.com Forum · General

When I played years ago it always felt like a battle to get a handler favored by the judge (there were more players back then so that could have been it); but now it seems most of the players in my breeds don't use handlers.

How important are handlers now? I try to enter shows for a month at a time for most of my animals so getting handlers isn't an issue but if they are less important now (either from official updates or just anecdotally) I wont spend as much time assigning handlers.

Thanks! Jameson

You need to check the judges' preferences. Some judges prefer Owner/Handlers.

Over the past several months, we, in American Cockers, for the most part, don’t bother with handlers.
Most of us go along with it, some don’t.

When I enter a dog and I see no handlers being used, I won’t use one either. If one or 2 use a handler, you bet I will put a top handler on my dog, unless of course the judge prefers no handlers.