BCOA Mentors

Mentors will be selected from a BCOA Board approved list of experienced breeders whose qualifications should include:

  1. Be a BCOA member in good standing
  2. Have good communication skills
  3. Have 15 years of active exhibiting/breeding
    AND
  4. Have whelped a minimum of 5 litters
  5. Have bred at least 10 Champions
    OR
  6. Have been an AKC approved judge of Borzoi for a minimum of 5 years.

Mentors shall have attended at least one BCOA breeder/owner seminar (e.g., the viewing of the BCOA Judges’ Group slide presentation given at the National Specialty) prior to being considered as a mentor.

In addition, mentor selection for the National Specialty judges study group should also include at least 2-3 breeder judges with sufficient judging experience to relate to judging specific questions from students.

The purpose of the ringside tutoring session is to provide the student judges an opportunity to observe a large number of dogs in a short amount of time and to allow them to realize the diversity of “type” within the breed which is acceptable under the AKC/BCOA Borzoi Standard.

It is vitally important that the mentors who assist in the ringside tutoring session present the breed in a positive manner to the student judges. In order to do this they must be willing to be objective and avoid any impression of “lobbying” for a certain type.

During the ringside tutoring session, mentors will:

  • provide immediate feedback on observations made by the student-judges on dogs in the ring;
  • Assist the student judges in interpreting and applying the Standard through explanation and observation;
  • Be thoroughly familiar with the AKC/BCOA Standard for the Borzoi and be able to justify all observations with Standard-specific language.

Mentors should be able to serve a minimum of one hour at a time and should rotate to different seating positions among the judges at half hour intervals, or class breaks, as appro- priate. (The ideal ratio is two students to one mentor.)

The end result of the session should be that the student judges leave the session with a very positive impression of the breed and an appreciation for the Borzoi as the beautiful, versatile dog it is.

(rev. 4-08)