QUESTION FOR ALL SHOWSIGHT READERS Are you happy with AKC’s decision To repeal the 80% group policy?* Why or why not? *Up till now, if a person was approved to judge 80% of the breeds in a group, they were eligible to apply to judge the entire group. Thank you to everyone who offered opinions on this month’s topic. The following is a selection of the responses. Want to voice your opinion to the fancy? Follow ShowSight’s Facebook page for the monthly question prompt!
YES! How can someone judge my breed that they do not know about against a breed that they do know about? Impossible. They need to know all the breeds before they can make a comparison fairly. —Anonymous
Yes. It made it so you needed two judges to cover the group. If you have 250+ entries it’s not a problem. With the shows getting smaller, we are not seeing these types of num- bers anymore. —Anonymous Yes! I’ve always had the concern that if you had not yet applied for my breed, I would not feel comfortable enough with your level of knowledge to want to show to you in the group. I think breed knowledge in the group is as important as knowledge in the breed ring. —Anonymous It is correct. Judges should be licensed to judge all breeds in a group before being allowed to judge that group. It is sad to me that we are settling for mediocrity. As a breeder/ exhibitor, I go to ¼ the amount of shows as I did ten years ago, because of the quality of judging that exists. I have giv- en judging seminars on my breed and many of the attend- ees do not get the breed or how to judge them. Most attend- ees are interested in getting their form signed, not learning about the breed. Bravo for AKC for doing something right! —Anonymous Agree with the repeal. I think judges should be approved for every breed in a group before they are allowed to judge the group. Example: The Afghan Hound has very specific characteristics that no other breed has; for instance, promi- nent hipbones, shoulders well laid back, tail never curled over or resting on back, etc. —Anonymous Yes. I think the exhibitors deserve to have a judge who is approved to judge all breeds in the group adjudicating the group. —Anonymous For someone to have approval of so many breeds and still be on provisional for their first breed is ridiculous! They can’t possibly have the knowledge necessary to competently judge this many different breeds overnight! Please repeal this approval system. —Liz Karshner
No
Yes
Since I believe strongly in judging breeds that you like, chasing a group seems to me to be counter productive. I’m very happy with this change. I breed and show a rare breed— requiring only five CEUs for applications—we get judges already who have seen few. Those acquiring the group on the 80% policy may never have seen one in the flesh and aren’t required to have done any study beforehand. Good job, AKC! —Penelope “Penny” Inan Yes. That rule was detrimental to low entry breeds and allowed judges to become “qualified” to judge our breeds without ever attending a seminar or having hands on dogs of that breed. —Peggy Urton If I were still exhibiting, I would not be happy walking into a group to be judged by someone who was more interest- ed in getting a group quickly than taking the time to be quali- fied to adjudicate! I would also walk in the group feeling like my chances of placing would be lessened due to the judge’s lack of knowledge of my breed. —Sulie Greendale-Paveza As a judge I never availed myself of it—I want to know all the breeds in the group before I judge it. As a show chair, it was impossible to work with. For a show with a minimal number of judges, sometimes there is no one else on the panel to assign to the breeds not covered by the 80% and yet the 80% judge really wants to judge the group. It did a disservice to the breeds that the judge doesn’t have. —Anne Catterson
126 • S how S ight M agazine , S eptember 2017
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