Jfnm 19, 1990,] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



439 



FUN AT DOG SHOWS. 



{.Concluded,'] 

 OLLA PODRIDA. 



WHILE this is the "cussing" side, there is also a funny 

 side to every scene. At one of the shows Miss Van 

 Buren exhibited kerjtalian greyhound Cupid, quite a good 

 one. Somehow he wet his mat and a bit of the mat dye 

 came off; so when he appeared in the ring the knowing 

 judge ordered him out in quick order, because "the dog is 

 alive wich mange." The poor creature had to go, and onr 

 judge no doubt rose fully ten points, in his own estimation. 

 One of the best specimens of the breed ever shown in Amer- 

 ica had to be content with a second prize, as the officiating 

 person said he was "too small." As the limit is "not over" 

 but "under eight pounds," what iu the name of common 

 sense was wanted? The judge didn't know, so the little fel- 

 low had to bear the ignominy of being "too small." Not 

 unlike this was the experience, of an exhibitor at New York, 

 in the miscellaneous class, a class composed of dogs of ac- 

 cepted breeds bat not eligible elsewhere, the exhibits being 

 too few to warrant a class by themselves. First prize went 

 to a dog, and as the owner was leaving the ring with the 

 blue ribbon he asked the judge what "breed ot dbg his was, 

 as he himself didn't know nor had he ever seen a man who 

 did know. The "judge" colored, turned away, not vouch- 

 safing an answer. Now, this is what we have been through 

 and are still sweetly meandering through. Heaven helpus! 



I never hear the name of Garry Owen but I have to smile 

 audibly. No dog's nose ever caused half the trouble in this 

 world that Garry's has. Poor Garry's was black by nature, 

 but nature took a freak, changed it for a while to white; 

 and while it was in that state one of our canine mentors 

 claimed that the owner had faked it in order to make it the 

 proper color. The result was that there was a grand rush 

 for white nose Irish terriers, and the lucky owners were 

 happy iu their possession, for they said, "The great judge 

 and critic says tbe noses should be white." Shortly after- 

 ward the white nose became black: and Dr. Niven, I'm sure, 

 never after saw Garry Owen without having a good hearty 

 laugh. 



BEAGLES. 



These little beggars have given lots of amusement to the 

 knowing ones. At one of our shows the judge had to resort 

 to the "point system." Several onlookers watched tbe 

 score as it was made out, and the winner was landed the 

 happy possessor of 103 points out of a possible 100! Good 

 figuring this, and a mighty smart dog, too! But all in all 

 the dog was worth a dozen such as Storm, who for some 

 reason, never understood, has been placed over, not only 

 good ones but real clinkers May be immense size and 

 general coarseness win when quality and perfect outline are 

 unseen. In Philadelphia once, in a good class of 

 DACHSHUNDE, 



Gretchen and Flirt, the very worst specimens in the. show, 

 were given the blue and red ribbons. No one kicked, for 

 with the exception of Mr. Mason, nobody seemed compe- 

 tent to show up the farce. It was too funny, so he smiled 

 aud then— "smiled" again. That beautiful 

 BULL- TERRIER, 



Starlight, by one of our "judges" was pronounced to be 

 anything but a bull-terrier. It might be any other sort of 

 a terrier, but bull-terrier it never was nor would be. Yet, 

 somehow, the blue ribbons keep being tacked ou to her 

 collar by a competent judge, and it bothers the incompe- 

 tent judge aud critic to find a better one, 

 BULLDOGS. 



