When a Bench is More than Just a Place to Sit

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104 – November/December, 2022

By Sandy Weaver

When you’re reading the premium list for a show, maybe you’ve run across a list of people on the Bench Show Committee. Did you wonder what that was and how it works? Or maybe you’ve read the Secretary’s Page in the AKC Gazette and noticed that people get fined and suspended for all sorts of things–many of them show-related–and wondered about how the process works. Wonder no more…here you go, and may you never need the information you’re about to receive.

The Bench Show Committee is appointed before the premium list is finalized, and the five appointees are club members in good standing who will be on site, familiar with how dog events work, and willing to serve impartially in the event of the need for a hearing. AKC gives authority to the Bench Show Committee to suspend anyone brought up on charges and proven to have behaved in such a way that people, dogs, or the reputation of the sport is harmed. While in a committee hearing, they are representing their club, the AKC and the best interests of purebred dogs, and they take that responsibility seriously.

What might cause a Bench Committee hearing to be convened? Think of the term “conduct prejudicial to the best interests of purebred dogs” and you’ll realize there are many things that fall under that umbrella:

1. Poor Sportsmanship – i.e.: verbally or physically abusing another person, grabbing a ribbon from the judge and storming out of the ring, intentionally trying to keep another person or dog from doing well in the ring, etc.

Click here to read the complete article
104 – November/December, 2022

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