OBLIGATIONS OF A JUDGE

The essential ingredients of competent judging are: Breed Knowledge & Integrity.
Judges should ask the Show Manager and their Ring Steward, as to the procedures that apply for the show and to advise them of procedures when and if necessary.

Ring Procedure: 
A judge who has not assessed/examined the Contestant when it comes into the ring for Best in Group or Best in Show competition, is required to examine the Contestant in the manner previously set out.
 

Appearance
Judges should maintain a proper and professional appearance. They should not be the center of attention through funny dress or bizarre behaviour. 

Behavior

A Judge should not criticise the work of another judge.

A Judge must not smoke or drink alcohol in the ring.

A judge must not actively use of a phone or any other mobile gadgets while the competition progresses.

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Social Media

Ahead of your judging appointment, judges should be careful in their interactions with potential contestants to avoid the perception of being bias. Our Contestants expect a level playing field and mixing social media comments with potential contestants should be avoided.

 

Medical Insurance
Judges should ensure that they have arranged their own medical insurance. The medical health system in Australia is of a very high standard, however the cost of treatment incurred by a judge visiting Australia is not the responsibility of The Show Manager.

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Conduct of Contestant
If an Contestant tries to influence the judge (for example by revealing the grooming’s previous merits) the judge has the right to terminate the judging of said contestant.  The judge shall not continue the judging due to inappropriate information from Contestant and such conduct to be reported to the Show Manager.

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Competing Dog behavior
If a Contestant’s dog is restless, the normal accepted procedure is to point this out to the Contestant and ask if they would like to withdraw from the competition.  Judges are to dismiss from the ring any dog showing aggressive tendencies towards a Judge, stewards or any other contestants.

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𝟲𝟬-𝗱𝗮𝘆 H𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲
A judge will only consider contestants for placements if they meet the 60-day hair growth requirement. This rule is essential for final placements. In the case where there is only one contestant in the class, the judge can still enforce the 60-day hair growth rule, and no award to be made if it is not met. Flatwork areas 20 days

 

Refusal of awards
A judge cannot withhold a First Place and then award a Second or a third Place(where only 1 Contestant in that class) If the Contestant is not worthy of a first placing then there must be no award. When no award is made, the Judge must indicate this to the Contestants. It is the responsibility of the Judge not the Steward to advise the Contestant Once a decision has been made by a judge, a class cannot be re-judged. 

Table cloths
Table cloths are deemed unnecessary and not required for presentation.  

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Promoting activities

All promoting activities either inside or in the view of the judging ring are not allowed. To name a few, such as wearing apparel that indicates or might indicate they are a member of  The Groom Team of a certain Company, Brand or Country. Any Contestant wearing such apparel shall be reported to the Show Manager. Placing past ribbons or rosettes or winning trophies are not allowed.

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Breed Numbers 

A copy of the breeds entered will be provided to the respective judge(s).
Judges are to be encouraged to familiarize our grooming breed standards prior to judging.  

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Non Conformation Grooming (NCG)
NCG such as Asian Fusion, Salon Freestyle or Model Dogs will have their own classes in the show and are not eligible to compete for Best In Show awards. However, these classes are judged in the same manner as for the entire Contestant.

NCG does not compete for Best in Group or Best in Show awards.

Time on Judging  
Whilst it is important to give each and every contestants due attention in the ring, judges should aim to limit the time spent on each dog to approximately 2 minutes - this being considered particularly important where other Contestants are following on in a ring.

 

Conflict Of Interest
Judge must request that person be withdrawn from the competition if the judge has a conflict of interest with the competing dog/the groomer for example employer or employee relationships, a separate interest in a Grooming School or Salon, handled or co-owned a dog with the judge. This is not a definitive list of examples.

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Presenting Dog (Stacked)
Contestants are advised only to keep the dog stacked at the time of judging until the judge says “ your dog can relax”, it is not the normal accepted procedure for judges to glance back or take a second look. Judges shall call the Contestants out to the General Specials ring if they wish to make the comparison between dogs to another in the class. 

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Poodle Show Trim with Spray-ups

Hairspray and hair extensions can be used to the top knots. It is not normally accepted practice for judges to comb through the top knots when judging the finished groom.

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Critiquing
Written critiquing is not available at our event due to time constraints. Verbal critique from the judges will be arranged after the completion of the General Specials and Podium photos taken.

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Placing Ribbons 
Rosettes  

1st Place Blue
2nd Place Red
3rd Place any other colour
4th Award of merits Purple
5th Award of merits Purple

Classes In Group
Level C – for Contestant under 24 months of First Full Grooming experience 
Level B – for Contestant under 48 months of First Full Grooming experience 
Level A – for Contestant over 4 years or GE choose to be in this level
Level A+ - for a groomer who has achieved with a certified point score of 90 and above 
Model Dog & Asian Fusion are special classes 
Level B or C may compete for any level for which they are eligible. There are no special entry requirements for class A, it's open to anyone
 

Group Specials
At the completion of judging all the Contestants, Group Specials Judging will take place.  The judge will be shortlisted a maximum of 8 Contestants and excused the rest. The judge will review the 8 shortlisted and then further excuse 3 out from the group. The remaining 5 will then be re-assessed by the judge before placing them 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st placing. The 1st place winners from Level A and A+ will compete for Best In Group and the Level 2nd place winner from the winning level will then compete for the Best In Group 2nd. The Level that wins the Best In Group 2nd will then send forth the next winner to compete for the Best In Group 3rd placement.

At the completion of all Group Judging, Judging of Best in Show takes place, known as General Specials.

Best in Show
All Best in Group winners are returned to the ring for the judging of Best In Show.

Once Best in Show winner has been selected, the Runner Up to Best in Group to the Best in Group winner is brought back into the ring for the judging of Best In Show 2nd.  The Group that wins the Best In Show 2nd will then send forth the next winner to compete for the Best In Show 3rd placement.

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Best In Show awards judging is independent and exclusive.

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Note : Under the DA / FCI Grooming arrangement, FCI Grooming Shows in Australia are slightly different to overseas.

• 𝗕𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗜𝗡 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗪 - To be eligible for the Best In Show award, Levels B & C competitiors must compete with a breed that is permitted at  All Levels of the competition. Only those entries that have qualified at All levels are eligible for consideration for Best In Show tile to be eligible for the FCI Best In Show title.

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Best In Show for Level B 
The Level B 1st winners from the 4 main groups will compete for  Best Level B In Show.

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Best In Show for Level C 

The Level C 1st winners from the 4 main groups will compete for  Best Level B In Show. 

Best Salon Freestyle In Show
The 1st place winners from Level A, B & C are required in General Specials for Best Salon Freestyle In Show.

Best Asian Fusion In Show

The Top 3 or 4 winners (Finalists ) from Asian Fusion sub-class 1 and sub-class 2 are required in General Specials for Best Asian Fusion In Show

Other information 

Australian Statistics:
Australia is an island continent. A very large country with a relatively small population, approx 26mil. The vast majority of the population lives in the seaboard cities, principally on the east coast, which includes Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne.  The distance between Sydney and Perth is similar to the distance between New York and San Francisco or London and Moscow.

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Due to the huge size of the country, Australia has several different climate zones. The northern section of Australia has a more tropical influenced climate, hot and humid in the summer, and quite warm and dry in the winter, while the southern parts are cooler with mild summers and cool, sometimes rainy winters.