Juniors – The Future of Our Sport
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Taking Care of Our Own
By Peri Norman
Speculation and theories abound about the future of purebred dog sports and breeding. Our dog-related world is being turned upside down by events that seem mostly beyond our control. Criticism by animal activists has been leveled at purebred dogs and their breeders since the 1960s. The loss of stature that excellent breeders have experienced in the court of public opinion has been exponential. Just a little over twenty years ago in 1992, annual AKC registration figures hit their peak number of 1,528,392 dogs. By 2010, the number of annual registrations had plummeted to roughly a third that level at 563,611 dogs. We have weathered “the Great Recession” and the boomers are aging out of dog sports at an ever-increasing rate.
With all of the threats to our sport and concern about its continuance, it would seem logical that support for the youth already involved in our sport would be blossoming everywhere; yet for some reason, that does not seem to be the case. Everyone can be a part of supporting our juniors. Here are some suggestions.
Sometimes, the simplest kindness has a huge effect. When a youngster (or any newbie) comes out of the ring, take a moment to let them know that you were paying attention. Compliment them. Tell them you hope to see them again. If your breed has a youngster that is also showing in Junior Showmanship or a performance event, make a point of going to watch them. Let them know you are actively supporting them. If you are not a parent or coach, do not offer “constructive criticism”. While people mean well by offering suggestions, remember that no one likes to come out of the ring to be greeted with a laundry list of what they did wrong. There is time enough for that later when the emotions of the competition are not so fresh. If you must comment, filter your suggestions through a parent or coach and get their blessing before you share. Youngsters are all different and each has their own challenges. What may seem straightforward and positive to you, may not be perceived that way depending on that young person’s background or current situation. While attending one of my niece’s soccer games, my brother hushed my commentary by pointing out the shirts the coaches were wearing. They said, “Kids play. I coach. You cheer.” You cheer. We need more cheering at the dog show!
I don’t have children. Between my three siblings, I have thirteen nieces and nephews, so I often end up as a sounding board. Raising children is really challenging. And like breeding dogs, the more seriously you take your responsibilities, the harder it is. So when you find a family that you enjoy and want to support, great! Develop a relationship with the parents and coaches of the child that includes their approval of your offers of assistance. Many children in our sport LOVE showing dogs. When you ask a youngster to cover the Winners Dog or Bitch in Best of Breed or show a young pup, you provide them another opportunity to practice their skills and affirm your faith in their abilities. Co-owning a retired special for Junior Showmanship and companion events competitions can be a huge boon to a family trying mightily to give their children every opportunity. Some families might want to take the dog into their own home for full-time companionship for the youngster. Others might prefer that you continue to keep the dog and just bring it along to the show. We all know those old veterans that HATE being left behind. Whatever arrangement you come to, a child can reap the benefits of your willingness to share.
Another avenue for support for our young people is through the clubs. Make sure that all your clubs offer Junior Showmanship. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard, “Well, it’s just too much trouble.” You need to fill in the space on the event application or the box on the computer. You need a judge. If you are organizing a specialty and the breed judge does not do juniors, you can ask a juniors-only judge or ask a sweepstakes judge who is licensed for juniors. A list of Registered Professional Handlers with approval to judge Junior Showmanship is also available on the AKC website. For an all breed show, put some thought into who will be your Junior Showmanship judge. Be sure that the judge you assign to Junior Showmanship enjoys working with the kids, has a pleasant demeanor and gives clear instructions. After that, you need a handful of ribbons and a gift card for a prize. Appreciate and patronize vendors who offer gift certificates and photographers who offer pictures for the junior handlers.
