Jody’s Thoughts on Juniors: Playing by the Rules?

Jody’s Thoughts on Juniors: Playing by the Rules?

“Alice thought she had never seen such a curious croquet-ground in her life…the balls were live hedgehogs, the mallets live flamingoes… The players all played at once without waiting for turns, quarrelling all the while, and fighting for the hedgehogs… “I don’t think they play at all fairly,” Alice began… “and they don’t seem to have any rules in particular…!”
—Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Every AKC recognized breed has a written Breed Standard describing in great detail the ideal breed specimen. Even so, Conformation judging can still be wildly idiosyncratic.

Now, consider the Junior Showmanship ring.

The AKC Junior Showmanship Rules and Regulations and the accompanying Junior Showmanship Judging Guide only provide a broad outline of which actual skills are expected. This makes Junior Showmanship perhaps the most subjective of all dog sports. The Junior Showmanship Judging Guide states that the purpose of Junior Showmanship is: “…to introduce and encourage Juniors to participate in the sport of dogs; and to provide Juniors with a meaningful competition in which they can learn, practice, and improve in all areas of handling skill and sportsmanship.” Does this lack of explicit criteria for evaluation truly support these goals?

Certainly, over the years, I’ve seen greater consistency and improvement in how Junior Showmanship is judged. Heck, when I was a kid, Juniors was judged by whoever happened to be available when judging time rolled around.

Junior Showmanship has come a long way from that level of informality, now holding a significant place in the development of new dog fanciers. However, the extreme level of subjectivity currently seen in Juniors’ judging is having an adverse impact. Every year I see dozens of kids and families drop from the sport in frustration. They simply can’t understand how the guidelines in the Juniors educational materials for judges are being practically applied in competition.

In Conformation, at any given 4-day circuit, four different dogs might win the breed. With good judging, you should be able to look down the line of winners and know how that judge interpreted/applied the language of the Standard. You may not agree. That’s fine. But you can understand the language in the written Standard that the judge prioritized and applied.

Sadly, I’ve come away from too many Juniors’ rings scratching my head in bewilderment.

There was no “through line,” no similarities among the Juniors selected. Placements varied wildly in terms of skills successfully demonstrated, styles of handling, and gross errors in the safe management of dogs. I’ve seen kids win Best Junior while completely ignoring a judge’s specific directions regarding movement patterns, spacing, and sportsmanship towards other Juniors in the ring. I even had one of my students go RBJH at the largest show on the West Coast with a dog who paced the whole way around the ring!

This is not a kneejerk reaction to my kids winning or losing. In Conformation, I take the wins/losses of my dogs for granted. It’s the nature of the sport. The issue becomes, as a coach/mentor, trying to explain these results to parents and kids. How does this dramatic inconsistency help anyone, “learn, practice, and improve in all areas of handling skill and sportsmanship?”

Juniors are actively encouraged to seek feedback from judges once competition is completed. This input can be hugely informative… or not! “Helpful” feedback that my students have received include: “Always stand with your feet touching in the ring”; You must smile when showing, so I can see you’re enjoying yourself”; “Show a more traditional Juniors’ breed.” When a young girl I teach lost to an equally talented young boy in my program, she was told, “You did a flawless job, but we need more boys in this sport and we must encourage them every chance we get!”

I encourage Juniors to respectfully seek feedback asking, “Do you have any suggestions on how I might improve my performance moving forward?” The answer given more than 35 percent of the time is “Nothing. You were perfect/did a great job/really impressed me/ did nothing wrong!” How can this be considered providing the “…constructive criticism” called for in the rulebook?

Once, after receiving such puzzling feedback, a nine-year-old Open Junior of mine sighed deeply and asked in all seriousness, “If I was perfect and didn’t do anything wrong, why didn’t I win?!”

Another aspect of Juniors making it hard for newer/less experienced kids to succeed are the abundance of “unofficial rules.” In theory, the Juniors ring should mirror the Breed ring. It should, but it doesn’t. Like Alice’s croquet game, the rules and procedures are similar but not the same. How can you win if judging criteria isn’t defined?

Starbucks has a “secret menu” of items not listed on the order board. Those in the know though can order a Barbie Frappuccino and enjoy a vanilla bean crème Frappuccino with added strawberry puree and dragon fruit inclusions.

The Juniors’ ring has a menu of “secret skills” (SS), requisites many judges will expect of you. You won’t find these anywhere in the published rules. I’m sure they developed from Junior Judge’s resource materials. The challenge with these is that some judges expect you to demonstrate them, some judges don’t care, and some judges may even penalize you for doing them!

Here are a few of the most common SS. Remember, none appear in the rulebook/guidelines but all are tacitly expected in the Juniors’ ring:

• Check the stability of the table before placing your dog on it. I suspect this came from the guideline: “Juniors should be alert to the needs of their dogs, realizing that the welfare of their dogs is important.” Tables can be wobbly when moved outdoors, the rubber tops heating if left in the summer sun. Even at an indoor show, concrete floors can be uneven. If you have a table dog, build checking the table into your stacking routine.
• Place your dog on the table in the front left quadrant, with the forefeet as close to the front of the table and the dog’s left legs on the judge’s side edge. This SS doesn’t appear in any material available to Juniors. However, AKC Judge’s Education seminars teach this as the correct tabling position. Personally, I believe this procedure to be potentially unsafe, especially when performed by younger or inexperienced Juniors.
• When ramping a dog, though, center it on the ramp, positioned at the front edge. Never allow it to jump off the front. Walking back down the ramp is the safest option for the dog. Ramps are rarely set on the mats, and indoor floors are slick.
• At an indoor show, your dog must always be on the mats. The slippery floor can be dangerous when moving with speed. Also, when stacking on mats, your dog should be positioned on the far-left edge of the mat, closest to the center of the ring.
• It should take you no more than six seconds to stack your dog for presentation. This goes back to the ECONOMY OF MOTION guideline. Remember, though, fast is good; right is better! Another stacking SS, always lift and never drag a foot to stack it, and try to only set each leg once.
• When gaiting, you should do a “judge check,” once each side and once on the “down and back.” A Junior should be aware of everything happening in the ring, especially the Judge’s location. This ensures straight, efficient movement patterns, allowing a dog’s gait to be properly assessed. A judge check is a quick, 1-second glance, not a staring contest!
• Never throw bait or squeak toys in the Juniors’ ring. The guidelines stipulate, “Juniors are expected to handle their dogs without distracting the dogs of other competitors, and a Junior who crowds or disturbs other dogs should be faulted.” Yes, in many Breed rings, bait is tossed or thrown. In Juniors, this is totally inappropriate. Squeaky toys are equally distracting. If you must use a toy, remove the squeaker.
• Never stack your dog behind a table or ramp (unless specifically told by the judge to do so). Per the guidelines, interfering with the judge’s vision of the dog is incorrect. Stack your dog so that you are never behind the table, ramp, tent poles/ropes, garbage cans… basically, never block the judge’s view of your dog.

These are just a few of the current most widely expected SS…but should there be any SS?

Virtually every competitive activity for kids, including individual sports and performing arts events, have measurable standards for success. Clearly expressed and readily available material outlines, at every level, the skills a child should be able to demonstrate. These skills are most often numerically graded. In a later column, I hope to lay out a similar adjudication model for Junior Showmanship. This new system, I believe, might provide more comprehensive feedback to Juniors, creating a more objective method of assessing performance. Without this, how can Juniors improve and advance in proficiency?

Alice’s response to the vagaries of the Queen’s croquet game: “…it’s hardly worthwhile finishing the game.” We can’t afford to have our Junior Handlers responding in the same way to our sport.