The following is a lecture that was presented on the evening of the 10th February 2006 to the Ballarat Branch of the German Shepherd Dog Club of Victoria Inc., prior to the judging of the Ballarat Dog Show which was judged on the following day.

As a preface I must state that my opinions are influenced by my training and indoctrination as a licensed Schaferhunde Verein Dog judge and it may well be argued therefore that my opinions are at the extreme end of the spectrum.

in my opinion and speaking in broad terms, the primary difference between exhibiting at an All Breeds Show under an All Breeds judge and a Specialist Show with a Specialist judge is as follows:

in the context of this topic most dog judges start as Specialists and either remain as Specialists or move on to become group, multi group or All Breeds judges.

as such the Group, Multi Group and All Breeds judges have a pretty good understanding of the different approach that is taken when judging multi breeds because they have either been there or have been exposed to the Specialist ideals and practices.

the Group and All Breed judges are influenced by a few broad factors: 

1. The environment in which they judge;

2. The principle that there should be a level playing field and as such all exhibits should be treated equally;

3. All exhibits are assessed as they are seen on the day;

4. All exhibits are judged literally against the written standard;

5. Awards in a class are the placing's first to third.

the Specialist is influenced by six broad factors:

1.       the environment in which they judge;

2.       dogs are assessed as they are seen on the day but influenced by

• for adults - there perceived level of value to the breed in the Country of exhibition;

• for young animals - there perceived final development.

3.       they are judged against the written standard but with a weighting that is determined by the weaknesses and strengths that are prevalent in the breed in the country of assessment at that point in time;

4.       a highly developed understanding of the written standard and the ideals from which it was formed;

5.       all exhibits in the class are placed first to last and graded;

6.       6 all exhibits in the show are given a written critique.

The Environment

one of the most visual differences that are seen at a German Shepherd dog Specialist show when compared to the All Breeds show is the size of the ring.

In broad terms the Specialist ring is very large and the All Breeds ring is by relative standards, very small.

the argument for a large ring is that the German Shepherd Dog is a working / herding dog and therefore one of its fundamental traits is the need to enthusiastically and energetically cover the maximum amount of ground with the least amount of effort and for this movement to be enduring.

because of this trait and the consequential training that goes into the dogs to demonstrate this trait this can only be assessed in a large spacious ring. 

additionally as the practice is for all exhibits to be placed in the class first to last and movement as well as fitness and stamina is a primary arbitrator a large ring is required to allow all the exhibits to be assessed together to carry out this process and given the normal class size of around 30 dogs the ring needs to be of a size to practically accommodate those numbers as a matter of interest the largest class I have judged with all exhibits placed first to last was at a National Show in canberra with 146 puppies.

the All Breeds ring is small because the principle of placing a heavy weighting on dynamic movement and endurance is not applied. 

i believe the reasoning for this is because the vast majority of breed standards do not place a heavy emphasis on movement indeed the majority do not cover it in any meaningful way at all. 

they refer to construction, muscling, firmness, trueness etc but they do not dedicate a great deal to describing and emphasizing movement and as a consequence the requirement for the All Breeds Judge to place significant emphasis on it is diminished. 

this means that the great mass of dog participants exhibitor and judge alike have no requirement for a large ring and what is left is for the judge to assess conformation against the standard and this is ‘primarily’ a static function. 

the need to assess firmness and trueness is a relatively simple exercise, just walk the dog up and back and trot it around the ring once. 

One may ask why don’t the few remaining breeds that do place an equal emphasis on movement do what the German Shepherds do? 

The German Shepherd is a relatively young breed compared to the others in question and therefore the ideals of their creator of the breed is not as well established nor indoctrinated. 

additionally the fact that the German Shepherd Dog is a German breed that is influenced by typical Germanic dictates places a great deal of emphasis on this point. 

germans are by nature exact, procedural, pedantic, autocratic and demand the best that can be achieved. 

this trait has been adopted by enthusiasts all over the world including amazingly Australia. 

the determination driven by an ideal driven zealousness has ensured this practice and emphasis is maintained. 

the practice of placing all exhibits in the class first to last is also an SV dictate. 

this is in effect a by product of the requirement that every exhibit is to be graded. 

the process of doing the grading creates the full class positioning. 

the philosophy of grading is tied back to the principle of giving breed advice and direction via the process of judging. 

in other words the excellent graded dogs which have technically been graded within a band of the excellent grading are considered by the judge as being ‘on the whole but not exclusively ‘the better breeding animals than the very good graded animals and further down the line, likewise the good graded animals are more suitable for breeding than the satisfactory graded animals. 

