Show Judges - nothing ever changes!

Here's a little clip from Mike Homan's staffy breed notes in Our Dogs this week. I know he won't mind me quoting it here. It's a letter from 1950.........

"Sir........The recent correspondence on the subject of judges & judging leads me to say that there are six distinct types of judges of which the first 4 are rare and the last 2 common. They are
1.The good judge who is honest; he knows his subject and judges fearlessly
2. The good judge who is dishonest; he knows his subject, but tempers his judgement to suit his own ends.
3. The bad judge who is dishonest; he suits himself, but even when none of his friends is in the ring he still makes a mess of judging.
4. Ther nervous judge; he is paralysed with fear so he gets everything back to front and always will, because under stress his mind refuses to function.
5. The bad judge who is honest; his ignorance frequebtly leads him to do what appears to be dishonest , because he does not know enough to recognise a good new dog so he has to play for safety and put up the 'big shot'. This class of judge is very common indeed and there is no trace of dishonesty in his make up; ignorance alone leads him to his undoing.
6. The honest judge whose likes and dislikes, fads and fancies are so violent that quite truthfully the dogs of his friends look better to him than those of his enemies; this too is a common type.

In conclusion I would add that in my opinion one of the most valuable assets to an exhibitor is an ability to correctly sum up what type each and every judge belongs to. Yours etc.......Raymond Oppenheimer."

Raymond Oppenheimer was one of the most respected dog breeder, exhibitor & judge of the time!

Totally agree with that Caryll, numbers 5 and 6 are the main reasons my mum stopped breeding and showing. It wasn't the fact that she didn't win that upset her, it was the fact that if you are not in the right 'crowd' then you have no chance of getting placed even if your dog is true to the breed standard, yet the people who are in the right crowd could take a sack of potatoes in the ring with some eyes and ears drawn on it and still walk out with the nice shiny red rosette.
I just wish there were more of the number 1's around

Well I suppose thats that then!!!!! So my boy didnt win honestly!!!!!! he didnt win his rewards honestly!!!!. Maybe his breeders were in the incrowd !!!!!! sleeping with the judges!!!! Comments can offend sometimes!!!!!Instead of being proud of my boy ill be ashamed!!!!!

You obviously got judge 1

FYI my mum didn't breed staffs it was a totally different breed with a different crowd of people. I didn't mean to offend anyone. I didn't mention anything about sleeping with judges so I don't know where that came from???

BlueStaffBlue wrote:You obviously got judge 1

Thanks bluestaff had a bad day at work and need to chill youve cheered me up

Dizzy_staff wrote:FYI my mum didn't breed staffs it was a totally different breed with a different crowd of people. I didn't mean to offend anyone. I didn't mention anything about sleeping with judges so I don't know where that came from???

Im sorry its just you get paranoid that when you have won you need to defend your win after and thats not right.

Gem I really didn't mean to offend you, or anyone else. I think it's great that dogs win because they deserve to and they are judged against the breed standard. I dont think you should be ashamed of your boy, I think you should hold your head high and be proud knowing that you did get judge 1 and not any of the others x

gem wrote:

BlueStaffBlue wrote:You obviously got judge 1

Thanks bluestaff had a bad day at work and need to chill youve cheered me up

gem I had a bad day at work must be something in the air hope you have a nice chill

Dizzy_staff wrote:Gem I really didn't mean to offend you, or anyone else. I think it's great that dogs win because they deserve to and they are judged against the breed standard. I dont think you should be ashamed of your boy, I think you should hold your head high and be proud knowing that you did get judge 1 and not any of the others x

Thanks he came from a very small kennel who have only bred 2 litters in 20 years they are lovely people
Once when someone commented about his wins they said which one of us was sleeping with the judge thats were that came from
I am very proud of him along with his breeders he deserved his wins im just having a moment

Tracie-Milly-Moos Mum wrote:

gem wrote:

BlueStaffBlue wrote:You obviously got judge 1

Thanks bluestaff had a bad day at work and need to chill youve cheered me up

gem I had a bad day at work must be something in the air hope you have a nice chill

tell me about it im chillin now thanks

We're all entitled to our moments hun, dont worry about it x

gem wrote:Well I suppose thats that then!!!!! So my boy didnt win honestly!!!!!! he didnt win his rewards honestly!!!!. Maybe his breeders were in the incrowd !!!!!! sleeping with the judges!!!! Comments can offend sometimes!!!!!Instead of being proud of my boy ill be ashamed!!!!!

You got judge number 1 every time! Your boy is superb, even from photos we can all see that!

I actually put the quote in because there has been so much talk about judges lately. What I meant by it is that nothing ever changes - people will always complain about the judge. Raymond Oppenheimer was a well respected & knowledgable man (he was the breeder of the famous Ormandy Bull Terriers), but was one of the first to complain when he didn't win!

Gem, your avatar tells a thousan words... you dont need to defend anything. he is a beautiful lad...

Caryll, Gem and others... I have no idea what goes into showing.. but I would think it is damn hard work and this kind of thing really shouldnt happen...

But I see it all the time in the Nail shows... nails that are second class get the awards!!!! shame for those that try their butts off

Gem i told you a moan makes you feel better last week after i had mine

Thanks you guys ><