Summary: Anne Katona on judging, retirement, owner handlers<br> Anne Katona in 2005 awarding a Kerry Blue Terrier in the group.<br> <br> Long time judge Anne Katona shares her insights about judging, announces her planned retirement in January 2021 and offers encouragement for owner handlers.<br> <br> Famous for her greetings in the ring, where she reminds every exhibitor that "wiggles are allowed," the perennially cheerful Katona noted that she's "never known a wiggle to hurt bone structure. Why do they have to be little robots?"<br> "I want everybody who walks out of my ring to say, I didn’t win, but it’s ok, I had a good time" Katona said.<br> Tips for Owner Handlers<br> <br> Katona's history as a breeder and owner-handler of Kerry Blue Terriers leaves her with an affinity for new folks and owner handlers. Her tips for them:<br> <br> * New people in the ring: Stand up straight, take a deep breath, and realize every person in this ring has been in your place.<br> * In the group – take care of your dog, play with your dog, have fun, don’t just stand there with the dog on the end of the lead and hand on your hip<br> * Take a couple seconds, go to corner of ring and then go around after the down and back. You're cheating yourselves out of 30-50 feet of the dog being seen. And judges need to see how do the dogs take off and how they get their feet under them.<br> * Owner handlers can be competitive if they take the time to train the dog.<br> * Most important thing an owner handler can own, other than their dog, is a mirror… buy a full length mirror, put it on the wall horizontally at the level of your dog’s height, watch the dog in a free stack.<br> * People with table breeds, work with them, let them walk forward, don’t just pick them up and plop them down. Not judging dogs on the table, just examining.<br> * Don't suffocate your dogs by stacking and leaning over them. Hand stack, stand back, don’t bend over the dog.<br> * Do you want the truth? A lot of people don’t want to hear the truth because their ego is attached to that dog.<br> <br>
