From The CC Vault: Mentoring

by Peter Baynes

From the archives of The Canine Chronicle, October, 2010

The original Mentor is a character in Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey. When Odysseus, King of Ithaca went to fight in the Trojan War, he entrusted the care of his kingdom to Mentor. Mentor served as the teacher and overseer of Odysseuss’ son, Telemachus.

Some strange doggy enthusiasts even visit dog shows when they are on vacation. I must admit that I am one of those. This time, however, it was with the prodding of my wife who noted that several of our friends were judging at the wonderful Westchester Show. Our initial plan was to spend a week in New York City as we had missed Crufts this year and our plan for a Windsor vacation was postponed. This due to an orthopedic surgeon who needed the money so that he could go on vacation. He was successful in convincing Helga that she needed a new hip.

The change of plan meant three days in New Jersey and four days in the Big Apple. We couldn’t have chosen a better week as the weather was glorious and Helga’s nine week-old new hip worked fine.

I was fully prepared to sit at ringside at the shows and impart my knowledge of many breeds to a variety of listeners. They inaccurately call it mentoring. I even wore a tie and carried with me my Pocket PC that contains not only the current standards, but the old standards too. I keep the old standards just to prove to some that they should not still be judging to the older versions.

Guess what? No one approached me. I had a feeling that Helga had turned off my chick magnet. Next time I am going to wear a sign to say that I am available. Of course, the knowledge I would have imparted would not help in filling in the boxes because I don’t think I’m on any approved mentoring list.

Whoever came up with the term “Ringside Mentor” had obviously never referred to any dictionary or other respected journals. Webster’s defines mentor as “a trusted counselor or guide.” To me this would mean someone you admire and respect, not some stranger you meet at ringside on a blind date.

In addition, I think it should be someone with whom you can have some form of lasting personal relationship, where you can receive ongoing advice over a sustained period of time, and they should regard you as their protégé. Being tutored on a breed for 45 minutes, in my estimation, does not make one a protégé of a reputed breed expert.

My true, sadly departed mentors would turn over in their graves if they thought I was adding these unknown blind dates to my list of mentors just to add more breeds to my roster. I am sure they would also raise their eyes to the heavens at the paperwork involved in cataloging these meetings.

I admit that the present scheme, despite its misnomer, may be helpful to younger participants but it is ridiculous to think that senior observers, both at seminars and ringside, may have to listen to mentors that they may have taught in the past.

Several years ago a similar system was employed whereby judges applying for more breeds would discuss breeds with experts — many times with professional handlers. It wasn’t a perfect system; the prospective judges would list the authorities they had spoken to and the AKC, in turn, would check with the listed individuals about the conversations that had taken place. I had the opportunity to help along several multi-group judges in this respect and, in fact, two of them went on to become all-breed judges. Under the present circumstances, maybe I could claim to be a grand mentor, and claim two grand champion judges as my protégés.

This system fell apart when some individuals claimed they had discussed certain breeds with the experts but, unfortunately, some of the tutors listed couldn’t remember the conversation. I know I was once asked to vouch for a client of mine, but the only conversations I could remember was when we had to ask him to pay his long overdue bill. I didn’t return the form to confirm the discussion, but he was approved for the breed anyway.

Another program that eventually was put on hold was the hands-on test. I believe this was an enterprising effort to test judges in the ring. It’s main flaw was that it was too cumbersome, and hard to arrange exhibitors to participate. A pity really as I saw some judges fly through the test with flying colors. In another test in which I participated, the judge obviously didn’t have a clue; she obviously failed because she picked all the wrong dogs. I believe it is still part of the forgotten re-evaluation procedure which could remove permission to judge a breed.

I can’t say I trust the entire ringside-mentoring program. I have said before, it must be nice to pass opinions on breeds being judged by someone you hate. I remember many years ago when handlers could sit at ringside with judges and discuss breeds and they would be quite open with their opinions. On one occasion, I was fortunate enough to be sitting ringside with an eminent all-breed judge who was commenting on the judging of a popular breed in the ring in front of us. She did not agree with the judge’s placings at all — unfortunately, this particular arbiter was also a highly regarded all-breed judge.

I am surprised that no enterprising person has come up with the idea of a mentoring agency, where mentors may be hired for a fee. Free-agent mentors could even mentor for a meal or even a gratuity. Maybe the AKC could get into the act — a kind of a moneymaking “Craigslist” for mentors. Anything would be better than mentees begging for mentors on internet lists. Also, I often wonder whether (so-called) mentors offering their services on internet lists are: guilty of conduct prejudicial to purebred dogs by relating their achievements in the dog world, and maybe subject to a fine or even suspension of AKC privileges (AKC wording not mine).

I also had another thought while doing the touristy thing in New York. While taking the bus and cruise tours, I discovered the guides (mentors) are not all equal. Two were excellent, but another I found hard to understand and was probably imparting misinformation. I’m sure that some ringside mentees may have encountered similar problems. Of course, my wife claims that I am deaf and so she thinks that seminars, or ringside mentoring, would be of no benefit to me. She forgets that I still would be able to fill in the boxes.

In contrast, we were fortunate enough to be staying at the same hotel as the Best in Show judge for Westchester: Dr. Tamas Jakkel, an all-breed judge from Hungary, and on the board of the FCI. We had the opportunity to discuss dog shows at length with this elegant gentleman. I learned a lot and I understood every word — despite the cocktails. Regrettably, I don’t think this encounter would help me in any way on an application for more breeds.

Unfortunately, any program for teaching judges cannot be claimed to be successful until many years down the road. Maybe, in the distant future, we will discover that ringside mentoring was a disaster and we will have to revert to older methods which produced some of the great judges of the past. I still believe reading good books and magazines,is a fine way of learning. Even accessing many articles on the internet can be of value. The beauty of these methods is that you can re-read them as many times as necessary. This also applies to standards which nearly every worthwhile judge admits to re-reading before assignments.

In addition, there is no greater learning experience than attending as many dog shows as possible, staying from beginning to end, and listening to the old-timers. This is where many professional handlers have the advantage. I have the impression that too many prospective judges are of the “show and go” crowd.

Finally, I wish they would change the name “mentor,” because there is also another definition, “Someone older and more experienced, and guides a younger, less experienced person.” Where am I going to find anyone older than me to guide me? Maybe I should look on “Craigslist”!

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