"Suomen Sveitsinpaimenkoirat – Finlands Sennenhundar ry (Swiss Mountain & Cattle Dog Club of Finland) celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015, and to mark the occasion the club decided to arrange a specialty show, an international health symposium and a meeting of the IWG in Helsinki. In connection with these events also an international meeting of Bernese Mountain Dog judges was proposed. This meeting was the first of its kind, and the proposal met with overwhelming support from judges who saw it as very necessary. The breed has changed over the years and so have the problems that judges keep seeing when at dog shows."
overview...
This document contains an in depth summary of the 2015 Meeting of an esteemed group of international Bernese Mountain Dog judge's - 43 judges from 13 different countries. Breed characteristics are discussed as they relate to breeding and judging dogs that conform to the Breed Standard. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the current problems in Bernese Mountain Dog conformation and the principles of conformation judging. Prior to the meeting judges from around the world were asked to provide input as to the top five problematic issues related to conformation they were seeing in exhibited BMDs. The Judge's input was analyzed and five main issues were selected for closer discussion: proportions, head & mouth, fronts, tails, and coats. The main issues judges identified as well as other breed characteristics were discussed in the meeting with reference to the English language version of the breed standard. The latest version of the FCI's BMD breed standard was published in 2003 and its contents are the responsibility of Switzerland, the country of origin of the breed.
This document was posted on Bernese Mountain Dog Judges Facebook page <https://www.facebook.com/groups/320636241455430/> (a closed group for BMD judges only) on October 11, 2015. Sharing the document with colleagues and clubs was suggested.
The program
