Markku Mähönen

Finland

I qualified as a conformation judge in 1999. I have judged in Western and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, the Baltic countries, Ireland, England, the USA and Russia. I am currently an all-breed conformation judge. In 2015, I had the honour of judging my own breed, the Irish Wolfhound, at the FCI World Dog Show in Milan, and in 2018 I judged the Best Breeder’s Group in the group competitions at the FCI World Dog Show in Amsterdam. I have trained new judges for Whippets and Irish Wolfhounds.
I have been active in club work, having served as the Chair of the Finnish Irish Wolfhound Club, been a member of the board of the Finnish Sighthound Association, and represented the Finnish Kennel Club in the FCI Sighthound Commission. Together with my wife, I have bred Irish Wolfhounds, Whippets and Border Terriers. For our work with Irish Wolfhounds we have received the Finnish Kennel Club’s Vuolasvirta Award, and among our bred dogs there are champions in both conformation and performance.