Having spent more than 200 hours or 100 sessions in judges’ workshops, which is probably equal to one
full term of College credits, I feel that I am very qualified to evaluate not only dogs but judges of dogs. This is 
something that AKC Reps do and I have always gotten along with them very well.

All-Breed judges are different from Specialty judges. Specialty judges tend to be boring. After all, how many
times can you run dogs around in circles without putting most people to sleep? For the purposes of this article,
I have divided most judges into categories to define their area of expertise.

Specialty Show Judges seem to mostly fall into three different categories:

• Psychiatrists are usually most interested in dogs with Temperament problems, the worse the better. It’s a
  good place to get out the mentally challenged, insecure dogs.

• Orthopedic Surgeons like dogs with faults of gait. Bad pasterns, improper hind quarter placement,
  poor balance of angles are quite interesting to them. (Many of them pass the dogs with bad feet on to 
  the podiatrists).

• Plastic Surgeons do not like pretty dogs. They tend to favor dogs with poor head pieces, although they 
  can appreciate one who is out of coat and has bones sticking out in the wrong places.

• Sometimes a Social Worker slips in - They are very kind and will give a lot of time to dogs with 
  varied problems usually ones that are not serious enough to require a Psychiatrist.

All-Breed Judges are different. They are rarely Medical Doctors. They do like pretty dogs. But sometimes they 
carry this to extremes. They tend to fall into four categories:

• Handler Judges do not judge dogs. They pick the best handler. This is usually the one who has brought them
  the most entries either on the day or over the years.

• Hairdressers must have a dog in coat. They love a wonderful grooming job and require a full coat. Do not show
  any dog who has any loose coat or is starting to blow coat under them. They are very into texture.

• Grandparents (sometimes known as fossils) love to put up very young dogs - the younger, the better. Many 
  got their start in breeds such as Poodles, where the largest number of dogs finish before they are a year old.
  They love puppy coats and cute dogs. This is a good place to start a dog before they are old enough to 
  even Prelim. They like applause and doing something different. Do not show mature dogs under them.

• Fault Judges just examine dogs and eliminate any dog with an obvious fault. A soft ear, a missing tooth, a 
  small gait problem, a light color, etc. They usually end up with a dog who has no faults and no virtues. Dogs
  with no angles who stack well usually win under them and everybody wonders how they finished.

The most you can do is know correct judging procedure. If the judge follows correct procedure, they will be judging 
100 years from now. If they do not - and at least 50 percent of today’s judges don’t – then they will get into trouble 
with AKC eventually . . . but usually not on the day that you had to suffer under them. 

They keep asking why entries are down. I think it’s obvious.

See you ‘round the rings.