Poll Comments :

• This is hard to pidgeon hole all judges as it really does vary. Some are honest, some are not, some are knowledgeable some are not. This question is to open.
  6/17/2010 7:52:31 AM

• Individual judges have their priorities when judging, for that reason,it is impossible to answer this questionaire as requested. Judges who know structure, who can and do apply the Standard, do an honest job as they see it. Unfortunately, inability to interpret and apply the Standard, politics and political correctness has become more prevalent over the past two decades, and it is effecting the Breed as a whole.
  6/17/2010 11:02:26 AM

• Some judges are consistent in that they are always political. We will never again show to a judge that is an officer or board member of the GDCA. That is 100% set up. You can bet money that another GDCA Officer or Board Member will be showing to that judge and they will walking away with the points. As a member of the GDCA and in 10+ years of showing, we have never seen it any other way. Not far behind are the local dog clubs that have judges in their membership. It is not uncommon to see folks travel 100s of miles to show their dog to a judge that is also member in their dog club. They are always rewarded. Some judges are consistent in that they are always inconsitent. Fine boned Danes for WD and WB, followed by BOB that is heavy and course. There are far to many judges that no way you show to them without a handler. There are handlers that will finish a wet rag long before an owner handler with a superior dog. No one minds losing to a nice dog. When politics are employed, I feel I am ripped off. When it happens, I have lost my entry fee, gas money, parking fee and hotel stay just to bump up numbers for a lessor dog with a handler or knows the judge somewhere down the line. There is no doubt that many judges feel a Great Dane should always be brown. Lately, I have noticed that the ''color'' judges are going out of their way to put up only color dispite better brown dogs. Does this balance things out? I am not sure, but as a color breeder/exhibitor, I understand the frustration of Fawn breeders when that happens to them as it has been happening to color breeders for years. Even though there has been this effort by color judges to put up color, a lessor Fawn dog will still finish over a color dog. It is more important as exhibitors that we know the Standard. If you ''need'' a judges approval to breed your dog, maybe you should not be breeding it. There are a lot of Champions that would be pets on my couch.
  6/17/2010 1:10:05 PM

• This is a great poll; the reality stares us in the face sadly. Some judges consistently put up only their ''''groupies'''' and it is SO obvious , they do nothing but make fools of themselves. After 20 years of showing I believe 10% of judges are sincerely looking to put up the BEST dane ! So many put up only handlers & only certain colors , and it is blatant! It''s pretty bad nowadays when you go to a show and everybody KNOWS WHO is going up ! So in essence , what difference does it make what the standard says.
  6/17/2010 7:02:27 PM

• The dog show ring has gotten so political and un-honest that a lot of the struggling owner handlers are not able to enjoy handling their own dogs and or newbies will not stay in the sport because of it.
  6/18/2010 6:38:12 AM

• All can apply depending on the judges you choose to go to
  6/18/2010 7:28:21 AM

• The knowledge of the breed is not clear.Very inconsistent
  6/20/2010 3:15:06 PM

• It has been so disappointing these days in judges. I was recently at a specialty and so many people commented on how the judge was looking at the handlers and NOT the dogs. It''s too bad when this happens because there were some much better dogs out there and they weren''t mine, so I can say that.
  6/20/2010 5:22:24 PM

• Still relatively new to showing but I can''t fathom why a judge would put up a dog/bitch that is so skittish that it won''t even stand to be examined. Isn''t temperament part of the standard? It''s hard to generalize all judges but some do a great job judging to the standard, whereas some really do pick by color. I think more often than not though, the flavor of the day gets top billing.
  6/25/2010 6:21:03 PM

• I think judging is inconsistent because our dogs are inconsistent.
  6/26/2010 8:07:44 AM

