Showing questions, etc

[21softballstar]

Okay, so I have some questions about showing. Partly because I'm curious and partly because I've gotten into a disagreement of sorts with my byb breeder about showing and health testing.

1) Is any dog allowed to be shown, as long as they meet the color requirements and are a purebred? Because she seems to think so, as well as thinking even the grand Champion winners will have flaws. And apparently sometimes only one Great Dane is shown, and automatically takes first place.

2) And apparently the taller Danes are prone to more health and heart issues because their heart has to work over time to produce more blood....????

3) In order to be shown, a Great Dane has to meet the standard weight, right? 110 for females, I believe?

Thanks

[Lizgirl]

1) Every show is hosted by a club. To compete, the dog must be registered with the appropriate club (AKC, UKC, CKC, etc.). In all cases, for conformation competition the dog must be purebred and the breed must be recognized by the club.

b) Every dog, even champions, grand champions, best in shows, etc. have flaws. There is no perfect dog. What is being judge is how well that dog adheres to its standard.

c) Sure. If there is only one dog present, typically they will be awarded Best of Breed. But they will not get any points towards their championship or grand championship. There must be competition to gain points. In the AKC point system a certain number of dogs must be beaten depending on the state. Each gender has a different number they must beat to get point. So for a male dog this year in Texas, there must be 2 dogs present for the Winners Dog to be awarded 1 point , 7 dogs for 2 points and 10 dogs for 3 points, also known as a major. To earn championship, a dog must received 15 points and two majors.

So yes, but a dog without any competition will not earn any points. They do however go on to group. Great Danes are in the working group so the team would then compete among other working breeds for group placement

http://www.akc.org/events/conformati...unting-points/


2) Poor conformation is unhealthy. A proportionate Dane at 37" can very well be much healthier than a poorly bred hypertype at 33". Poor hips or over/under angulated rears have a big impact on the longevity in our breed. Heart issues like DMC are indeed plaguing our breed but I do not believe I have ever heard any correlation between height and heart disease.


3) No, I do not believe any Great Dane standard has a weight requirement. The only size requirement is a height requirement which for AKC is 30" for dogs and 28" for bitches. It is one of the few disqualifications along with color, docked tail and split nose.

http://images.akc.org/pdf/breeds/sta...242.1424369609

[Sparrow]

That was an incredibly informative and succinct answer. Awesome. And thanks for asking the question, OP!