Articles
Dog Shows in Barbados
The dogs which compete in conformation Dog Shows on the island have to be pedigree dogs and have to be registered with The Barbados Kennel Club.
And they have to be entered under the Barbados Kennel Club’s rules and regulations which govern these shows.
Breeds such as the Anatolian Shepherd, Pomeranian, Whippet, Basenji, Suluki, Pembroke Corgi, Airedale Terrier, Boston Terrier, French Bulldog, Belgium Shepherd Dogs -,Groenendael, Scottish Terrier, Australian Silky Terrier, Dachshund, Basset Hound, Hamiltonstovare, Greyhound, Chow Chow, Toy Poodle, Collie (Rough), Cavalier King Charles, American Cocker Spaniel, and the Yorkshire Terrier have shown in Barbados. The above breeds, although some of them are still on the island, are not currently seen at shows.
A dog show is like a breeder’s showcase and so dogs which come out and do not get favourable critiques from the judges who are usually from the UK, will eventually be left at home by their owners for future shows..
There might also be persons who have good quality dogs but are not interested in attending dog shows with them. Also imported, good quality dogs might not be registered with the local kennel club.
All the recent shows have had under 100 dogs entered.
Dog shows in Barbados are generally very competitive with the entrants trying to get Challenge Certificates (three of which by three different judges can be submitted to The Barbados Kennel Club for a Champion title for the dog)
The wording on the Challenge Certificate which is also signed by the judge on the day says “I am clearly of the opinion that (dog’s name) is of such outstanding merit as to be worthy of the title Champion”.
The Best of each Breed then gets to compete in its respective group, and the group winners go on to compete for the Best in Show.
The dogs are supposed to be judged by their individual breed standards. Characteristics like type, structure, movement, character and presentation by the dog’s handler, play a part for the winning dogs. But there are still subjective areas for the judges which may slip into the judging process. Quite often, a judge will say that a "dog just asked for it" (Best in Show). By this, the judge means that the dog has what is regarded as personality and ring presence.
And judges are people, and sometimes they do look at the end of the leash and put up a dog because they know the person. Sometimes, it is said, they put up a dog in Barbados because they are friendly with the owner of the kennels the dog came from, or the politics of it may be that they might block a top dog from going to a top award further because of the overseas kennel it has come from.