Another reason I have heard for not offering Junior Showmanship is, “The kids should be in school”. It is not a show chair’s job to parent all the children who might be attending a show. My parents insisted that we maintain excellent grades if we wanted to participate in dog sports. When attendance at a particular show was deemed important enough to miss school, work was done in advance and homework brought to the show and completed during down time or evenings. Many of the teachers and administrators at our high school heartily approved of our extra-curricular activities. Some children are home schooled which gives both them and their parents more flexibility for getting the academic work done. In our family, dog show travel enhances home schooling with opportunities to visit new places including museums, national parks, aquaria, libraries and other historically significant venues. Few schools have the resources to teach responsibility, preparation, good sportsmanship, fair competition and the ability to win and lose with grace as well as the dog show.
Clubs that are fully engaged and committed to supporting our youngsters often demonstrate that commitment in the form of a scholarship program. The Doberman Pinscher Club of America has a lovely program including a $500 scholarship for the Best Junior Handler at the National and stipends for youngsters qualifying for and showing a Doberman Pinscher at the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship and/or Westminster Kennel Club. Richland Kennel Club in Washington has a huge raffle at their shows which supports scholarship offerings of $200 for the winners of Open Junior, Open Intermediate, Open Senior and Masters classes, as well as an additional $300 to the Best Junior Handler. Nice job!
The American Kennel Club has offered scholarships to youngsters who have participated in AKC dog sports over many years. The program began in 1996. The following excerpt from the write up for the 2000 Junior Scholarship Recipients accurately describes the importance of this program. “Most importantly they recognize and verbalize how important it is to be or become responsible purebred dog breeders,” Ms. Laurans told the delegates, “They have been involved with programs in their communities that represent the attributes of our dogs and the importance of responsible dog ownership. These young people are the hope for the future of our sport.” Ms. Laurans has asked AKC’s Board to increase its Juniors Scholarship funding noting that, “… monies devoted to this program will be spent on these goodwill ambassadors for our sport for the future, who will contribute positively to the future of our sport, purebred dogs and the American Kennel Club,” she concluded.
The AKC Junior Showmanship Scholarship Program awarded a maximum of 58 scholarships in 2005, with the number of recipients steadily declining to just 19 in 2013. Sadly, it appears that this valuable program has been discontinued in 2014. While it is true that the AKC Humane Fund has a scholarship program founded in 2012, this particular fund is not specific to youngsters who have participated in AKC dog sports. Scholarships to students already attending accredited veterinary schools have also been awarded in the recent past. Like so many individuals, the American Kennel Club also is dealing with more limited resources. Still, I wonder if it is not penny-wise, but pound-foolish to discontinue scholarships for youngsters who have been, and probably will continue to be, the heart and soul of our sport. The AKC has learned that the hardcore fanciers of the sport will support worthy funds. The Humane Fund is a good example. So is the AKC Canine Health Foundation. Perhaps the formation of an AKC Juniors Scholarship Fund for young people who compete in AKC sponsored competitions including Junior Showmanship, breed and performance or companion events could be used to fund scholarships for “our” kids. Think about it. Discuss it with your clubs and share the idea around. Charity begins at home. Let’s take care of our own.
Taking an Active Role
What things do you do to plan and attend a dog show? Most people I know look at the calendar and the premium lists and select shows that will work well for them and offer a reasonable likelihood for success (however we define that). We do entries, make hotel reservations and mail parking requests. We plan our departure, pack the vehicle and groom the dogs. If we need help, we look for a handling class, buy a book or enlist another person to help us. The list of things we do goes on and on. Children in our sport require tremendous amounts of assistance and support because there is much they cannot and should not do by themselves. Parenting and/or coaching a young person in dogs is similar to raising a puppy; our job is to ensure that they learn appropriate skills and have a good time doing it.
As parents, training and competing with dogs is one of a million activities available for our children. If a child shows a genuine interest in dog-related activities, it can be a rewarding and bonding experience for the whole family. The most obvious things that children learn are the dog-related skills. Some of these must be taught by the parent by virtue of their day-to-day presence with the child and the dog. Children as young as seven years-old can handle basic dog care with some supervision. Dogs need to be fed on a regular schedule. Water bowls need to be washed and filled. Daily backyard clean-up is important. While very young children may not be able to master show grooming in some breeds, a good brushing, checking ears, skin and between the toes is an important part of health care for every dog. As their skill level progresses and their physical coordination increases, additional responsibility should be assigned. Children who work with and show dogs they are not living with should have opportunities to visit the handler’s or breeder’s home and assist with the hard work, including bathing, cleaning crates, etc. on a non-show weekend or during the summer. Hard work does not apply just to the show ring, but also the details of good husbandry and preparation.
