Just Judge the Dogs

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178 – April, 2022

By Caroline Coile

The Canine Chronicle Online ran an anonymous article about Ethics and Impropriety (https://caninechronicle.com/current-articles/conflicts-of-interest-and-impropriety/) that caused a lot of ringside discussion amongst exhibitors, taking both sides of the issue. To review, it centered around an exhibit and exhibitor with strong ties to a judge officiating at the same prominent show. A lot of people assumed I wrote it because it was in my breed and I was there. I didn’t, not because I necessarily approved of it but because it was legal and the fact the judge was on the panel exerted no more “pressure” on the officiating judges than it would have had he sat ringside. In the end it was up to the exhibitors in question to decide how they wanted to be perceived, and to the judges in the ring to just judge the dogs no matter who was on the panel. The individuals in this scenario are not the focus of this essay; rather, the rules and ethics and consequences that surround relationships and judging decisions in general.

But, to get it out of the way and clarify why this situation was legal, the AKC rules say only that “Conformation judges and household members may not exhibit any breed and judge on the day of, the three days before and the three days after an assignment within 200 miles of the assignment.” No mention of ex-spouses, breeding partners, traveling companions or best friends, unless they share an address.

Note that “household members” is not, according to the AKC, the same as family members, which are only included when it comes to exhibiting under a judge, and are described as the judge’s “spouse, domestic partner, parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, siblings, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, daughters-in-law, and sons-in-law; adopted, half, and step members are also included in immediate family.”

So the AKC says it’s technically legal to show under your best friend, your ex-spouse, your significant other (as long as you live separately), your godparent, your breeder, your breeding partner, your next-door neighbor, or your fellow employee. It’s legal for the son or daughter to show at the same show where their parent is judging as long as they don’t show under their parent. It’s legal for a judge to show under a judge he was on the same panel with last week, or will be next week. It’s legal for a judge to show under the same judge that he will be judging the next week. It’s all legal, but does it live up to the AKC’s advice to “avoid all situations that are likely to give the impression of impropriety?”

Obviously, in many cases, the answer is No. While some argued that these restrictions should be tightened, there’s always the danger of scooping up perfectly legal relationships into the prohibited net. The AKC does add: “There will always be ‘gray areas’ that perplex judges. When faced with such a dilemma, ask yourself whether the situation, however innocent, projects an outward appearance of impropriety. A good rule of thumb is: If you have concerns about whether something is inappropriate, you probably should avoid the situation.”

In the end, the onus of deciding what is appropriate falls on the exhibitor and judge. If you’ve been exhibiting or judging for any amount of time, eventually you will find yourself in that gray area. Sometimes it’s tempting to close your eyes to it, but in the end, the wins may not be worth it when weighed against popular perception and possible harm to your reputation.

Legal vs. Ethical

Click here to read the complete article
178 – April, 2022

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Posted by AnthonyA on Apr 14 2022. 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.