Templates And Silhouettes – More Than Just An Eye For A Dog

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102 – The Annual, 2025-26

By Wayne Cavanaugh 

One of many expressions that have been around since the beginning of dog shows goes as follows: “We don’t judge the dogs against each other; we judge them against their breed standard.” It’s a helpful phrase and a noble effort to bring clarity to a concept that may sound pretty complex. It’s especially useful when explaining group judging to spectators. But it never seemed like enough to me.

Comparing a living animal to only the words on a page, albeit extremely important and essential words, isn’t really how it works. Nor should it. Judges who judge only against a standard run the risk of judging parts instead of the whole. More recently, and quite unfortunately, the phrase seems to have been extended to read, “We don’t compare the dogs to each other; we compare them against the breed standard … and how they nail the free stack.” Anyone who considers that amended phrase as truth should lose all judging privileges indefinitely and develop some sort of itch that never goes away. Just kidding about the itch part. Maybe.

The Template

The best judges do far more than compare a dog to its written standard. Instead, they compare each dog to a mental image they’ve developed over time – a “template” for each breed they judge. A template brings a standard alive and respects the true character, function, and history of a breed.

Click here to read the complete article
102 – The Annual, 2025-26

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Posted by AnthonyA on Dec 26 2025. 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.