Page 284 - ShowSight - October 2019

PUMI
BY CHRIS LEVY,
HUNGARIAN PUMI CLUB OF AMERICA JEC
Having shown and bred several popular breeds over the last 40+ years, I tend to have some expectations about the level of expertise that judges will have in those breeds. It’s a whole
new experience with a new (to AKC) breed where the judg- es quite often know less than the exhibitors.
Prior to July 1, 2016 when the Pumi entered the Herd- ing Group, the Hungarian Pumi Club of America had provided 21 judging seminars in every part of the country over the previous six years. Over 150 people attended these seminars and we’re very grateful that judges were interested enough to take the time and expense of attending. Howev- er, of those 150 people, only 47 (one third) of them are now approved to judge the Pumi. Any judge who judged the Herding Group was automatically granted the Pumi after passing an open-book test on the breed standard. There are now about 225 AKC judges who are eligible to judge the Pumi, only 47 of whom (20%) have ever attended a semi- nar on the breed. We have been told by judges in the ring that they’ve never seen a live Pumi before, or have never actually had their hands on one.
In order to best prioritize the dogs in the ring, the judge needs a broad background of having judged many dogs of that breed, and of course, with any rare breed that’s nearly impossible. The Hungarian Pumi Club of America has extensive judges education materials on their website at http://pumiclub.org/about-the-pumi/judges-education/ and we’re hoping that judges do look for and review that infor- mation before judging them.
In addition, we completed development of the Pumi course in the AKC Canine College. When we last checked, only 12 people had taken and passed the course. Remem- ber that for those judges who are already approved for the breed, it only costs $20. Call Judging Ops to get the discount.
Following are some of the things that I think judges may be missing.
JUDGING UPDATES ON THE
282 • ShowSight Magazine, october 2019