A Foolish Consistency ...

We watch as Patrick Mahomes pulls off another of his magical plays, and the referee throws a flag for “roughing the passer.”  

Michael Jordan pushes off and drives to the basket, and the referee blows his whistle, calling a foul on Jordan’s defender.

Ohtani takes a pitch that looks like it absolutely crosses the corner of the plate, and it is called a ball.

Greg Maddux never threw a pitch over the middle of the plate, and still got enough called strikes to make it to the Hall of Fame. It appeared that if he was within five inches of the plate, it was called a strike. 

We watch as these greats seem to “get all the calls,” and the conspiracy theorists scream FOUL! But maybe — just maybe — these players are great because they are able to be in control while all others around them are losing their proverbial heads. Or have they just “paid their dues”?

What do you think if the same handler’s dogs win Winners Dog, Winners Bitch and Best of Breed? Is the judge incompetent, crooked or only puts up handlers?

I have to admit that when I started showing in this community (ancient history), if my dog won Winners Dog, I would try to find someone else to show my bitch entry, feeling that I couldn’t win both — especially if I then had a special to show in Best of Breed. So, yes, I fell victim to the belief that a judge wouldn’t — or shouldn’t — award all wins to the same handler. I was very wrong.

So, after more than 60 years in this community, I have often asked myself, “What should the judge do if one person truly shows all the best dogs?” Is it not possible that a professional handler, who may have the opportunity to pick from many quality dogs, might show a number of dogs that the judge will like? What of an amateur breeder-owner-handler who consistently breeds wonderful breed representatives? Couldn’t that person have more than one high-quality dog at the show? Do you really want a judge who allocates a certain number of wins to each person? Do you really want a judge to ignore a quality dog — and put up an inferior one — because the judge was concerned with what the ringside judges would say? Isn’t that lack of integrity as bad as putting up an inferior dog for the wrong reason? Each class should stand on its own. My decisions in the Open class should not be affected by what my decisions were in the Bred-by class. 

Any judge who allows any outside influence to affect his judging should one day feel like Jacob Marley in “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens: “I wear the chains I forged in life! I made it link by link and yard by yard! I gartered it on of my own free will and by my own free will, I wore it!”

I think it is important for every judge to recommit to make judging decisions based on the dogs in front of her today — NOW — class by class! I do believe that it takes a very experienced judge to professionally run a ring with a large entry. For example, I am so used to my judging procedure that I can do the same routine without consciously thinking about it. But, by recommitting to why I am in the center of the ring before each show, I make sure I stay in the present. Sometimes, experience counterintuitively works against you because it could blunt your observation skills and cause you to make assumptions. We all get quick, initial impressions as the class of dogs enters the ring, but we have to go deeper than that by giving each entry the same opportunity to present itself. Each dog should stand by itself, and be judged against the standard, not by initial impressions alone. 

So, I ask you: If the same person has the best dog in every class, shouldn’t those dogs win? Isn’t it a judge’s job to find and reward the best breed representative, regardless if it is shown by a friend, an enemy or the same person over and over? To borrow from The Bard, “This above all: To thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.”

Remember, we exist to evaluate breeding stock, so if someone shows dogs who win every class, isn’t that giving the highest grade to that breeding program? Yes, I understand that all the dogs shown by the same person may not be the same breeding, but the person showing these dogs has shown an understanding and knowledge of the breed, and should therefore be considered in a positive light.

I recently was told a story by a very good friend who is an internationally acknowledged judge. She was judging a large show — a specialty — in another part of the world. One of her very good friends entered 11 dogs to show to her at this specialty. His dogs did not win any class. Another friend of hers entered two dogs, and his dogs won Best of Breed and Best of Opposite Sex. 

These two friends were staying together in a motel during the show, and the one who showed 11 dogs was furious that he had not won anything under his supposed friend. “How can I not win anything, and you win with both dogs you showed to her?” he demanded.

“Well,” answered his friend, “I know she really appreciates dogs with good fronts, so I picked the two dogs I had to show that had the best fronts I could find.” 

Very simply, the better dogs — in my judge-friend’s opinion — won. Isn’t that the way it is supposed to be?

I remember hearing a young handler tell someone that she should be doing a lot of winning because she “showed a lot of dogs to him.” I will tell you that every judge appreciates each and every entry, and if you have a lot of dogs to show to that judge, he or she will be appreciative, but it is not a guarantee of a win unless the dogs deserve it — isn’t that how it should be? Conversely, if every dog you show to this judge is of superior quality — and perhaps has the qualities that are important to this judge — shouldn’t each one of them win? That, too, is how it is supposed to be.

A young handler-breeder friend said, “[My] handler and breeder friends still seem to hold the fear/superstition that if we win one side of the classes, we are at a detriment for whatever class dog/bitch or champion in BOB we are going to exhibit. From my perspective, when I am entering my own blood, sweat, tears, time and love of an entry under a judge I highly respect, the pressure is amplified. You hope that person likes your dog(s) as much as you do ... You enter a class dog, bitch and a special ... maybe more than one on each side ... I'll admit to being somewhat superstitious myself that if I win both dogs and bitches there's a fat chance I'm going to also win the breed. Sometimes I am wrong and sometimes the entry is really good, so having that hope is harder to achieve (but you gotta have goals, right?!).”

I remember talking to another handler — a friend — who had just shown quite a number of dogs to a new judge in that breed, and he had not won anything. A few months later, this same judge was judging the same breed, and this same handler won almost every class, including Best of Breed. I asked him what had changed. Had the judge changed?

“No,” he said. “I went back and looked at the dogs I showed to her the first time, and realized they all were lacking in a couple of specific breed traits, so this time I chose the dogs I could show that were strong in that area — and they won.” So, in this case, both the judge and the handler did what they were supposed to do.

If I could go back and talk to my younger self, I would tell me not to worry about how many dogs I am showing to a specific judge. Instead, try to watch that judge at some shows to see if you can figure out what is important to that judge — assuming there are dogs in the ring that have those traits. Then, show every dog you have that has that quality, and let the chips fall where they may. 

And judges need to remember that their raison d’etre is to examine the dogs before them and place them according to how closely each one compares to that breed’s standard and fits their mental image of that breed — on that day. Nowhere does it say that a judge needs to limit the number of ribbons an exhibitor receives that day, nor does it say that if an individual shows a lot of dogs to you, then that person should win a lot of ribbons. Just judge the dogs in front of you to the best of your ability. Don’t hand out ribbons as if you were dealing out a deck of cards — seeing that everyone got the same amount. As the infamous Bill Belichick has often said to his team, “Do your job!” 

Should our best breeders be punished for doing their job so well? Or should they be rewarded by recognizing their contributions to their respective breeds — and to the future of our community?

 What do you think?