The Judging Program
About a week before the show, entered exhibitors will receive in the mail the judging program for the show, along with their entry slip with the name of the dog, the class entered, and the armband number.
The judging program is a short index of that day's events. On the front is the name of the show-giving club, location, date, and show hours. There is an index of the entry for each breed, the time they're scheduled to be judged, and the ring. The program of judging has the total entry for the show and a more detailed schedule of each judge's assignment. Here's an actual example of one judge's assignment from the 2002 Detroit Kennel Club show:
RING FIFTEEN
Judge: Dr. J. Donald Jones
10:00 AM
5 - Border Collies 1-2-(2-0)
23 - Australian Cattle Dogs 8-5-(5-4)-1
11:00 AM
25 - Newfoundlands 7-11-(4-3)
26 - Bouviers des Flandres 11-10-(3-2)
12:45 PM
Lunch
1:30 PM
2 - Briards 1-0-(1-0)
3 - Pulik 2-1-(0-0)
15 - Collies (Rough) 6-7-(1-1)
41 - Australian Shepherds 21-14-(4-1)
139 Total Dogs
What this says is that at 10:00 AM Dr. Jones judges Border Collies and ACD's. Actually he can judge the two breeds in any order, but no judge who wants to get out of town alive ever does things in anything but the published order.
The first number is the total number of dogs entered of that breed. These are then broken down in the order:
Regular Class Dogs
Regular Class Bitches
Best-of-Breed Dogs
Best-of-Breed Bitches
Note the Australian Cattle Dogs have an additional number after their breakdown, which is a dog (or bitch) entered in a non-regular class.
If Dr. Jones is efficient and gets finished with these two breeds before the next period is scheduled to begin, he won't start judging the next breed - Newfoundlands - until 11:00 sharp. That gives him time to sit down for a minute, go to the bathroom, or, most often, have pictures taken with the winners.
Another important feature in the judging program is any changes in the judging panel. Panels are set six months ahead of time and in the meantime judges, many of them elderly, can fall sick or, most inconsiderately, die before the show date. Replacements then have to be found. There is also a limit of 175 on the number of dogs a judge can do in a day. If the total number of dogs entered under him is over that number, some breeds may be transferred to another judge on the panel licensed to judge those breeds. In these circumstances, if you've entered a show assuming Mr. Smith is judging your breed and Mr. Jones is substituted for him, you have the option of pulling your entry and getting a refund, if you do so before the show. That's about the only time you can get your money back.
If a judge is doing a single breed and has no Group or Best in Show assignment, this limit goes up to 200. Although very rare, it's not unknown for this limit to be exceeded (extremely large specialty entry as part of an all-breed show). In this case, a second judge may be brought in to help, one judging dogs and the other bitches, or one doing classes and the other doing Best-of-Breed competition.
The program will also have the time and location the Variety Groups begin judging, the judges for the groups and Best in Show. Most show superintendents simply publish these in strict catalog order (Sporting, Hound, Working, Terrier, Toy, Non-Sporting, Herding, Best in Show) and announce the actual order - which depends on the program of breed judging - before Group judging begins. Moss-Bow Foley is good enough to publish the actual order of Variety Group judging beforehand.
At the end of the judging program are various notices to exhibitors, much the same as in the premium list: the name and address of the show veterinarian (on site or on call), ground rules and charges for parking and RV hookups, directions to the show site, and nearby hotels, and such other useful information of which the exhibitor should be aware.
Posted by Greg Hlatky at August 10, 2002 03:52 PM