Page 9 - THE SLOUGHI REVIEW SPECIAL ISSUE 6

T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W 0 9

Again – a single dog? No sighthound? Not possible, unbearable! So, we looked for a
shorthaired one, a bit smaller than the Ibizan, and found a lovely Pharaoh bitch in the

Netherlands. A real character (knew right away that a Pharaoh is royal and powerful,
whereas a Shepherd is to follow commands…) and a beauty. We took her to a couple of
shows and she became a champion.

All along my hunger for knowledge about dogs of all kinds, their history, their biology,
behaviour, everything to do with dogs and sighthounds in particular was read, seminars

were visited with internationally renowned scientists and dog specialists, and I started my
career as a judge for sighthounds, starting with Afghans, Salukis and Sloughis.

It wasn’t easy! In Germany you had to do qualifying judging at four shows – at least – for
every breed. And a written report on every dog to be handed in. And if the ‘teaching’ judge
(it had to be a different one at each show) didn’t want you to take away future judging
events from him, he certainly found something to object to in your reports… Well, in 1984

I finally became a judge for these first three breeds.

The rest of the – meanwhile – 21 sighthound breeds followed until I became a judge for all
of the FCI 10 group breeds plus the so-called ‘Mediterraneans’ (Pharaoh Hound, Ibizan
Hound, Cirneco dell’Etna, Podengo Portugues, Podenco Andaluz and the Greek Kritikos

Lagonikos). That was in 2013.

Since then I have had the lovely opportunity to judge in many countries. But that is only
the ‘official’ side of my ‘doggy life’.