I got my beloved Toby discounted, from the sale bin. At birth, he had been the pick of his litter of Belgian Terverun puppies. Then, he “went long”. Belgians are supposed to be about the same height as they are long, presenting a square appearance through their bodies and legs. At least this is how Lynn, his breeder, things to me when she offered him to me at a discounted price as a “pet” rather than a “show dog”.
Since none of this meant a thing to me, I was happy to accept the reduced price and a gorgeous Terverun puppy. The breeder did ask us however, to let her come and see Toby again when he got older, because sometimes puppies who don’t seem to conform to the breed standard, “come back into true” as they get older. If that happened with Toby, she wanted the chance to show him and try to put a championship title on him.
Here is our little Toby the day the breeders (in the background) brought him to us. Look at that little fuzzball. Who cares if he is long or square?
For that reason too, she asked that we not have him neutered right away. Neutered and spayed dogs are not allowed to enter conformation shows. The theory is that, since the purpose is ostensibly to better the breed, they want only dogs who will be able to pass their genes on to another generation.
Okay, sure, whatever.
Sure enough, when Toby was about six months old, the breeder pronounced him a prime specimen of Terverun-ness and asked if I would bring him along to some of the many dog shows in our area so that she could show him.
I was delighted. Any activity with my bright, feisty, handsome boy was a pleasure to me. Well, except for the housetraining and for that matter, training in general.
So basically, any activity where we could just show up.
The breeder assured me that she would do everything from paying the entry fee to showing him in the ring. All I had to do was make sure he was bathed and brushed, Terveruns not being one of the breeds that requires the “Full Beyonce” grooming level.
We appeared at the specified place and time. We stood and watched for a while as various breeds were called into various rings and made to run around, then stand while the judge performed mysterious rites which reminded me of nothing so much as “the laying on of hands” at faith healing services.
Then the judge would point to a dog, then another. Which also has a religious connotation when you think about it. The finger of The Great Judge: “Saved. Not saved. Saved.”
Various ribbons and things would be handed out and photography would then take place.
There didn’t seem to be much to it really.
Which doesn’t explain my panic when the breeder suggested I should take Toby into the ring my own self.
“He seems to go pretty well for you. Why don’t you take him around?”
I have no explanation either for why I didn’t immediately run screaming in the other direction, since that’s what my panicked body was telling me to do, sending that directive via weak knees, a pounding heart and flop sweat breaking out on my forehead.
Instead, I hear myself saying, “Okay, but you’ll have to tell me what to do.”
Intrepid to the point of stupidity, that’s Auntie Awesome.
Lynn handed me an armband with a number on it, and told me that when I heard my class called (Belgian Sheep Dog, Junior Puppy) we would go to the ring the announcer indicated. I would wait until my number was called. I would then follow the other dogs in the class who had been called ahead of me, take Toby into the ring and line up in order.
I was to try to get him to stand with his back feet a little behind his body, and all four legs parallel to each other. The breeder supplied me with a little bit of dried liver, which I was to hold in front of Toby’s nose to “bait’ him so he would stand still and focus on the treat.
The judge would send us around the ring at a trot. Then we would stand still again while the judge examined our dogs in order. Then he would send us around the ring again.
Stand still, then trot in a circle.
Alrighty then. I figured both Toby and I could do that much. And if we screwed it up, well, hey, I hadn’t volunteered for this duty.
The ring number for our class was announced. We lined up with the four or five other dogs in our group. I led Toby into the ring when our number was called.
He promptly squatted and delivered a big smelly dump practically on the judge’s feet.
I was appalled. In Obedience class, that was a capital offence. My face burning, I asked the Ring Steward if she had a bag so I could pick it up. She looked at me like I was nuts, grabbed a pooper scooper and took care of it.
Lynn later told me that this is a common occurrence at conformation shows. Some of these show dogs have only lived in kennels with other dogs and haven’t been housebroken.
