Two of which ended up taking out Best in Show and Runner Up Best in Show.

This blue boy is gorgeous and came second out of all the male dogs entered.

Each judge does it their own way and it’s interesting to see how they interact with the dogs as they are examining them.

For the black Great Dane fans out there.

The babies were as cute as ever, this little harlequin girl was more interested in giving the judge kisses than standing still.

And this cute little fawn girl stood beautifully…

… but still wanted kisses from her mum.

Best Head is always a good class to watch, as the judges rank the dogs solely on their structure and shape of their head.

This fawn girl has won this class twice in a row.

Some of the other fun classes are Best Veteran – the dog must be over 7 years of age and are often successfully retired show dogs so their return to the ring is often a cause for celebration. It’s good to see the ‘old grey faces’ out and about strutting their stuff, showing they still have it!

Another class is Best Parent and Offspring where the aim is to demonstrate an improvement of dogs from generation to generation.

For more information about this show, please see the results here and a gallery of all photos here.

For some reason, you don’t often see many brindle coloured Danes, it’s probably about the rarest of the showable colours. This gorgeous guy was the only one in attendance on the day.

Fawns generally dominate the showing scene and this show was no exception.

A beautifully marked harlequin – note the pure white background and glossy black patches that have a ‘torn edge’ appearance.

Speaking of glossy black!

The baby puppies are always entertaining to watch, this one was very well behaved and stood nicely while the judge examined her.

Another pretty puppy in black along with one of my favourite fawn girls.

The dogs have to show how well they move as part of the judging process, this girl was flying along and looked amazing.

To finish off, another harlequin. This was her first show back after giving birth to 11 puppies!

For more information about this show, please see the results here and a gallery of all photos here.

I wasn’t too worried however as the Great Dane Club of NSW held their bi-annual Championship Show on the Sunday which I had the pleasure of photographing. So many beautiful dogs made my job super easy and I thought I would share a few of my favourites.

A couple of gorgeous mantles (bostons in the USA).

Another stunning mantle boy on the move.

I love this moment between this big baby boy and his ‘mummy’.

Another of her baby boys.

A cute little blue girl from the same breeder as my Luna, see any family resemblance?

She is such a bright, alert girl and totally up for a cuddle when I went to say hello later on.

Big blue boy with the most lovely quiet personality (excuse the tongue out, it was quite a warm and steamy day).

Fawns always outnumber the other colours and this show was no exception. This boy took out Best in Show.

With his daughter taking out Runner-Up!

The structure and look of a Great Dane’s head is quite an important aspect of judging and is something the judge pays careful attention to.

This fawn female took out the honours in the special class of Best Head. Although the cropping of ears is illegal in Australia, handlers will often hold the ears up to enable the judge a better view of the outlines and shape of the head.

One of my favourite fawn girls.

Looking spectacular on the move.

Lined up for judging.

Last up is this beautiful little black girl. What a cutie!

For more Great Dane show photos, just head on over to my site www.greatdaneshowphotos.com and click the Sydney April 2009 link.