Untold 2025: Judging Futurity at the 2025 ASSA National

Today I have been looking back on my blog posts from 2025, and there is a Huge Missing Experience-  I Judged Futurity and Veteran Sweepstakes at the 2025 ASSA National!   This is quite the Honor because one has to be nominated, and then voted in.  

The National was held in Greenly, Colorado in April.   I didn't take many photos of this trip.  My friend, Katrina Steward, went with me.  Katrina has been involved with shelties for a while, is a member of the ASSA and worked at the show as the ring steward.   I was happy she was there to keep me company since I wasn't allowed to talk with anyone before the show.  

One major disappointment was that the official videographer didn't make it on the day I was judging.  I was looking forward to watching my ring procedure and also looking at the dogs from a spectator perspective to see if I would have chosen the same dogs once I was in the "arm chair quarterback" position.  That is the view I normally have, and it was quite different being the one in the middle of the ring,

One of the biggest differences I noticed was that I was very focused on the dog being judged at the time.  I didn't find myself looking at the lineup of dogs which, as a spectator, is something one does constantly.  I was also surprised at how fast the time seemed to pass.   

Best In Futurity: Laureate Ophelia

When I was preparing for the assignment (and I did a lot to prepare), I sat down with pencil and paper and worked out the timeline.  I looked at how many entries were in a class, should I split the class, calculated how many minutes each class would be, when I should take lunch......   I knew it was an all day assignment, but I also didn't want it to go too long.   On the day of the event I did a good job keeping the ring time right on schedule, which made me pleased because I was not checking the clock.

While I was judging I made sure I did the exact same procedure for every dog.  When I was done, many people complimented me on two things: 1. that I was smiling the whole time 2. that I was consistent and everyone was treated the same way.   I truly enjoyed the assignment and I found qualities in all of the dogs.  

Futurity (the National) and Sweepstakes (local specialties) normally have the lineup of winners come in the same way- the males followed by the females, or: 12-18 month dogs (males), followed by 9-12 month dogs, followed by 6-9month dogs, followed by 12-18 month bitches (females), followed by 9-12 month bitches followed by 6-9 month bitches.   The classes are not divided by color, so the final line up is all 6 classes of winners.    I have never liked having the 6-9 month puppy dog being chased by the 12-18 month puppy bitch.  I feel it puts both of those two entries at a disadvantage.  As the judge, I was able to change things up, so I put the ages together and had the 12-18 month dog, followed by the 12-18 month bitch, followed by the 9-12 month dog, followed by the 9-12 month bitch- etc.   I also found it easier to look at the ages next to one another, and also evaluate if I felt the "dogs appear masculine, bitches feminine" (as stated in the standard). 

Runner up to Best In Futurity: Erable Limelight

I was very pleased with my final lineup, and also felt that if the classes had been divided by color, I  would have had even more beautiful puppies to consider. My final 6 had all colors represented.   In the end, the top prize of Best In Futurity went to the 12-18 month old bitch- a lovely, very feminine, sable.  Runner-up went to a tricolor 6-9 month old bitch.   Both of these girls finished their championships shortly after the National.

The veterans made me cry.  They were so lovely and were such beautiful quality.  I was interested to find out that Best in Veteran Sweepstakes was not a champion.  She was so lovely and I felt that she could even compete today- however she was spayed, and therefore not eligible to compete for championship points.  

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