The Kennel Club is offering dog show judges across eight breeds the chance to enhance their knowledge through its schedule for the Judges Development Programme (JDP) during the spring.

A series of seminars are being held in March and April this year, as part of the Kennel Club’s commitment to ensuring that judges have the most up-to-date information about the various breeds. The programme is an opportunity for judges to increase their knowledge of the scheduled breeds and to benefit from the wealth of knowledge that the breed experts will be there to share.

All of the Kennel Club Judges Development Programme seminars will be held at the Kennel Club Building, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, CV8 2LZ.

Judges wishing to attend a JDP breed seminar must have previously awarded CCs to at least three breeds within the relevant Group (i.e. the same group as the host Group), or
been previously approved by the Kennel Club to Judge a Group at Championship Show level.
The schedule for the selected breeds is as follows: Utility Group Monday 22 March Lhasa Apso and Tuesday 23 March, Shih Tzu. Eligible candidates should contact Sally Kimber on 01474 814796 or email sally.kimber@btinternet.com.

The Pastoral Group will see the Briard and the Samoyed, on march 24 and 25 respectively. Bob Gregory on 01477 532478 or email normabobgregory@talktalk.net.

Finally, the Hound Group on April 14 and 15 will cover the Basset Hound, Beagle, Dachshund and Basset Fauve De Bretagne. Eligible candidates should contact Shirley Rawlings – 01435 868908 or email rawlings@btinternet.com.

The Hound Group JDP will be a two-day workshop devoted to education and hands on coaching. Some places will be available to judges falling just short of fulfilling all qualification criteria for JDPs. Applications for places are invited from judges who award at least two sets of CCs in the Hound Group though priority will be given to those who fulfil all the usual JDP qualification criteria.
After education and hands on coaching at the spring meetings, candidates will have a full summer show season of study and mentoring opportunities, before attending judging evaluations in November.

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