On this page I will take you through a fictitious dog show (perhaps my dream show?) involving my two dogs. The setting is an all-breed dog show which could take place anywhere in the United States, but we'll use my home state of Montana as our example.
Early on the day of the show, I arrive with my dogs Tenaya and Kluane. It's eight in the morning and our show time is scheduled for 9:30AM. We always arrive early in order to calm down the dogs and to walk and exercise them. This allows them time to go to the bathroom before they actually enter the ring. Next, I spend about 15-20 minutes with each dog working on showing. I'll stack them, run them in a circle, and prepare them for what is to come. After this, if I have a helper, I will leave the dogs with my helper and check in at the appropriate ring to get my arm band. If possible, I always try to watch the judge that I am to show under in order to get an idea for how the judge likes the dogs to perform. For instance, some judges are more thorough than others and take more time. Perhaps they will have the dogs move more than another judge. I think it is important to watch so as to not be surprised when you enter the ring.
We have patiently (and perhaps nervously) awaited our turn to enter the ring and now it's the time for the Siberian Huskies to go. First the males go. The 6-9 month Puppy Dogs enter the ring. There are 4 of them, plus one absence. They are so cute!!! The judge carefully examines them as they enter the ring for the first time and are stacked in a line by catalog order. (catalog order means they enter the ring in the same order as they are listed in the catalog.) After initially looking at all the dogs stacked in a line, the judge has them all go around the ring in a big circle and has them stop. At this time, the exhibitors stack their dogs as the Judge prepares to look at them individually. Judge X (as we will call him) looks at the first dog in the line. He first looks at the head of the puppy, then checks the teeth (some judges will have you open your dog's mouth, some will do it themselves) to make sure that they have the proper bite (a scissors bite in Siberians and most other breeds as well). Next Judge X will run his hands over the body of the puppy, check for muscle tone and bone structure. All the time, the skillful handler keeps his puppy stacked and still (no easy task when it's a puppy!). The judge checks the feet and then moves his hands to the back of the puppy to check to see if the male is intact (all dogs must have both testicles descended or else they are disqualified). After this, Judge X has the handler move his dog up in back in a straight line so he can check the coming and going movement of the dog. As the handler brings the dog back, he is expected to have the dog walk into a "free stack". This means that the dog walks into a stack on his own without any help from the handler. You will notice that a lot of handlers will have the dog face them in order to facilitate this free stack; in essence, making the dog perpendicular with the judge. Judge X then asks the dog to go to the back of the line by running in a half-circle so the judge can take a look at the side gait of the dog.( This means the movement of the dog from a side view). The judge then does the same with the rest of the dogs. At this point, the judge will probably begin moving the puppies into the order that he decides will be the placement. Not all judges do this however, but if you watched the judge previous to your ring entrance, you will know if this is important or not. Now Judge X has the dogs run in one more circle and points to the dogs "one, two, three four" in the order he has placed them. Make sure you watch carefully at this point if you are in the ring to make sure you get the correct order. The judge may point to the second dog as "one" and then the first dog as "two". After this, the handlers put their dogs in front of the appropriate markers and the judge then marks down the placements in his judging book. Then the dogs will leave the ring.
It will be the same for the rest of the dogs that enter for each class which includes 9-12 month puppy, 12-18 month puppy, novice dog, american bred dog, bred-by-exhibitor dog, and finally open dog. There may be all of these classes present, or only a few, depending on the number of entries. Tenaya is entered into the open class and he looks and moves spectacularly as he impresses the judge and wins the first place ribbon. Since his is always the last class before the winners class, Tenaya stays in the ring and will be at the head of the line.
Once the judge has decided who finishes first for each class, the winners will come back in the ring to decide that day's winners dog. They line up in reverse order as they started so that Tenaya is now at the head of the line with the bred-by class, american bred class etc, right behind him with the 6-9 month puppy dog at the back of the line. The judge once again takes a look at the dogs stacked in a line and has them run in a circle like previously. He then has a couple of dogs move up in back in line as he makes his final decision. He them moves them once again in a circle and points to Tenaya and says those words we've been longing to hear... "winners dog"!!!!! We head to the front of the line and the judge gives us our winners dog ribbon. The winner of the bred-by-exhibitor class has been named the Reserve Winner, meaning that if Tenaya is somehow disqualified, that dog will then get the points. This is an extremely rare event. Now for the points...
There are 11 different divisions that the AKC has broken up the United States into. The are in this order...
Since we are in Montana, we fall under division 8. By looking up division 8 on the AKC's web site, we can determine how many points Tenaya won on this day. There were a total of 25 dogs entered and they looked like this by class...
Now two of the dogs were absent so that leaves a total of 23 dogs that can be counted in regards to the point schedule. Absent dogs can not be counted, nor can dogs that are disqualified. By looking on the points schedule, we see that 23 dogs equals 5 points in our division, the most points that a dog can get at any show. This is a great major ( 3 points or more at a show) win for Tenaya!!! Next the girls come into the ring and it takes place the same as with the males. Kluane finishes first in her 12-18 Bitch class and now she enters into the Winners class. She also wins!!! It's a clean sweep for our kennel and I couldn't be prouder of my two dogs!!! There were only 10 bitches entered, so by looking at the schedule of points we see that Kluane wins 2 points... Not bad for a day's work!! But we're not done yet... Now we head to the final part of the breed show, the Best of Breed ...
This is it, the winners dog and bitch enter into the ring with the "specials" dogs, those dogs and bitches that have already qualified for their championships and now are competing for the coveted "Best of Breed" award. There are three "specials" today and they are going to be tough to beat... By the way, I have my wife showing Kluane now as you can only show one dog at a time in the ring. After taking a look at all the dogs, Judge X decides that Tenaya is the Best of Breed!!! We can hardly believe it!!!!! This is a special day for Tenaya and me. To win Best of Breed over specials from the classes is considered a great feat!!! But there's no time for rest, because it's on to the Group Judging!!!
After a couple of hours to recuperate from our Best of Breed win, Tenaya and I are prepared to enter the Group Judging. The group judging consists of the Best of Breed winners for each breed in a group. Tenaya is a Siberian Husky which means that he is in the Working Group along with other dogs like the Saint Bernard, Rottweiler, and Akita. In group judging, there are 4 placements, 1-4 with the one finishing first going on to Best in Show. The judging is similar to the breed judging we saw early, except all the dogs are in one ring at the same time and they are not broken up into classes. Each dog represents its own breed and it is very prestigious to have any group placement. But today is Tenaya's day!!! He is chosen Group One in the Working Group!!! He is followed by the Rottweiler in second, the Standard Schnauzer third, and the Mastiff fourth. The ribbons are much bigger here, as is the prestige... But there is one final competition at an all breed show, the highly desired Best in Show...
This is it... The greatest thrill of any dog handler/owner is to see their dog in the Best of Show ring. There are normally a lot of people watching and the atmosphere is electric as everyone cheers on the dog they want to see win. In the Best of Show ring, there are 7 dogs. Each dog represents the winner of the Group Judging. There are the Hound Group, Working Group, Terrier Group, Non-Sporting Group, Sporting Group, Herding Group, and Toy Group. Again the judging is similar to early judging with the exception on a higher degree of nervousness on the part of the handlers!!! After a thorough examination of all the dogs, the Judge picks Tenaya as the Best in Show dog. Tenaya and his owner exult!!! This is the greatest thrill in dogdom!!! As Best in Show winner, Tenaya is awarded a large ribbon and trophy which we will proudly display on our mantle. Congratulations, Tenaya, you are the Best in Show today!!! But the beauty of the dog show is that tomorrow is another day with another set of challenges!!!