Britomartis hasnever recovered from the terrible gruelling 

 in a Western paper, where it was stated that "her lower 

 jaw is not level." Had the critic's head been as near level 

 as her jaw was right, he would have said she had one of the 

 grandest heads ever seen ou a bulldog. Another one of our 

 "judges" and critics finds fault with a certain bulldog be- 

 cause he does not stand like a terrier in front, and has so 

 publicly stated it in his report. I fear the next thing Ave 

 will have will be a new standard w b ere legs shall be straight 

 as ramrods and jaws as level as a pointer's. I've often 

 wished to hear Billy Graham's laugh, but never more so 

 than when once, at Philadelphia, where the 

 PRINCE CHARLES SPANIEL, 

 Napoleon III., was awarded most reluctantly a second 

 prize. The judge refused to give him first prize because 

 "Poor little Nap's nose and the cruel mallet had been made 

 more closely acquainted than the rules of Mr. Bergh's Soci- 

 ety would permit." He. thought a toy spaniel should have 

 a long face. Those little lively chaps, the 



BLACK AND TAN TERRIERS, 

 have given us lots of fun too. The Meersbrook Maideu bus- 

 iness is still fresh in our minds, but what a row that little 

 lady did make for a while! all over the country she went, a 

 long list of first and special prizes won under the best judges 

 in England tacked on to her name, quite covering iip her 

 lovely white blaze. Our Scotch friend got the babies woe- 

 fully mixed up on his trip out, still no one discovered it, 

 no one knew the difference, all kept on handing her out the 

 blue ribbons. The Forest and Stream banged away at the 

 judges for giving first and special prizes to a dog with a dis- 

 qualifying mark on her as plain as the sun at noonday, but 

 it did no good. There was one judge, and only one, who was 

 equal to the occasion, just as in the case of the fox-terrier 

 Rubicon, the robber dog that took from Mr. Thayer and 

 other owners hundreds of dollars. 'Turf, Field and Ft inn, 

 With its juvenile reporter, informed their readers that thev 

 had had the great pleasure of giving the peerless Meersbrook 

 Maiden a very careful examination and found her a wonder 

 The Chicago paper, represented by our Babylonian friend 

 and judge, wrote of her as a world-beater, and told Dr 

 Foote that he recognized her at a glance as the beautiful 

 bitch he saw iu London when over there. Compare the 

 blundering work of these novices with Air. Mason's report 

 the first time Mr. Mortimer gave the supposed Maiden first 

 prize and you have conclusive evidence for the one hun- 

 dredth time that it is all moonshine to suppose a man can 

 judge dogs properly unless he is a born judge and has had 

 the practice necessary to mature the innate knowledge. He 

 can't do it. Look how the judges get tripped up the very 

 first time a man brings before them a rank duffer with a long 

 listofwinningsbehindit! They look wise, ape the actions and 

 movements of competent men and then— collapse. Here 

 my boy, is Mason's report, written many weeks before it 

 was discovered Meersbrook Maiden was not Meersbrook 

 Maiden at all, but Meersbrook Girl, a "skate" sent over to 

 keep the Maiden warm on her passage out: 



[.Forest and Stream, March 21, 1839.] 

 Only one hitch, Meersbrook Maiden, was shown. She was 

 given first and special for the breed, a decision which will never 

 be indorsed by those who have any knowledge of the breed Her 

 great English record won her the prize. Shohas twenty firsts and 

 seconds in England to her credit, and as no English judge would 

 ■ever award prizes to a black and tan and white, black and tan 

 terrier, it is positively certain that the bitch was fak^d when she 

 was shown in England. She has a long white spot on her breast 

 and, as every one who understands the breed is awar<\ this is a 

 disquahrymg point. For the benefit of the jaflge and others who 

 are not posted on the. breed, we quote the following from "The 

 Book of the Dog:" "The smallest spot of white is an absolute dis- 



Would-be judges follow the records. Real judges know a 

 good dog when they see one, regardless of newspaper reports 

 and the record. Herein lies the difference. On many occa- 

 sions we must show our does under incompetent judges or 

 keep them at home, hut this racket won't hold out much 

 longer, notwithstanding the would-be controllers of dog 

 shows insist that incompetency is the pareut of popularity. 

 I know one unfortunate exhibitor who contended with the 

 judge that his dog was better than the Maiden, on account 

 of having no white at all, and washanghtily dismissed with 

 "Why, 1 he Maiden could beatyour dog if she was all white!" 

 What a jolly laugh our British cousins must have had when 

 they read the learned article after article devoted to this con- 

 troversy. If those boys ou the other side don't put up a host 

 of "jobs" on us in the near future it won't be from any con- 

 viction that we are "up" in all breods. Dan O'Shea was 

 guilty of about as good a joke as ever was perpetrated on 

 any judge. It was at Cincinnati, and here be showed a 

 SPANIEL. 



