# Judges Decisions and Picks Per ABKC Senior Judge Rolando Mata



## pitbullmamanatl (Jun 1, 2010)

*For all those asking and wondering how is it possible that your opinion on which dog should have won in the ring can be so different from that of the judge. I'll take a stab at it and try to make it as comprehensive as possible. Here we go&#8230;

I would like to begin by informing you that a conformation judge should not make their decisions in the ring by judging faults, rather the attributes that the dog exhibits. When evaluating a dog in the ring the judge MUST consider the dog as a package, it should never be just about eliminating the dogs by faults (flaws as many like to call them) and choosing the one with that has the least.

This would be far too elementary, and although you would think this would guarantee the most correct dog win, you are actually leaving out so much more to the dog. The best dog in the ring is not always the most conformational correct dog&#8230;.let me explain with this example.

You look out of your window and see a dog moving past your house on the street. Wow you say&#8230;Flawless movement, beautiful gait, head and tail carriage, perfect balance. Dog stops and self stacks as he catches you eying him. OMG what gorgeous conformation, every foot is in the right place, angles front and rear, a complete dog! Now you ask yourself, what kind of dog is this? This beautiful moving, perfectly correct dog has no breed type. Who knows could be this...could be that&#8230;

In the show ring, we are evaluating purebred dogs to the standard that their respected registries have set for them. Breed standards not only present you with how the breed should be structured but also set the "look" and other characteristics of the breed, in better terms it's breed type. Our job in the ring would be simple if we only had to weigh out faults but like I said, it is far more complex than that. We must evaluate the whole package meaning we have to weigh out sound structure as well as breed type, which by the way also includes everything about that breed from temperament, to size, mass, head style, tail carriage, coat&#8230;etc&#8230;etc.

We evaluate these dogs in three parts, going over the dog where we physically put hands on the dog feeling for structure, coat, bite, kinks, testicles, and of course testing temperament. Then comes the movement, the down and back&#8230;then the gate. A trained eye can see just about every structural issue from the movement, as well as balance; making this evaluation very valuable to a judge. But it's not over there&#8230;this is only the beginning! Now we have to weigh out through our evaluation which dog in the ring is not only the most correct but the one that overall best fits that standard, taking all parts into consideration.

It is very easy to sit on the sidelines and say&#8230;wow, how can that perfectly correct dog lose to that? Well simple, when looking at it from inside the show ring and having to put every aspect of that dog in questions through your evaluation, things change big time. And we must always remember, there is NO PERFECT DOG&#8230;.it does not exist, has not been created. And another thing we have to keep in mind is that our interpretation of the perfect dog may not be exactly the same as the next guy, thus from time to time you will not agree with others choices of dogs, including the judge's choice.

I hope that this provides everyone with a little insight on the processes that a judge has to consider when making their evaluation of a dog. I can go in much deeper and talk about this for days&#8230;but just wanted to give you an idea. So next time you sit on the sidelines and look into that ring, don't focus on the one fault that you can easily identify...that is much too elementary! Take a closer, look deep&#8230;look beyond that and open your mind to the entire package. Identify that perfect package of quality, sound structure, sound temperament, balance and breed type. That's a judge's job in the ring!*

-ABKC Senior Judge Rolando Mata, July 2012


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