My 14 year old daughter is entering a Junior Handling class for the first time tomorrow (bit of a late starter!).  Done a bit of reading on the web but anyone got any tips?

Both my daughters take part in the junior handling and thoroughly enjoy it.

My advice would be remember the golden rule - don't get between the dog and the judge - be calm and don't panic - encourage the dog with a kind manner.

Don't go first in the class allows her to watch the others and see what the judge is asking.  Listen to what the judge asks - don't assume the judge is asking the same as the other entrants.

Above all smile and have fun :) :)

My nephew (13) started JH about this time last year, he loves it but I have toruble getting my head round the lack of consistency in judging - some judges want them to handle an any proficient exhibitor of the breed would do, other have them doing almsot a line dance type thing, with them swivelling around the dogs!  How to guage which judge is likely to want which type of handling is impossible, but the kids don't seem to mind, they jsut enjoy the hwole thing, it is me who gets stressed!  One thing to remember is that most judge I have spoken to think that Kids in this age group are all experienced handlers, so it has to be a quick learning process for the beginners.  Remember that being neatly turned out is important, and listen thouroughly to the judge.

Good advice, also if you dont understand what the judge is asking, ask them to repeat it,

Please enjoy yourself and dont forget to talk to your dog,

May I recommend this website for your daughter to look at. http://www.juniorhandling.co.uk/
Some useful tips on there.

I find it all very subjective, my daughter does it and I have been with her the 4 years she's been at it, this includes almost weekly training.
I have seen little consistency in judging and I do believe after 4 years of constant support I have picked up a lot on the way.
The only time it appears to me 'well judged' is when another experienced Junior handler is judging.
That comment will probably not go down well.

I wish that there were more good judges available.

I wish your daughter well, if she is relaxed about it all will be well, I hope she enjoys it, my daughter loves it.

Karen :)

> The only time it appears to me 'well judged' is when another experienced Junior handler is judging.
> That comment will probably not go down well. <IMG alt=eek src="/images/eek.gif">
>
> I wish that there were more good judges available.
>

Oh on the whole I think most people agree with that comment.

I think society's are really trying now though to get handling judges - we certainly have been lucky this year with them.

And the website is a great site set up by an ex-junior handler.

There never seem to be clear guidelines on Junior Handling for Judges (as in bred judging wherethere is a standard) so too many people seem to accept the appointment (especially at Open Shows) - although goiing from the comments possibly at Ch Shopws too :) and then don't know what they are doing.  The same goes for Brace & Team classes and Stud & Brood

I think The Kennel Club should at least have judging guidelines for JH judges to follow but as far as I know there is nothing! Some judges go too far, getting handlers almost "dancing" (as Rach said "line dancing") round their dogs! That's not what its about! To me its so important to have a handler who is attentive to their dog and have a great rapport, yes the positioning is important too but a good handler should almost be invisible, its the dog who should shine!

An ex Junior handler once observed to me that also not enough is taken into account of showing the breed in the correct way for the breed to be shown...especially by the linedancing type ones

> An ex Junior handler once observed to me that also not enough is taken into account of showing the breed in the correct way for the breed to be shown...especially by the linedancing type ones

Exactly!  Max eventually had to almost give up showing Pipsqueak as a free standing toy breed and is now stacking him in lots of JH classes, so many judges give credit to the much more flamboyant way of very showy JH, so the kids have to learn 2 distinct styles, correct handling for the breed classes, where less is more, and the "look at my dog" bent almost double when moving, arms outstretched to present the dog with fixed grin on face, for the Handling classes.  It's a lot harder to show a free standing breed and maintain a correct stance, keeping the dog still and in pose while you move round it for the JH judge, but under lots of judges he gets more credit for stacking him!  Good news is the kids don't seem to mind, although often a bit confused as to which style to adopt for which judge.

Thanks for your advice everyone.  She did very well for her first time (and hadn't practised much!).  Didn't get placed (7 there) but I'd seen the others a lot at shows.  They all had "stacked" breeds and ours is a "free-standing" one, and I did notice the difference.  The only mistake as such was when she was standing in front of his head and didn't notice the judge was standing behind her to look at the front of the dog for quite a while!  Also tough on her to give her a fidgety 10 month old dog but she coped well and at least looked happy to be there - if I'm going to be critical of the others they looked pretty darn miserable to be honest.  Proud of her for giving it a go and she'll try to get along to ringcraft to practise.

Glad she enjoyed it, I do think the kids who bring a pup on themselves get a lot more satisfaction out of it that those using a ready trained dog.  Max feels enormous pride in Pipsqueak when they win, as well as himself.  HE is now getting ready to do JH with Barack, an American Cocker, who is of course stacked so no confusion there I hope!  At 8 months thre is a lot of margin for puppy naughtiness, of course! :)

Well done - yes it is harder with a freestanding dog, I show my Cavs in handling classes sometimes and the judges often don't seem to realise you are still working with him even if you're not fiddling with leg placement! And if the judge gave her a good long time to notice she was standing in the way, that's actually promising I reckon, shows they liked the handling otherwise and were hoping they would notice and move. :-)