the ultimate award for a Specialist exhibitor is the highest grading possible and for some exhibitors this may be a high ‘very good’ grading. 

the challenge certificate means very little to the Specialist exhibitor as whilst it has the element of competition associated with it, it is not in the truest sense ‘breed value’ related it is ‘relative to competition on the day’ related. 

the principle of a level playing field is enforced and dictated at All Breeds shows by the fact that the vast majority of show dogs are not large breeds nor are they trotters and consequently ‘the majority wish prevails.’ 

i have no doubt the most influential ‘holy grail type shows ‘which tend to be held at Royal Showground type stadiums where space is at a premium has historically influenced this practice of small rings too. 

the practice of double handling at Specialist shows is frowned upon and indeed often outlawed at the All Breeds shows. 

the Specialist exhibitor and Specialist judge encourages this practice as it enhances animation and encourages the drive which is a fundamental herding dog characteristic whilst the All Breeds judge and most ‘but not all’ All Breed exhibitors frown / prohibit it because the majority of the breeds do not need to exhibit as a primary characteristic these traits. 

and consequently once again the majority prevail.

the net effect of this is that in the ‘classic’ all breed environment not only is the German Shepherd dog not judged on it’s most fundamental characteristic but this very characteristic when it is at it’s very best puts the dog at a major disadvantage to the small non trotting / non running / non working dogs. 

the German Shepherd Dogs because of there training particularly in relation to gaiting on a long free lead and there high levels of energy have to be constantly checked and pulled back, can’t get into a full stride and consequently they appear to be either totally out of control or they get the message and assume a subservient and passive demeanour. 

what is disappointing is that fairness and empathy for the larger breeds is not accommodated by simply having best in show judged in the German Shepherd Dog ring. 

large breeds would then get the opportunity to demonstrate there gait and power via the full use of the large ring and the smaller breeds would use as much of the ring as the handler wants to use or the Judge requests. 

as a postscript to double handling I should add that a side effect of this practice is that the Specialist shows are lively, exciting, adrenalin almost football like events as opposed to the controlled ‘uncharged’ all breed events. 

not everyone’s cup of tea but great fun – football that is!  

dogs are assessed as seen on the day

the All Breeds judge makes an assessment on each exhibit ‘as that exhibit is seen on the day’, not how it looked yesterday or last week or last month but on the day. 

they have no choice but to do this as this is the only way the level playing field approach where every exhibit is treated equally can apply. 

additionally the All Breeds judge does not work on the principle that they are there to make decisions that in turn give ‘directives’ that are designed to influence the breeders and therefore the direction of the breed itself. 

this is where there is a profound difference between the All Breeds judge and the German Shepherd Dog Specialist who sees himself as being in the ring to give breed direction through his decisions not merely giving an opinion on which dog goes closest to representing the written standard ‘on the day’ and using this as a process of elimination to find ultimately the best dog in the breed, the group and finally the show. 

this fundamental under-pinning to the judging causes the Specialist to make judgements of young animals not only on the basis of how they perform on the day but how they are perceived to look when they are fully developed and in the case of the adults what there value is to the breed at this point in time. 

this value is constantly shifting and only the Specialist who is involved in the breed on an intimate level can make this assessment. 

without digressing into the topical area of genetics and known breeding an example is that ‘at a point in time’ the breed may suffer from short upper arms and therefore a dog who has the correct upper arm will be treated more favourably and promoted above a dog who may overall be a better dog but has a short upper arm. 

another perhaps more obscure example is an adult bitch of 6 years who is not as fit or energetic as an equally constructed 2 year old who is fitter and tighter and more animated .The age of the older bitch needs to be taken into account and some weighting should go in her favour. 

the question that should be asked by the judge of himself is how would this 6 year old bitch have looked at 2 and prior to maybe 5 litters? 

as a matter of interest a consideration that would be seen as totally unacceptable in this country but is practiced in Germany is giving favourable weighting to exhibits that have ‘excelled’ in the working disciplines. 

this is because the working traits which are a fundamental aspect of the breed are seen as being an intrinsic part of the dog not as something separate to it. 

a highly developed understanding of the written Breed Standard

the judge who takes on additional breeds as part of becoming a multi or All Breeds judge relies on judging the dogs based on learning the standard, interpreting the words and descriptions and overlaying this with observation at shows. 

unfortunately, at most All Breeds events the best German Shepherd Dogs are not exhibited and therefore the ability to develop an eye for the very best dogs thereby enhancing their understanding of type and the interpretation of the written standard is not fully developed. 

