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www.showdog.com/dog.aspx?id=14333663

Hasn't been earning any CH points. I'm not entirely sure why?

I had a quick look and it seems to me that it is down to handler choice.

Firstly, the judges you are using on her are quite low on the handler ranking. GSD are quite competitive and it might be because it is hard to find a highly ranked judge if you enter slightly late. But just pick the next best available handler from the handler list or try and enter shows as soon as they are created and pick the best one they prefer.

Secondly, her SOP seems to be in the finishable range with dogs at the 98.35 being finished all the way up to 98.60 just by quickly sampling a few GSD in the show ring.

Third, try and marry up her traits up to the preferences of judges. Enter under judges who like the dog's best features.

I think with some strategic planning, she should be able to gain her CH title.



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Last edited by dogloverxx on 11/30/2015 5:57:48 PM

Everyone told me to pick the handler at the top of the judge's list, so that's what I've been doing..is that wrong?

In most cases yes, I don't know why anyone would have told you that. When picking handlers look at the judges preferred handlers on the right hand side, look for the handler with the lowest number next to his or her name and allocate that handler to your dog. Be careful to check if the judge prefers to see a handler or if they prefer to see the owner handling the dog, if they prefer the owner to handle do not allocate a handler.

Please go back and read previous threads about this exact thing.

No one has told you to use handlers at the top of the list. We've all told you to use the best ranked handler on the list. We've given you examples, I've out right listed the best handlers for different judges. Would you like me to make you a list for each and every judge?

LRK,
It's a fine line between top ranked (lowest number) and judge's preference (Top of the list) and even that varies from judge to judge.

If the just is not political at all or not very political, use the highest rankings (smallest number).

If the judge has a tendency to choose certain handlers, choose towards the top of the list with the lowest number. For example if the top handler is ranked 54 and the third handler from the top is ranked 11, the third handler would be the better choice.

If a judge is very political and likes to see certain handlers, I go almost completely from the top of the list down.

Hope that's a good explanation.

It's confusing but once you 'get it' it's actually easy.

The list of handlers that go with the judge are in the order of the handler that best matches the personality preferences of the judge - his bestest friends are at the top but you want a highly skilled handler too, not necessarily the judge's cousin's kid! That order is essentially irrelevant!

You pick the handler in the judges list that has the smallest number - i.e. #10 is better than #20. #10 is a more successful handler than #20. #1 would be the absolute best.

And please do not be put off by other's comments.


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Last edited by Gaylanstudio5 on 11/30/2015 3:24:20 PM

This I think is a better worded explanation that the one I posted previously (different kennel)

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Do not use that list that is on the Judge's information page. Those numbers are misleading when you are picking handlers.

Use the list that shows on the right hand side of the 'pick list'. This is the page that comes up when you do the 'choose handler' right after you've updated the 'enter shows'.

The order on the judges profile page reflects how closely the personality factors of judge and handler match. If you go by that order alone, you are neglecting the handler skill factor, which I believe to be a much stronger influence.

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This is how I explained it to another newbee a few weeks ago.

And don't forget to check that it's not one of the "prefers owner" judges.



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Last edited by GaylanStudio1 on 11/30/2015 3:37:40 PM

This is my detailed list of how I explained it to a few newbies in the past


You need to be aware that some judges like handlers, and there are some that prefer to see the owner handling the dog (EG – don’t select a handler for those shows). The no-handler judges at the moment are:

Bruce Bass
Mark Wilson (just about to retire)
Pamela Geist
Randal Harris

(But remember to check the new Judges each month in case they are also non-handler judges).

(At the end of every month 2 Judges will retire and we will get 2 new judges)

Each judge also has their own preferred handlers – which you can see when you click on each judge’s link:
www.showdog.com/shows/dog_judge_directory.aspx

For instance – if you look at Patricia Stevens (just a randomly selected judge) – it lists her 25 favourite handlers:
www.showdog.com/shows/judge_info.aspx?judge=Patricia+Stevens

Not all of those handlers are good options to choose though!