Children also need to master the technical parts of exhibiting the dogs. Just like teaching the kid to drive, in some families Mom and/or Dad may double as the coach. In other families, it may work better to have someone else do the coaching. If the coach is not someone you have known well for a long time, screening is in order. Be sure that the coach has a signed authorization for medical treatment and a copy of the child’s insurance card if they will be traveling together. There may be more than one person who steps up to help teach and guide the child in different situations or doggie activities. That is great, but all coaches should stay in close contact with the parents and be sure that everyone is on the same page about the child’s responsibilities and progress.
Youngsters who are beginning to show have a lot of things to learn and remember. I think it is really important not to overload them. I try to give the younger kids three goals for each show. The first two remain the same. “Do your best” and “Make sure the dog has a good time” are always most important. After that I pick one skill for the child to focus on. For a very beginner (or some teenagers!), it might be, “Congratulate the winners and be gracious and humble”. A simple skill might be “showing the bite” or “paying attention to the judge”. Complexity of the third goal increases with the child’s skill level.
“There is more than one way to skin a cat.” At least, that is what my mother taught us when we were growing up. It is important to give the youngsters choices and allow them to work out what is best for them and their particular dog. Trying different leads or different ways of presenting the dog is never bad. It may not be the way you have always done it or the way that is typical within a breed, but experimentation is an important part of how the youngsters learn. Sometimes, things don’t work out as well as the youngster thought they might. That’s okay. That is part of the process. When the child tries something new that does not work and eventually comes around full circle to what you suggested to begin with, don’t gloat! Just smile and remember all the times you did the same thing to your parents and teachers.
Appropriate attire is an angst-producing issue with all the junior girls I know; particularly when they are at that age where they want to be grown up and we want them to stay innocent little girls for just a bit longer. Be as flexible as you can with wardrobe and hair style choices. Expressing their own sense of style in the clothes they choose is important. Remember that the social norms of attire are much stronger at the dog show than school or a variety of other places and most youngsters will not stray too far outside the norm for long.
The most important skills that the youngsters learn at the dog show are not really dog-related. They are life-long skills. Life is made up of success and disappointments. Teaching our youngsters to handle both of these with grace and insight is one of the best gifts we can give them. Encourage them to think positively and recognize the lessons in their losses. Remember that we teach by example and our children are always watching. Be disciplined about being an excellent sport. I promise that if the kids hear you trash-talking a judge or another exhibitor, they will mimic that behavior. You may be able to rationalize a little bit of mousse to fill in the missing hair on your dog’s topline, but trying to explain the fine lines of artificial alteration to a child is not likely to turn out well for you or them.
One place where there is no room for compromise is in the treatment of the dogs. Dogs do not choose to be show dogs. They are sentient beings who depend on us and their child for love, affection and care. We understand that children can be very disappointed by various situations, but utmost care needs to be taken so that children learn to express their disappointment appropriately and NEVER vent on the dog. It’s a dog, not a volleyball!
There are so many important attitudes and perspectives that youngsters can learn from the events at the dog show. As a parent or a coach, be mindful about watching for those teaching moments and nurturing the future of our sport and our world in a positive fashion. You will not be perfect, but you will find that taking the time to care about and guide the next generation has its own rewards.
