AndrewHBrace
Judges’ Qualifications and Approvals
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)
Welcome to my new website where I hope you will find lots to interest you, whether you are an exhibitor, breeder, judge or just a committed dog lover. Over the years I have had the opportunity to interview many of the icons of our sport and lots of their wisdom has been included in the Webinars. My involvement with purebred dogs has allowed me to travel the world, meet some amazing people and get my hands on countless outstanding dogs. I hope that this website will allow you to share some of the pleasure that dogs have given me.
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