Showsight January 2017

says I’m seeing more and more getting assignments that have nev- er seen the club educational information. –Karen Barnes

IS ENOUGH TRAINING AND EMPHASIS GIVEN TO THE MENTORING OF NEW JUDGES?

of what is quality and not what is being shown in mass. Also, I don’t think many new judges really understand a breed in terms of the function for which the breed has existed and that definitely requires more education. –Anonymous No. I think old judges need more training. I think long term judges should be required to get periodic breed club approved continuing education in each breed they judge. For example, a breed exam every five years would force them to review standards. There is too much monkey see-monkey do judging in my opinion. –Shirley McFadden No. I think it would be beneficial for all judges to be critiqued in each breed they judge by a breed expert or be required to be mentored annually. This would give us feed- back each year and hopefully from multiple sources. Are we still in the right track? Is there a point we have forgotten to consider enough? Is the breed having issues that we need to reconsider? The qualifications for a breed expert could be determined by the parent club. I believe that continuing edu- cation is important because the dogs that become champi- ons influence the direction a breed goes in. We owe it to all breeds we judge to do what is right for the breed structurally and functionally and put aside all else. –Anonymous No. Judges should be required to have their hands on each breed at several learning sessions, some could be ring side and show sites, not all need to be organized Judges education sessions. But not feeling a dog and licensing a new judge it is leading us down the wrong road. –Caren Holtby I believe that all new judges and those that are applying for new breeds should be required to be mentored by and approved by the national kennel club for the breed that they are applying to judge! There are far too many new judges who do not understand the proper way to examine a Pug dog’s head for starters. This lack of understanding in the how, unfortunately, also reflects in what is interpreted to be an apparent lack of concern for the breed itself and the respon- sibility that goes along with the judging of said breed. I am a breeder and I desire a professional opinion. I value an opinion by a good judge, whether they like my dogs or not and have learned a lot from such judges. There are far too many new judges out there now that do not fit in this category and I am pretty sure I don’t want to continue paying for opinions that are not helpful to any breeding program and that I do not respect! A judge should be intimate with the breed and know type. A judge should be knowledgeable! How can you otherwise be a good judge? I want to mention that there are some superb judges out there that I have witnessed carefully giving advice about how to judge a given breed, what to look for, care about, etc. You can bet that they will always get my entry! I have taken the judge’s education seminar twice as giv- en by the national breed club that I belong to and both times there were only a couple of judges present. We were advised

No, I don’t think so. Especially when adding additional breeds beyond the first one or two. When you start show- ing, you really should know your initial breed as intimately as possible. I love that breed clubs put on seminars, but the seminars are only as good as the perspective of the person putting it on. More time may need to be spent focusing on the original purpose and design of the breed and then add- ing the changes and modifications to the standard and why! –Karen MacDonald Absolutely not! I think all new judges really need to go to the nationals of the respective new breeds they are looking to get licensed in. There they would really get the low down on the breed. –Anonymous No, in many cases the judges mentoring simply pass along their own prejudices, by picking the dogs they would pick. We have enough political bias in judging right now. It does not need to be passed on to new judges. –Anonymous I don’t think so. They need more hands-on dogs. They have to go back to the stacks, every time, following ringside mentoring and go over several dogs, both correct and average in type. –Barbara Casey No, judges don’t understand my breed, are not mentored enough before being approved for the breed and I think there should be some interaction of breeders with provisional in rating the ability of the Judge. I suggested some years ago to AKC that the judges should critique their provisional breeds. This would establish how comfortable they are with the breed and the critique would make them more familiar with the standard and how it applies. There are more people get- ting out of showing because of politics involved with judges and the quality of the dogs judges are putting up and the small clubs that can’t afford anything but an all-breed judge to put on the show. –Anonymous No. Compared to livestock judges and the education/ training that they receive, the dog world falls far short. In this country, aspiring judges are essentially self-taught; how many colleges provide courses in canine topics, such as structure and movement, breed characteristics, judging comparisons and ranking, efficient ring procedure, etc. A few other countries do have organized continuing educa- tion for judges and prospective judges, some as lengthy as two years. –M. Schlehr It is obvious that there is a lack of training and mentoring of new judges. I think new judges should have to go to differ- ent parts of the country and get an idea as to the variety of specimens within a breed so that they can make a decision

116 • S how S ight M agazine , J anuary 2017

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