CHAPTER VII 

 On Judging 



oOME time in the career of the successful exhibitor 

 there may arrive a red-letter day, on which for the first 

 time he is invited to officiate as judge; and provided 

 that he fully realises the responsibilities of the position, 

 and feels that the experiences of his apprenticeship have 

 qualified him to give an authoritative opinion, he will 

 do well to accept the invitation. 



For a fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind. From 

 the day when he first pins on his badge of office, and 

 takes possession of the bob-tail ring, his criticisms on 

 future judges will moderate surprisingly. 



Their task is heavier than he supposed. It is so easy 

 to walk round the benches with a catalogue in hand 

 and to criticise the judgment of the expert by the light 

 of previous placings. It is not even difficult, in the 

 course of the afternoon, to compose a critical paragraph 

 or two for publication in some doggy journal, conclu- 

 sively proving the inconsistency of the awards. That is 

 cheap work enough. 



But it is a very different matter to find oneself sur- 



