Here's a point that people seem to overlook: I can change the sparkplugs in my car myself, but a pro can do it in half the time and not even get his knuckles dirty. Why? he has better tools, he is more familiar with the process, and he is more skilled. When you do something to the exclusion of all else, you get good at it. The rest of us have day jobs, or in my case a farm to run, and we don't have the luxury of spending all day, every day, schooling our dogs to be *perfect*, to present themselves in the best possible way, to gait and track cleanly and properly so that the judge can do a good job of assessing them. But that is the handler's JOB; the one thing s/he does all day, every day, while you are typing reports or building houses or shearing sheep... Their dogs get to more shows, learn the atmosphere and are less stressed.
This has a HUGE effect on their movement! When we get beat by a handler with a dog we think is mediocre, we look at his dog mincing and crabbing and think, how could she put that dog over this beautiful, free moving dog? But that's because in our mind's eye, WE see that dog as it is in our back yard; floating beautifully and effortlessly with that lovely long stride we know so well. Here's a news flash: In the show ring, your dog OFTEN does not exhibit anything even approaching that lovely free movement, because it is excited, anxious, distracted, unhappy, or any of a hundred other things that can put them off their game. And: while you are piloting him around the ring, you cannot see truly what it is doing; it may *seem* that the dog is moving straight when in reality it is drunkenly zigzagging from side to side. If your dog is excited, or nervous, or anything other than calm, the gait will be stilted because their muscles are bunched up from tension. Meanwhile, the handler's dog, while maybe not truthfully as *good* as yours, IS trotting easily and smoothly because it is used to all the distractions, and the judge will be better able to assess its qualities.
Yes, there is some politicking that goes on, because dog shows employ *people,* and in any venue where people are involved, there will be those who try to bend the rules to their advantage. I am no Pollyanna, I have seen really blatant examples and it's sleazy and wrong. But, it is simply not as common as it is being presented, it is not 'rampant' now any more than it ever was, and it is no more prevalent in dog shows than it is in any other sporting event. Try telling me that football games, basketball games, car races, or any other competition, are never rigged! We know they are, but we also know *most* of the time THEY ARE NOT. This idea that 'the handlers always win' and it's all because of schmoozing with the judges does two very bad things: it gives novice and owner/exhibitors a cheap 'out' when they lose; it wasn't because my dog was lesser, or because the other dog showed better, it was POLITICS! Which excuses them from having to learn better skills or breed better dogs themselves in order to be competitive. And, it causes hundreds of newcomers to the sport to drop out every year, because they *believe* that the whole game is rigged, and they have no chance. This is killing our sport!
How does one become a judge? By applying. If you think you can do a better job, then APPLY! But be ready to END a number of your dog show friendships when you do. These self-same owner exhibitors who are so disdainful of 'political' wins will be happy to disparage YOU when you fail to put up their dogs, never ever seeing the hypocrisy! Think about this rationally for a moment: If you have 'been in dogs' for over 10 yrs, 20 yrs, 30 yrs, how many of the people who bring dogs into your ring do you know? Generally speaking, you will first be licensed to judge your own breed... how many of the people in that ring are going to be strangers, eh? Are you going to put them up because they are your buddies, and if so, how do you pick and choose *which* buddies to put up, when three of your best friends are in your ring??! Or are you going to do what MOST judges do, judge the DOGS and let the chips fall where they may? And TRUST me, no matter which one you choose, SOMEBODY is going to grumble, "It's all politics; s/he has known Breeder X or Handler Y for years!"
We need to stop blaming every loss on 'politics.' It is insulting to our judges, who spent years learning their breeds and are giving up their weekends with their families to come out and judge our dogs. It is insulting to the winners, who worked as hard as WE did to get where they are. And it is simply, adamantly not true, no matter how tempting it may be to assume this.
