The Big E – Cherished Moments in the Ring

BY ELAINE LESSIG

As it often does, my tale begins with a phone call. A fellow Cavalier breeder was inquiring about my availability to judge a specialty show for a regional breed club. When I began in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels more than thirty years ago, the breed, although in the Miscellaneous Class in AKC, was registered with The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club, USA. When the breed was recognized by AKC in 1996, the original registry remained in existence in the same way one still exists for Australian Shepherds. To this day, many Cavalier fanciers dual register and show their dogs in both venues.

Every month somewhere in America, there is a weekend of specialty shows held by the breed’s original registry, generally in a hotel ballroom. They attract an avid group of exhibitors eager to get together and show to respected judges from foreign countries, the American Kennel Club, and their member judges list. It was to one of those shows that I was being invited to judge. The date of the show was more than three years from the day I was contacted. Honestly, I hesitated to say “yes”. It seemed too far away to even contemplate. We agreed that a contract would not be signed for another year. Exactly one year later, the contract arrived in the mail. It was signed and returned with thanks.

I marked it on my judging assignments calendar and noted the restriction that needed to be observed when judging for a registry other than AKC. Before I even thought about it, the delightful show chair was contacting me to inquire about my travel plans. Realizing the show was on a holiday weekend, booking my flights was a good idea. Flights were expensive even that far in advance. Compared to the flights for the judge from England and the other from Scotland, mine was up there. “No problem,” the show chair said. “We want you to come, whatever it is.” I booked a flight for Thursday with a return on a redeye Friday night after I judged.

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Posted by Alex on Sep 21 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.