Showsight - September 2017

says Are you happy with AKC’s decision To repeal the 80% group policy?* Why or why not?

Yes, I am. I feel that a group judge should be qualified to judge every breed and that every dog should be given equal consideration at the group level. —Anonymous Yes, I have been unhappy with the constant changing of the “Judging Approval System”. There was a time when it was of foremost important that to award approval to judge one had to really know the breeds. One of our old and long gone Judges used to say: “In order to judge Terriers you must have lived, groomed, known and thoroughly understood the breed.” Yes, I adhered to everything of the above these many years ago, but every time I was ready to apply for addition- al breeds of a group in something other than Terriers, AKC changed procedures and so on and on. Result being that I just stopped trying and went on to being a, hopefully, knowledge- able Specialty Terrier Judge. None of this dedication is the norm now. It pains me to have to watch some of the “new- bies” judge my breeds of which they have not a clue. That is the result of what has been the constant changing by AKC. —Annemarie Moore Thank goodness. There have been several issues with old- timer judges that were grandfathered into a group, not know- ing some of the newer breed and making big mistakes with breed. Hopefully, the new ruling will stop that and dogs with correct standards will win. —Nancy Winton Not all breeds within a group have parallel standards. Just because you know 12 herding breeds well does not mean you understand all the others. —Anonymous I agree with the AKC. Having a judge not familiar with your breed standard is very unfair to the exhibitor—especial- ly when it comes to Group judging. Would you go to a Doctor who only knows 80% of the medicine that he practices? In order to be fair to all the exhibitors, the judges should be up to date on all the breeds in the Group they’re approved for. —Michele Slate Yes, I totally agree, the quality of judging is suffering. It takes time to study breeds to be able to do a good job in the ring. —Edy Dykstra-Blum Yes, I completely agree with repeal of the 80%! In my hon- est opinion, it was absurd to allow judges to go for the large entries in the group in order to obtain the 80% and once they got the group, they were then passing judgment on breeds that they probably had never even touched before. I, too, am a judge but have always thought that it was an easy in and not fair to exhibitors with a low entry breed in that group. —Anonymous

and they say that because of lack of knowledge of judges, their breeds are becoming mediocre. My breed included. I sometimes don’t believe that judges know basic anatomy, much less the nuances of the breed they are judging. I person- ally love critiquing because you show what you know and don’t know and, hopefully, learn from a question presented because of a statement on a critique. I am afraid the great judges of yesteryear are gone. —Karen Skaggs I feel a lot of judges are not grasping what the breed stan- dard should look like, judging to what’s in the ring not to the AKC written standard. The overall quality of judging has been diminished—people judging breeds they are not qualified for. It is affecting exhibitors and the overall sport. —Linda Whitney Yes. With all the newer and less frequently seen breeds, I feel it’s important a judge be as well versed in those, as well as, the more common ones to equal the playing field. —Judie Posner

Definitely yes, I am in favor of the AKC’s revocation! —Jean Heath

Strongly in favor, I would not want to show a dog under a judge who had not been officially approved to judge my breed. —G. Hartcher Good decision. So many judges do not know the stan- dards in the breed classes, never mind doing a Group. They have got to pay their dues and move up the ladder slowly. —Anonymous I agree. If a judge is going to judge a group, they should be approved for every breed in that group. Too many times, a judge has told me that they were not familiar enough with our breed to give it a group placement. —Dennis Presley Yes! Ever wonder why you lost and do not know why? Answer: The judge knew nothing about your breed, but passed the test on 80% of the other dogs in the group. Finally! A ruling that makes sense. —Janet Hartmann I agree with the AKC’s decision to repeal the 80% policy. As a judge and exhibitor, I have observed the apparent lack of breed knowledge far too often. This lack of knowledge erodes confidence in the conformation system opening the door to questioning a judge’s knowledge or worse, their integrity. A greater and more profound effect is the awarding of wins to breed specimens, which are undeserving and/or unworthy but have now been certified as being solid representatives of their standards. All too often breeder’s will breed based on what is winning and not necessarily to their breed’s standard. —Michael-Robert Cheeks

Both as an exhibitor and Judge, I am happy when breeds don’t come so easily. I talk to many different breed people

130 • S how S ight M agazine , S eptember 2017

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