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Originally Posted by boopster  Well, after watching the video I know I have an awful lot to learn. The dogs were all gorgeous but my personal favorite (based on personality and the way the dog moved - not on any actual knowledge) didn't even place. I'm guessing best of class is defined as which dog in this class is the best specimen of its breed -- I don't know how you would even judge that.
Maybe it's a good thing if the Yorkie isn't best of show, or even best of class. If the breed gets too much attention, then it seems to become a fashion statement rather than a treasured pet, don't you think?
I sure would like to attend a few shows and learn to interpret what I'm seeing. |
You can start off with
www.akc.org; they have some good articles about new to show world. In a group competition, that is where for eg: you see different breeds that belong to a group, each breed there has won best in breed to go onto a coveted group competition.
You need to know the standard inside out for each breed, and everyone starts at the beginning with really understanding just one breed. The standard covers appearance, attitute, gaiting, structure, coat, color, teeth, etc. Then the judge, judges on that day in that moment which dog comes closest to the standard. Dogs just like people will have good days, and not so good days. It shows in their gaits, their attitude, their expression.
An eye for a dog is a good basic book, that helps you to understand structure and how to "look" at a dog. then once you get a couple of concepts you let your eye get trained. You watch dogs everywhere, just with an open gaze to observe. You will start to "see" differences in movement; never mind that right now you don't know the technical term for what you are seeing, that you can always look up.
Another great video is called Dog Steps, which shows correct and incorrect structure and movement.