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JUDGES-REPORTS – SIGHTHOUND FESTIVAL DONAUESCHINGEN 2018
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DR. JERRY KLEIN | USA
„SEBRING“ AFGHAN HOUNDS
There is always an honor of being asked to
judge a dog show, but when the show is the
world famous Donaueschingen Sighthound
Festival and it is to celebrate its twenty fifth
anniversary, the honor and excitement goes
through the roof. Experiencing the actual
event makes you realize why this has become
the supreme show for sighthound fanciers
in the world: the great grounds with huge
rings, the spectacle of ceremony with music,
dancers and horses, the gathering of people
from around the world there to celebrate their
passion for their breed, and of course the huge
number of beautiful dogs in your “favorite”
breeds. For this, the entire show committee,
especially Olaf Knauber, Julie Huebner, Angelika
Heydrich and others, must be commended
for their vision to celebrate our sighthound
passion and have it ome to beautiful fruition.
And thanks also to Julia for being so kind to be
my driver to and from the airport and show.
Exhausting it must have been for her, but she
was a real trouper and so kind to me.
Coming from the USA, our system of judging
dogs is a bit different, and although I have
judge abroad before, it is always a bit daunting
to do it again. For this reason, I want to thank
my exceptional Ring Secretary and Ring Steward,
Susanne Oschinsky and Thomas Munch
for putting up with me and keeping me on the
straight and narrow. I had a great time with
them.
The only element that made the two days not
“perfect” was the very hot weather, which
as a judge and veterinarian, made me very
conscious of the conditions for the dogs and
people.
My first day started with judging Podenco Ibicenco
Kurzhaar (Ibizan Hounds):
I had only a handful to judge, choosing a white
elegant bitch with lofty movement but needs
to strengthen behind.
Next up was the sole entry of Podengo Portugues
Klein Kurzhaar (Portuguese Podenco
Pequeno), a very nice champion bitch which I
liked quite a lot.
Then were the two Podengo Portugues Mittel
Rauhaar:
These were rough coated middle sized Podengos,
both alert and active. My winner I seemed
to like more than she liked me on the day.
My breed, Afghan Hounds was represented by
114 entries. In this day, it was startling to see
so many and I was very honored and humbled
to be able to evaluate them. When you get an
assignment in your own breed at a show like
this one, there is always a bit of hope that
something will walk into your ring that made
your trip across the ocean worthwhile. And
into my Junior male class entered that one
dog. A dog that was hard for me to not stare
at constantly: his type, balance and movement
were everything that made me fall in love with
this breed in the first place. I would say that I
predict great things for him in the future but
that wouldn’t be difficult as he did stupendously
well later that day and the following day
as well. He went on to Best Junior in Show and
Group 2 /Runner up to Best in Show Adult that
night.
I do not want to diminish the quality of several
more dogs that day: my CAC winner from the
Intermediate class, was a bit of a diamond in
the rough but had excellent l balance and probably
the most beautiful classic head ,eye and
expression of the day. He really had the “look of
eagles.” There were several outstanding dogs
in the Champion class, as well as the winners
of the open and working class (littermates I
believe).
My bitches did not have, for me, that one clear
cut winner, but there were a handful of very
deserving bitches which hopefully can make
an impact on the breed: the Junior bitch winner,
the top two placements of the Champion
class as well as the Open class winner. However,
in the end, my Intermediate winner (and
CAC) came out on top based on her overall
quality and the classic essence of the breed (
exotic eye and expression, big feet, ringed tail)
. She was elegant but sturdy, one of a piece,
and had an even, regal composure about her
coupled with balanced sound movement.
Day two; Borzois. I was to be truthful, surprised
at the depth of quality, especially in the bitches.
My eventual breed winner, from the open
bitch class, embodied all the features I look for
in this breed: elegance, strength, shape and
quality with integrity of structure and movement.
She was a knockout. She later went on
to Group 4 that day.
Dr. Jerry Klein, August 19, 2018
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