Page 126 - ShowSight - February 2020

Breed Education: It Starts With You BY CELESTE M. GONZALEZ continued
If you have attended a breed’s presenta- tion previous or already judge the breed and are present for a refresher course, please give deference to the learners that have not had the learning experience previously.
There usually is a rush to obtain Cer- tificates of Attendance on the last day of a cluster of seminars. If you are leaving prior to the end of the cluster of seminars, please inform the seminars coordinator so that your certificate of attendance can be given to you prior to your departure. If you have stayed through the last seminar, know that the seminar coordinator is working as fast as possible to produce your certificate of attendance. HINT: Take a smart phone photo of each one of your breed’s atten- dance sign-in sheet and hands-on workshop evaluation form as you complete each one. Seminar coordinators are human and make mistakes too. Your proof of attendance at a seminar may come in handy in case of errors or if you forgot to sign your hands-on form evaluation form.
SEMINAR PRESENTER
Prior to arriving at the seminar loca- tion, you have received information from the seminar coordinator on the number of attendees registered for your seminar and have procured and brought with you and/or sent ahead the materials for the learners. Be sure to bring a few more, just in case. You’ve also provided a brief bio sketch of yourself and your activities and/or accomplishments in the dog world, be it show and/or field. Learners want to know who is presenting the breed seminar and what their experience is in the breed. Double check that all dogs committed to be at the hands-on workshop will be there and let them know the time to assemble prior to the hands-on.
You should arrive at least a half hour before your breed presentation seminar is scheduled to begin, if not sooner, per the coordinator’s request. The coordinator will want to run a short test session with your electronic media (USB stick with breed pre- sentation in PowerPoint format and PDF format) in order to work out any oddities that may occur. This usually occurs while the prior breed’s hands-on is rolling along. Understand the method(s) of slide advance- ment, use of the microphone, etc. If the seminar coordinator has not briefed you on the expectations and mechanics for the hands-on workshop, please ask so you and the coordinator are giving the same message to the learners.
Stay on time and on task during your presentation. You have one and a half hours for the breed presentation and one hour for the hands-on workshop, in most cases. Often times, the next breed seminar will start when your hands-on ends. Ask the coordinator what kind of signaling they’ll give you so as not to run out of time during the presentation or the hands-on.
At some point, you will have to make the tough decision of “How tardy is too tardy for late-comers?” Your parent club should be able to provide you guidance in how to answer that question. Know ahead of time, as there are always some learners that come in half-way through a presenta- tion and expect to get full credit. Please let the seminar coordinator know your parent club’s instructions for those cases.
Agree ahead of time as to how teeth, and testicles on males will be examined, and if you or the coordinator will do it and announce the results as well as age and sex of each exhibit to the learners. You don’t want
20 people going over each example exhibit’s bite and testicles, do you? Demonstrate how the examination of the mouth, teeth or bite is done for your breed. If a breed has a full mouth examination, e.g. Doberman Pin- schers, Rottweilers, assure that the demon- stration dog will tolerate having its mouth kept open for a sufficient amount of time so the learners become familiar with examin- ing and counting teeth in sets. Likewise, for those breeds that have a thumb exam across the front of the lower lip, e.g. Pugs, Brussels Griffons, assure that the demonstration dog will tolerate having this type of exam done several times in demonstration.
Demonstrate the execution of the prop- er breed-specific hands on examination and examination of coat, where required. When you are putting your hands on cer- tain areas, for instance the bottom (ventral surface) of the sternum while checking for the end (xyphoid process), explain why you are doing so and why it’s of importance for that particular breed. A few breed stan- dards indicate that the forequarters are heavier than the hindquarters, or that the dog is heavy for its size. Be sure to dem- onstrate how that is evaluated, or what to look for. You are thoroughly familiar with those aspects, but your learners are gen- erally not. If your breed is a dwarf breed, has a wrap-around front or has any breed standard acceptable departure from the normocephalic and long-legged canine structure, please explain the purpose of that trait in the breed and demonstrate how to evaluate it.
For the breeds that are weighed and/or measured, please ask ahead of time for the AKC Field Representative to give an exam- ple of weighing and measuring. In those >
STAY ON TIME AND ON TASK DURING YOUR PRESENTATION. YOU HAVE ONE AND A HALF HOURS FOR THE BREED PRESENTATION AND ONE HOUR FOR THE HANDS-ON WORKSHOP, IN MOST CASES.
Often times, the next breed seminar will start when your hands-on ends.
124 • ShowSight Magazine, February 2020