Ever since I began travelling overseas to indulge my passion of judging

purebred dogs I seem to recall that virtually every judge I ever met claimed that the

approval system for judges in their own country was the toughest in the world. In

some cases their opinion may have been valid, or at least gave rise to a detailed

discussion, whereas in others to those of us who come from countries where the

progression of judges is a lengthy and arduous process the claims were seen as

laughable.

The whole question of how fanciers progress to becoming judges is a tenuous

one but very few set out from the start to deliberately carve a career for themselves

as judges. We all start of as pet owners, and there is no shame whatsoever in that

as it indicates that we love dogs and want to share our lives with them. Pet

ownership invariably leads to further study of our chosen breed and attendance at

dog shows, initially as a spectator. Many of us are then tempted to dip our toe in the

water as exhibitors and start off at ringcraft classes until we feel confident enough to

handle our dog in the ring in a competitive environment. The usual course of events

suggests that minor successes whet the appetite and before we know where we are

we are traipsing up and down the country showing our dog at bigger and better

shows and against tougher competition. With greater understanding of the breed, the

destined-to-be-successful exhibitor appraises their dog in an objective manner and

makes the decision to either continue a show campaign or retire the first dog to its

home comforts and obtain a better one with which more serious winning is probable.

Oftentimes the second dog is a bitch when a conscious decision has been made to

become a small time breeder, and the smart guys research intently until such time as

a viable foundation bitch is located from a reputable breeder.

From there on in the whole thing snowballs until what was a weekend hobby

can turn into a whole lifestyle. At some point the suggestion will be made after a

period of visible success in the show ring (usually by one of the revered “breed

elders”) that the breeder exhibitor in question should consider judging. Many are

terrified at the prospect and continue their exhibiting lives without ever having tasted

the experience of standing in the centre of the ring and pointing; others see judging

as a logical progression to breeding and exhibiting and try their hand at it. Some fall

by the wayside as they basically don’t have the personality for it. To succeed as a

judge you need great strength of character, courage and a thick skin – apart from the

obvious basic knowledge of not only your own breed but canine anatomy and gait in

general. The shrinking violets who do not relish the prospect of all eyes (and critical

ones at that) being on them, and the inevitable upset and hurt they will cause by

placing someone’s pride and joy at the end of the line are not ideal candidates for a

career path as a dog judge and thankfully many realise the fact before it’s too late.

Others rather like the challenge of evaluating top class breeding stock and see it as

a vehicle through which they will acquire a deeper knowledge of their breed at large

and something which will give them the opportunity to see what their competitors are

breeding. Having the privilege of evaluating other breeders’ stock can be invaluable

in determining where a judge’s own breeding program may go, given that they have

seen what is out there and which dogs possess virtues they may need in their own

dogs.

In most countries dogs tend to be owner-handled in the main, but in some

countries the professional handler is commonplace. Whilst most of these handlers

will have started out in just the same way as the owner-handler, they have decided

that their forté is in handling and so they expand their portfolio, often spending years

apprenticing to some of the great and good who have already established

themselves.

In a country like the UK, for example, the vast majority of judges at our mighty

all breed Championship shows tend to be breeder-judges; enthusiasts who are

committed to one breed and have no interest in judging any other. Their aspirations

are – by choice - limited and most of them never bother to try their hand judging

even related breeds. That is fine, though in my experience the knowledge and

aptitude that some true specialists display when officiating could very easily – and to

the benefit of the sport – be applied to breeds other than their own after appropriate

study and practice.

The British Kennel Club in recent years has established an organised and

formal education system which sets out in black and white what is expected of a

would-be Championship show judge. After successfully passing both theoretical and

practical examinations, and stewarding at a given number of shows, they are

required to practice on the paying customer by judging their breed at Open shows up

and down the country. True, these shows do not produce the weighty numbers they

once did (I happened just the other day whilst checking my records on a show where

I judged 98 Afghan Hounds in four classes at an Open show in the south of England;

these days some breed specialties fail to pull that number), but they still attract

healthy numbers in most of the popular breeds and provide the ideal practical

scenario for learning one’s craft.

