Covid-19 continues to leave a long trail of destruction behind it with no end in sight.

The NZDJA board is very conscious that since the first case of COVID-19 was discovered in New Zealand and we experienced the shock of having shows cancelled, it became very apparent that there were going to be serious ramifications for our hobby.

With our international borders closed and showing no signs of re-opening in the near future, it has become very apparent that we do not have enough judges in New Zealand to fulfil the requirements of the show calendar for the 2020/21 dates.

The Board has spent a considerable amount of time in recent weeks reviewing our promotion process and have agreed on some significant changes as outlined below. Bearing in mind that we have a duty to uphold the vision and core values of our organisation we believe we have found a balance between giving our judges an unprecedented opportunity to “fast track” the promotion process whilst maintaining the quality of pre-qualification requirements and examination process.  

These changes have been endorsed by Executive Council and they will, in due course, announce their own steps to help relieve the situation. These changes will take effect AFTER the current  examinations are completed.

1. The Ribbon Parade panel is to be dissolved and all judges currently on the Ribbon Parade Panel will automatically be promoted to the Open Show panel.
2. The Open Show exam paper requirement is removed.
3. A new requirement for observation of at least 2 appointments and 50 dogs is added for applications to the first group after November 2021. The Board will announce a panel of Observers in due course.
4. The requirement for 10 stewarding appointments now moves from the Open Show panel to the First Group panel criteria.
5. The Board will be holding two sets of examinations in 2021. Theory exams in January and June, practical exams in March and August.
6. Applicants sitting their written examination for their 5^th, 6^th and 7^th groups will no longer be required to sit a practical examination.
7. Applicants will be permitted to “bank” up to two sets of exam passes pending completion of the required number of dogs and/or appointments.
8. Group theory exams will increase to 100 breed questions. Those sitting their 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd or 4^th group will also be required to sit an additional 20 questions on rules and regulations, anatomy and glossary of terms. The pass mark will increase to 75% of the total paper(s).
9. Increased the Specialist Peer judging from the Ribbon Parade panel to Championship Show Panel.

Much of our criteria remains in place such as the requirement to attend meetings, accumulate credit points, judge the previous group twice and have judged a specified number of dogs. We have, however, reduced the number of dogs required for those sitting their third group to 300 (down from 400). We have also retained the number of dogs required to be judged at Ribbon Parade and Open Show level at 300. Applicants for their first group panel are still required to judge the group aspiring to at open show level at least twice.

We are also revamping the application forms to cater for the regulation changes, and these will be available on the website soon. There will also be a new form which allows application for promotion where an exam has been “banked” and the criteria has now been fulfilled. These can be sent to the Board at any time during the year and the Board will expediate the approval process.

The current exams will proceed as planned and applicants currently sitting their 5^th, 6^th or 7^th group need to complete the previous promotion requirements prior to the new regulations taking effect in November.

We understand that these changes are significant and therefore will take some time to fully understand. Please see the attached Q & A which we hope will help with some questions you may have following this announcement.

NZDJA Regulation Changes Questions & Answers

Q.          Why did the board remove the Ribbon Parade Panel?

A.           Our goal was to get as many judges progressing as possible. We felt many were “stuck” on the Ribbon Parade panel due to lack of opportunities to get appointments. The Ribbon Parade panel was always treated as a training ground and we felt that by bringing in the requirement for observation then it would allow trainee judges to get feedback on their judging and instil good habits early in their judging career.

Q.          Who will be the Observers?

A.           We are still working on that and will announce a panel and further details around this soon. What we can say is that they will be experienced judges and it will be your responsibility to make the arrangements for observation and get sign off.

Q.          Why do these only apply after November 2021?

A.           We identified that there are a number of judges who have already been judging for several years and would, under our previous requirements, be applying for their first group at the next opportunity. We didn’t want to hinder this process by putting an observation requirement on them.

Q.          Can Clubs still hold Ribbon Parades?

A.           Absolutely. This in no way affects the Dogs NZ regulations regarding shows. When clubs are looking for a judge for their Ribbon Parades then the judge must be listed on the Open Show panel or above (but not the All Breeds panel).

