Objects and Management of Dog Shows. 177 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. OBJECTS AND MANAGE- 

 MENT OF DOG SHOWS. 



THE one great object which should take precedence of all others, and the 

 one which is universally professed, is the improvement of the various 

 breeds. 



There are many other objects which naturally associate themselves 

 with the principal one and act as auxiliaries to its attainment, and are 

 in themselves not merely innocent, but laudable. 



That dog shows are an excellent means of arriving at the end sought 

 for is, I think, beyond dispute, for they are the only convenient, and for 

 most people the only possible, means of comparing the excellence of their 

 own with the excellence of others ; and discovering, it may be, faults 

 they were blind to, and good points previously unthought of, and giving 

 a stimulus to the correction of the one, and the cultivation of the other. 



When dog shows fail in their highest object, it is on account of that 

 object being lost sight of, or made subservient to other and meaner ones, 

 even the grossest blunder a judge can commit can do no more than prove 

 a temporary check ; and frequently, through the publicity given to them 

 by the free criticism of the press, such blunders prove a blessing, being 

 made prominent as danger signals. 



So long, however, as men are merely human, it is not to be expected 

 that in carrying out such extensive schemes as dog shows, their objects 

 can be altogether unmixed. 



Men, like their dogs, are intensely emulative animals, and dog shows 

 provide a field where that attribute can be exercised in a most interesting 

 manner. Merit, too, has its rewards to look forward to. Prizes and 

 future profit stimulate the exertions of many ; some few seek only the 

 glory and honour of being foremost in the race ; and for all, the shows 

 provide a medium of pleasant re-union for those of congenial tastes, who 

 would not otherwise meet. 



Another object influencing the promoters of shows, and a perfectly 

 legitimate and laudable one, is to benefit the town in which it is to be 

 held. Our great towns compete with each other for the visits of the 

 Eoyal Agricultural Society and kindred associations, and the getting up 



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