on the other hand the Specialist first learns the standard to the point of perfect recital then enhances his understanding by attending a great many shows where he sees an enormous number of dogs and most importantly seeing the very best dogs and hearing the judges critiques on those dogs. 

this process overlays and enriches the written standard and in doing so takes the interpretation to another expansive level which inevitably heightens the judging emphasis in the area of the dogs construction, temperament and fitness being ideal for the herding dog that it’s creator Max von Stephanitz envisaged. 

additionally the Specialist is actively breeding and showing and possibly often training these dogs for obedience and in this process develops an intimate knowledge of the breed and its characteristics. 

as a general rule I have found that they also become almost religious zealots in their pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the breed, reading every book that’s been written and in particular books written by the creator of the breed in a desire to understand why each characteristic that is contained within the standard is there. 

for example why is the upper arm laid at 45/50  degrees  and the croup at 27 degrees and is there a co relation between the two during movement and if there is what is it? 

i can recall a personal example of the fundamental difference between the two learning and understanding approaches and this and it goes back to the time when I decided to become a breed judge in Canberra. 

at that time I had the most successful German Shepherd Dog kennel in Australia and I was acknowledged generally as an expert in the breed at both a Specialist and All Breeds level. 

i sat for the oral examination with five All Breeds judges examining me. 

they all knew me very well and no question that privately they acknowledged my dedication, achievements, standing and knowledge of the German Shepherd Dog. 

i failed the exam. 

the procedure was that you met with the examiners some time after the exam and they told you why you failed. 

they said that the reason I failed was because there was hardly a thing that was in the written standard that I was asked to quote that I had answered as they had required. 

the problem was that I had spent so much time studying the breed including having spent a great deal of time in Europe and Germany that when I was asked to describe say the head, I didn’t quote the standard, I described the head in my words and elaborated about the head at great length. 

during the exam when I rattled off my description they were reading the description in the book and when i had finished they merely said to me ‘we can’t see any of that written here ‘ to which I replied they should accept what I was saying as being correct because of my training and knowledge. 

I was too young and naïve to understand I was displaying a lack of respect for them as the judging panel and when they asked me to literally quote what was written, I struggled to do so. 

they had no choice but to fail me as their knowledge was limited to the written word. 

they asked me to reapply a year later, I did, I quoted the standard ‘to the absolute letter’ and I passed because that is all that is required and that example reflects the difference between an All Breeds judges knowledge to judge and a Specialists. 

it’s not a matter of criticism it’s the difference between being deeply involved in a specific breed as opposed to being involved in a multitude of them.  

all exhibits are given a written critique

this is not practiced in the All Breeds arena due to the kennel controls not requiring it and because of time constraints. 

having said this one can’t but feel because the knowledge of many judges is limited outside breeds they own or have owned they would not support it and if they did the critiques would be of limited value and therefore of limited exhibitor interest. 

it would certainly sort out the judges in the eye of the exhibitors as it is one thing to pick out the best dogs one to three but then to explain it in detail and to put it in writing is another matter altogether. 

the argument that exhibitors would not accept it is true but in my opinion on the whole this is due to a lack of exhibitor education and training of judges to write critiques. 

the Specialist does write critiques on all exhibits other than babies and this is done because of a culture that exists within the breed that was implanted by the breeds German history as opposed to an English history and the fact that the kennel control in Australia is influenced very strongly by the English kennel control and its rules and cultures is significant in regard to this issue.  

it should be pointed out that in many european countries particularly those close to germany critique writing applies to a great many breeds. 

the basis of the critiques is to provide to the exhibitor and the breeders a comprehensive and accurate report on the dog that can then be utilized to determine the relationship of the dog to the standard and to identify for the owner and the breeders as a whole the virtues and failing of that dog and most importantly to give pointers to that dogs parentage. 

to be of value the critique needs to be frank, honest and accurate and given it is one of many critiques that the dog will receive and given it is a critique on one dog but will be included in a collection of many thousands it needs to be in a format that is consistent across the board of all critiques produced in that country. 

this process also represents the only true historical information that will be left long after the dog has passed on and breeds were this information is not available are the poorer for it.

the final difference between the two is the methodology used in doing the actual judging

whilst the principle of assessing the dog against the standard is the same, the way in which it is done is quite different. 

i have already commented on the Specialist being influenced by the factors apparent within the breed and perceived future development and perceived breeding results. 

i talk here about the actual assessment process. 

