As some may recall, I left the ShowCardi FB group a while back because I am judging Sweeps at our upcoming National this May. Now, AKC rules (or maybe its just our club rules; Im not sure) say a licensed judge is not to adjudicate the breed he/she will be judging at that breeds National for six months prior to the specialty. In general, Sweeps judges are experienced breeders who are elected by the club membership, but usually are not licensed judges, so this rule does not apply. However, I decided to honor the spirit of the rule as much as possible by avoiding photos whenever possible. A friend and I were discussing my decision, and she asked if I felt this really mattered. I said seeing a photo beforehand would not in any way affect my decision, that I will make my selections based *solely* on what I see presented to me in the ring that day. Period. So an argument could certainly be made that if thats true, I didnt need to leave SC-L. But I did it because it makes me *feel* more objective. God knows enough people will question my decisions at the end of judging regardless; Id really rather be able to say in all honesty that I havent seen the majority of the pups in my ring, or I have ignored photos that come across my newsfeed. But its also a way of clearing my head beforehand, so that I have nothing in my brain but the standard and my own breed type priorities as those pups enter the ring. And while Im certain some are predicting Ill put up a blue . . . hey, Ive judged several regional specialty Sweeps and HAVENT DONE IT YET! 8-) Nonetheless, I have to say that sometimes its very difficult not to hit like or comment when a cute puppy picture comes across my newsfeed. I have developed this *twitch* in my hand . . .
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 22:07:31 +0000
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