Dog Shows and Judging
Each dog at a dog show is presented to a judge by a handler. This person is known as the exhibitor or the handler of the dog.
The purpose of conformation shows (also known as dog shows) is to evaluate breeding stock against the standard of the breed and against each dog presented in the ring. Judges select winners based on their ability to contribute and improve the next generation of dogs. Dogs start out in the classes competing for points toward their championship title. Dogs win Challenge Certificates or Reserve Challenge Certificates.
A Challenge Certificate is worth 5 points while a Reserve Challenge Certificate is worth 3 points. It takes fifteen points, including one Challenge Certificate, awarded by at least three different judges, to become a Jamaican champion.
Best of Breed – The dog that is judged Best of Breed that day.
Best of Opposite Sex – The best dog that is the opposite sex to the Best of Breed winner.
Dog shows are a process of elimination. Only the Best of Breed winners advance to compete in the Group competitions.
In Jamaica the Best of Breed winners advance to the Best in Show competition. From among these the judge selects the Best in Show winner.
When a judge enters the ring, he or she is judging each dog against a written standard describing the ideal dog. She is determining which dog comes closest to the ideal in each breed. The standards are created by the breed’s national breed club in this country. Dogs were originally bred to do specific jobs whether herding, hunting, guarding, tracking, or companionship. The standard describes how a dog should look in order to carry out its job. They describe things like general appearance, movement, temperament, and specific physical traits such as height and weight, coat, colors, eye color and shape, ear shape and placement, feet, tail, and more. Each judge, applying their interpretation of the standard, gives their opinion on that day on which dog best represents its breed.
