SAN MATEO JUDGES

We thought you might want to know a little about the Best In Show judges slated for the San Mateo shows. As always, we are bringing you the facts, we are not implying, inferring, or predicting anything. Nonetheless, you have my permission to speculate and have fun.

One of our judges, Peter Baynes from Lyman SC, has not judged a Best In Show since November 2007 and will do the Sunday San Mateo KC event. Another, Stephen Hurt from Louisville KY, has judged one final this year, the San Mateo KC show on 22 March in Vallejo CA. At that show he chose the Giant Schnauzer, CH Gaililee’s Pure of Spirit in a final that included the Scottish Deerhound, CH Jaraluv Ouija, and the Affenpinscher, CH Tamarin Tug. Mr. Hurt is scheduled to do BIS at Saturday’s event hosted by the Kennel Club of Salinas. Scheduled to judge Monday’s Santa Cruz Kennel Club final is the poetically named Robert R. Frost. He has been in the big ring twice this year, where he tapped the Smooth Fox Terrier, CH Torquay Demitrio, and the English Springer Spaniel, CH Tara’s Master of D Game. Neither of the shows included a top ten dog.

Robert R. Frost

Santa Cruz KC BIS Judge

By far the most interesting is Kimberly Anne Meredith-Cavanna, a local from Pleasant Hill CA. She has done six finals this year and in every one she saw one or more of our top ten dogs. At her first show of the year, on 13 January in Dallas TX, she gave the top prize to the Gordon Setter, Ch. Brodruggan Black Knight over the Affenpinscher, Taser. Two weeks later, at one of the country’s last benched shows, the Golden Gate KC, show at San Francisco’s Cow Palace, She chose the Deerhound, Ouija, over kennelmate, the Giant Schnauzer, Spirit. In March she was in the Midwest in Columbia MO and found the Pembroke Welsh Corgi, CH Coventry‘s Vanity Fair in a final without any other top ten dogs.

Kimberly Anne Meredith-Cavanna

Oakland KC BIS Judge

A month later, she was back in California for the Sierra-Tuolumne KC show in Merced. The Corgi, Carly, also made the trip, hoping for another big piece of silverware., as did Spirit and Ouija. However, it was the Scottish Terrier, CH Roundtown Mercedes of Maryscot, runing away with the big rosette that day. Three weeks later, Judge Meredith-Cavanna was in Delaware for the Wilmington KC show and the area’s two most prominent dogs were there, the Pointer, Ch Cookieland Seasyde Hollyberry, and the Sealyham Terrier, CH Efbe’s Hidalgo of Goodspice, and the Pointer prevailed on that day. At her most recent BIS assignment in Eugene OR on 4 September, she surprised some choosing the Affenpinscher over the Giant Schnauzer and the Scottish Deerhound.

What can one make of all this? Just one thing, you can never predict who’s going to win an AKC dog show.