Page 19 - Great Dane Magazine issue 5 , 2022

breeds, today I judge all FCI Group 8 and many
Companion Breeds.

Please tell us about your judges' career, which
countries you have judged in and any high-
lights.
I have been judging for over 35 years now, in
almost all European countries, and at many club
shows and Great Dane championships. I am al-
ways honoured to be invited to those events be-
cause I believe they are the ones where the tech-
nical level must be at the highest. As I said, I take
the role of judging very seriously, because the
judge must point the dogs that are closest to the
breed standard, therefore those who presuma-
bly will be able to improve the breed. However, I
cannot avoid saying with sadness that in recent Judging at the World Dog Show in Milan (June, 12 2015)
years this principle, in my humble opinion, is not
always fully respected. Sometimes I have the im- so many “historical” characters such as Lisbeth
pression that more importance is given to the Mach Laubli, Jean Lanning, Marie Josè Labrous-
show than to the technical criteria. I have jud- se, Nouc, Extra, Neugel, and many others that
ged from Spain to Russia, from Finland to Sicily, I were able to teach me a lot. I do not mentor
have had the opportunity to judge at some really any aspiring judges: due to the fact that I rarely
important events and have been able to admire judge, it would be impossible to do so, but I am
high quality subjects of all the breeds for which available to anyone who seeks any advice and
I am qualified to judge. However, every time I guidance.
have been entrusted to judge Great Danes, it’s a
special emotion. If today I had to sum up, I could What characteristics make a good judge in
only be satisfied, I had many demonstrations of your opinion?
esteem and consideration, starting from the al- This is a difficult but also a very simple question
ways high numbers of subjects registered in the at the same time. The judge must have a deep,
exhibitions and club shows that I judged. complete technical preparation, must have ex-
perience built up in the field during many years
What is your most memorable experience as of study and application, must be sure of what
a judge? is right and what is wrong, knowing how to give
I could not choose a specific manifestation. My the right weight to the strengths and weak-
greatest satisfaction as a judge is to be able to nesses, the perfect dog does not exist and the
admire quality subjects, and this has happened judge must have a very clear idea in his mind
to me many times throughout Europe, even if I what are the advantages and disadvantages
cannot pretend not to see that the breed has that each subject could bring to the breed.
been experiencing an unhappy moment for a
couple of decades. Then the good judge needs what we call in Ita-
lian "occhio" (the eye); that is a sort of predispo-
Did you ever have a mentor? Are you mento- sition, of innate ability to know how to "see" the
ring new aspiring judges? dog and to know how to apply theory in prac-
My mentor was (and still is) without a doubt my tice. My father's teacher used to say "judging is
father. There are many judges from whom I le- an art, perhaps the smallest of the arts, but still
arned a lot from and who, fortunately for me, an art". Needless to add that it takes objectivity,
wanted to teach me a lot. In the years of my honesty and righteousness, all of which is just
youth, I was lucky enough to be in the ring with the minimum. In any case, I like the judge who is
important references for the breed like Prof. Ma- constant in his judgments, who makes his point
riotti, Dr. Perricone, Dr. Motta and above all, with of view, the common thread of his evaluations,
the one who was my father's true teacher and evident even to those outside the ring.
who represents one of the fathers of Italian dog
lovers, Dr. Fabio Cajelli. Over the years I’ve met

Great Dane Magazine | Issue 5-2022 19