I get very tired of hearing how dog showing is all fixed. That the judges are all dishonest and that it is the owners that win and not the dogs.
It never seems to occur to the people telling me this how offensive they are being considering that I own the top winning Lhasa Apso for 2009! Perhaps I am naive and this is precisely why they are saying it to me!
I am absolutely nobody in the world of dogs. I am not close friends with anybody who has any power in the world of dogs. I am not rich, I am not super handsome, I do not have big boobs and a low-cut blouse.
What I do have are good dogs. That is why every dog that I have shown has been placed in the top three of its class. I did not start showing seriously until Windsor 2006 and my girl, Tantra’s Moonlight Serenade qualified at that show. The judge would not have known me from Adam.
Yes, there are judges who are less than honest. Yes, there are judges who are influenced by the owner of the dog that they are judging. Yes, there are judges who will put up their friends. Yes, and there are even judges who are stupid and who would not know a good Lhasa Apso but they are often honest.
The people who are constantly complaining about how fixed the judging is never ever consider that their dogs might not be good enough. Some of the complainers do not even go to the shows!
If you do not attend the shows you have absolutely no chance of winning! If you go to the shows consistently and are consistently unplaced or placed lowly, then you need to accept the fact that you have dogs that do not meet the requirements of a good quality show dog.
In the long run it is much better for you on a personal level if you accept the lack of quality in your dogs and DO something about it. You need to stop being so arrogant and start to learn from those who do a lot of winning and who understand the breed.
If all you do is become bitter and blame others for your lack of success then you will never be happy and you will never gain that which is so important to you; a winning dog!
Only a fool would believe that absolutely every judging engagement is undertaken honestly and knowledgeably. Equally only a complete and utter fool would label all dog show judges as incompetent and dishonest and worse only an arrogant fool cannot see the lack of quality in their dogs.
Yes I can assure you it can hurt when a judge does not do their job with integrity. I have been there and I have had it done to me. However, at the vast majority of the shows that I have attended, and I have attended most since 2006, I have experienced fair and knowledgeable judging.
Whitney gained two Best In Show, one Group 3, two Group 4, and 10 CC’s and I think an equal amount of RCC’s. She did this solely because she is a top quality Lhasa Apso.
THAT is what it requires for you to show successfully.
