Welcome to our Education & Judging Page
Education and judging do not go hand in hand, they complement each other but are separate entities. Learning about the breed is for everyone – not just for judges!
Let’s talk about education.
The breed is working hard to help anyone understand the breed standard and expand their own knowledge of this wonderful breed without the pressure of judging. If you are an exhibitor who just wants to understand the finer points or a pet owner who has an interest in learning more about the breed, there are ways that this can be achieved.
At shows we have a wonderful group of people who will be happy to sit and talk about dogs in the classes and how they compare to the standard and we have days called Breed Appreciation Days (BADs) where anyone can attend and listen to an experienced judge discuss the standard in more detail, usually with a live model to demonstrate specific points. All these Whippet people are happy to explain any of the breed standard that you might find confusing.
The Illustrated Standard of the Whippet, The Illustrated Extended Whippet Breed Standard, and The Whippet Breed Standard Why? are available on this website but also in booklet form which can provide essential information and greater knowledge to be taken at your own pace.
We understand that not everyone wants to judge so please take the opportunity to ask questions of your breeder and other exhibitors, who will help you to understand and if they can’t, will point you in the direction of someone who may have a greater knowledge than themselves.
Judging is not for everyone, so please do not feel obligated to continue with the judging process if you have had some informal talks with our mentors, or even some formal mentoring, or have had a judging appointment and think it might not be for you. It’s all about learning and finding out more about our wonderful breed. Take time to think it through and decide if it is the way you want to go. If on the other hand, you would like to continue more formally The Judges Education Program (JEP) may be what you are looking for and the information for this can be found on one of the links here.
Editha Newton
Breed Education Coordinator
Judges Information
Whippet Judging appointments
(Google spreadsheet – online list) Follow this link to the online spreadsheet.
The Kennel Club have a very useful ‘find a judge’ section open to all to view.
If you’re a judge, or perhaps you’re an exhibitor who feels ready to start judging, these Kennel Club resources are for you.
Critiques
Judges are required by the Kennel Club to submit a critique to the Dog Press on the dogs they have judged at Championship shows. This is an introductory guide to critique writing to help judges in this important aspect of their appointment.
The KC run seminars on critique writing, please do take part in one in your local area or whilst attending a dog show that holds the seminar at the same time as its show.
The Kennel Club have released their new section where all judges are invited to submit critiques. This is at the moment a free service for all exhibitors to look for critiques on their dogs
