .
• An unwanted evolution towards “sportive lines” and “conformation lines”.
• The importance of the judge explaining his qualifications on the dogs, not only the placements.
• The unwanted evolution towards extremism as for example the extreme short muzzle, extreme angulations, …
• The possibility and/or necessity of structural directives for judges.
• The definition of “scissor bite” now that many dogs show a bite in which the incisors 3 in the underjaw do not hide behind the upper incisors but while they are still in line with the i 1 and 2, visibly appear in an opening between the incisors 2 and 3 in the upperjaw … and more and more are protruding.
• The loss of strength in the bite and teeth of dogs.
• The fact that less dogs show correct strongly arched round feet and that all too often dogs show long – although not necessarily flat or weak - toes in front, as long or even longer than in hindfeet.
• The phenomenon that often youth dogs are shown with an abnormal muscular development : abnormal in proportion to strength of bone and abnormal for their age.
• The idea to ask the IFR-memberclubs to consider introducing random blood tests, to at least discourage all breeders/handlers of using steroids or other hormonal products.
• The definition of excellent, very good, good, … and the definition by the FCI-showregulations.
• The emphasis that is to be laid on work faults (gebrauchsfehler), namely those that do not affect only the esthetics of the breed but its ability to do the work the breed was made for and for which it was defined in the breed standard : what makes a working breed “beautiful” is not about esthetics but about the qualities that makes it able to do the work.
• The idea(l) that the judgment of a specialist judge must show quality and must help the breed and should hold and bring a message towards breeders and handlers, even if the opinion of the specialist judge does not agree with and/or goes against fashionable tendencies.
• The judging of the tail and amongst others the need for the judge to feel the tail as this is the only way of determining if the tail shows a kink or not.
• The FCI showregulations stating : dogs with docked tails or cropped ears are to be admitted in accordance with the legal regulations of their home countries and those of the country where the show takes place. The judging of docked and undocked or cropped and uncropped dogs must be done without any discrimination and solely in accordance with the valid breed standard.
• The world wide phenomenon of loss of both correct and faultless movement but also the lack of recognition and rewarding breed specific gait. The implications of a too tilted and/or to flat pelvis and the implications of incorrect length of rear members, a too short upperarm.
• Hypertype
• Judging youth-classes.
• What to do with the tails. Do we judge by the standard or not ?
• Doping
• Cephalic Index
• Weak pasterns – flat long toes – length of fore- and rearlimbs - movement.
• Long in loins

Judges who intent to be present are friendly requested to announce this to us (dirk.vandecasteele@telenet.be) and to let us know which topics they would like to discuss (and if they will yes or not present the topic themselves).

I look forward to meet you at the meeting in large numbers.