为职业指导手辩护

晨光

作者： Dr. Gerry G. Meisels




任何一场犬赛上，你都能够听到那些“业余”的犬主兼繁殖者们扎堆在一块打赌裁判是否会将奖花判给某位职业指导手牵引的犬只。就在最近，一场关于这个话题的讨论在某个犬种的论坛上占据了大半页面。这种赌博和对于指导手的批评是否公正呢？那么对于我们这些“业余”的犬展参加者来说，能够做些什么来提高获胜几率呢？

在回答上面的问题之前，让我们先来区分犬主兼繁殖者出身的指导手与职业指导手各自对犬展的预期的不同之处吧。首先“业余”参赛者的目标是获得犬只成为登陆冠军的积分。从原则上讲，积分关系到形态赛的最基本目的：评估繁殖群以及提升犬种品质。其次，另一个目标可能就是在BOB赛上找出一条种公，寻找愿意购买幼犬的优质家庭，尤其是愿意参加犬赛的家庭。有些“业余”的犬主兼指导手在备战犬赛和牵引犬只上积累了极高经验。这类“业余”指导手与职业指导手相差无几，唯一的不同只是他们自给自足，并不依靠犬赛这项运动为生。就在前不久，裁判代表进行了一次是否该对审查工作进行收费的探讨。一位曾身为指导手的代表成员写了一篇评论，可能会从基本上否决该项提议。他在评论中提到“业余”犬主兼指导手的水准还不足以获取牵引费。这般无知傲慢的评论可惹恼了不少人。

将“业余”指导手们简单地归为一类大错特错。事实上，业余选手中不乏杰出的指导手，另外还有众多技术娴熟的人。仅仅笼统地将职业指导手与业余指导手归为两个阵营是错误的。举个例子，许多“业余”指导手为了继续支持自己繁殖的犬参加犬赛，而成为了收取牵引费的职业指导手。这类人仅仅计划牵引少量犬只，只在限定的地域内出赛。这类中的大部分人还有全职，用以赚取主要的经济来源。剩下的极端分子“一流”职业指导手们，会携带20到25只犬前往各处每年参加上百场犬赛。他们每年可能会有将近五十万的收入（未除去支出）。这类人肩负着各大积分榜单上排名前几位犬只不断累计积分。无论他们是为了什么原因而开始这份职业，任何操作到了这般规模就必须要以生意的方式经营下去。携带犬只的数量、指导手本身的技术，以及犬主的财力决定了指导手职业的成败与否。只有能让犬只不断获胜，犬主才会将犬只放心交于指导手。因此，胜利对于职业指导手而言是必须的，更是他们站在赛环内的唯一理由。

一旦职业指导手达到了能够不断获得胜利的水平之时，他们就可以开始享有挑选所牵引犬只的权利。而“业余”选手们只能牵引自己繁殖的犬。少数业余选手经营着犬舍，犬只数量多到可以任其挑选其中最为出色的犬参赛。正是如此，一流指导手牵引的犬只打败业余选手牵引犬只的平均几率更高。上句的“平均”二字带有批评意味，因为这里强调的并非参赛犬只个体本身。许多由非职业选手牵引的犬只也都是具有一流水平的。

每年上千次赛场打拼累积而来的丰富经验使得指导手拥有比一般人更为明显的优势，因为他们清楚地预知可以从裁判和犬只那里获得什么。就在不久之前，我目睹了一场犬赛，一只极为出众的犬在一位业余指导手牵引下输给了一只由职业指导手牵引的品质相对稍差的犬。经过步态对比，裁判明显无从下手做出最终选择。接着裁判要求两只犬进行对狗，那位业余指导手没能控制好犬，犬露出了迷茫的表情且降下了尾部。孰胜孰败，仅此一点足以。丰富的赛场经验赋予了职业指导手相当实用的优势。

最后在犬只美容方面，多数业余选手从顶级职业指导手处获益匪浅。在西高地白梗美容的学习的数十年当中和以后，Cliff Hallmark, George Ward, Dora Lee以及Wendell Wilson等人都是杰出的。由于职业指导手与犬只日夜相伴，他们深知美容要点，也在逐渐改良犬只的外观。从我们自己的经历得知，我们的犬在比赛第四天的状态远比第一天时好。作为业余选手的我们并不能像职业指导手一样每一个周末都参加比赛，即便是怀着最好的心态要想在这份工作中紧跟队伍也是十分困难的。毕竟，我们中的多数必须出去赚钱来维持继续参加犬赛运动，并且饲养从赛场退役下来的犬只。我们可能还会有一条待产的母犬。培育赛犬走向顶端的路上充满了让我们分心的琐碎杂事。

