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| Mr. William (Bill) P. Shelton [6125] Pomona, CA Judge (etc.) Rating System: (instructions) This judge has been rated by 57 members
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| Date | Rtg | Display Name | Breed(s) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 14, 2024 | 1 | anon | working | |||||
| absolutely one of the WORST judges i have ever had the misfortune of observing, and I have seen a ton of bad judges, but he just takes the cake. he has been breeding top-winning dogs and judging for many decades but his experience does not come into play at all when he makes his decisions. i don't know if he actually knows how to judge but whatever his actual level of knowledge of canine conformation and structure is, he prefers to ignore it in favor of rewarding his favorite faces. in a specialty for my breed a few months ago, he gave all the big awards to dogs from the same breeder, whom he is well known to be good friends with. BISS went to a puppy from the classes bred by that breeder who had terrible kickup of the hind legs when moving, snubbing many top-winning, better-moving, and far more deserving specials, and during group judging he put that puppy up for a massive group win, again snubbing many obviously superior dogs in the process. fast forward a few months and for some reason I cannot understand, yet another specialty club decided to hire him as their specialty judge. guess who won this time? yes, another puppy from that same breeder, who also has jaw-droppingly bad kickup of the hind legs when moving. THIS IS A WORKING BREED, PEOPLE. Clean, efficient, and effortless movement should be the #1 judging priority along with balanced and correct structure! Mr. Shelton cares for neither, only about rewarding the faces he knows and likes. DNS, DNS, DNS! | ||||||||
| Jan 11, 2023 | 1 | Long-time Breeder | Dalmatians | |||||
| Watched him judge a very large entry of specials (none of my breeding). Very inconsistent choices. Left some of the best dogs out of his cut, kept and awarded some dogs that were very undeserving. His eventual BOB and Select Dog -- two of the best dogs in the entry -- were decent movers, but the other top awards were not. Willing to put up dogs with major faults, including cow-hocks and missing trim. Very hit or miss in his judging, needs to pay more attention to movement and to the Dalmatian standard. | ||||||||
| Jun 8, 2019 | 3 | Geoffrey Kulik | LG Dachs | |||||
| Very kind to new puppies. Clear and considerate | ||||||||
| May 15, 2019 | 1 | Bernese Mt Dogs | Expert! | |||||
| He did the same thing at Westminster with the Bernese. Awarded BOB to a dog that was visibly shying away from him. Handler used obvious techniques to control the dog. Bill Shelton is a dog trainer and should have known. Caught him at a local show watching Bernese 3 days in a row just a week before he was to judge them at Westminster. He acted as though he was just conveniently talking to people he knew in eye shot of the Berner ring. We had a Regional Specialty so no doubt that is why he came all the way to AZ from MO. I too have lost respect for this judge. Does not practice what he preaches. | ||||||||
| Feb 14, 2019 | 4 | Videoviewer | ||||||
| Have lost respect for this judge. A dog tries to nail him at Westminster while examining the bite. Not only does he not DQ the dog, he later gives the dog a Select. It's hard to believe he could not find another deserving dog at Westminster for the Select rather than rewarding bad temperament. Go figure that one out. | ||||||||
| Jul 9, 2017 | 4 | Joanne Wolff | Miniature Dachshunds | |||||
| I found this judge to be clear in his instructions and very courteous. Kind and gentle with the puppies that were just starting to show. He picked good choices for WD & WB...ignoring the young bitches lack of full coat, but "getting" the fact that she moves like a dream. Take him a sound,well moving dog, present it well and he will put it up. | ||||||||
| Jul 9, 2017 | 5 | anonymous | hounds | |||||
| Top-flight judge. Really knows his breed standards and what he likes. Will move you a lot in the breed ring. If your dog can't or won't move well, you're not going to get anywhere. Dog has to have type and be well-presented for a placement. I saw no sign of politics at all. Watched him with another breed ring and he put up WD for BOB and WB for BOS--multiple specials but he was absolutely right--the class winners were better than the specials. Would enter under him any time. Very helpful with suggestions with our breed while handing out ribbons. And, no, we didn't win--just consolation prize :-) | ||||||||
| Nov 12, 2016 | 2 | anon OH | working | |||||
| I was looking forward to exhibiting under Mr Shelton, very large entry with 30+ specials & his ring management was very confusing. Did most of his judging by going down the line up rather than having the dogs out and individually examined. Made his cut and left some very nice dogs (PH & OH) out of his lineup. Furthermore it was unclear which group was the "cut" as he never indicated to the group that they were excused. We were left hanging out in the ring for a very long time, without any idea what he was doing. Put up a very incorrect example of our breed and then matched it with the other awards. Some say he was consistent, but his vision of the breed is far different from most. My feeling is that he was more interested in finding the unknown dogs than rewarding the best ones in the ring, | ||||||||
| Jun 6, 2016 | 2 | Annonymous | Dachshunds | Expert! | ||||
| Standard, Standard, Standard!!!! Chooses a standard every time over a mini no matter the quality or temperament. | ||||||||
| Mar 30, 2016 | 5 | PEMOM | Pembroke Welsh Corgi | |||||
