Are You Feeling Judgy?
Dec 16, 2025
They happened in Orlando last week, though most people who attended the AKC Championship week of shows had no idea what was going on.
They happen at most of the major conformation clusters – Houston, Louisville, Phoenix, the Peach Blossom Cluster in Perry, GA, etc. Again, most of the exhibitors don’t know what’s going on.
If you’re a conformation exhibitor, you need to know what's going on, and you need to volunteer to help.
What’s going on? Judges’ education seminars. They’re held at the major dog show clusters across America because those shows usually have large entries and deep quality, two things that judges wishing to learn about different breeds need.
In Orlando there are usually 11 different breed seminars presented over the course of four days. In Phoenix next month there are 11 breed seminars being offered alongside the Heart of the Desert Classic. At the Peach Blossom Cluster in April of 2026, there are currently 13 breed seminars scheduled, with room for two more.
You might be wondering why you need to know about these seminars if you’re not a judge. The reason is simple – the volunteers who give the seminars and the volunteers who bring their dogs to participate in the hands-on training all influence what the judges learn.
The presenters give a 90-minute presentation about the history of the breed, the purpose of the breed, and the fine points surrounding the details of the breed found in the Standard. Then there's an hour-long hands-on session where judges get up close and personal with at least 4 dogs of each breed. The two and a half hours is a wonderful opportunity to take in a lot of information about a breed in a short period of time.
Maybe you’ve heard others say – or maybe you’ve even said this yourself – “that judge is so clueless they probably haven’t even read the Standard!” I would counter that by saying that the judges often know the Standard better than most of the exhibitors showing to them, because we have to learn it, pass a test on it, be mentored by long-time breed experts who explain how the Standard pertains to the breed, and then pass an interview with an AKC rep. In that interview, the judge has to describe the breed as if the rep has never seen one, correctly describe the proportions, details of the head, coat, colors, feet, and personality, and do all that using Standard-specific terminology.
Do you think most exhibitors could do that? Could you?
There are a lot of bonuses to volunteering to help your club’s judges’ education seminars. Here are just three:
- You get to hear and learn what your parent club is teaching judges. That means you’ll know what to focus on when you show your dog.
- You get to hear and learn what your parent club is teaching judges about structure, movement, and the fine points of type. That means you’ll know what to focus on when you breed your dog or pick your next show puppy.
- You get face time with judges who are learning your breed. You won’t get a chance for substantive conversation during the seminars, but if you’ve been showing your breed for more than 12 years, you can offer to mentor them at ringside if there’s a major entry in your breed. Use this time wisely – don’t use it to pimp your version of your breed or your own dogs. People who do that shoot themselves in the foot with the judge and also with the parent club’s JE chairman if the judge reports it. Stay close to the Standard version, focusing on the virtues of the dogs you see in the ring. If you can’t do that, don’t volunteer to mentor.
When you volunteer to help with your parent club judges’ education, you become immersed in how the judges see your breed, which will help you tremendously in the show ring.
Ready to help judges learn about your breed? Yay! Reach out to your parent club’s Judges’ Education coordinator, and you can also look at upcoming seminars on the AKC website. Search “AKC Seminars” and choose the one on the AKC site that lists all seminars in date order. With each listed seminar you’ll see the contact person and how to get in touch with them.
Reach out. Volunteer. The time you give will enhance not just the judge’s understanding of your breed, but also your understanding of how a judge sees your breed. That’s a win/win!
