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SHOWDOGS: We're very pleased to meet you, Bruce Jenkins. Can you tell us more about you, the person?

Bruce: I opted out of the rat race in 1994 and decided if I was going to kill myself working it would be for myself, so I started a boarding kennel business and a grooming parlour. This also brought about a complete change in my lifestyle. Dashing off to every dog show, staying all day, accepting judging appointments without a lot of forward planning, and hopping on a plane at will to look at Dachshunds at shows overseas suddenly became a thing of the past. Suddenly I was in a 365 day, 24 hour a day job with responsibility to my customers and their pets as well as the pressures of making the business work profitably. Getting to a dog show in Johannesburg needs planning, let alone zooming off down to the coast! If I thought this new lifestyle would improve my social standing I was in for a surprise as here I am 50 something, single with 10 four legged kids living in the country ...... but I will not go back to city living by choice again.

I have always had a passion for the bush and wild life conservation and have managed to rush off to a few game parks on my trips to judge in Kenya or locally. However this interest has had to take a back seat. I love gardening but with a large property, time restraints, droughts and borehole water pressure I have contained my enthusiasm somewhat. I am, nontheless, an amateur fuchsia fancier which is my escape hatch for about half an hour each day; fussing with the plants, belonging to a club and showing my plants every year.

SHOWDOGS: When did dogs and doggy matters begin to occupy a large portion of your life?

Bruce: My parents started showing dogs when I was still very young, so I was naturally drawn into it as well. Dachshunds and a single Dobermann have always been around. I started young in committee work as my father was on the TKC Committee. Anna Sadler (later Kartsounis) was Secretary and she started a Junior Committee. Any dog-showing kid she could entice was on that committee. We had one meeting a year before the championship show and then two days before the show we worked at Milner Park where we individually numbered every cattle stall for each dog.

We put up signs for the breeds and their rows and made sure exhibitors with more than one breed had all their dogs benched together. On show day we directed exhibitors to their benching and, as ring runners, it was our job to pin up every CC, RC and Best of Breed certificate on the correct bench. The big event of the day was a free sit-down lunch in the restaurant as our reward. As an adult, I joined the South African Dachshund Club Committee with which I am still involved today. I also served on the Eastern Districts KC Committee together with my parents for 22 years before retiring. I still hold the club dear to my heart and am currently President. I did a lot of ring stewarding over the years but nowadays, with restricted show attendance, I choose to show my dogs instead.

SHOWDOGS: Can you share some of the highlights in your breeding/exhibiting career?

Bruce: We have had many lovely dogs over the years; imports from the famous UK Silvae kennel in the 1960s really put us on the map in a breed, which was then extremely popular, and we had many top winners. Ch Waydack Well Done set an extremely high standard followed by Ch Waydack Well To Do and Ch Waydack Whatatado. The introduction of the American dogs in the late 80s and mid 90s gave the kennel a major boost and I am very proud to have 3 generations of All Breed Championship Best In Show winners in direct line. Ch Waydack I'm A Winna, Ch Waydack Winning Gold and Ch Waydack Making Waves are quality dogs - over the past 10 years all acquitting themselves exceptionally well in the ring. I think in the current era the importation of Ch USA/SA/ZIM Rose Farms FYC von Boondox has had the greatest influence on the breed in this country and was a fabulous dog to show.

SHOWDOGS: What motivates you as a judge?

Bruce: Before the introduction of the Judges' Scheme one did not decide when to start judging, one had to wait to be invited. For me judging Dachshunds came early as I judged my first open show when I had just turned 18. Over the next 20 or so years the rest just followed on. My first preference is to show my dogs so I have made it a policy to accept a group to judge only every 3 years as I find it no fun to keep judging the same dogs year in and year out. When I judge especially large breed entries overseas where I do not know the dogs I love to look at my catalogue at the end of the day to see if I have been consistent in putting up dogs from the same lines. That, regardless of mistakes I have made, confirms if I was heading in the right direction. All judges make mistakes and have doubts and I am sure I am not the only one who goes home wondering if I should have done x instead of y.

SHOWDOGS: In which other countries have you judged? Which was the most memorable?

Bruce: I have been fortunate to be invited to judge on every continent except South America, where I have been invited a number of times but could not accept. Every country is different. Most memorable would probably be the specialist club shows in the USA and the UK where one sees lots of quality dogs consistently. My most memorable judging assignment was judging the Hound Group at Bournemouth Championship Show where the most stunning Basset Hound entered the ring. The dog gave me goose bumps he was so lovely. Needless to say, I gave him First in the Group and in doing so, launched O'Sullivan, who went on to be Top Dog All Breeds in the UK the following year.

SHOWDOGS: What do you expect from exhibitors?

Bruce: Clean dogs and handlers that listen to what you tell them to do. I always try to be polite to exhibitors and expect it in return. I have no problem with exhibitors trying to present their dogs to their best advantage and in fact I expect it, but I am adverse to excess use of lacquer, sticky substances and clouds of chalk.

SHOWDOGS: How do you handle bad sportsmanship?

Bruce: Fortunately I have never had an incident that I had to deal with from exhibitors but I once had a ring steward who tried to tell me who to put up!

SHOWDOGS: Do you have any amusing judging anecdotes to share with us?

Bruce: I have learnt when judging never to expect that everything will be perfectly organised and run smoothly and I always contact phone numbers. As an example I will tell you about a judging appointment in Bulawayo during the Independence War and before the change of name to Zimbabwe. I was one of three judges who travelled together on the Air Rhodesia Viscount late night flight that arrived in Bulawayo at midnight. We cleared customs and went through to find our hosts. Surprise! There was nobody from the clubs there and none of us had a telephone number of any committee member. As we stood around outside waiting the officials warned us they were going to close the airport for the night and suggested that we take the airport bus to the city. We duly boarded the bus and off we went. First stop was the Southern Sun hotel on the outskirts of town, where we got out to see if anyone was there to meet us. We could not find anyone, so we boarded the bus again to find it was just the three of us on it. We went to the terminal in the city centre, which turned out to be the Air Rhodesia offices - and they were, of course, closed. The driver told us to get off the bus, unloaded our bags and drove away. So there we were at 2am in the morning in a deserted street with not a clue where we were. The gods however were kind to us as there was a working public phone on the street corner. We got hold of the operator and put a reverse charge call through to the Holiday Inn and asked them to come and fetch us. Great advert for Holiday Inn hospitality who not only picked us up, fed and watered us then drove us to the show the following morning. At the show it transpired that everyone on the committee was too nervous to drive out to the airport at midnight and decided that we would sort ourselves out. It turned out to be a great weekend and I have since had a number of memorable trips to Zimbabwe both as a judge and exhibitor.

SHOWDOGS thanks you most sincerely, Bruce, for participating in this programme and wishes you lots of stunning dogs to go over.