Skip to content

Understanding the Judging Program

Last updated on November 11, 2022

The schedule for the entire show is called the Judging Program. It’s typically mailed or emailed to you prior to the show, but you can usually find some at the Superintendent’s table (the info table hosted by the club running the show).

The quickest method to check your ring time is to find the list of breeds within the first few pages of the program. This will give you the ring number and the time. If the show is multiple days, all of them will be listed. Sometimes not every breed will be judged every day, like the American English Coonhounds in the example here:

Now, usually there are several breeds scheduled for that same ring at the same time. If you find the more detailed schedule for your ring in later pages of the program, you’ll see the order of when the breeds will go in. When the judge finishes with one breed, the next breed immediately begins, there is no pause in between!

When you get to your ring, check in with the person at the table. This is the ring steward, and they are usually volunteers with the hosting club. Tell them your breed and your armband number, which you would have received prior to the show by mail or email with your judging program. If you don’t know your number, the steward will be able to look you up by your dog’s full name (i.e. “Mylyn Karina Auroral Birkeland Current” versus the name you actually call your dog on the regular “Birkeland” which is referred to as a call name.) Now, just because you’ve checked in doesn’t mean the steward and judge will wait for you if you aren’t ready to enter the ring when your number is called, so get your dog and bait (treats) ready and find a spot where you can keep an eye on your ring until your breed starts.

This is what the detailed schedule looks like. Let’s break down what all the numbers mean:

13 Border Collies 1-5-(3-4)

The 13 means there are 13 total Border Collies entered in the show for that day. The numbers outside the parentheses represent those that have not yet earned their Championship title. In the parentheses are those that have completed their Championship and anything beyond that. When referring to all the dogs with titles, we call them Specials (i.e. there are 7 Specials entered). The number order ALWAYS represents Dogs-Bitches-(Dogs-Bitches).

So, in summary, there are 13 total Border Collies entered, 1 Dog and 5 Bitches that have not earned titles yet, then 3 Dogs and 4 Bitches that do have titles.

Still have questions about understanding the program? Let me know!

Additional Resources and great reads for new handlers:

Published inDog shows

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.