Judgescontinuedfrompage20consideration(positiveor
negative)thatIdidnotdofortheothercanines.Lateron…
well,sometimesit’sregretthatmy‘gut’knewthebetterdog,
butIletmyemotionsengagewithmybrainandtheresult
waslessthanmybest.”

Ofcourse,mostjudgeswilladmittheyhavehaddoubts

thattheyhaveagonizedover;othersnevermakeamistake
becausetheyarealwaysright.Weallknowwhotheyare,
theyhavesuchconfidence—orisitego?

Ihavetakenanotherinformalsurvey!Thistimeitisa

surveyofjudgesaboutpossiblemisgivingsorsecond
thoughtstheymayhaveexperiencedafterorevenduring
judging.Acommononeis,“Myreservereallydeservedthe
wintodaybutatthelastminuteIchosetheotheronefor
hisreallycorrecttailset.”Yousay,“Whathappenedtothe
wholedog?”Onimpulse,asuddenshiftinthinking,he
chosethatdog?Isitamistakeorreasonforregret?Orisita
judge’sprerogativetojustify
hisorherdecisionbasedona
sectionofthestandard—
particularlyifthetraitthey
ultimatelydecideonisa
present-dayfaultabreedis
tryingtoeliminate?

Arementorsandseminar

presentersconfusingjudges
bytheiremphasisonadetail
ortwo,totheexclusionofthe
overall?Afirstexperience
withabreedisanintroduction
—overallmakeandshapeto
whichthedetailscontribute.
Tospendhalfaseminaronone
detailiscounterproductive.
Here’sanexampleofwhat
sometimesoccurs:Thepermit
judgewhohasjustcompleted
acoupleofthoseringsidementoringthings—ringside
observations—issuddenlystandinginthering.The
latestthinghelearnedflashesthroughhishead.Eyeshape
wasmostserioustoonebreeder/judge/mentor,buthis
previousmentortoldhimthattailsweremostimportant
andeyeshapereallydoesnotmatter.Hethinks,“DoIgo
backandre-checkeyesandtails?Idonotrememberthe
eyesortailsofeachdog.WhatdoIdo?Iamconfused.”
Someexperiencedbreedersandjudgesfeelthattoo
frequentlytheimpressionofthewholedogisneglected
whilethefaultsareemphasized.Whathappenedto
findingwhatcomesclosesttothestandardfirst?

HereiswhatIrecentlyobservedatalargeBassetentry.

Inmyopinion,thedogsintheclasseshadeitherwaytoo
muchortoolittlesubstance.Thewinner,Iwastold,has
flangedribs.Thisishearsay,butlet’suseitasanexample.
WedohaveflangedribsintheBasset,andtheyshowup
frequently.Attheendoftheroundribcage,thecartilageof
theribflipsupwardnotunlikethehairdopopularyearsago.
Butjudges,especiallynon-breederjudges,rarelygooverthe
ribcagecarefullyenoughtofindanyflange.Inaddition,
withthetwoextremesofsubstance,howmuchistoo
much?Howlittletoolittle?Thejudgewasstrugglingwith
anentrysodiverse.Iwouldhavebeentoo.IwashappyI
wasnotjudgingthisday.Thestandarddoessay,“smooth
ribcageextendingwellback.”Italsocallsforheavierbone,

andthattheseriousfaultsarethosethatimpedemovement.
Thesestatementsfromthestandardmustbeinterpreted:
Howfarback?Howsmooth?Ifflangedribsarepresent,is
thisfaultmoreseriousthaninefficientrunninggear?

Thisleadstocurrentproblemsinbreeds.Breedersshould

knowwhattheyare,butjudgescannotalwaysknowthem.
Judgesdonotalwaysknowthemovementfaultsinevery
breedtheyjudge.Theydependuponthestandard.Butone
mightwonder,“DidIneglectwhatthatbreedertoldmewas
aprevalentprobleminthebreedtoday?”

Herearesomeadmissionsofjudgeswhowerekind

enoughtoletmeusetheirexperiencesasexamples.Judges
oftendiscusstheseissuesamongstthemselves,andthe
dialogueishealthy.Ihaveremovedtheirnamestoprotect
theinnocent,honestandsincere.

Fromonejudgeonherearlycareer:“Themostmemorable

‘doover’thatIwishIhadwaswhenIwasprovisionalin

Afghans.Myassignmentwas
intheMidwest,andIhada
rathergoodentry.Thedog
classeswerejustaverage,but
whenthebitchescamein,a
puppybitchreallycaught
myattention.Iendedup
awardingherWBandBOW.
Ireallywantedtogiveher
BOB,butwastooafraidtodo
itoverthespecial.Ihadthe
AKCrepwatchingme,andI
wasscaredtodeathtomake
suchaboldmovewithhim
watching,soIchosethe
expectedandwentwiththe
specialthatwasbigand
coarse.Duringmyevaluation,
Ilearnedtherepknew
Afghanswellandhadbred

them.Fortunately,hewasveryniceandeasytotalkto,soI
toldhimwhatIreallywantedtodo.Hecompletelyagreed
andsaidthatiswhathewouldhavedone!Ifeltverified,yet
madatmyselffornotgoingwithmygut.Notbeingan
Afghanbreederandknowinghowsomeexhibitorscan
behave,Ididtheexpectedinordernottomakeanywaves.
Itwasjustlackofconfidence,butagoodlesson.”

Fromanother:“Inthinkingback,IdidalargeDachshund

specialtywherethereusedtobealotofreallygoodones,
andIdidnotchooseahighlyadvertisedsmooth,thatwas
alsohighlyranked,formyBOB.Icaughthellforthat,but
notknowingwhowaswhomaheadoftimeallowedmeto
actuallyjudgethedogswithoutinfluenceofthestats.
Lookingbackatthatearlyassignment,Imighthavewanted
adoovertoseeifthesmooththatsomethoughtshould
havewon,shouldhave.Whoknows?It’soldnewsnow!”

Andanother:“DuringarecentassignmentofAfghans,

IlaterreflectedthatIshouldhavereversedwhatultimately
weremyWinnersandReserveWinnersDog.Bothweregood
examplesofthebreed,butinreflection,onewasbetterthan
theother.ButthehandlerontheReservedoginsistedon
constantlystackingthedogwithitsrearwaytoofarback,
resultinginaveryslopingtopline.Thestandardsays“The
backlineappearingpracticallylevelfromtheshouldersto
theloin,”anexaggeratedsweepingrear(Standard:
“Impressionofasomewhatexaggeratedbendinthestifle

30

www.pbgv.org

Winter2015

ISaberTails

PhotobyBobCohen