这些都是为什么专业指导手比业余参赛者或那些偶尔来参加比赛的人更能在赛场上有更为出色表现的原因。职业指导手的发挥常常会超越以上有利因素组合所带来的优势。在前文中，我也写到一些顶级赛级犬更多地得益于犬主的财力、名气和指导手的能力而不是其自身的品质。更糟的是，专业指导手总是在犬组赛中打败实力颇强由非专业人士牵引的犬只。不过这并不是职业指导手的错，他们有为其客户做到最好的义务和职责。如果我们一定要指责谁，那就请将手指指向那些为了图方便省事而将奖花颁给赛场常胜面孔，而不诚实、正直地通过所学知识来寻找犬种赛中最佳犬只的裁判吧。

下一次当你败给一位职业指导手之时，千万别不假思索就指责那位指导手或是裁判。以上那些答案能够让你从失败当中缓过劲来，让你对自己与自己的犬只重拾信心，但是它们却无法帮助你在下一场比赛中获得胜利。取而代之的是，你应该扪心自问你拥有的那只犬是否从整体上更加出色（并不仅仅是在某些特质上突出），你的犬是否在美容方面至少与那只同台较量的犬一样好，你的牵引是否出众。最关键的是，问问自己可以做些什么来增加自己获胜的几率。再一次，确保自己不会被“没有任何原因”的回答而打倒——因为这个答案并不会让你提升技巧或是在将来增加赢面。请朋友拍摄下当天你与对手的较量，之后再不断回放观看。现实中我与犬的表现与我脑中所想象的场面总是让我吃惊连连。尽管这个方法会让人十分沮丧，却不失为一种很好的学习方式。学习也正是如此。

最后，展示犬只是一项运动，这个世上并不存在完美的运动。繁殖者、参赛者、无论那种指导手以及裁判都是人，人无完人，会犯错也有缺陷。指望所有裁判都是完美无缺、知识渊博的想法是天真可笑的。那些无理的冒失鬼应该立刻遁形。完美无缺的体系尚未发明也永远不会出现。切莫因为不好的经验而抱怨不止，而该从中学习、成长。

作者简介：自1959年起，Gerry G. Meisels博士与他的家庭就开始饲养、繁殖展示西高地白梗（主要为形态赛），完成了超过50只的家庭繁殖西高地与诺维奇梗、拉萨犬的冠军登陆。Gerry G. Meisels博士不仅获得了所有梗犬的审查资格，还是圣彼得堡犬类繁殖协会的代表、Lakeland-Winter Haven养犬俱乐部主席，美国裁判进修委员会西高地梗犬俱乐部主席。

原文摘自犬展年鉴。

晨光

原文摘自犬展年鉴。

In Defense of Professional Handlers

These are all legitimate reasons why professional handlers will typically do better at the shows than the amateur exhibitor, especially the occasional one. Professional handlers often do even better than these factors would justify. I have written before that some top ranked dogs are there more by virtue of their owners’ pocketbook and the prestige and competence of their handler than the quality of the dog. It is even worse that handlers only too often win in the classes over considerably better and equally well-presented dogs. But that’s not the professional handlers’ fault, they have an ethical and practical obligation to do the best they can for their clients. If we must point fingers somewhere, it would be at judges who take the easy way out by putting up the best-known face rather than acting with knowledge, honesty and integrity to seek the best dog in each class regardless of who is at the other end of the lead.
The next time you lose to a professional handler, resist the immediate impulse to blame it on the handler or the judge. Those are easy answers that help you get over the loss and make you feel good about yourself and your dog, but they will not help you win the next time. Instead, ask yourself whether you really have the better dog overall (not just better in some single characteristic), whether your dog was groomed at least as well as the one to whom you lost, and whether you handled well in the ring. Most importantly, ask yourself what you could have done that would have improved your chances of winning. Again it’s best to resist the easy answer – “nothing” – because that will not help you get better or improve your chances in the future. Ask a friend to videotape you and your competitor in the ring the next day and then play it back several times. I am always amazed how different my dog and I look from what I think we look like. It’s a great way to learn even if it is a bit of a downer. Learning is really what it is all about.

