Page 23 - Autumn 2024 Newsletter Online_Neat

Respect to all Judges Past and Present

By Ann Downs

Early in the summer I was asked to judge the fun dog show at our village dog
training school. The training school came second at Crufts last year for the
standard of its training classes. Steve and I have attended their Kennel Club
Good Citizen training, other courses, like agility, hoopers, and dog parkour
and they introduced me to mantrailing. Just to be clear, Steve (Liefkees
Assisi), is our Keeshond and not my husband. Mind you… I would be interested
in attending husband training courses, if anyone knows of any.

Ahead of the show, I reflected on the sort of fun dog show judge I planned
to be…

1. Make it fun for everyone - happy and relaxed.
2. To let the owners know their dog had been truly considered. Watch
each dog move without my eyes wandering off that dog.
3. Make eye contact with the owners.
4. Be friendly and chat to the owners (especially any children) about
their lovely dog.
5. Talk kindly to the dogs.
6. Make a fuss of any dogs who wanted my attention. Respect any that
need some distance.
7. Encourage children, but make it fair for adults entering.
8. Be fair, unbiased, judge the dogs (health, weight, condition etc).
The day arrives… The rain
clears and out pops the sun
in time for the show. Deep
breath… as I am announced
as the judge and in trot
about 25 dogs for the most
handsome boy.
Surprisingly, they weren’t all
poodle crosses; I had a
number of pedigrees to
judge and a few were all
spare parts dogs that weren’t poodle related, thank goodness for that!!! I
smiled to everyone as they all piled in. I had to rethink the length of time I
could spend with each dog; otherwise, we might still have been there in the
dark. I opted to move one dog at a time in an inner circle with the outer circle
standing still and watching. About half way through the line of people and
23