Q.          Why am I still required to judge twice at Open Show level before applying for my first group.

A.           Because we have removed the Ribbon Parade panel, we felt it was important that applicants for their first group also experienced judging at a show more aligned to a championship show rather than just Ribbon Parades. We also expect that in the current climate and for the next 12 months or so, many clubs may choose to hold Open Shows instead of, or alongside,  Championship shows. 

Q.          Do I still have to get 50 credit points when applying for promotion?

A.           Yes, for the first group upwards. The credit points can still be accumulated over the previous 2 years              but can only be used once. For example:- You are applying for a group panel in November 2020 and have accumulated 80 credit points since December 2018. You use 50 of those points for your November application and you pass the exam requirements for those exams at the beginning of 2021. You intend to apply in April for another group. You will need a further set of 50 points accumulated since May 2019 but can use any of the remaining 30 points from your previous application provided they were earned after the qualifying date.

Q.          How does “banking” exams work and why can we do this?

A.           The goal with this whole process was to allow and encourage judges to achieve promotion at a faster level than previously and to delay, but not remove, perceived obstacles such as qualifying criteria. We don’t want to water down the integrity and quality of our judges but recognised that many judges in the past had been held up in applying for promotion as they hadn’t judged the required number of dogs or the required number of appointments.

               For example, a judge is currently on the Utility panel. They have judged this group once at championship show level and judged a total of 70 dogs at that first appointment. They intend to apply for the Non-Sporting group next. Under the new regulations they no longer must wait to get that second appointment and the required number of dogs before they can apply to sit the exams. If they pass the Non-Sporting exams in 2021, they will not be promoted to that panel until they have judged Utility at championship show level once more and a further 30 dogs. When they have completed that appointment, provided it includes the required number of dogs, they can then apply to the Board for the Non-Sporting exam passes to take effect and be promoted to non-sporting panel. In the meantime, if they are keen to do another set of exams in 2021 they can and “bank” those passes pending the completion of judging Non-Sporting twice and a total of 300 dogs. 

Q.          Why has the Board removed the practical exams for those sitting their 5^th, 6^th and 7^th groups and why those groups only?

A.           This decision was largely based on the history of passes and fails of exams in recent years. The bulk of fails at both theory and practical levels comes from those sitting their first and second groups. This is most probably attributed to lack of experience and knowledge. At 3^rd and 4^th group level there are still a number of candidates who fail at this level but this is less than the previous level. By the time candidates are applying for their 5^th, 6^th & 7^th groups we still see a number who don’t pass the theory but the vast majority of those sitting their practical at this level will pass. The Board felt that the theory exam is our assurance that judges at this final level have the required knowledge to be promoted to the panel they are aspiring to.

Q.          Why has the Board increased the group breed questions to 100 with increased the pass rate to 75%?

A.           By removing the practical exams for the 5^th 6^th & 7^th groupers we were also removing the second opportunity to test the applicants breed knowledge. At this level, judges should already have a good knowledge of regulations, glossary of terms and anatomy so we chose the replace these 20 questions with a further 20 breed questions and increase the pass rate to 75%. That brought us back to the exams papers for those sitting groups 1 – 4. We didn’t want to be writing 2 sets of breed questions so have continued with the 20 questions on regulations, glossary of terms and anatomy for those sitting groups 1 – 4 and increased the pass rate to 75% (of the total 120 questions). We will also allow an additional half hour in the exam for these candidates.

Q.          What is specialist peer judging and why has this been added?

A.           Specialist peer judging at Ribbon Parade level has been included in our regulations for many years but is little used, if ever. Dogs NZ wants to support our Specialist Clubs with their championship shows and the current COVID-19 climate has identified that there is a shortage of specialists available in New Zealand to judge these shows. However, there is a pool of knowledgeable, experienced breeders and exhibitors who may have never wanted to go through the promotion process to be a judge but are otherwise suitably experienced to judge a speciality show. This will be driven by the Clubs. Clubs can apply to Dogs NZ for a suitably experienced person in their breed to judge a Specialty Championship show. Clubs will be limited to using one peer judge only each year and the peer judge can only judge once in a three-year period. Application for associate membership of that judge must be made to NZDJA as part of the process.

Q.          Are these regulation changes temporary or permanent?

A.           These changes now form part of our Judges Regulations. A copy is now available on the website. Click here to view. The Board intends to review these changes at the end of 2021.