Judging By The Book

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82 – May, 2021

By Wayne Cavanaugh

For many years, the Irish Kennel Club held their spectacular St. Patrick’s Day Show at the glorious Royal Dublin Society (RDS) in Dublin. The event is a grand affair with a great history. As it happens, the RDS sits strategically near the end of the route of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. This location is important to its history because, with the holiday being a religious one, there was a time when pubs were closed for the day. The only place you could get a pint was at a sporting event. No problem for the locals who could go to the parade and end up at the dog show where pints were sold.

The first time I judged the St. Patrick’s show was the last time it was held at the RDS before moving to the IKC’s National Show Centre. I had the great pleasure of judging Irish Setters that day. Irish Setters on St. Patrick’s Day at the RDS in Dublin – doesn’t get much better for someone quite proud of his Irish heritage. Of course, the day did come with a few logistical challenges. The ring, for example, was unusual.

There was a bit of a damp chill in the hall, the parade crowds were pouring in, as was the rain through some leaky spots in the roof, but the spirit was high. With some well-deserved RDS repairs underway, some rings had been moved to odd spots off the main hall. My ring was in a beautiful but long and narrow section. When I say long and narrow, I mean very long and very narrow. I could line the dogs up in an endless straight line but when it came to seeing movement, I only had room to send them way down and way back. Observing side-gait required throwing away the book. Common sense prevailed. After the examination, and down and back, I hopped over to a small space outside the ring among the spectators. From there, I had each dog go down and back for a second time while I watched from my new vantage point. Then back in the ring I went. Over and over.

So, there I was in a narrow wing of a hall that was under repair, with an abundance of cheerful spectators, in a ring that required viewing adjustments, while awarding IKC Green Stars (think UK Challenge Certificates or FCI CACIBs), and sorting through class names and categories we don’t have in the states. Then there was the double- and triple-entering. As in the UK, an owner can enter a dog in as many classes as they’d like for which they are qualified. (Technically, AKC rules allow this also, you just don’t see it often). The challenge for the judge is not to switch the placements in later classes. By the way, the entry was 218 Irish Setters. Did any of this affect my ability to focus on the dogs? Not one bit. Why? Because I didn’t have to judge by the book or with the book.

Click here to read the complete article
82 – May, 2021

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Posted by AnthonyA on May 13 2021. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.