Conformation Judges · Are You Helping Or Hurting? – Part 1

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200 – August, 2024

By Sandy Weaver

Maybe you’ve seen this happen, or maybe you’ve been the recipient of it: the judge assists the handler to present their dog better.

Many judges do it, and some don’t. One got flayed in a Facebook group by a long-time exhibitor who felt the timing of the assistance was extremely incorrect. The online conversation that followed was heated, enlightening, and important enough for comments to be shared here with permission. There was so much richness that this will be two articles–Part 1, from the point of view of exhibitors, and Part 2 from the point of view of stewards and judges.

First, the Cliffs Notes version of what happened

Two exhibitors competing for Winners Dog–one handled by an experienced person, one by a newcomer to conformation handling. The judge sent them on their go-around, stopped them part of the way around to give instructions to the novice handler, then had them finish the go-around. The novice handler was awarded Winners Dog. The experienced person felt the handling instruction should have happened when the novice handler won the class that gave him entrée to Winners, not in the middle of the Winners competition. The experienced handler had no issue with the placements, just felt disrespected and ignored by the judge.

Here’s what exhibitors said:

Not in the Ring

Click here to read the complete article
200 – August, 2024

Short URL: https://caninechronicle.com/?p=301673

Posted by AnthonyA on Sep 14 2024. 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.