CARDIGAN JUDGING 101 by DAVID L. ANTHONY
Photo by: Kurtis Photography
W ith so much controversy over the AKC judging approval process and the ongoing need to be “on your game” when evaluating a breed, perhaps it is time to go back to the basics and relook at what and how you’re performing your duties. Discus- sions with regular exhibitors and judg- es, both new and old, have revealed some trends that do not bode well with the proper examination and adjudica- tion of the Cardigan Welsh Corgi. So let us look at some of the items that you should and should not be doing when it is time to give a fair and honest assess- ment of Cardigan Welsh Corgi, who, by design, have some unusual charac- teristics. Hopefully this will allow dog show judges to change a few bad hab- its and also help exhibitors determine which judges are properly performing their duties. It is no secret that word of
mouth among exhibitors spreads very fast and can be detrimental to future entries. Show Chairmen, in particu- lar, get their ears inundated with com- plaints of poor procedure resulting in less than adequate choices and quickly place a judge on the DNH (do not hire) list. Judges who really care should take heed. Let us start right from the begin- ning. We are all aware that you have a limited amount of time to make your decisions and we also know that exhibi- tors are entitled to equal and fair time in the ring. On most occasions, the first dog in the ring will be a young- ster. Please send them around the ring and let both the handler and the dog ease into the situation first. Do not ask the dogs to be placed immediately on the table and do not face the table directly into the on looking crowd. Both of these practices only help to increase
the nervousness of both participants and really serve no purpose other than to skim 30 seconds or so off your time. Hint: this isn’t impressing anyone and only discourages exhibitors. Next in the process, is the very disturbing practice of standing at, or very near, the table as the animal is being stacked upon it. Stop that! This doesn’t help anyone and if you can’t stand back and admire the silhouette of the Cardigan, or for that fact any table breed, because you don’t want to walk any more than you have to at the expense of the exhibitor, then perhaps it is time you look in the mir- ror and ask if this judge is really capable of doing 175 dogs in a day. The Cardi- gan’s unique outline must be evalu- ated from a slight distance in order to take in all the distinctions that a good example displays. You can quickly see the topline, croup, turn of stifle, length of neck, that most important depth of
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