• Our breed has so many ''styles'' which are inconsistent with the breed standard that I feel many judges simply pick the dogs which they like best, regardless of what is correct. The breed is inconsistent so the judging is inconsistent. Just for example; if a judges has nothing in his ring but say, 6 weedy males, 1 male with substance but a very weak rear and 1 male which won''t stand for examination to choose from for WD and he picks the best of the weedy; then he has 12 bitches and one which he feels fits the standard well and he picks her....is the judge being inconsistent? Not really, since what was entered is what he had to choose from. The weedy male he chose for WD was the best, in his mind, of what he had to pick that day. The bitch, being a better specimen, looked nothing like the WD. Inconsistent judging? Not really. As for our standard and the way judges are mentored, I feel it causes judges to get hung up on features such at color & markings, eye color and shape, tail position, etc...things which the breeders mentoring judges may have as their own personal bug-a-boos which they bring to the new judges as they mentor them. The basic correct structure and correct head and movement and temperament get buried under these other things. As for judges putting up ''faces''....yes, we see it enough to say it happens. When a judge feels un-sure perhaps they go with the ''face'' of someone they know shows a lot of Danes to championships. Politically correct judging is common in our breed. Especially when it is breeder-judges who are actively breeding & showing their own Danes doing the honors in the center of the ring. Color judging may happen...some all-rounders do not seem to know what to do with the ''markings'' dogs so they go with fawn or black and sometimes blue to stay on the safe side. Some breeder-judges do seem to go out of their way to use a good color dog if they have it in their ring. I don''t think they are judging simply on color. As for some judges doing what they must to get an assignment...maybe so, but probably not as common place as people think. However, my father had a very crude expression which he applied to everything in life and maybe it applies to dog shows, too. He said, "It is all about who you know, who you blow & who you give the money to!" Over all, I like to believe that MOST judges really do try to judge by their interpretation of the breed standard and try to judge fairly and honestly finding the best dogs they can on a given day.
  6/26/2010 9:00:15 AM

• After seeing the winner hands down was COLOR. I will wager most of those people have color. Although there are a very few judges that I believe do this I do believe the bottom line is the quality of the color dogs has a hard time being as good as the best pup is not always the show-marked pup. I have great respect for a great color dog but they are fewer between than the plain brown wrappers. Let''s not be kennel blind!!
  6/26/2010 10:32:40 AM

• There are too many people becoming judges with no idea of what is a good representation of the breed, not just Danes, either. There are also too many people breeding just dogs with no idea of what is the correct representation of the breed, again not just Danes.
  6/26/2010 2:43:47 PM

• I have been showing Danes for 15+ years. I have owner handled and used handlers, years ago when I first started in the sport, it was the same ol judges in our area all the time, who put up the same group of people. Now the last few years, I see a lot of different judges in our area, but most of them don''t know the Dane standard well. They put up handlers, poor specimens of the breed who can hardly get around the ring, with poor croups, bad rears etc. Super nice quality dogs in the ring who walk away empty handed. After 15+ years in this sport, I do have to honestly say, I dont show nearly as much as I used to, too expensive, too political. Not worth me spending my time and money to travel. Many of the dane''s who are champions, should have never made it that far. I was at a show last summer when the talk around the ring was that one handler was going to win before the show even started! He did !!! That really soured me on showing when I spent all the money for entries, gas, hotel, to only know I did not have a chance at all or even would get a good look. I feel there should be far more judges education on the Dane standard and proper movement of this breed. Judges should be required to take and pass a strict test each year with illustrations on movement etc and be required to take at least 2 education seminars each year in order to keep judging that breed.
  6/26/2010 3:31:07 PM

• Most of the judges do not know the standard and do not even try to get it right. They are more interested in getting an assignment from the handlers.
  6/26/2010 4:59:24 PM

• It is very uncommon to see the best dog win. Crooked judges, politics and FAVORS for those in a particular circle have taken over.Plain brown wrappers have it way over the colored dogs. I know at least 10 judges ( 5 breeder judges) that WILL NOT put up color. I kinda think the color breeders have a hard road to haul. More than I care to say, I have seen a crappy dog win over an excellent specimen because of the handler. Dane showing is all about who you know.
  6/26/2010 6:31:48 PM

• It has become obvious to me that some things are not kosher in the ring. I have not shown a dog in 2 years, but go and watch to see how the judges pick, etc... Most times than not the best dog doesn''t win. Just too many times I have seen an officer of the hosting club''s dog go up... I have seen the top rated dog in the ring literally being dragged around only to beat good dogs showing their hearts out. Through the years I have seen quite a few judges having dinner the night before with the next day''s winner. I am not saying that all judges are bad, but those bad apples WILL spoil the whole bunch to the every day exhibitor.
  6/28/2010 7:10:07 AM

• All generalizations are FALSE--including this one.
  6/28/2010 2:44:55 PM

• ''''Generalization'''' according to Webster ,means not detailed or precise; speaking in terms of a group or a general view, We are given ten very realistic & precisely detailed choices here, each describing a different scenario. The dane public spoke ...I doubt that these percentage of votes ( as small as they are)are ''''generalizations'''' or in any way shape or form...''''falsehoods''''! They represent ..the waymost of the GENERAL dane showing community feel in their heart. Absolute truth is a rude awakening ..when you dont have to sign your name at the bottom.
  6/28/2010 8:07:59 PM

• My answers are my honest opinion and this is Very sad.
  7/2/2010 8:41:30 PM