Whilst the number of classes and dogs required before the Kennel Club will

approve someone to award their highly prized Challenge Certificates varies from

breed to breed, what does not is the time scale. It is required that a judge should

have officiated at Open shows for a minimum of seven years before they can award

CCs in their first breed. In subsequent breeds they can be approved after five years

judging a particular breed. So you can see in the UK the apprenticeship is quite

lengthy and the five year ruling applies throughout a judge’s career. It is not reduced

as they gain more experience (and hopefully knowledge) and approval for each

single breed has to be given individually, one breed at a time.

The UK has a huge advantage in that it does still have a lot of large Open

shows (and then of course the breed clubs run Open shows that are specialties in

their own right, albeit not with CCs on offer), whereas other countries do not have

that luxury. In such situations then the processing of judges has to rely more heavily

on theory than practical and it is debatable whether or not this is actually an ideal

alternative.

In many countries around the world it is possible for someone to make a

conscious decision that they wish to judge dogs and there is a system in place with

their national kennel club for them to follow that through. In the UK this is not

possible as approval revolves entirely around first receiving an invitation. In recent

years however there is a facility in place where judges can progress through the

Kennel Club scheme and receive what is in essence approval in principal, but they

still need an invitation from a show for their approval to be rubber-stamped.

Once judges are approved in their own country and their reputation spreads

they may be fortunate enough to get invited to officiate elsewhere. The opportunity to

monitor one’s own breed in a foreign land is an exciting prospect and also

contributes hugely to a global understand of the breed. Generally approval in their

own country will suffice for another country to accept a judge’s qualifications but in

the past the British Kennel Club has been reluctant to approve overseas judges

automatically, based on the fact that they would not wish to be seen to be giving

foreigners special treatment by approving them on what could be considerably lesser

qualifications than they would expect of their domestic judges.

The mighty Federation Cynologique Internationale, under whose umbrella an

ever increasing number of countries fall, has a policy by which it will allow any judge

from an FCI country to judge in any other member country breeds and groups for

which they are approved in their homeland. This is fine in theory but it does raise the

contentious issue of judges being asked to judge breeds in countries where that

breed is very strong in both numbers and quality when they may have never judged

the breed at home. Many of the smaller countries will approve judges to judge entire

groups in one fell swoop. That may suit their home environment, satisfying the

domestic market and providing all-rounder judges for what are in reality quite small

shows, but it is questionable whether they are ipso facto sufficiently equipped to

tackle large numbers in a breed with which they are unfamiliar overseas.

This brings us to the age-old question of what actually makes a great judge. Is

it a prerequisite that someone should have proved themselves as a breeder and

handler, or is it sufficient that someone is born with the much talked about “natural

eye” and have an inherent gift which they can apply to virtually any breed once they

have read through the relevant breed standard?

In my experience I have found that whilst I have witnessed some utterly

brilliant breed specialists sorting out their breed I have also seen very successful

breeders make a complete hash of things when they turn to judging, often because

they have over the years developed fetishes and hang-ups for particular faults –

usually coloured by their own experience as breeders and what they have had to

wrestle with in their own breeding lines.

By the same token I have also seen judges whose success in the ring

themselves has been somewhat unremarkable, yet when they come to judge they

seem perfectly capable of appreciating excellence and establishing absolutely logical

and credible orders of merit. It is impossible to generalise and make bold statements

as to which category of enthusiast will develop into the better judge; there are good

and bad all-rounders and breeder-judges just as the theory and practical judges vary

in their expertise. Equally there are excellent judges to be found in all countries, in

varying numbers of course.

Whilst so many judges today may think that their particular governing body

makes it hard for them to progress I believe that in the majority of cases the cream

still rises to the top. In some places it just takes a little longer.

© ANDREW H. BRACE

(This article may not be reproduced in any form without the author’s

permission)