Election of Judges. 1 8 1 



CHAPTER XXXIX. THE JUDGES: THEIR 

 ELECTION, ETC. 



IN dog shows the judge is the central figure ; not only does he pose) and 

 is sometimes posed) in the middle of the ring in which the aspirants to 

 fame are paraded, and where he and his doings are, for the time being, 

 the cynosure of all eyes, but his power reaches a much wider circle than 

 those immediately concerned, and the influence of his decisions is felt in 

 hundreds of cases outside the boundaries of shows. Take up any news- 

 paper wherein dogs are advertised for sale and see how the decision of a 

 judge is turned into coin of the realm ; how the fact of a prize having 

 been awarded an animal, or even to his grandmother, is emphasised and 

 capital made of it ; and consider the vast (I believe an average of nearly 

 1000 dogs are weekly advertised in The Bazaar newspaper alone) business 

 done in dogs nowadays, and how greatly the ordinary purchaser is in- 

 fluenced by such facts as prizes having been won ; and at least one very 

 practical effect of the judge's wide influence will be seen; and, if it is 

 further considered that on the strength of such prize winnings dogs are 

 largely bred from, another most important view of that influence pre- 

 sents itself. 



What should be indelibly fixed on the minds of all concerned is that the 

 judge's power does not end, but really begins, with the distribution of 

 prizes, and that, therefore, his qualifications, the way in which he exercises 

 his functions, and his mode of election, cannot, in the best interests of 

 shows, be too carefully considered or too closely scrutinised, so long as 

 that is done in a broad and liberal spirit, and free from the mere desire to 

 cavil and find fault. I cannot take upon myself to define all the quali- 

 fications a judge should possess, but there are some which to be without 

 is to render him unfitted for the position. 



There are men afflicted with " colour blindness," and I have seen men 

 attempting to judge dogs who were evidently afllicted with what I should 

 call "canine blindness" an utter incapacity to distinguish between 

 corresponding and conflicting characteristics. What a muddle such men 

 make, and how deplorable the consequences ! These men may be the 

 best of good fellows, their honour unimpeachable, and their desire for 