Thats when you need to look at the current Top Handlers rankings here:

www.showdog.com/shows/Handlers/handler_rankings.aspx

(you can find that link when you click the ‘Schedule’ link on the left side of the main screen. Click it – then look at the top right of the new screen and it will say ‘Handlers List’).

On the ‘Dog Handler Rankings’ link they are in order of the best handler (the first handler listed), all the way through to the worst handler (listed at the bottom of the screen).

For example – at the moment the top 5 Handlers are:
Veronica
Maret
Stew
Ellen
Bob


These rankings change slightly every day as they go by the number of wins each handler gets. In general though – the top 25 handlers generally stay the same.

When you are choosing a handler for your dog it needs to match up with the handlers that the Judge likes – AS WELL AS the Top Handler Ranking system.

So the best handlers for Patricia Stevens are:
Veronica S, Bob G, Kristen G.

Veronica is currently ranked the #1 best handler – which means she would be the best handler to pick if you entered a dog in a show being judged by Patricia Stevens.

Bob is currently the #5 top ranked handler – 2nd best handler to pick for Patricia Stevens

Kristen is currently the #11 top ranked handler – 3rd best handler etc.



I hope that all made sense?

You can also see another list when you are entering your dogs. Once you’ve selected the show and are picking the handler there will be a list of ALL the handlers that are currently available to pick for male/female dogs of that show. (Each handler can only be used on 1 bitch and 1 dog per breed per show per day).

When you’re in that screen – if you look to the right hand side there is a small list of Handlers with numbers next to their names. These numbers correlate to how they are ranked amongst ALL of the handlers. So the smaller the number (EG 1, 2, 3 etc) the better the handler! I wouldn’t use a handler who was ranked higher than 25 (EG 27, 30 etc). Always choose the handler that is closest to #1 as they will be the best option.

Sometimes handlers won’t appear on the list where you choose the handler and that is because someone else has already selected to use that handler for their dog. This is why it is generally better to enter 5-6 days in advance so you have a chance of getting the best handler.

One other thing to note is every judge has a number of handlers that they favour – and all other handlers will be ignored. For instance Patricia Stevens will only look at dogs handled by Veronica, Bob, Kristen and Yvette (and occasionally Elaine) and she will pretty much ignore dogs who are being handled by lower ranked handlers. This means that if you are entering a male dog into one of Patricia Stevens’ shows and you see that there are already 4 males entered who have already taken the top four handlers for Patricia then I wouldn’t even bother entering my male into that show since Patricia won’t bother to look at him if the top 4 handlers that she likes are already taken.

I hope that makes sense?

Sorry I seem to be having a difficult time getting this. I never really showed on SD before now, and on SC you don't need to worry about any of this. So I am having trouble figuring it all out.

LR this is hopefully to make you feel better I too struggled with understanding the handler thing but one I did it just clicked. Now I am winning all the time in almost every one of my kennels.

Thank you! This was definitely very beneficial. I think I understand now...sorry for being so dense!

I just began to show and picked the judges favorite handler so thank you for a much better explanation.

Unfortunately I picked a handler for an upcoming show but the judge prefers the dog handled by owner. Is there any way to delete a handler? Or change a handler?

Thanks much!

I think you will have to withdraw and then re-enter to switch to owner handler

Thanks, I saw where I could change handler but not delete handler.

To clarify Artistri, you wont be able to change or delete the handler unless you fully withdraw your dog from the show and re-enter it. Doing so would thus free up your handler choice again.

You can absolutely change handlers without withdrawing the dog. Easiest way is via "My Entries"

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posted by Kalynda
You can absolutely change handlers without withdrawing the dog. Easiest way is via "My Entries"

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Yes but you can't change to owner handled this way.

Oh (facepalm)! I've been playing this game for years and never noticed that when you click on My Entries, you totally can change handlers and/or withdraw dogs from shows. Thanks for pointing that out. I don't know how I missed this.

-Serenity