I have exam week going on and I do everything but read the books I should.. So I translated the article I posted here last time :p Voilá, now you can read it in English. It's written for the Finnish German Spitz-magazine, and that's why I talk about showing german spitzes (: Sorry if there are many grammar mistakes.. Still improving my English language skills! :) Please comment if you have anything to say - I'd love some feedback of this blog!
Ps. I've got some lovely chances for next year! I will have my first junior handling course in spring where I'm the teacher!! I will be so nervous but what an experience! I hope many juniors will attend :)
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The name says it all – juniors as handlers. There’s a competition for that too, called junior handling. “Everyone can run in a circle with a dog and keep it standing.” is a normal phrase heard from a person’s mouth or from an experienced breeder’s. Maybe easy, but it takes talent to bring the best out of a dog and to get an “ugly duckling” to look like a swan.
You’re allowed to compete in junior handling when you’re from 10 to 17 years old. The year you turn 18 you can’t compete anymore. There are two age groups, 10-13 years old and 14-17 years old and in both there are 5 juniors being placed. In the end of the day there are chosen “Best Junior Handler Of The Day” aka. BIS-JUNIOR HANDLER. The year you turn 18 you can’t compete anymore. I personally have the famous “last year” going on right now. Well, I do have competed now for 8 years.. Still it feels sad to leave this lovely sport. What then, when junior handling ends? Was there any advantage of all these 8 years?
I can tell you without any doubts, that yes there is. Many grown-ups act very suspiciously against this sport and the handlers. It’s really a huge shame, as we’re often the ones that become the experienced breeders, skilful handlers or at least active dog people. To become this, we do need the “old and wise” to be our teachers. How can we otherwise be leaded to the right path?
What’s the idea of junior handling then and why is the sport so teaching? If we would ask any junior handler herself, what they’ve gained from this sport, the first answer would probably be friends, which are actually candy for the whole dog show-world. So you get many, many friends. Via this there might build up long-lasting relationships with breeders, who help the junior handler further in her hobby and in the big dog world.
In junior handling you can choose freely which dog and breed you want to compete with. How beautiful the dog is doesn’t matter, as we’re talking about judging the handler. This allows that you have the ability to learn showing different breeds and individuals. I, myself aim to compete with lots of different dogs. That’s how you learn the most effectively. You don’t always have the Multi winner, perfectly showing dog in the end of your leash, and it’s very important to compete with difficult dogs. Of course, sometimes a dog that “knows its stuff” is nice too. You can focus better on the technical performance. Myself though like challenge more and it can be seen in my choices on the dogs I’ve chosen to compete with.
This is why the junior handler should be humble and when asking a dog to compete with, be prepared that there’s not always coming the Multi winner to your competition buddy. You should be humble to all the things people learn you. You don’t necessarily have to have the same opinion as others, of course, but then you just let the information go through. When juniors attend in different handling courses or somebody just gives some tips and tricks on dog showing, you need to focus on getting the right points out from there that YOU can adapt to YOUR style of handling.
Everybody’s not the same, and by this everyone’s creating their own ”key to success”. Usually this is the thing how the handlers are identified. “The calm one” or “She’s always so happy!”. This is the thing that every handler should aim for. This is at least what I’m aiming for. Not like in Austria for example, where there are rules in JH how many centimetres the leash should be above the dog’s head when stacking. Or how you should kneel down on a special way when you’re stacking your dog? Pfft. NOT dog showing. It’s not about rules.
That is, in junior handling the key is to judge handling according to the breed standard, who gets the dog to look its best, the cooperation between the dog and the handler and making contact even with strange dogs. Yes, it’s possible to switch dogs in junior handling between the handlers. This should be some kind of rule, because this is the level where you really separate the goats from the sheep. The handler should be able to show which dog she ever gets in the end of the leash. This is why it’s clever to compete with different kind of dogs. Many handlers freeze totally in this situation and don’t know how the friend’s irish setter should be stacked? That’s why it isn’t so good to always compete with your own little “Fifi”, if you really want to learn something.
This sport train the young for future breed rings. Or not necessarily the future, but nowadays you see more and more young handlers showing dogs in the breed rings too! That, if something is beautiful. We do have a guarantee for the future of this sport.
The technical stuff which should be in the back of your head in the ring are up-and down, a triangle and circle-figures. Everyone’s not getting how hard it can be to do a correct triangle? Try sometime for fun to do three straight lines which make a triangle from the angle where the judge stands. It’s not as easy as you think. Many times you think that, wow I ran so fine and Dusty ran too! But boy, from the angle of the judge it might have looked like anything but a triangle. It can be very irritating for the judge to try to judge the movements of the dog if the triangle looks more like a circle. The handler’s job is also to make the work of the judge easy.
Many times you can see dog owners, that want to show their own dog, but the dog could’ve actually performed with a more professional handler. There would be nothing wrong here, if the owner would have got any training when it comes to stacking and moving the dog. But the problem is that it’s not often like that. The judge’s job isn’t to give directions how he could see the front- and rear movements, but to judge the dog. Everyone wants a critique as good as possible of the dog? Then why oh why, aren’t they doing anything for it in the ring?
