Judge Bitten at East of England

Just saw this in the dog paper. The judge was bitten by a veteran Champion Springer who has never done it before..

The judge and owner both agreed that the dog yelped before biting so there may be some element of it being in pain and that caused it...

But, what do you all think about that? The owner is retiring the dog from the show ring. Is it dogs fault? The owners? The judges?

The way i look at it, if something hurt the dog then yes, it should have a reaction, however, it was examined outside of the ring and stood fine. I'd like to think that if mine were hurt whilst being examined they might have a yelp, but certainly wouldnt bite someones face badly enough to need stitches They've never shown any sign of aggression even if they have been in pain.

However, dogs are unpredictable and accidents do happen. Should the dog be banned from showing? Even though it was completely out of character??

I guess im sitting on the fence, but would be interested in other peoples opinions. I have to admit, in my time showing i've only ever seen one judge bitten at a companion show and it was by a "pet" dog who was very nervous of the whole event. I've been hearing more about judges and exhibitors and handlers being bitten though (saw one handler the other week bitten by her own malamute ). Though in my admittedly few times judging i have not had any sign of aggression from any of the dogs...

So, is it getting worse? Or just more publicised lately what with the dangerous dogs act and everything going on with dog attacks etc etc...?

Opinions?

Mmmm interesting! I suppose a lot of it depends on the severity of the bite. As you know, as well balanced, well brought up dog who has learnt effective bite inhibition as a puppy may well whipped round if in pain, but should not break the skin.

If the dog did this, then maybe it was in pain and it was just a reaction.....if it broke the skin....then there are more questions to be asked. Are we talking about showing, or showing with the view to breed? Is aggression nature or nuture etc.

I certainly don't think the person who's own malumute bit her should be showing......i think they should be concentrating on the far more pressing issues in the relationship between them and thier own dog rather than winning prizes etc

catrinsparkles -

Well it does name the bitch in the paper, though i dont know the breed well but would assume she has been bred. She is obviously a good example of the breed conformationally to be a show champion, has shown no aggression before and is 8 years old so most likely has bred and is just being shown as a veteran But thats just me guessing of course.

My opinion of the malamute is similar to yours, if you cant touch your own dogs tail (which is all the handler was doing, stroking the fluffy hair down on the tail very gently, no harsh handling!!!) then it shouldnt be showing and it wouldnt have an ideal temperment in my opinion, to be bred from

IMO dogs can be sensitive about their tails, I'm always careful around that area, but I agree that the owner of all people should be able to put a hand over the tail.

Agreed, and as a stranger i would always be very careful and considerate about touching a dog anywhere.

But this was show dog, at a show. And a breed where the tail goes over the back and the judges have to touch it, move it and lift it to check the conformation underneath it, and the set of the tail. So it absolutely should not show aggression at that IMO and should have been trained sensibly and sensitively to get it used to having its tail touched.

Grundog breeds such as labs, goldies and setters have their tails pulled out and held up by judges... Would be a nightmare if they all snapped at that

really? I read this and ran my hands up and down the tails of all my dogs... They are all now looking at me funny. Mummy's gone mad again. It's like that time she crawled in the room with a bucket on her head after watching a doggy IQ tv show, just ignore her.

There is a judge at the Essex show who always seems to be rougher than necessary with the dogs, really pulling them about, lifting their back end off the floor when checking their boy bits and grabbing at their ears and face harder than is strictly needed. Don't know his name. I just go to look at the pretty doggies. I have seen more than one dog yelp while he was looking at them. I wonder if it was the same man. I have often secretly willed a dog to snap at him while watching his judging, but they're all far too well behaved. If I were the handler I think I'd grab his boy bits as roughly and see how he liked it.
Probably best I don't show my dogs

Yes - tis best i don't go to shows....i am always very tempted to grab the handlers of some small dogs by their neck and tail and lift them on to the floor....See how they like it!!!

If trainned carefully and sensitively from a small puppy to be handled everywhere they should not be sensitive. And by sensitvely i don't mean nagged or bullied into tollerating something they don't like, i mean shaping their behaviour so they have continuous success at standing still while various parts of their bodies are touched and for longer and examined for longer.

I am passionate about raising well manered well balanced happy pets, and i really feel that a show dog should be both well manered and well balanced before the owners even being thoughts of training them for the show ring....but i suppose it depends where their priorities lie really!

Well I can remember a judge being bitten at Crufts about 10 years ago. Think its always happened, though back in the old old days when dogs were vet checked before championship shows I think vets were more liable to be bitten than judges.
Only reason I remember dog bite at Crufts is that it reqiuired medical treatment, lady judge severely bitten on her breast, but the press were not interested as it was not in their words the right breed of dog. As my breed GSDs was one of the right breeds I was really anoyed by their attitude, I do remember the breed & it was a guarding one but as it was a while ago I'll not put it on here.

Well IMO it totally depends on if the dogs was in pain or not and finding out why she did it.

As for being sensitive about tails, nah, if they are to be shown they need to be fine with being gone all over, JMO of course.

To illustrate: I met up with a pal and her 10 month rottie bitch last week, she's never been shown but her owner is thinking of giving it a go and wanted me to show her how to stand her e.t.c. Her dog just stood there grinning like a loon while I placed her legs and messed about with her tail and ears and she didn't even have a lead on, my point is, if a dog never trained for the ring can be so relaxed at being set up and gone over by strangers then a dog trained for the ring has no excuse really unless it is ill or in pain or something similar.

JMO