Answering The Question: “Where Do Judges Come From?”

by SANDY WEAVER, AKC JUDGE

There comes a moment in most parents’ lives when their child wants to know where babies come from. Often there is blushing and stumbling and trying to find the age-appropriate response. It’s sort of the same way with judges.

If you’re new to the world of showing dogs, you may wonder how those people in the center of the ring got there. If you’ve been around shows a long time, perhaps the question is less about how and more about why that person is allowed to pass on your breed(s) at all!

Let’s try to answer both of those questions, shall we?

First, judges started out as exhibitors, either of their favorite breed, as a Junior Showmanship exhibitor or maybe as the assistant to a professional handler. After many years of learning about their breed, how dog shows work, and maybe as stewards, show chairpersons and club officers, one day they woke up and decided to apply to be a judge.

The AKC defines the pathway to becoming a judge. That pathway, as any judge with a frustrated look on their face can tell you, changes from time to time. After poring over the latest iteration of AKC rules for submitting an application, the person embarks on their journey. It could be for only one breed, or if the person has extensive experience in up to 12 breeds, they can apply for all of them on their first application.

There are required educational sessions put on by AKC only a few times a year. Take out credit card, reserve space in the next session, reserve hotel, book flight.

There are points that must be accumulated for each breed, showing that the prospective judge has achieved at least the minimum required level of education for each breed. Next step – look online for opportunities to steward, opportunities to judge matches, majors at shows, seminars hosted by breed parent clubs, national specialties, kennels to visit, approved mentors to visit, and large educational institutes to attend. Take out credit card, plan to attend large show clusters, reserve space in seminars, at national specialty Judges Education sessions, and at large educational institutes… reserve hotels, book flights.

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Posted by Alex on Sep 17 2018. 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.