CKC JUDGES’ CONFERENCE - November 5, 2006
By Jill Fike
When we received a phone call in the fall asking if we could bring a selection of Icelandic sheepdogs to the coast at the beginning of November to show to a ‘group’, we were delighted to have this opportunity, but I made the mistake of not enquiring who the ‘group’ was!
It would be hard to describe my reaction when I received a phone call from Carmen Haller, who was coordinating the event, and who then outlined the full details. This was a group of 60 CKC judges and I was to interpret the Standard for them! We have not yet shown one of our dogs, just took Kolur to the Parade of Spitz Breed Dogs at the Abbotsford Show in 2004, so I was quite aghast at my lack of knowledge for this undertaking and it was too late to back out!
A "HELP" call went out to Val, who responded in spades and I would have been so stuck without her, and the breed wouldn’t have fared as well! Val sent a really interesting video, and I was relying heavily on this as a visual explanation. She also sent copies of the Illustrated Breed Standard, and the most interesting information of all was that the weekend we were at the Judges’ Conference, the DIF was working with ISIC to prepare a Judges’ Compendium in English to help with the interpretation of breed type because there will be many new judges who are unfamiliar with the breed.
As there is a very small genetic variation, and to preserve the breed for the future, the ISIC recognized early on the necessity to look upon the Iceland Sheepdog regardless of national borders. It is essential that breeders cooperate between countries to preserve the genetic variation in the breed.
I prepared a handout of the Iceland Sheepdog that was sent ahead to be circulated to the attending Judges, together with a copy of the current standard, but I felt a handout really can’t do justice to the many different attributes of this breed. I illustrated to the Judges as many of these as I could, not the least I believe is their amazing ability as rehab dogs. I have three marvelous stories that give examples of this, which I’ll write up for the next Newsletter, which I actually didn’t explain at the Conference as it wasn’t directly related to the topic, although I felt it was a great opportunity to describe the breed in a different manner than they would learn via the Illustrated Standard and the Judges’ Compendium.
Carmen was a great host and a huge help, but did have to greet me with the news that a cable couldn’t be procured to show the video, so I would have an hour to speak!! We took three dogs with us, who were up on tables at the front, and after I had spoken and answered questions, my various family members took the dogs around for the judges to see more closely.
We had Kolur with us and out of interest I’ll attach pictures of him as I saw him in Iceland with his mother Snoppa and his littermates, all of whom were dark charcoal grey, and a picture of him now – another very interesting point to illustrate colour change, which is a feature that has to be unique, as are the number of possible predominant colours in the breed. The latter, combined with the enormous difference in appearance dependant upon coat length, had to be something quite unusual for judges to be dealing with in the future.
Actually the hour went by quite quickly and I hope I was able to convey for the judges what a delightful breed the Iceland sheepdog is and how fortunate those of use who own one are. One of my daughters, taking Grimsnes’ Rof round to the judges, was told by several that it was the most entertaining of the presentations! – so hopefully that made up for my lack of showing knowledge and the Compendium will compensate for that.
Last thanks go to my family for looking after the dogs and the Coquihalla for cooperating for our trip!
