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The Tedesco AKC Juniors Program Proposal

The Tedesco plan encourages a talented youngster who may not qualify for the big events because they can't get enough top wins to qualify.  There is virtually no official encouragement for a Junior who works hard, shows as often as possible, but who may be in the wrong area, not have the same coaching, or just can't finish in the top 4 spots often enough even though they are committed to the sport. This simple, easy to implement plan adroitly solves numerous problems. 

Dog Shows should be a learning experience for everyone, including participants.  It should not be only for "the win."  Tedesco points out "The fee to enter one Junior Showmanship competition is $25."  A handling class costs $15 or less and "the teacher tells you what to improve on and how to win." 

February 1, 2006

Mari-Beth O'Neill

Amercian Kennel Club

AVP of Special Services

5580 Centerview Dr.

Raleigh, NC 27606 

Dear Ms. O'Neil: 

We are writing to you because we want to follow-up to our email with a proposal for the AKC to consider a major change to improve the Juniors Program. 

As a family, we have competed in Dog Showing, both Juniors and conformation for five years. We have competed in many Juniors events and have ended up many times in the top 4 positions or not placing at all.  When we first started we never knew why we lost. This is because we never knew of a set criteria for the evaluation of the Juniors. Also we were not sure what we did wrong if we lost. Many times, when you would ask the judge the reason you lost he or she could not answer the question. This doesn't help because how can you improve if you don't know what to improve on?  What makes things more frustrating is that you have to earn 10 wins in Juniors to compete in some of the top Juniors events. The Juniors that finish in the top 4 places in each class are all good.  One could argue that they all should receive something for their efforts.  Juniors is not about showing the dog, but about handling a dog. 

In conformation you get nothing for coming in reserve or opposite. However, in Junior Showmanship the Juniors should get something for coming in 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and even going to multiple events.  It is so demotivating to a child who is between 10 -18 when all you can do is finish in the top 4 positions and never get that first place win.  We constantly overhear new parents say things like, "Why did my child lose? Was it her or his handling skills? Did they do the "L" improperly? Does the judge not like little dogs?" When they go up to the judge to ask why, many times the judge can't remember. The fee to enter one Junior Showmanship competitions is $25. To go to a handling class it costs $15 or less. In the handling class the teacher tells you what to improve on and how to win. At a dog show you pay all this money and when you lose it's like all that money went down the drain. At least you want to know why you didn't win so next time you can do better.

We would like to propose a Point System for all Juniors.  The point system would reward not just the top 4 places but all juniors who attended the event.  The point system would provide a set criteria to evaluate all Juniors and provide them a mechanism to at least know what they did wrong at event and where they need to improve. The point system would reward a Junior who may not finish in the top 4 spots but who goes every weekend and is committed to the sport.  Overall, the point system would reward all juniors and motivate them to continue competing even if they do not win every event. 

The ultimate goal of the point system would be to motivate Juniors, help them improve, and potentially attract more kids to the sport.   For judges it would provide a uniform set of criteria on how to evaluate each Junior handler's skills.

Proposed Junior Point System

Novice Juniors and Open Juniors would be evaluated slightly differently because Novice Juniors are just starting in the sport.  Each judge would evaluate a Junior based on 5 specific areas.  Within these areas the Judge would provide a score from 1 to 3:

1 - Needs Improvement

2 - Average - performed OK, but could still improve.

3 - Outstanding. 

The specific criteria areas:

1.             Appearance - how well the Junior is dressed for the event and how well their dog is groomed. Are they presentable?

2.             

                2.             Presentation - how well the Junior and the dog move around the ring during their specific evaluation.  Do they act as a team?

3.             3.             Stacking - how well did they free stack their dog? 

4 and 5.  Handling Patterns - a triangle (forward or backward), an "L," etc. A judge has the option to do one handling pattern in the novice classes vs. two in the open classes.

A judge would add up the class score.  At this point the judge could have top 4 places.  However, if there is a tie then the judge would make all the top handlers do one more handling pattern. The handling pattern would determine the tie break, but not be added to the final score.

The top 4 placements in a class would earn additional points to their score and the best junior overall would receive extra points.  There is no reward today for Best Junior Handler at an event.

A chart of how the point system would work