Page 170 - ShowSight - September 2019

One Person’s Look at the Current and Future... BY WALTER J. SOMMERFELT continued
of us. After approval we did our provisional assignments before being granted full sta- tus. On the following application you could apply for the same number of breeds for which you were initially approved. Example with one breed you could apply for one, two for two and so on with a maximum num- ber per application. This was a process, that although time consuming and often frus- trating made the newer judges really spend time gaining knowledge and valuable expe- rience as they progressed through the pro- cess. Today a new judge can apply for up to twelve breeds on the next application. From one to twelve is a huge leap and makes no sense to most of us. There were of course many adjustments to the system some good, some bad, and many controversial. Then a few years ago the board under the guidance of Ron Menaker and the Late Steve Glad- stone passed the program I like to call “the no judge left behind program” opening the floodgates to judges being granted double digit breed approvals by simply checking the boxes as they say. This program has led to many of our newer judges being in over the heads.
Although the old system was slow and tedious it did work in generating judges that were more prepared in the “breed specific’ traits of the breeds they acquired. I person- ally did not apply under the Menaker/Glad- stone system and thought it to be a very poor way to advance judges. I have always felt that once a judge had been through the old system there should be a point where they should than be allowed to proceed more rapidly based on their display of good judgement and experience over time. Most judges spend a great deal of time at shows when not in the ring watching, learning, and discussing many of the breeds they do not currently judge. In my opinion if a judge is approved for two or more groups and
already has a track record of five to ten years of quality judging experience, they should be allowed to request an entire group by just taking the tests for the breeds and proceed. The reality is that you really don’t totally grasp the breed until you can put your hands on and judge them. Once granted the new group they should then be required to judge the new breeds a certain amount of times with at least one year before they could request another group. It could be a simple procedure where the judge sends in a request to apply for the specific group and the AKC says yes or no based on the judges past performance in those breeds for which he or she is already approved. If the AKC says no to the requesting judge they should provide him or her the reasons for their decision. The judge should than be given the opportunity to request observations of the breeds they are currently approved for and after receiving a certain number of positive reviews allowed to request again to proceed or be told that they have reached their limit for the foreseeable future.
I also believe judges should be encour- aged to continue to breed and exhibit. As one of those judges that continues to breed and exhibit, I know from experience that it keeps me in touch with the not only the sport in general but also all of the aspects that go into the preparation for the exhibitor, the costs, the time and effort of grooming and conditioning, the joys and frustrations of the whelping box, the raising of puppies, the hard work and anticipation going into each prospect as well as the behavior “good and bad” of the judges and other exhibitors. Continuing to exhibit reminds you what it feels like to be treated rudely while it can also remind you if one is honest with oneself to know when you have won when maybe you should not have and also when you have lost when you clearly should have won. This
hopefully keeps you focused on honest and fair evaluations of all exhibits in your ring and the ability to judge them “On the day.”
Judging approvals and advancement is just one area that really needs improvement. The next and maybe to most important one for survival rests in using shows to present our sport to the public and enhance the per- ception of our sport.
When I began almost all clubs held two “One Day” shows in a year within their local territories. This gave the club two opportunities a year to share the sport with their friends, neighbors, and other people in the community that might be interested in learning about pure bred dogs. Clubs also held sanctioned matches where not only newcomers, but seasoned dog people would take their prospects to train and evaluate them while preparing them for the show ring. The matches also allowed pro- spective individuals to try their hand at judging to get a feel for the process, ring procedure and to gain hands on knowledge of those breeds they were judging that day. Match and Sweepstakes judging were part of the requirements in applying to start a judging career.
In the 1970’s a gas crisis occurred in our country. As a result, the AKC began to allow clubs to hold two shows together and to also “cluster” into longer weekends if the new venue to be used was considered “exceptional”. It was at this time our sport started to undergo change. The number of exceptional venues was limited but the number of clusters that started began to increase as in some cases two, three, or four clubs would get together to hold a cluster at one site. These initially proved to be very successful as exhibitors no longer had to pack up and move from site to site for the next show. While in the past most week- ends were simply a Saturday and Sunday
“Judging approvals and advancement is just
one area that really needs improvement.
THE NEXT AND MAYBE TO MOST IMPORTANT ONE FOR SURVIVAL RESTS IN USING SHOWS TO PRESENT OUR SPORT TO THE PUBLIC AND ENHANCE THE PERCEPTION OF OUR SPORT.”
168 • ShowSight Magazine, SepteMber 2019