How to Succeed as a Trainee Judge – presented by Andrew Burt, Tuesday 7 April

This weeks session was a very entertaining presentation by newly-qualified All Breeds Judge Andrew Burt.
Andrew provided an excellent handout setting out “a few basic starting points and suggestions” for us. A key point in his presentation that was supported and reinforced by Bill Mooney was a warning against complacency – getting your license does not mean that you have learnt all you need to know about group X dogs! Both Bill and Andrew indicated that they still mull over decisions at the end of the day – and never stop learning.
There is a good list of links, texts and preliminaries on pages 4 and 5 of the handout. Several of them (such as the Judges Code of Practice and the Judging competencies) we have already been introduced to, and should have studied by now. A number of the books we are already familiar with from earlier lectures. sThere were some points however, that I hadn’t yet thought about:
• How to organize my diary in such a way that I know where I’m going, and can easily tell where I’ve been, and where and when I may be embargoed due to other judging commitments. I work almost exclusively out of my Google calendar, so I need to think carefully about how to enter and log each contract. Andrew has a book where all judging appointments he has ever done are recorded. I am thinking about using my Google Notebook (which I will soon have to replace, as Google is no longer developing it, and I expect that at some point they will discontinue it altogether...grrr), or perhaps Todoist, to keep these records and still have them linked to my main work calendar…
• What I need in my “judging bag”!! I think it’ll be like my stewarding one (sunscreen, hat, insect repellant, pen, pencil, eraser, sunglasses), but with a few additions – a camera to get pics of selected dogs, copies of the standards, my own summaries of each standard, and contracts.
• Organising electronic information – for me this will be a combination of this blog, and my computer. I plan to create a format for my critiques and notes so that I can sort and find the information via Copernic Desktop.
• Who I will ask to mentor me, both in my breed and, later, for group 1?
Andrew made some excellent points about lectures and getting the most out of them. I recognize many of these from tips I’ve given students over the years… for me, the key points are:
• Never come to a lecture unprepared.
• Engage the process – this means thinking, allowing ideas to change and evolve, listening to peers as well as experts and being an active participant. Learning is much more effective if the whole group is participating.
• Do the time – at home, and at the shows. Write the critiques, take the notes, keep them organized and review them frequently.
Section 7 of the notes covers the actual judging of the dogs. He suggests “… you will judge best if you have reviewed the standards in the last 24 hours, and have an idea of the characteristics you consider to be important for the particular breed..”. I really liked the suggestion to have five hallmarks of each breed in mind – the five main points that I consider most important. For my own breed (Italian Greyhounds) I would say the hallmarks are:
• High-stepping movement that is not hackneyed
• Square proportions
• Refined and elegant, not coarse
• Open balanced angulation
• Correct head (scissor bite, oval eyes, flat skull, equal length of muzzle and skull, underjaw not weak, skull tapers, not pinched, rose ears)
I know that the head could be said to be more than one hallmark, but it is my breed…
He goes on to say that “..as well as knowing … standards and breed characteristics …[you must] know how to generally assess an exhibit according to your physical examination, its quality relating to the breed standard, and its quality relating to other exhibits…”. Ask yourself ‘how typical is THIS exhibit of the standard’, then put it in its place with respect to other in the class lineup. I think this is going to be the most challenging thing. It is always easy to recognize a high quality dog, and a poor example is usually plain, but to discriminate in a reasoned and fair way between similar quality but differently conformed dogs is where the judges work lies.
Section 8 is about critiques. He offers several different approaches and formats, and there is another perspective provided from Gwen Ford. This is excellent reading, and my next task will be to start writing some critiques to try to develop an approach that works for me. Key points to remember:
• Be constructive – it should never be a list of faults
• Describe the dog under consideration – do not include comparators to the other dogs seen on the day
• It is helpful to start with general information – ages, gender, colour, type
• Someone reading the critique should be able to picture the dog
Section 9 covers exam technique for theory and practical judges exams. It’s interesting to reflect that we tell students the same things at all levels:
• Prepare
• Take the time available to you – don’t rush unnecessarily
• Answer the question in front of you, not the one you’d like them to ask
If you don’t know what the examiner means then ask them to rephrase the question – they are not trying to trick you!
There are also some helpful hints on summarizing standards, and different approaches to revising breeds.
The final section asks us to think about how to contribute to the dog world, and judge training in particular. It would be sad indeed if the only contribution we were to make to the dog world was to take our licenses and go away.
Thankyou to Andrew for being so generous with your knowledge and expertise. It was very much appreciated.