The performance went on, with Toby standing nicely for the judge and accepting this stranger’s hands on his back, legs and teeth. Oh yeah, and his testicles. The judge was made a serious effort to assess Toby’s breeding capacity.
At the conclusion, the judge pointed to Toby. Just like that, he had won his first dog show competition. He went on that day to win Best of Breed over adult champion dogs.
I was hooked. After that, there was no question but that Toby and I would be proceeding to more dog shows. He absolutely loved being around other dogs for any reason at all. We would meet his brothers and sisters at the shows, exchange stories, and get to see all kinds of other breeds.
But The General soon declined to go. As far as he was concerned, breed standards or not, the whole thing was just a beauty pageant with the judge’s decision result being purely personal and subjective.
How else could it happen, he wanted to know, that Toby could be such a magnificent example of the Belgian Sheep Dog as to take Best in Breed at the Belgian Speciality Show one day of a three day dog show, and the next day, under a different judge but with the same dogs, not even place?
My answer was that the judges on the second and third days were dickheaded poopy-brains who clearly were on the take. What else could explain my beloved Toby ever losing?
The more rational explanation is that while judging is, of necessity, subjective, it still generally puts up good solid examples of the breed. In theory, the dogs are not judged against each other. Rather, the judge holds the breed standard in his mind and compares each dog to that standard. Accordingly, while all the dogs in the ring may conform to the standard, the judge has to decide which one comes closest to embodying the Platonic ideal of that breed.
Esoteric phrases in the breed standard like “elegant in appearance with a proud carriage of head and neck”, or “intelligence, courage.… devotion to his master” make subjectivism unavoidable.
On the other hand, there are some objective factors in the standard as well. The gait for the Belgian, example, has to be single track, and there are height and other size requirements that are measurable.
But there are undoubtedly personal biases that creep in. One judge may prefer the shorthaired Malinois or the black Groenendahl variety of Belgian Sheep Dog.
Another may prefer a narrower head and snout. There was certainly a period of time where Belgians began to more closely resemble Collies in that respect.
Some judges, although they have been qualified by the Kennel Club to judge Belgians, may simply not see that many of them, so they don’t get as much practice in assessing this breed. There probably aren’t more than a few dozen Belgians being shown in Canada at any given time, let alone in Eastern Ontario. A judge may well see that many Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers or German Shepherds on one day, even at a very small dog show.
I will say though, that over the year or so it took to put a championship title on Toby, we did run into the same dogs in the ring, and there were a few who were never chosen by any judge. So overall, I would say that a dog who pretty clearly does not confirm to the breed standard is unlikely to gain a championship title.
I do wonder if, when dealing with in the more numerous breeds, judges do sometimes vary their choices so worthy dogs, who may simply have the misfortune to enter the show ring over and over again with a particular standout dog, will still get that title eventually.
Which leads to the question of how exactly the “Champion” title is earned.
I’ve talked elsewhere about how a dog is recognized as a purebred. To earn the title of “Champion” (most usually expressed by the letters “Ch” in front of the dog’s name) those (unneutered, unspayed) purebred dogs can compete in conformation dog shows which have been sanctioned by a recognized kennel club.
Dogs will generally be allowed to enter a show if they are registered with the kennel club of that country, such as the the Canadian Kennel Club (CKC), a Breed Club (such as the Australian Sheepdog Club of America), or with a foreign recognized kennel club. For example, a dog registered with the CKC will almost certainly be recognized by the American Kennel Club (AKC) and allowed to enter an AKC sponsored show.
Once your dog achieves the championship title by earning the requisite number of points against the requisite number of other dogs from the requisite number of judges, your dog is called “finished”. A finished dog that continues to compete is called a “special”. Best of Show winners are entitled to add BIS before their name: “BIS/AM CDN Ch. Corsairs Gaiter CD” for example. (The “CD” is an obedience title, “Companion Dog”.)
In Canada, dog shows are put on under the auspices of the CKC. The CKC itself doesn’t put on the competition. Instead, it ‘sanctions’ show put on by the kennel club in a particular city or area. In addition to these ‘all breed’ shows, particular breed clubs will put on sanctioned “Specialty” conformation shows.
