Here’s Your Hat, What’s Your Hurry?

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82 – March, 2026

By Wayne Cavanaugh

The only people watching groups and Best In Show these days are the handler’s assistants and some judges waiting for a ride. It may shock those who weren’t around during the sport’s golden years to hear that exhibitors used to regularly stick around to cheer for their breed in the group. Now, the only people at ringside during groups are judges waiting for a ride, and the enthusiastic, woo-woo cheering people.

I’m not picking on the woo-woo people. They are often the apron-wearing, hard-working assistants who work harder and longer than everyone. They are enthusiastic by nature, and actually required to cheer by those who employ them. Truth be told, many years ago, I was one. Woo-wooing does remind me, however, of an old Irish funeral tradition that died out in the ‘50s when the church deemed it a pagan ritual. It was called keening. The deceased were laid to rest in the living room (ironically) and women known as keeners (bean chaointe) were paid in money, food, or whiskey to wail, cry, and sing laments that carried through the walls and windows and onto the streets. Our sport’s ringside woo-wooers are also paid in money and food to wail, but they get Starbucks instead of whiskey–which is probably best for everyone involved. But I digress.

Outside the groups, one of the biggest reasons people wail these days is because of the increasing number of shows that run too late for their size. It’s not how long it takes for the judging to finish–it’s why. So, we wail and look for the villains that cause the late show. Let’s start with two myths. Myth number one: the villains are slow judges. Myth number two: the villains are the judges, the bravest and best among us, who make cuts in the groups.

Are the slow-judge villains responsible for the dreadful delays that cause us to miss the early bird special at Olive Garden? Are they responsible for cutting short our 8-hour overnight drive in the snow to a different time zone to show again because we have to break some record–a record that no one will remember next year?

Click here to read the complete article
82 – March, 2026

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Posted by AnthonyA on Mar 9 2026. 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.