T, L, 8, H.. wait, what?!

Heyy! Long time no see! 

Back from a nice week of downhill-skiing! I promised you a post regarding junior handling and it's problems in my opinion. So here it is!

I've been in this sport now almost 8 years and I've experienced lots of things. Junior handling has so many good things in it, BUT unfortunately some "bad" things.

First of all, what are the figures "T", "H" or "8"?! For real! How can a judge possibly see the movements of the dog? How can he see them when you're walking the dog on your other side for two steps and on the other another two steps? Or do you think it's important to see the dogs "side-hind - movement", which the judge will see in the figure "8".

Junior handling is meant to be a sport which trains juniors for breed rings. Train them to show the dog at it's best. Train to have the ability to show different breeds and the knowledge of them. Train how to show the dogs' teeth and move the dog in the right speed for the breed. And the most important, train them to make a contact with any dog and create a cooperation even with a difficult dog. Love the sport of junior handling and the work with different dogs.

Handlers should not do a big scene of their selves,
and not run around the dog watching they won't be near the judge at any time.
They should shadow just enough, not too much. WW-08

Where has this idea gone? It seems like the different figures and the technical skills are the only things that are important. I have to say, this isn't a big problem here in Finland, but when you travel abroad you start to think what this sport really is about. Well, of course, we have several judges that are much about these figures and about that the dog should be a "machine". It makes me very sad. Some judges expect you to stack your poor dog the whole time you're in the ring? Why? Why is it so important you have to hold your dog standing perfectly, even when the judge is judging someone else? I don't understand.

 

Remember to let the dog rest, the dog is NOT a machine,
not even in big, important competitions. Swapdogs at CRUFTS-11

Here one day I read a site which was about junior handling in a European country. There were several rules (why? we don't have any rules for junior handling? Everyone should create their own style!), how you shouldn't kneel  down on your both knees, how to never be in the middle of the judge and the dog. Why couldn't you kneel down on your both knees if it feels better? You're much more invisible behind the dog when you're like that. When you kneel down just on your other knee, it feels (at least for me) that you would trip down any time or that you don't really have a "touch" for the dog. Of course (I think!) you should do just the way you wanted to do. These rules should be something like "which direction your dog showing should lean to" or just a guideline. Not rules.

To be in the middle of the dog and the judge is understandable. Of course you shouldn't be in the way of the judge's sight over the dog. BUT to be in the middle in ANY situation is a stupid rule. It makes you switch hands many times in the ring and it makes it just confusing. The judge has anyway no chance to see the movements of the dog when you're for example coming from an up-and-down and then going a circle around the ring. How can the judge see the dogs movements here when you're about 1-2 meters from the judge? And in this situation you should switch hands. Does it really bother that you're in the middle of your dog and the judge for two seconds?

An excellent way of showing the terrier's expression, WW-08

In the breed ring you're usually asked to do either a circle, triangle, up-and-down or up-and-down in pairs. That should be enough for the junior handling-rings also. For some reason judges think that asking for figures like "T", "H" or "8" helps them in their judging. No. There are much better ways. Those figures has nothing to do with dog showing. It just shows how good you're in switching the lead from a hand to an another. The judge could more importantly for example ask to switch dogs, or bring dogs from the outside of the ring. This is how you measure the skills of dog treatment and making a good cooperation with a totally different breed and individual.

Up-and-down in pairs is a good figure to compare movements of two dogs, EUW-11

Junior handling should not be a competition about technical skills, they should be on the base for the junior's skills. Not the main point. You should of course know how to do the basic figures, so you can show your dog's movements as good as possible. You should know not to hang the leash over your dog, but have it nicely in your fist, so it doesn't disturb. You should know to shadow the judge, but moderately, one step to the side is enough so the judge can see the dog's expression. Not a jump to the dog's back, because the handler should only be a handler, not to be seen. "Invisible" behind the dog. When you're jumping around the dog to "never be in the middle of the dog and the judge" you're just making a scene of yourself and destroying the calmness in your dog while stacking.

I hope this could be the future, that the "overblown" style with the technical skills would slowly fade and the real meaning of this sport could come to the spotlight.

I hope this wasn't a messy text, and that everyone could think about it. I love the sport of junior handling and it's sad to see these kinds of things being on the top of the list.

Thanks for reading and see you soon! :)

♥ Hilde ♥