Judging (TBC)

It’s a Sunday morning and the alarm goes off unusually early. What? Oh, yeah… I get washed, dressed and try to pick a suitable outfit. Once all the animals have been fed, watered and re-settled, I pack wellies, a mac, sunscreen, an umbrella, spare pens, gaffer tape, dog treats and a camera. I get in the car and turn on the sat nav. Time to judge another dog show. I wonder what today will bring?

No matter the destination or which route I choose, it would be a fairly safe bet that I’ll end up in the wrong car park at the wrong entrance and find myself traipsing through deserted streets, paths and fields until I find what I’m looking for; The van; The tent; The organisers and the volunteers.

And without my trusted companions Frankie and Chance, it’s a lonely walk.

Luckily, I only judge for one organisation, The Manchester and Cheshire Dog’s Home, so I know their Events Team well. Very well in some cases as most of the volunteers are family, which comes in handy to a hungry and thirsty judge, as they tend to bring copious amounts of coffee and sandwiches between them.

If I’m arriving early, it’s usually because I’ve volunteered to help the team set-up as well as judge the show. That means a really long day. Anything from an 8-10am start to a 4-6pm finish depending on the event with the show itself running for about 2-3 hours. This is on the weekend. After working full-time as a teacher all week. It’s exhausting. But there are many reasons why we do it.

It’s great working for a charity. You’re there because you want to be, not because you have to be. You can do what you want, when you want. It’s about raising funds and awareness for a charity that you really believe in and being a part of the community.

I have met so many wonderful people at dog shows, like-minded people and otherwise with whom I can talk about dogs. Anything to do with dogs, such as personalities, habits, training, diet, health, toys etc. It’s great to meet someone who hasn’t learnt the best way to train his or her dog to sit or heard about the latest fun toy. It’s about sharing the things we love, in this case, lovely doggies.

It’s also great to meet all of the different dogs. You get shy dogs, bouncy dogs, barky dogs, friendly dogs, jumpy dogs, fluffy dogs, laid-back dogs and licky dogs. I’ve learnt a lot about different types of breeds and canine behaviour from spending time at dog shows. Which has been great for my canine studies, business ideas and writing topics.

When actually judging the show it’s self I have set myself a few little rules which I try to follow although there is no right or wrong way to judge a fun dog show as you are not judging specific breed standards like you would in a standard dog show. It’s important to be friendly and approach each entrant in order to get to know the dog and owner better. I try to ensure that most dogs win something and if that’s not possible then I try to spread the prizes around the different breed types making sure that first time entrants and/or children get the encouragement that they need to continue showing.