| Very pleasant, very kind and very patient. He watched all of the dogs as they moved and was very thorough and gentle on the table. I watched and noticed that he was baiting the dogs on the down and back so I stepped aside as she stacked and he made a sound and my corgi lit up like a Christmas tree! He gave us a huge smile and told her, "Oh good girl!" Even though she was a little out of shape (returning from a broken toe) he placed her 3rd. Seemed care very much about getting the BOB right. Will put a puppy up for BOW. Would definitely show to him again. | ||||||||
| Mar 11, 2016 | 5 | Justine Spiers | Borzoi | |||||
| Mr. Shelton is one of my favorites. He always seems to find, in our breed, the best of what he is brought. Very aware of correct breed type and that is evident in his selections. He isn't afraid to put up a class animal over specials, either. One of the best judges out there, at least for my breed. | ||||||||
| Jan 31, 2016 | 1 | Eastwood | PWD | |||||
| Very personal judge but very political judge. He has his favorite handlers and breeders so it is a mute point showing to him. | ||||||||
| Oct 25, 2015 | 2 | rridgebacksrule | Rhodesian Ridgeback | |||||
| I found Mr Shelton to be very nice to competitors. That being said, I watched as he brought in the Best Of Breed Specials in to the ring. He had all the dogs line up first (no go around), he did his examination, when he dog to the 4th male special, he placed the legs in the exam, not uncommon so no big deal. after moving all the Specials around, he brought out 1 male (handled by a professional) the Special make that he manipulated in the exam, and winners dog(with a pro). He had them move around the ring twice, then ined them up on the diagonal mat. the first dog (with the pro) was ready and stacked along the edge of the mat, the second special was crooked and not at all put together, the winners dog (with a pro) was ready. Mr Shelton left his position in the ring to go HAND STACK the Special who was not stacked and ready. after hand stacking and telling the owner/handler that she should learn how to handle like the handler in front of her, Mr Shelton awarded BEST OF BREED to his hand stacked train wreck special. Mr Shelton will never get another entry from me. | ||||||||
| Sep 4, 2015 | 4 | Terri Frenia | Dachshunds | |||||
| I have shown to Bill a few times and he is always a joy to show to and seems to enjoy judging(no I dont always win :). He is great with exhibitors and has a good hand on the dogs as well as knowledge. I have also watched him judge several other breeds and be very patient with new people | ||||||||
| Aug 29, 2015 | 2 | Meghann Lord-Fenn | Borzoi | |||||
| Appeared to like mature animals, with lots of coat. | ||||||||
| Sep 8, 2014 | 2 | Randall | Working | |||||
| Picks are political | ||||||||
| Aug 13, 2014 | 2 | Sporting | Expert! | |||||
| I found his judging to be very political Owner handlers were consistently overlooked for poor quality dogs with professionals. OH dogs might as well have been invisible and I watched several breeds with good sized entries. DNS. | ||||||||
| Apr 23, 2014 | 5 | Teri Underhill | Boxers | |||||
| Despite what other posts state, I have always found Mr. Shelton to be very pleasant and fair - puts up what he likes. He has and will put up owner handlers and gives everyone a fair look. Appears to like good sound movement and correct sound bodies. Very gentle on puppies. Not afraid of putting up deserving puppies in classes or groups. Gave a beautiful Newfoundland puppy (that was put up BOB from the BBE class over 4 specials) a group 1. | ||||||||
| Apr 17, 2014 | herding | herding | ||||||
| Will with caution enter one more time, bringing our best to see if he responds differently. Was told he was political. Will see next time if that is confirmed. | ||||||||
| Sep 29, 2013 | 2 | anonymous | Hound | |||||
| While Mr Shelton may be very nice and polite, I find that his knowledge of the breed standard is lacking. He is very political and goes with who is doing the big ads. He will not get an entry from me again. | ||||||||
| Jun 19, 2013 | 4 | Dragonmyst | Working & Herding | |||||
| I have won and lost under him both as an owner-handler and a professional. He is very fair and seems to give all the dogs in the ring equal consideration. I will show to him and look forward to it when I see him on a pane. | ||||||||
| Nov 25, 2012 | 3 | Anonymous | Working Breeds | |||||
| Very pleasant, but as someone else posted, we're not paying for "nice"...unless it comes with integrity. Was not particularly political in the classes, just didn't seem to care about the breed standard. He had his own "type" that he prefers, which looks nothing like the standard. Likes taller dogs, elegant and flashy (including too much white on a Swissy) in a mollosser breed, and way too forgiving of cow-hocked rears IMO. VERY disappointing as I really want to like this guy…which I do, just won't show to him. | ||||||||
| Jul 2, 2012 | 3 | Cynthia and Ed | Scottish Deerhound | |||||
| Very polite and very caring in his handling of the dogs. Thorough. There seems to be a political element at work because we could see that his 'preference' didn't win the BOB. Would show in front of him again. | ||||||||
| Oct 22, 2011 | 3 | Adrienne Freyer | Working Breeds | Expert! | ||||
| Recently ring stewarded for him. He will count teeth. In the breeds I saw, yes to some politics, but I thought he did a fair job in the classes. He was extremely pleasant to all the exhibitors!! Gave every dog a fair exam & watched every dog as it moved. I would show to him if he's on a panel. | ||||||||
| Aug 7, 2011 | 4 | Owner Handler | Great Dane | |||||
| Very good with our 6mo old puppy bitch!! He made it fun for the 2 puppies in the ring. I will show to him again!! | ||||||||
| May 25, 2011 | 1 | WD | pwc | |||||
| Very political, but nice - however, i dont pay for nice, i pay for integrity | ||||||||
| Jul 11, 2010 | 3 | anon | Siberian Huskies | Expert! | ||||
| I'm so disappointed. This judge used to be honest and put up dogs, but he seemed to only use dogs with handlers. Very nice to show too, polite and good with the dogs though. | ||||||||
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