I’m very grateful for the trust to have been invited to judge at your show. I hope that circumstances allow for as many as possible to attend this much-awaited event.

I’m an entrepreneur in the field of architecture and run a small/mid-sized architecture office in Tampere. I’ve worked as an entrepreneur almost my whole professional career, for about 35 years. I find aesthetics and functionality as fascinating and important in all parts of my life.

I grew up on the countryside and therefore, dogs and other farm animals are a natural part of my life. Even though I have not been hunting that much, my first own dog was a Finnish Spitz. This national breed is a great dog.

In the 80’s, I got interested in Belgian Shepherd Dogs and was also involved in national club activities. My competition career was not very successful, but despite of that, dogs were a big part of my life in many different aspects. In the early 90’s, life took me to live and work in Switzerland. I continued there with dog sports and was breeding under the prefix Lemminkäinen.

I took the judges’ course in Switzerland and was authorized in 1997. When we came back to Finland, I was again active in clubs for some time, and even continued breeding in a small scale. It wasn’t until 2008 when I started studying new breeds more actively. My goal has never been to judge as many breeds and groups as possible. At the moment, I’m however licensed to judge nearly all breeds from group 1, about half the breeds from group 2, and some breeds from group 5.

When judging, I focus especially on the dog’s structure and balance. A healthy structure is the basis of all breeding and must not be compromised. When a breed-typical type and healthy structure meet, there is also a possibility for show success.