Looking Back With Lee

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164 – November/December, 2014

By Lee Canalizo

In these days of lesser entries and tight money, one would think that cooperation would be a key to success! Well, in many cases, you would be wrong!

Take it from me; I’ve seen it all over the years as a member of many all-breed clubs, as a judge and, presently, as a working club member.

I truly can’t understand this uncooperative mentality as it causes so much unpleasantness as well as loss of revenue and friction within the club or cluster.

In most instances, the problem starts with judges selection; at least in a club situation. Members should have a say, especially those who perform the thankless tasks and take responsibility for putting on a successful show! Unfortunately, some of the aforementioned folks are not up to date with the judges’ ranks, or feel the best candidates for their club’s panel are those judges who have awarded their fabulous entry recently, OR they prefer to nominate their good friend who just was sanctified by the American Kennel Club and can now judge three more glorious breeds, OR maybe they prefer the show chair who will be reciprocating IF they are hired for this club.

Now don’t get me wrong, one of the best qualities our fancy has is their generosity toward one another. Helping out a friend with some provisionals is one thing, but when the only provisionals they get are from the same club, it raises some questions… and red flags.

There are other fanciful reasons for wanting Mr. Wonderful to judge for your kennel club but, of course, all of the above are the wrong reasons for hiring a judge. Of course, the aforementioned scenario causes much disagreement within the group.

The main goal when assembling a panel should be to provide the best, most qualified person or persons who will treat your exhibitors and their entry with respect while fully understanding the breed standards. You can combine the more experienced (and more expensive) arbitrator with a few provisional or breeder-judges to flesh out a good panel. Keep in mind, you do get what you pay for, and most times the more costly judges bring in more entries!

Add all of the above to the practical problems of putting on a show: the hospitality, grounds requirements, etc. The problems multiple exponentially with a large, multiple day circuit.

You don’t need to have a Ph.D in economics to realize that sharing the more successful, experienced judges over several shows is a win-win situation for all of the clubs involved.

Sadly, this is where, for some clubs/clusters, it is like the Republicans and the Democrats in Congress, unable to work successfully together. Some clubs just can’t seem to see the forest for the trees and, therefore, cost their clubs money.

There is no doubt we need to be more sensitive to the exhibitors requests for a competent judge for their respective breed, but, by the same token, the exhibitor must realize the extent of work involved in assigning the best available judge for all the breeds attending an all-breed show. You can’t have a specialist/breeder-judge all the time, although,there are some folks that are not happy with a specialist either… GO FIGURE!

Putting on a good, safe, successful show or circuit requires a tremendous amount of work. Remember, all this work is done by volunteers. All club members need to recognize that fact and pitch in to make their show successful and enjoyable! This is a call for you strapping young people to join your local club so you can give a voice and a hand!

In this day and age of conflict in all walks of life, we should be more appreciative of our wonderful pastime and try to experience more pleasure and enjoyment from our participation in dog shows.

Enjoy the shows!

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Posted by ralbee on Nov 19 2014. Filed under Current Articles, Editorial, Featured, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.