The Danish Kennel Club has, as the first kennel club in the world, introduced electronic
critiques that are available on the internet immediately after the judging.
At the Danish Kennel Club international dog show in Fredericia last weekend, a new
IT-system had its world premiere and the ring staff could say goodbye to the good
old typewriters. All critiques and awards were registered digitally in the ring,
and shortly after not only the members of the Danish Kennel Club, but everybody
from all parts of the world could choose the website
www.hundeweb.dk
and see the results.
Long awaited
“The digitalisation has been in demand for years”, says Jørgen Hindse, President
of the Danish Kennel Club. He could with great satisfaction note that the new technology
worked wonderfully through the whole weekend and only with insignificant faults
that were corrected gradually as they appeared.
It has taken well over six months to get the system going. The IT staff of the Danish
Kennel Club had their first meeting with the programmers in May 2014 and the system
was tested at the international dog show in Herning in November. It is now completely
ready and will be used at all Danish dog shows ahead – also the shows organised
by the Danish breed clubs.
Extra security
The system was really well received in Fredericia. The ring staff, the judges and
the exhibitors all expressed their excitement and enthusiasm. Even those ring secretaries
who had been sceptical about replacing the typewriter with one of the 50 tablets
bought by the Danish Kennel Club were converted promptly.
“With my background in IT I can only be enthusiastic. It is much more efficient
than having to sit with the table covered with papers, it is less stressful and
the technology behind the system has been really well put together. As a judge,
I can sit and watch over the secretary’s shoulder while she is typing, which especially
for foreign judges can be an extra security in relation to the language barrier
– some words or expressions can easily be lost in the dictation, but then it is
easy to correct. I would definitely request other kennel clubs to implement the
Danish system”, said all round judge Janelle W. Robbins from Australia. She used
the online critique system both Saturday and Sunday when she judged i.a. retrievers,
spaniels and poodles at the Danish Kennel Club show.
The excitement doesn´t stop
“I have to admit I was a bit worried when the Danish Kennel Club announced that
you would use a brand new online critique system without any form of back up the
entire weekend”, says Andrzej Stępiński from Poland who judges breeds in FCI group
1, 2, 5, 6, 8 and 9.
“But my worries were brought to shame – it worked smoothly, without any hiccups
and it really is a lot quicker to judge the dogs this way”, he adds.
The Danish all round judge, Ole Staunskjær, who is also an honorary member of the
Danish Kennel Club, was already before the weekend an old hand in the new critique
system. For him it was the fourth time he used the system, and he is very excited.
“The system makes the work in the ring much easier – and we avoid the usual paper
mess at the table, the ring secretary can type much faster and it is much easier
to correct the critique if you make an error. I can definitely recommend other kennel
clubs to try the Danish system, he says.”