Hi all
Have been reading all the messages all week, as I have just taken my 11 month old BFDB to his first ever Companion Show. Needless to say, in typical hound fashion he forgot how to stand, tried to play with anything that moved, then stuck his nose down and pulled when we trotted (?!) around the ring.  We nose-dived in AV Puppy and AV Hound, but thankfully scraped a 2nd in AV Junior (out of 3...lol!).
Anyway, what did confuse me was that the judge didn't seem to know what he was, and when calling out the placements said e.g. First...Greyhound, Second...Bloodhound etc. and then when she came to us, simply called him "That one". She did it three times, even after I had told her what he was.  We had a lovely time, got some experience and are over the moon with his first rosette. What I was wondering, though, is how can a judge compare him to his breed standard if that person doesn't know what the standard is? Having said that, the other dogs were lovely, so I don't have a problem, but I was wondering. Hope you can help.
Parrot 1974

Well done at first show, I expect you are hooked now....and that rosette is pinned on the wall with pride :D

I often wonder the same as my pup (a HWV) is a rare breed and you do wonder if judges know what is in front of them when you go in the ring :D

But I look at it this way, if they are a judge then they should know about basic dog construction and movement and even if they don't know your breed standard(which most of the time at open, limit and companion shows) they won't , then they should be able to make an educated 'guess'.

We are in NSC most of the time at general open shows and I think it takes guts to put up a rare breed above the CC breeds, especially in the group, and all credit to judges who give rare breeds a decent look. I know someone with a Mal who has done really well at the open shows, he regularly takes BOB and group placings and has won a few BIS too and now has his ShCM and they are a rare breed, granted slightly more well known that other RBs but its still some achievement...he is a magnificent dog tho and I guess judges can't help but see that, and hear, that of him :D (He likes to 'sing' when he moves!)

I'm sure we'll keep plugging away tho, even with these slight doubts in our mind...I know I do!!!

Best of luck with your Fauve

Emily :)

I'll probably get shot down for this, but I always thought that the judges at companion shows (on the whole) were up and coming judges. It could well have been that the judge didn't really have a clue what your dog was. At least at Limit, Open and Championship shows they get told what breeds will be there so they can look up the breed standard. At a companion show they won't know what's there until they turn up. I'm not condoning what the judge did or said, just another point of view, for what it's worth ;)

Thanks for all your comments.  I know being a judge is not easy - hadn't thought about the fact that the judge would not know which breeds were coming before her. However, am I wrong to think that she should have asked what breed he was? I have this nagging suspicion in my mind that she really did think I was trying to show a long-eared, over-height, thin-coated, leggy, underweight Wire-Haired Dachsund.  I hope not! LOL

It's very hard to know every breed in a ring and at companion shows you can get a huge variety of breeds.  I know I don't know them all.  At ringcraft we got a glen of imral (sp) and a lagotto of which I didn't know what either breeds looked like untill I met them!!!! LOL

I have a rare breed (aussies) and an endangerd breed (red and white setters) of which many judges don't know what they are.  This also can happen at open shows in variety classes under non group people!!!! (aussies not so much)

You can't expect a judge to know every breed and deffiently not the breed standard of every breed either!  Just hold your head up high and forget the judges who don't know your breed!  :D

It's always possible that the judge mistakes the breed. I show Large Munsterlanders. When I started out 15 years ago (god, was it really that long ago? ;) ) they were constantly being mistaken for oversized, tailed Spaniels Few up and coming judges knew what they were. It was only by going to shows and entering in the AVNSC classes that the breed got more 'showtime' amongst new judges and they learnt what they were. We still get funny looks from time to time and we know that the judge just hasn't got a clue. It's all par for the course, I'm afraid. That's why some people only show at the big shows with unusual breeds. At least the judge should have read the standard :D