Some shows may be even further specialised. You can attend the Border Terrier Club of Canada’s “Junior Handling” Show for example, where kids and teenagers handle the dogs though the competition. The website of the CKC has a calendar of such events , as well as other CKC sanctioned competitions in everything from obedience to pointing field trials and draft dogs.
Judges are also qualified by the kennel club. They must be certified in each breed they hope to judge. Most judges are only certified in one or perhaps a few breeds, and those generally within the same Group. There are All-Breed judges, though it takes a lot of years and experience to reach that level.
Dogs compete first against members of their own breed. There are various levels in the breed competition, which vary from country to country and show to show. You can have everything from “Open” class (any dog over six months) to “Canadian” or “American” Bred, Bred By Exhibitor, or Amateur Owner Handler.
Most commonly, the winner of Junior and Senior Puppy classes goes on to compete with adult dogs for the title of Winners Dog and Winners Bitch. Dogs who have already earned their championships cannot compete at that level.
The Winners Dog and Bitch then compete in the Open Class for the title of Best of Breed against any dogs who are entered who already have achieved their championship title.
There is also an award for “Best of Opposite Sex”. So if a male dog wins Best of Breed, the best female will be selected for Best of Opposite Sex, and vice versa if a female wins Best of Breed.
That is Toby at another show, winning Best of Breed with his sister, Animal Crackers, taking Best of Opposite Sex.
The dogs who win at that level go on to compete in the Group to which their breed belongs. The CKC, AKC and United Kingdom Kennel Club (KC) all have seven Groups, although some of their names are different. The KC has “Gundogs”, “Pastoral” and “Utility” Groups, while the AKC and CKC have “Sporting”, “Herding” and “Non-sporting”Groups. The other groups, shared by all three organisations, are Working, Terrier, Toy and Hound.
The winners of each Group then go on to compete for Best in Show.
[Toby: Best in Breed]
Points are awarded for winning various levels of the competition, based on the number of dogs defeated. Defeat one other dog, get one point, two dogs, two points and so on up to a maximum of five for any competition.
If yours is the only dog of your breed who shows up, you will (likely) be awarded Best of Breed, but you won’t get the all important points because your dog didn’t defeat any other dogs. He or she would have to go on to win the Group. I say “likely” to be awarded, because I have seen judges refuse to give that accolade to the only dog who entered. As I said, they judge against a breed standard and it is not uncommon for a judge to pass over making the award if she feels the dog does not meet the standard.
In Canada it takes ten points to become a champion, with those points having been awarded by three different judges and having at least one “major” win of two or more points (that is to say, the dog must have won at least one class where he defeated a minimum of two other dogs).
In the U.S. it’s tougher. Your dog must get a total of fifteen points under three different judges, with at least two major wins of three points or more. Those majors have to be awarded under two different judges.
You can see that if you own one of the more uncommon breeds like a Belgian, it may be a challenge to find shows where enough dogs of your breed are competing to allow you to get the necessary points. We were lucky in that about half of Toby’s litter were being shown at the same time as Toby, so there was always some competition, as well as from other dogs.
The UK has a different system which is so byzantine to my eyes that it invites unfavourable comparison with the rules of the Tax Code.
Why would a dog who is already a champion compete in conformation show? Because kennel clubs track points awarded and publish lists of the top dogs in each breed, Group and across all breeds nationally. The more points, the higher the ranking. This means greater stud fees and more money that can be charged for puppies with these prestigious proven champion bloodlines. My Toby’s sire went on to rank among the top ten dogs in Canada. It was pure luck that I got one of Gaiter’s first puppies.
There are all kinds of other dog shows and competition that focus on performance and training. They are huge fun and a great way to spend a day. But if you want to enjoy the great diversity and beauty that is the world of purebred dogs, go and take in a conformation show. It’s more fun than America’s Top Model, with less bitchiness.