Finally, showing your dogs is a sport, and there is no perfect sport. Breeders, exhibitors, handlers of all kinds, and judges are people and people are not perfect, they make mistakes and have weaknesses. It would be naive indeed to expect all judges to be perfect and completely knowledgeable, objective and honorable. While the most egregious offenders should be removed expeditiously. The perfect system has not yet been invented and never will be. Don’t let the bad experiences get to you but learn from them.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - He and his family have owned, bred and shown (primarily in conformation) West Highland White Terriers since 1959, have finished over 50 home-bred Westies and a number of dogs in other breeds, notably Norwich Terriers and Lhasa Apso. He is a judge licensed for all Terriers, Delegate to the AKC for the St. Petersburg Dog Fanciers Association, President of the Lakeland-Winter Haven KC, and chair of the West Highland White Terrier Club of America’s Judges’ Education Committee.

There isn’t a show where you can’t hear “amateur” breeder-owners grumbling about the preference judges seem to give to dogs shown by professional handlers. Just recently a lengthy discussion of this subject dominated one of the breed list-servs. Is this grumbling and the implied criticism of handlers justified? Is there anything we “amateur” exhibitors can do to improve our odds for success?

Before we can answer these questions, we need to identify and clarify the differences in the expectations from dog shows of breeder-owner-handlers and professional handlers. The “amateur” exhibitor’s first objective is to win the points that eventually lead up to a championship. In principle, at least, that relates to the most basic purpose of conformation shows, evaluation of breeding stock and advancement of breed quality. Another objective may be to promote a stud in BOB competition, and to enhance the opportunities to place puppies in quality homes, especially show homes. Some “amateur” owner-handlers become highly skilled in the preparation of their dogs for the ring, and in presenting them to judges. Such “amateur” handlers do so on a par with professional handlers, with the only difference being that they are self-funded and do not earn a significant part of their living from their involvement in the sport. Not so long ago the delegates debated whether they should be permitted to charge a fee for judging. A former handler who was then a delegate put in writing a comment that probably helped substantially to defeat that attempt. He referred to “amateur” owner-handlers as not being good enough to get paid for what they were doing. I was not the only one offended by such ignorance and arrogance.

It would be a mistake to lump all “amateur” handlers into a single group. There are some outstanding amateur handlers and many that are less than highly skilled. It would also be a mistake to lump all professional handlers together. Many became professional handlers, i.e. began showing for others for pay, primarily to help meet the expenses of showing their own dogs. They tend to show just a few dogs, and travel within a limited range. Most of these also hold full-time jobs that provide the major source of their income. At the other extreme are the “big time” professional handlers that carry 20 or 25 dogs to well over 100 shows every year. They may have gross revenues (before expenses) of up to half a million dollars a year. They are typically the ones who carry the most heavily promoted dogs that are on top of the major ratings systems. No matter how they began, when the operation gets to be that size it must be run as a business. The success of that business depends on the number of dogs they get to show, their quality, and the pocketbook of the owners. Owners don’t keep their dogs with handlers unless their dogs win consistently. Thus winning becomes a necessity and the virtually exclusive purpose of being in the ring.

Once professional handlers reach that level of success, they can become selective in the dogs they accept. “Amateurs” must show what they have bred. A few amateurs operate kennels large enough so that they too can show only the best. It stands to reason that the average quality of dogs shown by top flight handlers is likely to be higher than the average quality of all dogs shown by amateurs. The repetition of the word average is critical because it emphasizes that the statements do not apply to individual dogs. Many individual dogs shown by amateurs are also of top quality.

The experience gained by being in the ring thousands of times in one year gives handlers an extra edge because they know exactly what to anticipate from both the judge and the dog. Not too long ago, I watched a very good dog shown by an amateur lose to a professionally handled good dog of slightly lesser quality. The judge put both dogs through their paces obviously having a difficult time making up his mind. Then the judge asked the dogs to spar and the amateur allowed his dog to wander off and drop his tail. That was enough to swing the decision. Ring experience gives professional handlers a real and well-earned edge.

Finally, top professional handlers out-groom most (but not all) amateurs. We have been helped enormously by handlers. Cliff Hallmark, George Ward, and Dora Lee and Wendell Wilson stand out especially in our memories as we learned to groom our Westies, a process that took decades and continues to this day. Professional handlers have their dogs with them all the time, week after week. They see what needs to be done repeatedly, and they gradually improve their dogs’ appearance. I know from our own experience that our dogs look a lot better on the last day of a four-day circuit than they do on the first. We as amateurs cannot get to shows every weekend as professionals do, and even with the best intentions it is difficult to keep up with the work. After all, most of us also have to go out and make the money that allows us to participate in the sport, and maintain the dogs that have retired from the ring. We may have a bitch to breed and then whelp. It is very easy and natural to be distracted from keeping the show dogs in top shape.