Showsight October 2017

says WHAT’S THE MAIN THING JUDGES OVERLOOK WHILE JUDGING YOUR BREED? lieu of the judges actually judging the dog in front of them. —Anonymous

Cavalier King Charles Spaniels—I think 2/3 of judges fail to use the breed standard in its entirety. Choosing best groomed with short upper legs, short fore faces, soft toplines and the smallest and the fastest exhibit in the class all appear to me to be taking top awards more often than not. None of those are worthy of the number of awards that are given. A judge must be able to articulate his or her choices in terms of the breed’s ideal and there are relatively few who can adequately verbal- ize even when faced with an unremarkable representation of the breed on the day. —Judy Gates

Staffordshire Bull Terrier and one thing judges overlook when judging it is the written breed standard. —Anonymous

Basenjis—correct conformation and movement per the standard. —Toni Ackerman

Great Pyrenees—tail does not have to be up and must have a beautiful expression with dark eyes and pigment. —Linda Whisenhunt

Ignoring the dog being judged or favoring the pro in the ring. —Anonymous

Judges mostly overlook movement when judging Maltese. —Anonymous

My breed is the Airedale Terrier. Definitely would like to see more judges sparring our breed. The proper sparring should be a distance from each dog, never nose to nose! —Anonymous

Over-trimming the OES. —Sally Carr

Chinese Cresteds—the amount of furnishings some dogs are having, either shaved PP, or breeding hairy hairless to HHL producing veil coated or so hairy of dogs. Crested HL is to have hair to neck not onto shoulders and around the front almost to chest. Looking at feet, specifically the socks, one should almost see feet/skin. —Anonymous

Vizsla—judges overlook substance, toplines and tail carriage. —Anonymous

Mastiffs—proportion. Mastiffs are rectangular, longer than tall and height comes from depth of body rather than length of leg. Great Danes are not a head breed! It is a working breed which more than half the standard is spent describing the perfect Great Dane body. —Diane Collings Tibetan Spaniel—judges do not consider dos of color ie, parti, black and tans and mostly all blacks. They come in oth- er colors than brown. —Pamela Bradbury

Border Terrier—judges overlook the pelt. A Border’s pelt should be thick and loose. —Anonymous

Most overlooked in Miniature Bull Terrier—rear structure. —Anonymous

My breed is Maltese. I find judges tend to overlook that the Maltese is a moderate breed. Baby doll heads, while pretty, are not correct for the breed. They should not look like a Shih Tzu in the face. Also, the outline should be mod- erate. They should not look like giraffes with long necks, short backs and long legs. They should appear balanced. —Vicki Fierheller Belgian Tervuren—structure and movement are more important than a pretty head. If the dog is not built well, it can’t perform the duty it was bred for. Dogs don’t run on their heads. —Anonymous My breed is Australian shepherd and the thing most often overlooked by judges is proper movement and structure in front assembly. —Paula Waterman

Tibetan Spaniel—they don’t care about their beautiful head. TS are a head breed. —Anonymous

Over forty years of breeding and exhibiting and now twenty years of judging, I think many judges overlook that we are still a herding breed. It’s hard to learn the finer points of head, but balance, type and structure should be easy to look at in any breed if you have an eye. Although head, eye and expression are very important to me, if the dog can’t run around the ring, how could that Collie herd? Yes, I have put up a Collie with inferior struc- ture because I rewarded something I had never seen in head quality. The dog was still balanced an exuded type with a beautiful expression. We do judge on virtues, but how many judges that judge Collies have the knowledge to judge on heads alone. I doubt it’s even 10% of our approved judges. I beg judges to look at the whole dog, not just what you think is a good head and expression because you could be way off the mark! Please help the Collie breed stay a working breed! —Robette Johns

Basset Hound—the all breed judges are not looking for the wrap around front. —Anonymous

Standard Poodle—incorrect fronts and shoulder payback. —Anonymous

They miss the figs. So many judges only see the face hold- ing the dog. It is sad that many fine animals go out the gate in

Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier—puppy to adolescent fading of color. —Wendy Neill

124 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , O CTOBER 2017

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