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
  4. Have whelped 5-8 litters
  5. Have at least 10 Champions bred.
  6. Ideally, mentors should have attended at least one BCOA breeder/owner seminar (e.g., the viewing of the BCOA Judges’ Group slide presentation to be given for members at the ‘98 National) prior to being considered as a mentor.

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.