Judging Junior Showmanship
When I decided to apply for a judge’s license, advice was plentiful. One thing I heard frequently was “Apply for a Junior’s license with your first set. It will help you pay for your provisional assignments.” Many people have done that successfully. When I say “successfully”, I mean that they have applied for and received a license to judge Juniors. Leaving the motivation issue aside, let me simply say that like judging any particular breed, Juniors judging should be done because we are knowledgeable and we enjoy it. But judging Juniors is a whole ‘nother ball of wax. In judging any particular breed, we have specific ways that we go about becoming educated. The breed standards are fairly specific (really!). The history and function of a breed can be used to interpret and better understand the requirements of the standard. Finally, parent clubs offer lists of mentors to answer questions and offer perspective and insight. No such luck with Junior Showmanship. Judging Junior Showmanship makes judging breeds look downright objective. Wow! And they are all better handlers than we ever thought of being. Here are some thoughts on making our Junior Showmanship judging more fair and consistent.
Over and over again we are admonished not to fault judge dogs. Every good dog has faults. Look for virtues and award them in spite of the animal’s shortcomings. Well, that should also apply to juniors. How many of us have never made a mistake showing a dog? Laughable when you think about it that way. The crazy stuff that has happened to us in the ring make up some of the best stories we tell over years after the event. Drilling youngsters in the ring or sneaking around behind them to see if you catch them making a mistake is a sad and really destructive way to judge young people. If you have any doubt about the negativity of this approach, think back to your last observation by a field representative. Even if it went well, many of us spend way too much unpleasant time worrying about not making a mistake. No one is perfect and we all appreciate evaluators who are positive in their approach as opposed to trying to catch us with our pants down.
Junior Showmanship classes are often divided by age, and importantly, by skill level. Novice classes are for beginning children. Open classes are for children with somewhat more experience. The Masters class might be considered equivalent to Best of Breed, as a good amount of winning has already been accomplished to move into this class. Children learn their technical skills from their parents and coaches. Many of the more mature youngsters work for professional handlers and hone their skills to an exceptional level. Many years ago, a friend and fellow judge offered me this advice about judging, “Think of each dog as a piece of art presented by the artist. Each person brings you the best dog that they can based on their level of experience. Some of them are in kindergarten. Others are in college. On rare occasions, Picasso shows up in your ring. Regardless of the quality of the dog, appreciate each exhibit shown to you as an expression of the best work that exhibitor is capable of today.” This was profound advice for me, and nowhere is it more important than when judging juniors! The youngsters in our ring are a product of the level of accomplishment and teaching ability of their parents and coaches, but they are all doing their best based on what they have been taught. Be gracious and encouraging to all the children.
Another area where discretion is the better part of valor is with regard to attire. I remember one year we bought my oldest niece an outfit for Junior Showmanship in April. By August, she refused to wear it saying it was “hoochy”, which was ten-year-old speak for too short! Keeping the kids in show shoes and clothes, particularly while they are growing can be spectacularly difficult. Add to that travel expense, entry fees and other show-related costs, sometimes for multiple children and know that many families are pinching pennies to give their children the opportunity to experience the benefits of showing. Clothing should be clean and in good repair. Hair should be clean and appropriately short or fastened out of the juniors face. For the girls, make-up will vary with the age and personal preferences of the child. Brand new clothing and shoes and a perfect fit should not be required. It would be misguided and inappropriate to penalize youngsters for being from a family where resources are more limited than others.
There can never be too many reminders that the quality of the dog should never be considered in Junior Showmanship judging. Consciously focus on the fact that it is much easier to look good with an excellent, well-trained dog. Sometimes children come into our ring showing dogs that have disqualifying faults under the breed standard or are challenging dogs to show well. Look beyond the “picture” to the relationship that underlies the child and the dog. My breed can be very difficult to show as puppies. I often think in my mind, “Which of these children exhibits both enough technical skill and enough patience and kindness that I would let them show one of my puppies?” This helps to clarify the balance of skill and attitude toward the dogs that I base my judging on.
Junior showmanship judging has been said to be the most important judging that occurs at any given show. The youngsters deserve our thoughtful consideration and gracious encouragement. The future of our sport depends on it.
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Posted by ralbee
on Mar 18 2015. Filed under Current Articles, Editorial, Featured.
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