# AKC Junior Handler



## jaggirl47 (Jul 18, 2009)

My oldest son is turning 9 in July. We are getting a new pup around the same time. I was wanting to enroll him in the AKC Junior Handler classes and shows so he can bond and learn how to work with the pup. Is anyone familiar with this?


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## jaggirl47 (Jul 18, 2009)

Anyone?


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## kayek9 (Aug 27, 2002)

My daughter showed in juniors when she was younger. Do you have a local GSD club near you? Maybe someone from the club can mentor your son and help him learn the proper way to handle and present a GSD. The AKC junior ring is pretty competitive, you'll want to make sure your son has good instruction and is comfortable presenting the dog before he goes in the ring. The junior is "supposed" to do all the training on the dog that they are presenting, however, when my daughter was showing, we ran into a lot of kids using retired champions as their junior dog, the dog was 100% ring trained already for the kid!! I am not aware of any actual AKC junior handling classes, maybe things have changed since my daughter showed. You may look up a local all breed club as well, they may offer conformation classes, but your best bet would be a shepherd specialty club. German Shepherds show like no other breed, so the handling is a bit different then say a toy or working breed. Good luck to your son, we need some new handlers in this breed!!


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## jaggirl47 (Jul 18, 2009)

They do have actual classes now that the kids learn how to do all of the handling. They compete against each other as well as other classes. The dog is not supposed to be judged at all. He will be doing it with our pup because whether they win or not, I think it will be a good bonding experience for them, as well as teach him skills. I do know there are classes near where we are moving, but I just don't know how they are actually run, if you get what I mean.


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## kayek9 (Aug 27, 2002)

That's correct, the dog is not to be judged on it's conformation, the judge is supposed to be judging the junior and how well he/she presents the dog. Are there any all breed shows near you that you can take your son to to watch the junior show competition? I agree, having your son work with your pup will bond them tightly. Have fun!!


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## jaggirl47 (Jul 18, 2009)

I am not too sure about shows around where I am currently at. We are moving in a month and a half and from what I have read, they have the shows frequently in Washington.


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