Analysing your critiques: making the judge’s report speak

At a dog show, the critique means the judge’s comments on the dog shown. It brings together qualities, reservations and sometimes remarks on its condition or handling.

To get something useful from it, start by understanding the words before looking for what to change. Here are nine tips to move forward.

Beginner — Understanding the message

1. Read the whole report

The remark that disappoints often draws more attention than the compliments. Yet the assessment makes sense as a whole.

The FCI regulations provide that a dog graded “Excellent” may show a few minor imperfections when its qualities are superior. [1, section 6]

Your exercise: pick out the qualities and the reservations separately. Then sum up the report in one balanced sentence, without letting a single word take over.

2. Translate the terms you don’t understand

“Rein” (loin), “aplombs” (the set and soundness of the legs), “substance” or “expression” don’t mean the same thing. Misunderstanding the vocabulary can lead you to work on the wrong point.

Your exercise: pick an unfamiliar term and find the region or characteristic concerned in the standard. If the meaning is still unclear, ask a judge or a breed trainer to explain.

Don’t guess an illegible abbreviation: keep it as a question to clear up.

3. Link each remark to the standard

“Ears too short” raises a question: too short compared with what reference point?

In the Poodle (Caniche), the standard states how far the ear flap should reach when it is brought forward. [2, p. 4] Your exercise: copy the remark, then add the matching passage from the standard. That takes you from a general comment to a concrete criterion.

Intermediate — Organising the analysis

1. Tell the topics apart

Sort the comments according to what they seem to concern:

Conformation: proportions, head, legs, coat…
Condition: the dog’s state on show day.
Handling: stack, leading, availability during the examination.

Some remarks, especially on movement, may need several lines of analysis.

Your exercise: add “to be confirmed” when you don’t know which category an observation belongs in. Sorting it too quickly risks locking in your interpretation.

2. Keep the judge’s words apart from your interpretation

“Irregular movement” does not automatically mean “poor construction”. The comment first describes what was observed.

Your exercise: use three fields:

Exact comment:
What I understand:
What I need to check:

That way you keep a faithful record of the report, even as your understanding develops.

3. Put the critique in context

Note the dog’s age, its class, its state of preparation and the conditions of the handling.

Your exercise: add only useful facts: “changed gait on the up-and-down”, “turned its head during the examination”, “shown by someone else”.

These notes allow you to form hypotheses. They are not enough to explain or rule out a judge’s remark.

Advanced — Turning comments into progress

1. Spot recurring observations

A remark that comes up in several reports deserves special attention.

Your exercise: group the critiques by theme and by date. Check that the wording really refers to the same point before linking them.

If several judges mention the forequarters, then work out what exactly they describe: lengths, angulations, aplombs (the set of the legs) or movement?

2. Check the weight of a reservation

An undesirable characteristic, a serious fault and a disqualifying fault do not carry the same weight.

The Poodle standard distinguishes these categories. [2, p. 8–10] The FCI regulations also state that the reason for a “Disqualified” or “Cannot be judged” grade must be given in the report. [1, section 6]

Your exercise: find the applicable category in the official text. Don’t assign a degree of seriousness yourself from an isolated adjective.

3. Choose a suitable action

Not every remark leads to a handling exercise.

You can work on a steady trot or gradually prepare for the examination. For a conformation question, the useful action may be to ask for an explanation and refine your observation.

Your exercise: finish your analysis with three lines:

Point to understand or work on:
Planned action:
Marker for reviewing progress:

For example: “Steady the trot; practise short up-and-downs; compare videos from three sessions.”

Your sheet for decoding a critique

Date and show:
Dog’s age and class:
Judge’s name:
Grade and placing:

Exact comment:
Section and passage of the standard:
Quality or reservation expressed:
My interpretation:
Context:

Point still to check:
Question to ask:
Action chosen:

The reflex to keep

Keep the exact words, find the criterion and turn your understanding into a precise action.

A critique becomes useful when you can explain what it describes. Take the time to clear up one remark at a time, while keeping the recognised qualities in your review.