A different perspective on Junior Showmanship

Once again Junior Showmanship is in the “news” as folks discuss the perceived shortcomings of children, their parents and their dogs.

I’m going to try this from a different perspective.

I love judging junior showmanship. It is literally my favorite class to judge at any dog show. Not because it’s easy or I don’t get any grief, but because it matters. It matters how I interact with young people who I hope will stick with this sport. My placements and decisions matter specifically because I refuse to get sucked into the games that others are complaining about.

A while back I had a very competitive class of open seniors. Really talented kids that presented various decisions for me to make. There were four young women showing a variety of breeds. First place went to a young woman who was very easy with her dog, who had soft hands with a dog that was clearly testing her patience. I don’t remember exact placements, but in the mix was a young woman who wasn’t quite as talented as the first in managing her challenging dog, but she still was working at it and succeeding.

In a class of four, there will always be the “last place.” In this case, my last place went to a graceful young woman showing a very “push button” dog. She was successful at the obligatory skills, but it was obvious she and the dog were “going through the motions.” There was no indication of a connection with her exhibit.

I was approached three separate times about this placement by a well-known handler who was associated with this young woman. He attempted to berate me for the decisions I made, including telling me “he trained the dog that way.” That’s nice. It’s why the girl didn’t win.

Without fear or favor

I was not scarred for life by these encounters. I was a handler for a lot of years. Other handlers, including this one, thought they could intimidate me. It didn’t work then and it doesn’t work now. I’m not super worried about who’s going to hire me or not, putting up the “right” people or whatever chicanery some folks are obsessed with in this world.

I’m in that ring to encourage young people to focus on their dog, to do the work that makes an exhibitor successful. I am able to do that with my placements, my interactions with the kids and their parents or guardians. Without fear or favor, as it were.

I love to see kids taking on new breeds, challenging themselves to improve. I support the “show whatever dog” rule. Kids were already doing it, now they just reduce the friction of signing on/off dogs constantly. Getting your hands on dogs, lots of dogs, is how you learn to be a better dog handler.

I do believe that rankings in Juniors are counter-productive. They set up false expectations in these kids’ minds. I don’t care where a child is ranked nationally. If they’ve borrowed a dog to show at a specialty and are heavy-handed in trying to manage a dog they don’t know, they aren’t going to win. Pretty simple.

But, here we are. Adults chase rankings and status, so that’s what our kids learn. Children acquire their understanding of the world around them by mimicking the actions of their heroes. Our heroes in the dog world, for better or worse, are #1!!! The BIG WINNER!!! The TV-ready super stars.

If we want our young people to behave better, perhaps we should offer them better role models.

One of the things I’ve done here at Pure Dog Talk is create the DOGmanship program. This is a five-part course that is based on what I learned in 4H. It includes animal husbandry, breeding and whelping, dog training and showmanship essentials. I have taught it online and in-person. It is available to anyone who is interested.

If we actually want to solve the problems, not just bitch about them, it is incumbent upon the adults in the room to make that happen. This is my answer to the question.

DOGmanship™

The goals of this program are to coach, guide, mentor and develop well-rounded canine exhibitors. I will add that while this course was designed for Juniors, I have presented aspects of it around the country, mostly to adults. This is *fundamental* information that was news to most of these folks.

The skills and finesse to present your dog in the show ring flows from the acquisition of fundamental knowledge.

The information in this program is based on 40+ years involved in breeding, training, grooming, showing and judging purebred dogs, including nearly 25 years as a professional handler. It incorporates and distills the knowledge of the legends of the sport, experts and other professionals acquired during the recording of 650+ Pure Dog Talk episodes.

In an imperfect world inhabited as it is by imperfect people, imperfect dogs and imperfect organizations, all we can do is the best we can do. For me, that means stepping up and standing up for kids who are doing the best they can with what they have to work with and offering them the tips and tools to succeed.

Talk ON…