Scarce had he entered the ring ere the poor dog was 

 ordered out in quick metre. Dan went, too, aud deftly with 

 a pair of scisssors he trimmed the feather all off and boldly 

 entered the ring again with her in another class, and came 

 out a winner. 'Twas too good to be kept under a bushel, so 

 one after another of the conspirators gave it all away, and 

 at last the full force of it was given to the public. ' I fear 

 the judge uever quite forgave Dan, and Dan is surely too 

 smart to ever give him the chance to again "judge" his dogs. 

 By the way, tbe Spaniel Club, with the exception of the 

 St. Bernard Club, is about the only one that is entitled to 

 be called a specialty club, for it has spaniel men to judge 

 spaniels. Fewer mistakes have, occurred in this breed than 

 in any other, due solely to each man guarding his own and 

 uprising against the idea that "anybody can judge span- 

 iels." I never see a 



MASTIFF 



without laughing inwardly at the scene enacted at Pitts- 

 burgh, where a judge gave an he. card to that lovely Lady 

 Clare. That was quite on a par with Mr. Dana's decision at 

 New York, where ne said that Salisbury (winner of some 75 



qualification,, so particular notice must be taken to see that no 

 dishonest staining has taken place. The chest is by far the most 

 likely place for it to appear." "Stonekenge" says: "The color 

 and markings (value 25) are in this breed-which is now essentially 

 a fancy dog— important. No other color than black and tan or 

 red is permissible; the least speck of white is fatal to winning 

 chances, and it is in richness, contrast and correct distribution of 

 The owner of Buffalo General, 



these that excellence consis'ts 



first and special prizes in England) was too large for a mastiff 

 and gave him third prize to aS75 dog's second. Considering 

 that Salisbury after a season's winning was bought for £300 

 by Mr. Mason and was never afterward beaten in England, 

 it looks very much as if some of our judges know as little 

 of dogs as they do of cats. Take for instance that grand 

 specimen, Ilford Cromwell. Several times he was shown, 

 yet beaten at every point, sometimes not even getting a 

 mention, and sometimes staggering under the load of a 

 mighty "c." card. Now he is a "champion of record" ac- 

 cording to the A.KC. standard, and has won the title after 

 many a hard fought battle. Then look at Ilford Caution. 

 Some of our judges who had never seen a short-faced mastiff 

 thought he was a mongrel, and had it not heen for Mr. Ma- 

 son's articles and criticisms in Forest and Stream, he would 

 have been buried alive. The novice is all at sea on this year's 

 reports of the world -renowned new-comer Beau f cu t, iindif 

 he wanted to buy a mastiff what would he do and where 

 would he go when the critics of two papers act also in tbe 

 capacity of judges at most of our shows? One critic, after 

 calling him "one of England's giants," says he is nearly a 

 cripple (though not yet six years old), has a good head, yet 

 plain face, and is inferior to Ilford Chancellor and Melrose 

 Prince. Another critic says he. is a mastiff of the first 

 water, while a third says he has a wonderful skull but al ■ 

 most too square a muzzle! and completely smothered his com- 

 petitors. Such reports from men who enter the judges' 

 rings' teach the learner absolutely nothing, and instead of 

 hei ng the e< lu cators are in fact the conf ounders. The stately 

 ST. BERNARDS 



have come in for a goodly share of setbacks, and it is not 

 many years siuce I witnessed judging that raised all the ire 

 iu my nature. Dan Foster had a creature, whose dam had 

 probably been scared by a St. Bernard, which he called 

 Barry. He showed this same Barry at the New York show 

 of 1887, and there the judge had the hardihood to give him 

 third prize over a dozen better specimens, when at~tke very 

 greatest stretch of leniency he did not deserve even a c. card. 

 Merchant Prince bowled out that peerless Leila, and old 

 Apollo did the same thing, when in very truth neither dog 

 could beat one side of her. These decisions aroused the 

 Yankees' "Dutch," and sooo the cry was "Miss Whitney to 

 the rescure," and gallantly has she responded, thus saving 

 the noble breed from its slaughterers. 



