(By Manlio Massa)
"As many know, this year I was invited for two days of technical judgment, at the Gold Cup in Denmark, valid for the Danish championship.
I know the system very well, having participated in it countless times and having won four of its editions.
I appreciate it for his great potential for spectacular but I must also point out the technical limits of the formula.
Two of my 4 victories, in fact, were obtained without my Newfoundland having been the best of the breed in the two previous technical judgments.
The final, of great media impact for the promotion of the breed and immensely prestigious for those who win it, takes place with an exhibition approach of all breeds and, at times, without that fundamental cynological technical deepening in breed specialties.
Let me better explain: my criterion of judgment varies slightly depending on the context.
In an exhibition of all breeds, while scrupulously observing the dictates of the standard, my technical assessment fades after the attribution of the best male and the best female.
Then, to send the best of breed to the ring of honor (that is another type of competition), I pay particular attention to the condition of the coat and the predisposition of the specimen himself to the show.
For example: a movement fast enough that can compete with the rhythm of the other breeds that it will have to face, rather than training in the presentation of a dog and handler, grooming, all conditions that are certainly not part of the type.
Therefore, at the moment of the final judgment of the two winners of similar value, I will favor the one who in the group will create the greatest "love at first sight" on the spectator and will represent the external and visionary beauty that the public has of the breed.
In a National breed specialty, the more important the gathering is, the more I start from the assumption that the winning animal will be, for the coming year, an indication of type for breeders and breed lovers.
In this case I do care less, but always within a certain limit, the condition of a specimen's coat, the level of his grooming and the handling skills of his handler.
I would add that I no longer require a fast a movement but I almost demand the one typical of our breed, let's call it “phlegmatic/andante”.
I become very strict on the expression, on the construction, on the efficiency of the movement, in a word I greatly favor "functional beauty", because in my opinion breed meetings are the "king" test for the selection of breeding stock.
In my opinion, the "type" in our breed consists of a multiplicity of details that make it unique.
Let's take the head which is the first thing we generally notice in a purebred dog; our FCI standard (to the drafting of which years ago I had the honor of being able to give my external contribution) requires it to be powerful, it describes summarily its proportions, but above all praises the expression with a term "soft and benevolent".
The benevolent expression is obtained from a complicated series of components.
By excluding only one of these components, the expression is compromised.
The position of the eyes is crucial:
approaching the eyes to each other they will tend to round up, the ear insertion will rise higher on the skull and the expression will appear more severe (boxer) also due to the more sudden fall of the stop, these conditions usually mate with a too short muzzle: all this occurs when the skull / facial axis tend to convergence.
On the other hand, by moving the eyes away from the ideal position, the shape will definitively become almond-shaped, the fall of the stop will be attenuated, the insertion of the ear will lower, the length of the muzzle will increase and the expression will become sad, like a hunting dog: all this occurs with divergent skull/facial axis.
It is true that we are talking about fractions of centimeters, but the expression and type of a breed is played out on those fractions.
The ideal conditions of expression are obtained only when the axis are perfectly parallel, in fact this condition is normally associated with eyes and ears inserted correctly and of the correct shape and size, muzzle of the right length, etc.
“The upper longitudinal axis of the skull is given by the imaginary line traced from the center of the occipital scale (craniometric point "inion") to the craniometric point "nasion", that is, at the meeting point of the upper nasal and maxillary apophyses with the frontal bones;
the upper longitudinal axis of the muzzle is the imaginary line that starting from the anterior superior margin of the truffle, reaches the line of the eyes. Prof. Giuseppe Solaro”
I could write for hours and detail my opinion on every single morphological characteristic of our breed, obviously I won't now.
Today, however, I would like to focus on the value of the length of the rump and the solidity of the topline (both absolute qualities of all breeds).
The croup and trunk are the transmission shaft between the power developed by the hind limbs that reaches the forelimbs.
A short croup and a not very firm or long topline wastes the effort of the hindquarters.
In most cases a croup of insufficient length is associated with a low tail hairline, which in addition to creating a functional problem is also an unaesthetic thing to see.
I would like to briefly address the theme color.
My judgment criterion, in mixed classes and in compliance with the standard, totally excludes an evaluation of color and markings, as I consider that the white/black variety cannot have an additional handicap towards a solid color subject.
In my doctrine of judgment, the evaluation of the color of the coat occurs only between subjects of the same variety of color, to be clear: a badly spotted white / black dog but of great typical value can be beaten only by another white/black subject of the same technical value but well piebald.
In this show in Denmark I gave the best of breed to a black / white dog and the BoS to a bitch of the same color variety.
In all my over than 30 years as a judge this has never happened to me, especially in such an important exhibition.
Having also bred white & black dogs all my life, I wondered if I wanted in some way to reward the fatigue, sacrifices and inevitable disappointments that have always accompanied this fragile but historical variety.
If I had done so I would have implicitly declared that being white and black was not only not a handicap but a plus.
I don't think I have.
They were simply the two best dogs, in my opinion, and I was very unsure (still am now) as to which one to assign the BoB to.
Both male – "Ch. OUKAYA Forever Le Grand Ami for Akvian Song" and bitch – "Ch. NEWETTA’s Unique Design in B&W" (one name, one destiny) were absolutely gorgeous but, today, I want to dwell on the female for a moment:
She dazzled me, because when she entered the ring I really felt my heart beat faster.
The head and its expression, the construction, her bones, the substance, in my opinion meant the plastic representation of the standard - let's add a perfect markings and a very pure white coat.
Today, even her correct but lazy movement, which I have perhaps excessively penalized (without detracting from the great value of the male), seems to be linked to her royal indifference to what happens outside the perimeter of her mistress, for whom she only had eyes. .
Despite my efforts to attract her attention, I was unable to get her to give me a look, but that is what often happens with some superior beings."
"Grant" pictures by Soren Fryberg and Sophie De La Croix
"Unique" pictures by Michele Ramsing
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