Page 90 - ShowSight - July 2019

Honing Our Skills
SPOTTING A GOOD JUDGE; PRACTICE MAKES (ALMOST) PERFECT AND MORE
BY MICHELLE SCOTT
We’re all taught if we work hard our efforts will be rewarded... which may be true in many aspects of life but not necessarily in conformation dog shows.
No matter how much you work with a dog that barely resembles the breed standard you will never make it a top winning dog.
If you want your hard work to pay dividends then you have to start with a quality dog.
We all love our dogs but we need to learn to put that aside and hon- estly evaluate them. If you can’t do that then find someone who will give you an objective, honest evalua- tion—if they happen to tell you that your dog isn’t the world beater you think it is please don’t take it as a personal affront. Ask questions, learn—keep learning, grow, and never stop asking questions! Stay curious!
If your first “show” dog doesn’t make the grade please don’t give up. Poor examples of the breed can still be great dogs to learn on—they can teach you a lot—and you will be that much more experienced when you’re ready for a dog that’s closer to the breed standard that you can win with.
Many of us spent years working to per- fect our trims and handling skills before we started to see any big wins with our own dogs—then we wanted to achieve those wins with our own home bred dog and that opens a whole new world for us.
SOME PERSPECTIVE ON JUDGING.
Judges have approximately two minutes to evaluate each dog. We’re on a schedule and if we’re too slow we will be reprimand- ed by the governing body. Those two min- utes encompass the physical examination, gaiting the dog to evaluate its soundness coming and going and its side gait. Then, once all of the dogs have been gone over and moved, we have to find our first to fourth placements—in a large class that may mean further gaiting and/or a re-examination of their heads or some other body part to make our determination. Again, all of this is done at a rate of approximately two min- utes per dog. Our job is made easier when the dogs come into the ring trained to stand for examination, to have their bite/mouth examined, to be properly gaited, clean and trimmed (as allowed by their breed stan- dard) to show off their positive attributes.
Having to wrestle with a dog to see its bite or find its testicles can be annoying for a judge and may make it a rather miserable experience for the dog. Having to gait a dog down and back a couple of extra times because it’s not actually trained to walk on a lead just wastes time. We all have good and bad days—I get that—but, everyone has the same two minutes to show the judge that they have the best dog in the ring. Don’t waste your two minutes with an untrained dog. Do your homework, train your dog, up your game.
PRACTICE MAKES (ALMOST) PERFECT
A lot of people are saying there’s just no place to take their dogs for handling classes or for them to get ring experience. I judged for the Arnprior Canine Association this past weekend, near Ottawa, Ontario. They had plenty of room in the arena where the dog show was held so they set up a “prac- tice ring” that was available all day for exhibitors to train their dogs. There always seemed to be exhibitors and dogs using it.
Not all shows will have the extra space to do so but I think it’s a great idea and wanted to get the word out there.
I had an interesting experience at the show this past weekend. I was judging with Honey Glendinning at the Fort St. John & District KC, in BC. Honey offered to give a handling class after judging and kindly accepted my offer to help. She structured the class to not only give lessons on properly stacking and gaiting their dogs but to also givesomeinsightintowhatajudgeislook- ing for in their breed. We divided the par- ticipants into two rings—one for big dogs and one for table/ramp breeds—and we each spent time working with each group. I thought it was a great experience, thor- oughly enjoyed myself, and really enjoyed answering questions and working with the dogs. It was a unique experience that I hope the exhibitors enjoyed!
Honey Glendinning elaborates: “This is the second time I have done it. At out of the way limited shows I prefer to judge the first day. That way I can do a learning training session for new and non professional pre- senters. It lasts about two hours and we do breed specific, table, floor presentation and moving elements. Then have the class watch from not only the point of view but from where the judge actually stands. Doing this the first night, they then can go back in the next two days with more confidence and an attitude they too can do this. Fun for all!”
There are many ways in which we can—without too much effort—improve the lives of dogs and people in our sport, or at least help them get totally comfortable with the world they want to join. This was one example. I welcome news of others! Just remember: we need these new people very, very badly!
DOG FIGHT!
After watching a situation at the dog show today we obviously need a primer on what to do when there’s a dog fight.
84 • ShowSight Magazine, July 2019