After finishing my assignment in Ring 4, I walked over to my next ring, Ring 8. The judge in Ring 8 finished his last breed for the day, marked his book, and on the way out, saw me waiting and started a conversation. Quite excitedly, he asked if I agreed with his breed winner. I did. Well done.
There was one weekend when I drove nearly across the country for a big dog show. I was excited. Optimistic. I thought we had a real shot. I had imagined how it might feel if everything came together after a dry spell.
The hot topic around the rings these days seems to be, as usual, the quality of judging. Big surprise, huh? Unfortunately, this subject has been beaten to death for longer than I have been alive and it seems to be a problem that just won’t go away. However, the lack of quality judging seems to have become a bigger problem as of late.
Click here to read the complete article 10 – May, 2026 Click here to read the complete article 10 – May, 2026
Click here to read the complete article 258 – April, 2026 By Jessica Braatz This issue marks the beginning of what we hope will become a new tradition at The Canine Chronicle: taking traditional judges’ critiques a step further and going inside the minds of breed judges at the Westminster Kennel Club. These features will […]
The Sussex Spaniel was among the first ten breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club when it was formed. The breed was developed in the 1700s in Suffolk County, England, as a long, low, rather massive dog to hunt in dense cover.
Click here to read the complete article 233 – April, 2026 Click here to read the complete article 233 – April, 2026
It was, by all accounts, a wonderful day. Our Penny had won Winners Bitch and BOS; it was her third major, and she earned her championship title. We were on our way home from the Nebraska Kennel Club dog show–and I do not believe we had gone ten miles when I looked at my wife and said, “I am so glad she finished today.” My wife’s response was, “I am so relieved.” I asked, “Why relieved?”
If you’re on your club’s show committee, you know hotels understand that allowing dogs is good for business–and believe that allowing dogs is potentially bad for their properties. They can be balky about how many dogs per room and the size of dogs they’ll allow, and it can be financially injurious to your exhibitors with those rising non-refundable deposits.
As someone who aged out of Juniors relatively recently, I’ve found myself drawn to the numbers. While rankings or total entries may first come to mind, my favorite statistic is actually lifetime wins, and even more so, the stories that those wins tell.
