.com Forum · Alpha Dog Forum

Rachel Barnette has decided to retire from judging after judging the December 2015 Pyrenean Shepherd Nationals on 12/22/2015

We will miss you Rachel!

I guess she finally got caught taking all those bribes from Saluki handlers and decided to retire early.

Will

nooooooo i liked her i hate assigning handlers

Retiring on my birthday Will miss her...loved being able to skip assigning a handler...

Taylor

And there was no new owner-judge to replace her.

Not happy. I don't think every show show should be non-handler but they are far too scarce these days.

April Fool's ?

Aprils fools... She was a very popular judge

Nooo I loved what she did with both by Chessies and Buhunds...

Yet another handler free judge bites the dust.
Bummer!

Next time folks put stuff to a vote... think long and hard before you vote for change...

We voted to get rid of the one way to get No handler shows without having to wait for the randomized judge to be generate one.

Will

That feature was being terribly abused. It had to go.

Yes it was being over-used but it was obviously very popular with users.

Folks also complain, bitterly sometimes, when someone happens to enter early on a regular basis and snags all the best handlers. It produces bad vibes in the game.

One solution would be to increase, not decrease, the total number of owner-judges so that they appear more often with the random selection. Four owner-judge shows per week would not be out of line in my opinion.

Personally I think that too many judges with owner handler preferences cheapens part of the actually game play aspect of showing dogs in this game.

I don't think the solution is to add more owner handlers (though having a couple more would be nice) or to bring back the ability to assign judges (as this was being abused in other more detrimental ways aside from filling the schedule with owner judges).

A better solution would be to add more judges that have a wider range of skilled handlers that they favor; that way more people could enter under each judge comfortably with handlers that will get their dogs looked at (doesn't have to be the highest ranked handlers as even handlers that rate 15-27 can net you wins). It has the potential to be the best middle ground.

Well, people in my breed have gotten accustomed to entering handler shows with no handlers. Obviously these OH handlers have been influential but that personally puts me in a weird spot. Do I forgo handlers (and give up show/group placements possibly) to maintain harmony so people will continue to enter or be the 'bad guy' and snag points? I generally opt for the former. The excessive handler fee probably doesn't help either.

I agree with Drake - if we can get past having Ellen, Maret, Robert, etc., winning all the time and actually using all of the handlers the website has within the scope of the judge's preference, there will be less of a handler rush and more of a focus on entering.
I've been in more popular breeds so I get it. But these OH judges do have their preference and put up the same dogs over and over again so it's not a totally unbiased system, either. Welcome to dog shows, I guess!

eta I have no problem with OH judges at all. Bruce Bass is my favorite judge on here and I'll be sad to see him go.

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Last edited by Kievan Kennels on 4/3/2015 1:21:50 PM

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posted by Drake Creek Meadows
A better solution would be to add more judges that have a wider range of skilled handlers that they favor; that way more people could enter under each judge comfortably with handlers that will get their dogs looked at (doesn't have to be the highest ranked handlers as even handlers that rate 15-27 can net you wins). It has the potential to be the best middle ground.

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I completely agree with Drake on this suggestion. I have been playing the game for nearly 9 years and I've always wondered why some judges only have 'three' decent handlers that they favour that are likely to win your dog a placement.

I think we need more judges that like at least 6-8 decent handlers.

There are some judges like Sarah Brush, Scott Jackson, Maria Mohr, and Linda Gross who only like 3 decent handlers. Yet there are other Judges such as Alexander Crossland, Daniel Hall, Ester Arriaga and Patrick Tatum who like 6 decent handlers.

The more 'decent' handlers a judge prefers the more players can assign dogs to them.

On a side note - there has been mention of people not wanting to be the 'bad guy' who enters their dogs in shows and takes the best handlers. I personally don't understand why this is considered to be 'bad' - this is a game of strategy however it is also played by thousands of people all over the world who are all in different time zones - so I think everyone has a pretty fair chance of entering their dogs and getting good handlers. I never look at the SD time when I enter shows and I always enter shows at different times of the day.

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posted by Quileute Legends
On a side note - there has been mention of people not wanting to be the 'bad guy' who enters their dogs in shows and takes the best handlers. I personally don't understand why this is considered to be 'bad' - this is a game of strategy however it is also played by thousands of people all over the world who are all in different time zones - so I think everyone has a pretty fair chance of entering their dogs and getting good handlers. I never look at the SD time when I enter shows and I always enter shows at different times of the day.

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Like I said, I have no qualms about it aside from the fact that breed entries for my breed are a hit and miss as it is. I finish dogs however I can. However, putting on a handler over OH dogs feels like a cheap win anyway, like stacking entries for majors. The issue here is not handler hogging but lack of them... that's my breed, anyway.

Eta lack of them probably for that reason, only the top few place over and over again

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Last edited by Kievan Kennels on 4/4/2015 11:04:03 PM

I agree with adding more 'skilled' preferred handlers...

In some breeds, if the top three handlers are chosen, it is a waste of money to enter.. Especially if you are campaigning a dog. I think this is why some of the more popular breed entries are so spread out...