Ted:No,I never judged (not where it would count).

We were general vendors at conformantion dog shows for close to 15 years.Great time,money good too,just too much of a physical toll on our bodies.Setting up a 20x30 tent and emptying a 24' box truck into it every weekend (sometimes at two locations per weekend) is a young persons job today.

I did have many good conversations with both judges and exhibitors through the years and got to know many of them well. Even today though,I still contend that 90% of people should not own dogs.When the only tiime a dog is treated well is if it wins in the ring,is wrong by me.

Breeding and exhibiting should be done for the betterment of the breed.....not the pocketbook. There are professional dog handlers around that make as much as 70k per year for handling just one dog.few handlers work just one though.

Over the years I've been witness to many occasions of dogs getting beaten by handlers and owners alike if they did not perform up to expectation.How can folks that do that come back and say how much they love dogs? The  sport has turned into a big money game.The only greedy bas***ds on the grounds should be the vendors that pay high fees to rent a spot.It was not uncommon for my booth fee to be over 2K for many indoor shows.

Ray