The 145th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show was held at Lyndhurst in Tarrytown, New York on June 12 and 13. We asked the seven group judges and Patricia Craige Trotter, the Best in Show judge, to talk about their assignments and placements.
Several years ago, while I was judging a master hunt test for pointing breeds, a simply stunning Irish Setter came to the breakaway. Although smaller than the behemoths that were fashionable in the show ring at the time, the dog was absolutely correct in every way including having proper angulation instead of the extreme angulation that was also the show ring fashion. When sent to hunt, the setter lived up to his physical appearance when standing as he simply flowed through the field finding, pointing and retrieving several birds. While he didn’t point with the pure twelve o’clock tail that field trial judges want to see, it was close enough so that every time he went on point, it made a very pretty picture and it definitely was a pleasure watching this handsome dog do the work the breed was intended to do.
To honor the memory of my Dad, Sam Lampert, who was a New Jersey dairy farmer, Bolt, my 6-year-old, parti-color Cocker Spaniel GCH. Topaz Palm Beach Playboy CD BN RM CGCA TKE, and I attempted the AKC Farm Dog Certified Title (FDC) on Father’s Day weekend run by Burlington County Kennel Club at Ev-Ry Farm in Mount Laurel, New Jersey.
Cars and motorcycles ranging from the classics to just plain funky are hidden in some of dogdom’s secret garages.
Seeing so many brand new exhibitors enter the ring recently made me consider the way judges treat these newcomers and experienced exhibitors, too. What qualities are desirable in the ring to make everyone feel comfortable and to promote good sportsmanship? If we can encourage those traits in one another, we are bound to improve the sport.
“…when you think like a judge, you’ll grasp why these twenty-seven steps facilitate a great day for you, the judge and for the sport.”
Many breeds have an epigram that defines them. That short, distinctive line or quote that instantly gives you a mental picture of the breed’s essence.
The dog’s functional components consist of the forelimb and the hindlimb. The limbs are comprised of bones of many shapes and sizes. Some bones are long or short, and some are thick or thin. Some bones are straight, and many of them are curved.
You pay your entry fee, take your chances, and hopefully, the judge is well-educated in your breed. Your entry fee is the fee to evaluate your dog. You are paying for one judge’s opinion. What if you disagree? What if, in your opinion, the judge is way off base? When, if ever, is it appropriate to approach the judge about the placements?
Westminster is easy to take for granted—if you aren’t on the staff or show committee. Each year in February, mid-town Manhattan spends a week celebrating purebred dogs. The main event is, of course, the benched conformation show, where spectators could count on watching virtually every AKC-recognized breed compete. But there is much more to “Westminster Week”—the obedience and rally competition, the vendors—even the myriad other shows that precede it. Every year, it all materializes—the banners, the floral displays, the portraits of past winners, the purple velvet ropes and green flooring—certainly it must take a lot of effort, but somehow, each year everything reappears. Exhibitors might complain about the expense of attending, NYC traffic, and the inconvenience of schlepping dogs, tables, and tack from mid-town to the Piers for the breed judging; but for most, showing here was on a bucket list, if not an annual tradition.
