Improving the standard of judging

The Kennel Club announces that with effect from 1 July 2006 all those persons judging at agility events for the very first time and those who will be submitting questionnaires to the Kennel Club for approval to award Kennel Club Agility Certificates will be required to have attended a seminar and passed a multiple choice examination on the Regulations and Judging Procedures for their respective discipline. Each successful candidate will receive a Kennel Club Certificate confirming that they have passed the examination. The pass mark is set at 80%.

This new requirement in no way overrides the importance of gaining experience in actual judging, but it does ensure that aspiring judges are able to demonstrate an underpinning knowledge of the regulations and other procedures and requirements in order to be a competent judge.

This training programme has been developed over a long period of time and follows the requirements already in place for those awarding Kennel Club Challenge Certificates. It underlines the Kennel Club’s commitment to maintaining and improving the standard of judges and judging at official Kennel Club licensed events and, in so doing, will ensure the quality of dogs and the value of awards they receive at Kennel Club licensed events.

Whilst there were some initial concerns when the Kennel Club first introduced its Breed Show Judges Training Programme, this is now an accepted part of a person’s progress towards awarding Challenge Certificates.

The content of the Seminar and the examination paper is based on the relevant Kennel Club Regulations and the Guide to Judges booklet, which has been written to outline the requirement of a dog showtrial judge. There is a separate Guide for Judges for each discipline and these will be on sale shortly and will also be available to buy at the Training Seminars.

As part of the training programme the Kennel Club has appointed a number of Accredited Trainers for each discipline who will be responsible for delivering each seminar and conducting the examination. All the Accredited Trainers are established judges of long standing and have attended training and assessment sessions prior to their appointment in order to prove their own knowledge and competence in delivering the seminar syllabus. There is a good geographical spread of trainers to ensure that each area of the country is covered to minimise distances for those attending seminars.

The benefits of maintaining and improving the standard of judging will enhance shows and trials and in the long run clubs, societies and competitors will all benefit. To this end the Kennel Club would encourage show and trial promoting societies to work with the Accredited Trainers to organise these seminars. A list of all the Accredited Trainers is given at the end of this press release and will be published regularly in the Kennel Gazette.

Regulations & Judging Procedure Accredited Trainers (Agility)

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