Mathildas Hundar

I can proudly announce that I am now a "real judge"! I have experienced the good side of being a judge and now also the bad side of being a judge. When I finished judging Junior Handling, a parent to a young handler had a "talk" to me. He disliked the fact that I had judged two competitions within a short timeframe. I referred to the regulations for judges and told him that there isn't a rule against that. But if he would like to change that he could contact the Junior Handling committee or the Swedish Kennel Club. He said that he had talk to a member in the Junior handling committee and the County Club of Uppland, they were apperently pissed of at me. I talked to both of them and they told me that they were very sorry that I had to put up with that and they are not pissed of at me. It's more likely the other way around...

When I educated to being a Junior Handling judge they warned us that this is the kind of things that might happen, but they would always defend and support us. I'm happy that I'm the one who got the hard-hit. Because I can stand this and it won't tear me down. But I know a lot of people who don't want to judge Junior Handling because of the competitive parents. I understand why.

No wonder it's hard to keep young people in this industry, when this is the welcome you get.