Tradition requires that Season's Greetings be expressed until 31 January! Well I'm a traditionalist! Consequently, instead of conveying my very best wishes to all of you, let me tell my warm, sincere and "global" thanks to all those who work hard, constantly and on a daily basis to ensure that our 4-legged friends get the place they deserve in our families and our society!

On another tone, I want to point out how important the development of cynology is within the FCI. Our Office located in Thuin, Belgium, has to adapt and adjust to that reality. I'm proud and very happy to see the works of our building extension come to an end! The FCI will have modern and comfortable facilities to host its Committees and Commissions meetings and will be happy to show its gallery and museum/library to any visitor.

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Yves De Clercq
FCI Executive Director
World premiere for online critiques

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.”