A Great Experience
Kathy Lorentzen
I came to know about, and appreciate, UKC only about ten years ago. I first judged for UKC maybe ten years ago, when I was invited by the then owner to judge Gun Dogs at PREMIER. I enjoyed the experience, thought there were some dogs of reasonable quality, and then went on to apply for my judging approval in the other venue and didn’t judge again for UKC until I became involved with the organization four years ago. In the meantime, I did a fair amount of judging at AKC.
When I started judging for UKC again, I was invited to do the Retriever Specialty that is held the day before PREMIER in June. I was impressed with the quality of the dogs that were exhibited to me, and my BIS winner, a Curly Coated Retriever, was one of the best of his breed of modern times, bred and handled by what I consider a ‘master breeder’ of that breed. I was thrilled to judge him and to award him the top prize that day.
Over the past few years, I have judged a number of UKC Specialty shows, and I’ve judged a couple more times at PREMIER. On all those occasions, the dogs were of quite high quality, and particularly this year at PREMIER I felt that the overall quality was excellent. Up until recently, though, I had never judged an entire Multi-Breed Show. I was invited by the North American Kai Association to judge one of their four shows in August, and I happily agreed, though I admit that I was very curious to see what the entry would be and how the quality of the dogs would compare to my previous UKC judging experiences. I was also a little apprehensive, as I was going to be judging some breeds for the first time. I spent a fair amount of time researching those breeds in the days before the assignment because I did not want to screw up!
I got up very early and drove to the show, which was about an hour and a half from my house. And it was RAINING. I thought, oh, fabulous, but I packed my full length raincoat and my umbrella and my mukluks, and bravely set forth. I was doing Show 2, and scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. When I arrived at the show grounds, it was raining pretty steadily, and the poor lady judging Show 1 was doing it sans raincoat. She did have a hat that deflected the water off her face, at least!
Mercifully, when it was time for me to begin, the rain had let up to a drizzle. I began with Juniors, and I felt really sorry for them because they were coming to my ring directly from the other one and most of them, and their dogs, were really wet and muddy. But they braved it and did a wonderful job despite the conditions. My Best Junior was an extremely talented girl with wonderful, soft hands and a calm demeanor, which is exactly what I am looking for when I judge Juniors. This girl went on to show me a number of dogs of different breeds throughout the day, and I loved having her in my ring.
Despite the weather conditions, the entry was substantial and kept me busy for six hours. As breed after breed came into my ring, I was struck by the quality of the dogs and the camaraderie between the exhibitors. These people were having fun, their dogs were having fun, and so was I! And mid-day, the rain even let up completely and I was able to shed my raincoat. The dogs reveled in the cool air and were showing really well.
I had dogs to judge in every group except Terriers. As is seen in any venue, there were some dogs that were not of very high quality, but for the most part, the dogs shown to me that day were dogs that I felt strongly could be competitive anywhere. When my line-up for Best In Show came into the ring, I was delighted and I can say with some conviction that all seven were dogs of excellent quality, properly conditioned and presented, that could (and I found out later that most have) hold their own against any competition, regardless of venue.
My Best In Show winner was a Bouvier des Flanders dog who is one of the best of the breed I have seen in ages, and I say that with some authority, having years of experience in that breed, having bred a number of top winners and having learned to groom them from breed masters. This young dog had a head to die for, broad and deep with parallel planes and the right eye. In proportion he is tall and short-backed and yet manages to float around the ring effortlessly without roll, and he carries his top perfectly. His coat is perfection, harsh, thick and tousled, and his trim is hand-pulled and casually elegant. What a thrill it was to award him BIS in this lovely line-up. Reserve went to an excellent Bullmastiff of lovely size and make and shape and wonderful on his legs. Best Puppy In Show was a smashing baby Shiba, so beautiful (to me) that I later asked his breeder if she felt that he was going to be as good as I thought he was, and she said yes, that she was incredibly excited about his potential. This little fellow had it all - attitude, balance, proportion, and that extra ‘something’ that made him a real eye-catcher. I hope I get to follow his career.
The experience of this first multi-breed judging assignment taught me that there are a lot of people out there who are ‘crossing over’ between one registry and another. I think this is a good thing and I hope the trend grows and continues. I think there are a lot of people who are looking for a way to enjoy a day with their dogs and their families without the pressure cooker atmosphere that can be all too common in some venues. I believe that UKC shows provide this experience while still providing an extremely legitimate way to compete and win under very competent judges who take their job seriously, but manage to be less strict about the schedule and allow people a lighter attitude in the ring. The playing field at UKC shows is pretty level, and it doesn’t take a hundred thousand dollar advertising campaign to win high awards with your own very good dog. The dogs are recognized and rewarded by UKC judges on the basis of their merits, not the size of their owners’ pocketbooks.
I hope that the UKC philosophy always remains this way, as I surely believe that it fosters the right kind of attitude amongst the judges, exhibitors and club officials. It is possible to run a dog show in a timely manner, have high quality, more naturally presented dogs, and be kind and nice to each other so that the experience is enjoyable for all. I so enjoyed my first multi-breed assignment, and look forward to my next one in the spring. Thanks to all who participated in making my day a success!
Correspondence is always invited at vincefan@centurytel.net
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