To me it seems some exhibitors don't care how they get 

 their prizes or under what .conditions so long as they get 

 them. They would rather win a first and special prize for 

 "best in the show" with a dog they know full well is a per- 

 fect scrub, and while having better ones at home, than take 

 second prize to a rare good one, being "beaten bv a neck." 

 This was forcibly illustrated at a recent meeting of a large 

 kennel club not a thousand miles from New York. It was 

 proposed by one of the members that a certain judge should 

 be asked to officiate at their coming show. Another mem- 

 ber sprang to his feet and strenuously opposed it, saying, 

 "Gentlemen, I want to win once in awhile, but under Mr. 



I get left, as the best dogs win under him, while with 



other judges I stand as much chance of winning as any one 



else." 'Tis needless to say Mr. r was not invited. 



This is about the sort of men who run our dog shows, 

 and the only wonder is that, handicapped as our dogs are, 

 the really good ones ever get to the front. Until the shov» r s 

 are held in all honesty and sincerity of purpose for the im- 

 provement of dogs, until specialty clubs sink friendship and 

 sinister motives forever out of sight and select only men 

 they know to be both competent and honest, we shall go on 

 stumbling along like blind men, full of theory but empty 

 of results, hoisting up mongrels and bowling' down good 

 ones. Let the specialty clubs stand on their own bottoms, 

 be independent, govern themselves, brook no interference 

 from outside parties, approve only as judges the very best 

 men regardless of personal feelings, refuse to support with 

 their entries dog shows where incompetent judges officiate, 

 and I'll venture in three years from date of such action the 

 dogs will be improved a hundredfold and foreign nations be 

 buying our beauties instead of our people sending thousands 

 of miles to find what is wanted. Take the Mastiff Club, or 

 Clique Club as it is called. There is not a judge of mastiffs on 

 the list. Look at the Pointer Club: every judge of pointers 

 barred. Then there is the Fox-Terrier Club, with just one 

 judge of terriers (Mr. German Hopkins). And we are told 

 that the first object of the clubs is the improvement of the 

 dog. Bosh! The shrewd commercial man secures the very- 

 best talent obtainable and mounts the ladder of wealth 

 through that means. The lunkhead takes what comes along 

 and in a year or two we hear of a "failure." What is true 

 in commercial life is true in the dog fancy, in the poultry 

 fancy; in fact, in all walks of life. Why men who have 

 thousands of dollars invested in dogs act as they do passes 

 all compreh ension. The same tactics carried i nto their busi- 

 ness life and they would "bust" in six months. 



The three factors that enter largely into the judging in 

 this country are incompetency, favoritism and hatred. Per- 

 haps there is ro hobby where jealousy and hatred cau be so 

 clearly seen and revenge so gloriously wreaked as in dogs. 

 If a judge don't like a man he too frequentlv judges the 

 owner and not the dog itself. He strikes the owner his 

 cruel blows through his dog. At every show you will hear 

 men openly declare that they would get knocked out with 

 however good a dog they might bring into the ring, and if 

 any old score is to be settled it is done right here to the evi- 

 dent delieht of the iudg'p. Onp ir>r>.nmrip>tfjnr, inrlc/«'« nmn- 



like a rotten apple in a barrel of sound ones. Favoritism 

 too, goes a great way. They too often judge who has hold 

 of the chain and not what is at the other end of it. 



Not long since I attended a show where an exhibitor was 

 asked by a mutual friend what he had entered. He gave 

 the dog's name, which the questioner had never heard be- 

 fore, yet when told who the judge was and without having 

 first seen the dog, offered to bet a box of cigars that he could 

 win first prize with it. He said: "Why I can win with any- 

 thing under ." And so he did. The bet was paid, 



and on the train home we managed to smoke tbe entire box 

 of cigars, leaving him nothing but tbe special prize this 

 same dog had wou, and which the owner positively refused 

 to take home, vowing he'd be ashamed to tell his brother 

 dog owners with what dog and how be had won it. 



