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Is it worth it to use a handler for a show?

How does the Judges' List affect where my dog places? If I pick a handler who has a high rating with the judge, will I do better? I noticed that one of my dogs got best of breed when owner-handled, and 4th in class when showed by a handler...Best of breed is better, right?? (or am I totally dumb?)

Anyway, advice would be really helpful

Totally depends.
Each judge has a preference. Click their nam.
They'll say 'prefers to see the owner handling' or 'not very political' or 'has a tendency to use certain handlers'
I always assign a handler unless it says they prefer to see the owner handling.
Not very political means the skill (number next to handlers name, lower is higher skill) isn't very important.
Tendency to use certain handlers mean they prefer handlers at the top of the list, but you want to combine that with a handler with good skill.
There's a lot of good threads on this topic with awesome explanations

Assuming you are talking about Sebastian, there are a few things to point out.

Yes the Best in Breed is a better placement than Fourth in Class, BUT his Best in Breed was only awarded as he was the only NSDTR entered in that show, so he could not be awarded anything less. Both judges prefer a handler on the dog vs the owner handling the dog.

The dogs that were entered in his class, in the show last night are sessioned to all 20s and condition shows as 20 as well. Sebastian shows as 19/20/16/18.

Because his sessioning (Training, Muscle, Coat) are below 20, you cannot get the top handlers even if you were the first to enter your dog. Lower ranked handlers are not as skilled in the ring as the higher ranked handlers, and do not usually yield high show placements.

So, get him up to at least 19/20/20/20 (training/condition/muscle/coat) and that will give you all but the top two or three handlers and then you should start seeing better results. It looks like NSDTRs aren't hurting for show entries to gain points, so I would just pull him from the shows until he is better prepared (sessioning) for the show ring.

Good luck!

Thanks. I'm working on sessioning him every day in order to reach that level. Hopefully he will be the first dog I ever finished. That is the goal

Ok, another question. So I sessioned Sebastian again and his numbers didn't go up at all. Is that normal?

Yes, very often that is normal.

As you get closer to 20, they go up more slowly. Also when you see a 16 for 3 days running, it may actually have been 15.8, 16.1, 16.3 so it would be going up, just not enough to cgange the fraction.

Also, older dogs that have not been sessioned and/or fed right from early on are even slower.

Oh okay! That makes sense Thanks.

If you haven't already, custom rations are helpful to make, to speed up the muscle and coat sessioning. They are more expensive, but they help you session faster, and in my opinion, are worth it since you will use less sessions.