Focusing On The Win

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88 – September, 2022

By Sandy Weaver

When you show your dog, do you know the most important thing for the judge to see, and do you know how to showcase it? Most non-professional handlers don’t, and that’s why they don’t win as much as they could.

In my recent article (Inside the Mind of a Judge, The Canine Chronicle, June 2022), what judges are looking for was highlighted. Not one judge said they were looking for faults–that’s because every dog has faults, and it’s not the faults that define the breed. They talked about looking for points of excellence in the dogs and weighing those points against the inevitable faults. There’s no such thing as a perfect dog, so finding the ones with lots of virtues and with faults that don’t impair their ability to do that breed’s job is the art and essence of judging.

As the owner, handler and perhaps even breeder of your dog, what does this mean for you if you want to win more? It means that you need to know what “excellent” is in your breed. You learn that by visiting long-established, successful breeders and taking a tour of their kennel, and picking the brains of those breeders about the dogs you are seeing. Ask them where each dog is strong–based on the standard and in comparison with what’s being shown in the ring currently. You learn that by sitting ringside at large shows, regional specialties and national specialties, asking yourself the same question. Do this with a catalog in your lap, studying the dogs you see in the ring and noting in the catalog the ones you consider above average. Analyze the notes you take–how many relatives did you make note of? When you see one or two kennels producing what look like excellent dogs to you, those are the people you want to learn from, and maybe get a stud service or a dog from in the future.

Now, watch the professional handlers who show your breed. First, assess the dog the handler is showing based on what you’ve learned from successful breeders and your own ringside studies. What are that dog’s points of excellence? Ignore the faults for now–where is that dog especially strong? Now, watch the professional handler. How does that handler showcase the points of excellence? Here are a few things you might see:

Click here to read the complete article
88 – September, 2022

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Posted by AnthonyA on Aug 8 2022. 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.