Page 8 - BAHC Digitaal Clubblad Nr1 2012

The BAHC presents the judge for our specialty on 12-08-2012
Mary Fisher Ifmaraf Afghan Hounds
If we are honest, most of us accept that the dog we show is an extension of ourselves. Winning at a show which requires adherence to a breed standard is very different to cros- sing the chequered flag first, because it all depends on that all important factor – the ability of a human to honestly appraise the qualities of exhibits and decide which exhibit has most quality and can also display these qualities to impress the judge.
Therefore when judging, I feel I must always respect the exhibit I am handling, the exhi- bitor who has given me the privilege of assessing the dog he or she is presenting and the future of the breed.
Inevitably breeding programmes usually include dogs and bitches that have for the most part had successful show careers. It follows that unless I, the judge, have done my job properly, I will have failed the bree- ding programmes.
When my husband, Ian and I bought our first Afghan in 1972, Jo Brown (Zudiki) his breeder knew that “Caesar” was coming to us purely as a family member, as we had
no knowledge of dog showing. However, through her enthusiasm for the breed, Jo encouraged us to read more, to visit some shows with Caesar and to later see her sub- sequent litters and watch for aspects of the dogs’ structure and development. We were learning together. I also became involved with an all breed dog club which meant I had opportunities to get hands on expe- rience of “judging” dogs every week at ring- craft. It didn’t matter what breed was being assessed – it was learning how to approach the exhibit and the method of feeling the dogs that became like second nature over the years. Then came the chance to take the AHA judging exam which I successfully sat in the late 1970’s. By this time Jo had bred several successful litters and we had bred our first litter from one of these Zudiki bitches. The dog we kept from our litter
was noted for a string of wins at Crufts and eventually Best of Breed there in 1986. That was CH IFMARAF GO MAN GO.
By that time I had judged numerous well filled classes at Open Shows and won the ballot enabling me to judge dogs at the
AHA Championship Show in 1992. My next Championship appointment was at the Afghan Hound Club of Wales in 1995 where I chose to judge bitches. My third CC appoint- ment was at the East of England Afghan Club Show in 2006 where I judged dogs. I am now eagerly awaiting giving CC’s to bit- ches at the Hound Show in 2007.
Having foreign and “coloured” bloodlines
in the pedigrees of my own early Afghans, always kept me curious to see other dogs from these lines in the flesh. Eventually this led to us venturing to Australia to watch shows there, and to accept that these examples of the breed would satisfy my interpretation of the breed standard just
as well as the dogs I was used to seeing at home. Exhibitors seemed very open about me seeing their dogs and visiting them at home. We have been spectators and also exhibited at shows on the European circuit and have participated in the ringside and lecture aspect of three American Afghan Speciality Shows to get another perspective of the breed.
So I like to think that having now seen, shown and bred from English and foreign lines, I can be totally unbiased to bloodlines and colours. It will always be my intention to judge with the universal future of our breed in mind.
MARY FISHER
IFMARAF AFGHAN HOUNDS