the All Breeds judges must apply the principle of every dog is to be treated equally, to be judged the same. 

the effect of this is that a large long coated breed such as a Bearded Collie is judged exactly the same as a small short coated breed such as a Miniature Pincer. 

the process is simple and is the same for every dog. 

the dog is looked at as a whole, it is then physically handled starting at the head and finishing at the tail. 

it is then gaited up and back and around in a triangle or circle in a relatively small ring. 

when the class has all been assessed they may, but not always run as a group once or twice around the ring and dogs are placed first to third. 

the Specialist looks at the dog as a whole and assesses the structure by observation and does not touch the dog other than to check teeth and testicles.

the dog is gaited up and back and around in a circle. 

the class is then gaited as a group and depending on the size of the class it could amount to on average a minimum of 5 times around the ring or in a very large class up to 20 rounds in a large ring and starting at the rear and working to the front the dogs are placed first to last and graded. 

the fundamental differences in the actual process are:

the Specialist does not run his hands over the dog and the reason for this is based on the fact that you do not need to feel the length and angles of bones, spring of rib, length and lay of croup, muscle mass etc in a medium to short haired breed.  Muscle tone is assessed in movement. 

it’s all visual. 

the All Breeds judge obviously has the skill to assess all these things visually but the ‘level playing field’ dictate makes them judge a short coated breed the same as a long coated breed. 

this is even taken to the point of some All Breeds judges grabbing hold of the end of the tail and lifting the tail and sometimes even the whole dog skyward!

Why on earth would you do that with a german Shepherd dog? Because they do it with many other breeds originating from breeds that are presented on a table  

what is to be said is that the different judging methodology does not in any way impact on the information gleaned; it is simply a different style or technique of judging. 

aside from the visual effect that may be conveyed to the judge as a result of the often quite impossible ring size under which the German Shepherd dogs are often made to exhibit what is seen by both judges is the same, it’s the final result that is quite often different and this is dictated by the weighting the judge gives to all the characteristics that have been observed. 

for example, the All Breeds judge applies a weighting to the erectness of the ears based on what has been read in the standard. 

the All Breeds judge’s interpretation would be based on the fact that the standard states that the ears are to be carried erect. 

in truth, a problem to accurately interpret but an easy thing to assess, much easier than assessing much more important things such as movement. Make a noise and if the ears do not become erect it’s a fault and the dog needs to be penalized. Simple and non argumentative. 

the Specialist has an interpretation in regard to the ears that is less severe and is based on the principle that the degree of penalization should be in direct relationship to the impediment created by that factor in relation to the dog’s ability to fulfil the task for which it was created. a working herding protection dog. 

his interpretation is that erect ears, particularly constantly erect ears is not essential to this fundamental and is more to do with it’s effect on expression and as such would only come in to play as a deciding point well after assessing comparable traits such as those associated with temperament, character, overall structure, movement and stamina. 

another often seen and discussed point is to do with the back:

the standard says the back should be straight, again easier to assess than interpret. 

the All Breeds judge has two dogs and one has a slight rise over its back, and we are talking about a slight rise then the back is not straight and down it goes. 

the Specialists’ interpretation is influenced by knowledge. 

that is that a young animal particularly a bitch will often level off over the back and in the process this could become it’s greatest attribute and even if it does not or it’s an adult the knowledge states that a slight rise has no impediment on movement. 

the final point has already been touched on and that relates to applying a weighting that is dictated by what is happening within the breed at that time and as such a weighting of penalization on say a short croup can vary over time. 

this can have a profound effect on the placement and other than interpretation this is probably the most significant difference between the outcome of the judging between a Specialist and an All Breeds judge. 

summary

the level of knowledge, the judging technique, mental process of evaluation, interpretation and weighting are quite different when comparing a Specialist to an All Breeds judge and consequently logically the outcomes will often be different. 

even if the outcome in the placement of the first three exhibits is the same, if the judges were questioned, the rationale will often be different. 

this is to be expected. 

what is important to state, is that the exhibitor, both Specialist and all breed alike should be aware of the different background, training, approaches and environment that will exist and by doing this they will accept the outcomes with a better understanding and acceptance. 

this applies to the judges both Specialist and All Breeds alike. By understanding and respecting the others training, understanding and perspective, their level of knowledge, dictates and environmental conditions under which they judge the empathy that will ensue will create greater harmony and a better dog world. 

louis donald

ankc Group 5 judge

Full “verein fur deutsche schaferhunde” (sv) German Shepherd Dog breed judge.

top

back