says DO YOU EVER ASK JUDGES FOR POST SHOW FEEDBACK IF YOU DOG DIDN’T PLACE?
not the best representative of the breed. Makes you not even want to bother showing. —Vicky Dyal
breaking over at the hock, I politely told the judge after the breed that he missed finishing a dual champion and that I was going to retire my bitch in lieu of humiliating her. Ann Rogers Clark had given my field champion the nod for a five point major at a specialty. Explain how my bitch lost to anoth- er dog breaking over at the hock? I was done. I had trained and pointed my dog in both arenas but could not buck the politics nor would I allow my dog to lose in a political arena. —Anonymous No. For what we pay to present our dogs to be judged, it would be useful to have something more than a ribbon. I think more new people would get involved in showing, if comments were provided. Our club expects our Special- ty Judges to provide comments on what they have seen in the ring. —Anonymous Yes. If a judge has shown interest in my dog and then does not give a winners or reserve I will ask them. Also, if the judge is provisional and has struggled, I’ll talk with them. —Anonymous No. The judges placements are sufficient feedback. More often than not, those questioning the judge are actu- ally challenging the opinion (even when done politely). —Anonymous
No. I have been told by many other exhibitors and seen for myself that for the most part the judge will blow you off (they have to get to another ring to keep on schedule) or give a non answer (the other dog had more “presence” or something along those lines). There have been a few judges who, while actively judging my dog or handing out the ribbons will offer up something they liked or suggest I try something different in my handling if I’m accentuating a negative but that is very rare. I would love for the European style of judge feedback on each dog to take hold here, but the way they have the judges scheduled it would be impossible. —Anonymous No. They are usually too busy immediately afterwards and if my dog didn’t win, I’m not staying until the end of the show. —Anonymous I’ve shown/bred for 49 years, but way back in the dark ages, I used to ask often. I never got a straight answer. Never. Not one judge offered constructive criticism which I was wel- coming. Most just gave me a blank look. I often wondered if they were even aware of what they were doing. I realize that I had lots of things they could have men- tioned. Like most, what I took in the rings in my early experi- ence had many holes. Of course, if you go to a breeder, ask directly for what you want, trust them—only to be made a major fool of then, of course, it is difficult for a person to get a good solid start. Because of that, I’ve always tried to be a men- tor (of course that was when I started knowing just enough that I could pass that bit along). —Phyllis Anderson No. I probably understand better than they do after more than a half century in the breed. Sometimes they are right, but we enter for a judges subjective opinion, and we deserve what we get good or bad. —Anonymous
I used to but not anymore due to the disinterested replies I have received. —Anonymous
Yes, one time. I was showing a dog that was really good. My dog and another of the same breed had competed 18 times. My dog won all 18 competitions and then a handler switch was made to a well advertised handler and my dog suffered his only defeat in his career. I approached the Judge later in a very professional manner and wanted to ask what he had used as criteria to place the winning dog ahead of mine. The Judge refused to answer. Having said this, let me continue. I handled dogs for about 30 years. Never advertised, never said more to a judge than a “Good morning”. Never “followed” any judge and when I retired from handling my winning percentage was over 95%. No brag, just fact. I quietly honed my handling skills and worked every day to improve my knowledge of canine struc- ture and studied breed standards. —Gerald W. Smith
No. However, when I tried to get one last point on my dog’s dual championship and took reserve to a bitch that was
LORI SARGENT
ALL BREED PROFESS IONAL HANDLER
Showing dogs for almost 40 years. Specializes in finishing class dogs. American Kennel Club registered handler.
Yes, only when it was clearly obvious they unneces- sarily struggled with a decision. —Anonymous
As a rule, no, but I did once as the judge spent his time watching another ring instead of the one that we were in. The answer was worse than not asking, the judge said they did not know. Should have just left the ring. —Anonymous No. I usually know how the class should be placed and if it didn’t go the way I thought it should, I chalk it up to a difference of opinion. —Anonymous
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110 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , A UGUST 2018
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