My sincere thanks go out to the members of the Norwegian Saluki Club for inviting me to judge in your beautiful country. It was a great honor to be able to evaluate your Salukis and meet new friends. I must thank Elisabeth Espedal Hoogstrate for expertly managing all my arrangements – and Renata Ewa Goel and Erik Watz for their warm hospitality in the days after the specialty. I had a wonderful time judging and hope that everyone enjoyed the day as well. Special thanks go to my well-organized steward, Simon Tien Hansen, and my secretary, Kristian Viken – who worked very, very hard for several hours.

In judging Salukis, I look for the signature elements of our breed as called for in the standard: balance, moderation, top and under line, condition, and the seamles combination of elegance and strength. My judgment is not influenced by color or coat type, as they have no effect on conformation or movement. I believe that sound, effortless movement is critical, as a Saluki could not successfully hunt without it.

I was very pleased with the overall quality of the entry. The Salukis I saw were well groomed, in good condition, and excellently presented. Ear leathers and tails were long – and that is not always the case elsewhere. The carpeting and tape in the exhibit hall seemed to give some dogs a little trouble in gaiting and I tried to make allowances for that as much as possible.

When faced with a decision to choose between winners or placements, movement is always my deciding factor and towards the end, some dogs were not moving quite as well as they had been. So a dog that had been moving well early on in the judging might not later place as highly as one whose movement was consistently excellent.

I particularly appreciated the chance to select a few dogs for Best Movement and Best Expression, as this is something that is not done in America. In the Best Expression, all the dogs had lovely faces, but the young bitch I selected was very animated – moving her head and ears as she keenly investigated everything around her.

The Best Male, Baklava’s Special Edition was a handsome grizzle fellow, with good balance in his body, moderate angulation and excellent, sound movement from all views. The same was also true for the Best Bitch, Sinaxs Demali, and I had a very hard time deciding between them – but in the end the bitch’s movement held up a little better than the male, and so she was my choice for BIS.

Brian Patrick Duggan