Yes, think we need to remember that Crufts is just another Championship show and the reason one has to qualify is to allow room for all the trade stands, one does not have to qualify for LKA and that is a much more comfortable & enjoyable show, Crufts, lets face it is a chore but we all feel we have to attend for some reason. Guess we are all masochists.

So true Jackie

On the subject of witholding though, although it makes perfect sense for a judge to withold if they think it neccessary, I would hate it done in a class I was in. I really would be appalled and offended. So yes I agree with Jessica, judges may well not withold because of not wanting to offend.

I wonder though if Jessica would still have the same opinion that witholding should be done more, if she had it done to her.

One of my American Cockers stood alone in the Limit class, and was awarded first. Then, when in the challenge, he was completely ignored by the judge. She assessed the movement of every other dog, except mine. I was humiliated. It would have taken up 30 seconds of her time to show me some courtesy. Instead I felt ashamed I wanted to run as fast as I could. I never showed that dog again, and I would never show any dog under that judge again.

I could not have felt worse if she had witheld.

Dawn R.

The qualifying rules have been changed a number of times over the years, it would seem that at the moment the majority of exhibitors are satisfied with them. You must remember that with the tollers and pugs you have a numerically small breed, and with far less qualifying classes at Ch shows than say the labs or goldens and indeed fewer Ch shows putting on classes for them, without the present system you could end up with very few dogs qualified
and disappointed breeders, exhibitors and the general public.

I cannot remember a time when there was not comment upon the poor standard of some of the qualifiers, we also 'see' dogs differently and interpret the standard differently, what I would have put up another judge would have ignored completely, and visa versa, and we will always feel that one or two had got there because of 'who knows who', unfortunately this has always been so and is unlikely to go away !!!

Enjoy ALL your showing, Crufts is not 'the be all and end all ', of course it's great to exhibit there for the prestige, but I can think of many shows that I always enjoyed far more. Kath

Believe it or not I had a judge withhold a first from me in a Novice class, found it amusing, I stood alone and the bitch was already qualified for Crufts, not that I took her she was too young in my opinion to sit on a bench for 8 hours.

One should never be embarrassed if your exhibit is ignored, after all the judge may have dogs too and you may think they are rubbish, judging dogs is a matter of interpretation and it is not your fault if any particular judge does not like your exhibit. Mind you it does not hurt a judge to give a little time to make you feel included.

Talking of manners and judges remember being called into the ring by the steward for the challenge and the judge walked down the line and said to the junior winner and myself 'I don't want those two' having called us into the ring you would have thought she could have gone through the motions.

I would be quite upset yes, but that said i'd rather have it withheld at a 'normal' championship show than to have comments at Crufts. Although Crufts is only another Championship show it is one of the biggest in the world and it is supposed to be a selection of the best dogs from around the world, is it not?

That said though, i wouldn't show a dog that i thought had a major fault (according to the breed standard) and as far as im aware, none of my dogs do. Although we rarely compete at a very high level, we mainly do it for fun, if the dogs do well then we would continue at a higher level, if not then we wouldn't

Also the dogs i was referring too seem to have yellow (or sometimes white) undercoats, which with chocolates make the coat look washed out, and with blacks it looks kind of marbled! The one with the yellow on its legs was very obvious from below the knee on all four legs so to me that would be a majr fault, but then i guess it depends on the judge, and the other dogs in the class

Crufts has no more value than any other championship show, it may be large because of all the hype, it is also I believe one of the first, if not the first formal 'Dog Show'.

Having ones dog criticised is the same wherever it takes place, Crufts, local show, companion show or local park, it is not nice but at least at a show you have asked and paid for a critique.

Dogs are judged against the standard and then placed in order of merit. A dog must look like the breed it is supposed to be and it must be sound, if this is the case the judge is unlikely to withhold no matter how many faults it has.

You can’t judge dogs by looking at their coats, coat type and texture is important but not the colour providing it is one of the required colours. There is no such thing as a perfect dog and sensible judges will look at coat colour as the very last resort if they are unable to separate two dogs in any other way.

Agree completely! Witholding is rarely done as it does offend. But there are occasions when there's no alternative.

If I have a dog in a class I know I can't place, because of lameness or similar, I explain to to the handler and give them the opportunity to withdraw. On one occasion though, a dog with an obvious, recent entropion correction oporation was in a PG class (CC level). I explained, but the handler stayed in anyway.... I withheld.

Agree pod, it is soundness that is likely to be the main reason for a judge to withhold, sometimes a dog will go lame in the ring and as an exhibitor it is best to ask to withdraw the dog. It is almost unknown for a judge to withhold at an open show, but I do think that in the case of an unsound dog perhaps they should having explained to the exhibitor why they are doing it and giving them a chance to withdraw. The trouble is although it is sometimes obvious why the dog is lame sometimes it is not so one has to choose ones words with care.