It’s been said that in a show ring, a judge gaits a dog only to validate what his hands have already told him during the individual examination. It’s also true that among coated show dogs owners, a “top ten pet peeve” would be the judge that doesn’t “dig into” a dog’s coat to thoroughly examine the dog’s structure. In a breed like a Komondor or Bergamasco, one might think it understandable why such a complete hands-on investigation is needed, but in reality, every dog should be thoroughly examined with one’s hands because coats can be deceptive, the way a dog stands can be misleading, and our own eyes can fool us.
The Afghan Hound serves as a good illustration of this point. The breed is slightly bowed from crotch to hock because of muscling on the inside of the dog’s thighs – but – it’s important to make sure with one’s hands that bowing is occurring because of muscles, and not because of bone, or the angulation of those bones.
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The majority of AKC judges look at the person on the opposite end of the leash, then make a show of feeling up the dog. Sorry to say it, but the decline in entries should make this truth obvious.
This may be true in some cases, Bob, but the success of dogs handled by “nobodies” punches holes in your opinion that it occurs with the majority of judges. Some judges love nothing more than to be the one to discover a great dog out of nowhere. Decline in entries is a big topic that, we suspect, has many reasons, most of them not having anything to do with the AKC.
I have been involved in showing a total of three breeds over the course of 25 years. Bob Isaacks is absolutely correct, FAR TOO MANY judges haven’t got a clue, so they award handlers. Where is your data showing ‘the success of dogs handled by “nobodies”? I cannot remember the last time a “nobody” placed in a Group.
We raise our hand. We’re nobodies, and we’ve had many placements and group wins, Jan. If you think that because we do “National Purebred Dog Day” and that makes us “somebody,” we’re not so sure about that, but most definitely, we were complete nobodies 40 years ago when our first home bred dog won 11 groups at a time the breed wasn’t getting much attention in the group ring. A good judge will find a good dog – and therein lies the rub. How many really good old fashioned good judges are left?
I went to a really interesting seminar on this at the Keeshond National a few years ago. The presenter concluded by saying something like, “Yes, PLEASE judges, touch the dog. Don’t be afraid of messing up the coat. The proper Kees coat should fall back in place anyway.”
Interesting to see the sentiments of owners of other coated breeds. And I had no idea the hindquarters of Afghans were to be formed this way– I always learn something new from your posts!
Thanks for the kind words, Jan, and yes, most coated breed exhibitors want a thorough examination of their dog!