Junior handling is criticized often by outsiders. ”There are only the small girls in their suits who treat their dogs badly.” Of course there are the black sheep also, who treat their dogs badly, but I can tell you, there are not many of these. Overall seen, I can tell you that these are very rare. I think everyone’s very grateful if they’ve got a dog to compete with and takes care of it too very gently. And yes, many of us have suits on, just like me, but I see it as the best solution when it comes to clothing in dog shows. There are pockets in it, and yes, you do need pockets when you’re showing dogs because the dog needs a reward after good work. It’s a stylish alternative – the judge needs to be respected, not only with good behaviour but also with stylish clothing. I’m pretty sure the message you send to the judge about yourself is different if you’re a nice handler who’s stylishly dressed than that somebody who’s “hanging” behind the dog in her sweatpants. At least, if I were a judge – I would pay attention to this. The judge is also nicely, tidy dressed – in exchange you dress nicely too.
The ”circus”-side then. Sadly some of the judges has an impression of this sport that is clearly so wrong it can be. To ask figures like T, L, 8, H etc., asking different questions like ”how many toes does a dog have? Running around the dog watching, that the handler isn't in the middle of the dog and the judge at any time. This is SO not what the definition of this sport is. A translation of the Finnish Kennelclub’s definition of Junior Handling would sound like this: “Junior handling is a sport for the young how to show dogs. The sport is meant to increase the dog hobby of the young ones and improve the cooperation between the junior and the dog. The criteria of judging are breed typical showing and the cooperation with the dog.”
I don’t see any reference to that the judge should ask stupid figures where you have to switch hands many times. Or to ask questions like “how many toes does a dog have?” Does that have anything to do with dog showing? No.
Fortunately there are many judges and junior handlers that understand the importance of this sport. On the technical side you should be able to know how to move in the correct balance with the dog, know how to move in figures up-and-down, triangle, circle and also up-and-down in pairs (used in breed rings to evaluate two dogs with each other) and to know how to stack the dog in the right distance to the judge so he has a chance to actually see the dog and to judge it.
When a judge judges junior handling, it should be important to pay attention to the young people that are competing. Sometimes there are seen judges that say mean things to the handlers or are just rude. Like someone who’s competing for the first time would ever come back to the ring or to the dog world at all after that? The judge should look at the cooperation of the handler and the dog. A good handler gets also a difficult dog to perform and to take eye contact. An even greater handler gets a “not-so-good-looking” dog to look awesome.
The sport developes also self-confidence. Many grown-ups, who want, that I show their dogs in the breed ring, doesn’t often go there themselves because they’re afraid of ”being in the spotlight”. In this sport you need to be confident, in order to get the dog to perform as good as possible. If you’re unconfident, the dog will sense it immediately. There is often a big crowd watching the competition. It’s not easy for all to be in the spotlight and under the judge’s sharp eye.
When you’re showing german spitzes it’s good to remember that it’s a free-stacked breed, as all the spitzes are. Usually they’re looking their best when they’re stacked with a free, long leash from the front. This is, of course depending on the individual. Pomeranians can be stacked, because they’re so tiny, but if you’re setting a kleinspitz to standing, their natural carriage fades and makes them “hang”. Both pomeranians and kleinspitzes should be ”tiny, compact squares” and they look their best when they carry themselves. When moving you should NOT run – we’re talking about a tiny breed. If you’re running you’re just ruining the harmony in the movement. Yes it might look flashy, but really, the breed is not meant to have a movement that allows long-reaching movement, so it doesn’t NEED running. If your dog is a faster mover, you just walk faster. Easy as that! When stacking you can stand or kneel down in the front of the dog and give the dog space by letting the leash hang freely. That, if something, is beautiful free-showing. Invest in the dog’s performing.
If you have time and you want to, take part of watching the annual Finnish Championship in the Mess centre in Helsinki. There’s a beautiful competition which is full of the best juniors in Finland. Or if you have extra time in a show – why not go to the JH-ring and watch the competition? Sometimes you can learn something new – just like we learn by watching the breed rings.
What I’ve learnt in these 8 years of junior handling is that you can’t get lower than the bottom. The only way is up. So it’s not worth to depress yourself even if the succession doesn’t come in the beginning – in both junior handling rings and breed rings. You’re never a finished handler. You can ALWAYS learn something new, and the better you’ll be the more you compete and want to learn. You don’t succeed always, but the most important thing is, that you’ve learnt something yourself and that you’re happy with the dog and yourself. It’s worthwhile to take risks – nothing is more paying that to get a difficult dog to perform well. As a dog owner you can take a moment to think – would it be so horrible to lend my dog to a skilful junior handler? You can make someone so happy and the junior will be glad for a long time! Many juniors you see ask even strange dogs to junior handling. That is all about the willingness to learn.
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| Nelli ♥ |
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| We were at my grandma's place in central Finland, there were lovely places to take a great walk! |
♥ Hilde ♥
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