One is constantly hearing this "Why I can win with any- 

 thing under " What does all this mean, and why do not 



exhibitors stop a moment and think what is the cause. 

 They are constantly approached at our shows by friends 

 who say, "Let me take that dog in and I'll land you a win- 

 ner;" and though the speaker may not be a fancier of that 

 breed, may not even know a world-beater from a flat 

 catcher, yet he too often reckons, knowing his host, and 

 hands you the blue ribbon. At New York, not many years 

 since, I made a large entry. A friend (the secretary of one 

 of our clubs) offered to take one for me into the ring, bet- 

 ting dinners he'd win with whichever I gave him. I 

 handed him over the poorer (the other being a rare good 

 one) and sure enough I took second aud he was convulsed 

 with laughter as he waved the blue ribbon under my nose. 

 My dog had won a lot of prizes, his never had nor has since 

 that day. I paid the bet and to this day the laugh is still 

 on me. 



I recently read in one of our papers that the faJling off of 

 shows aud the number of entries was due to the fact that 

 the New York show was held in February, was theiirst one 

 of the year, and exhibitors winning there were satisfied to 

 rest on their laurels. This deduction was all wrong. Last 

 year we had thirteen spring shows, this year we have only 

 six, and for next year I predict a still less number if the 

 clubs persist in appointing incompetent judges, whose de- 

 cisions' cause exhibitors to become disgusted, kick like 

 mules, and finally keep their dogs at home, advising their 

 friends to do likewise, and never as much as visit the show 

 when it is in their own city, except it be to see the fun, wit- 

 ness the "judging," aud have a hearty laugh while saying 

 "What fools these mortals he." Mefhisto. 



KENNEL NOTES. 



NAMES CLAIMED. 

 %W Prepared Blanks sent free on application. 

 Rowdy 77., Minuo, Belle and Miss Vixen. By J. P. Prentis=. Wil- 

 mington, Del., for beagles, one black. White and tan and one white 

 and dun dog and two black, while and Ian bitches, whelped Feb 

 16, 1B60. by Rowdy (champion Rattler I II.— champmn Myrtle) out 

 of Fly (Bobby— Lady). 



Fardasmia. By Theo. J. Hook, Rome, N. Y., for red cocker span- 

 iel bitch, whelped Feb. 14, 1S9U, by champion Red Rover (chain nion 

 Obo If— Woodstock Dinah) out of Woodstock Floss (Robin- 

 Woodstock Nellie). 



BRED. 



jgir' Prepared Blanks sent free on application. 



pointer bitch Lass of Graphic (champion Graphic— White Rose* 

 to Dr. Holston's Count Fauster (Mainspring— Dolly Fauster) 

 May 2(5. ' 



Fudora—Monk of Fumess. The Elms Kennels' (Forest Lake 

 Minn.) English setter bitch Eudora to their Monk of Furhess' 

 June 8. 



Badger Belle— Monk of Fumess. F. F. Congdou's (Beaver Dam 

 Wis,) English setter bitch Badger Belle) to The Elms Kennels' 

 Monk of Furuees, May 19. 

 Daisy— Titus. O. B. Oilman's (Boston, Mass.) cocker spaniel 



O. B. Oilman's Sancho (champion Obo II.— Dido W.), June 7. 



Ruff— Sancho. Miss Morrison's (Boston, Mass.) cocker spaniel 



bitch Run" (Burgeler— ) to O. B. Oilman's Sanclio (champion 



Obo II.— Dido W), June U. 



Frantic— Obo II. O. B. Oilman's (Boston, Mass.) cocker spaniel 

 bitch Frantic (champion Black Pete— Fannie Obo) to J P Yviilev'« 

 champion obo II. (Obo-Ckloe II.), Juae 11. ' 



Pansey W. —Black Pete. O. B. Oilman's (Boston, Mass.) cocker 



spaniel bitch Spunkey (Wilkes Obo— Black Flash) to his champion 

 Red Rover (champion Obo II.— Woodstock Dinah), Aprils. 



Mollie— Red Rover. Theo. J. Hook's (Rome, N. Y.) cocker spar- 

 iel bitch Mollie (Carlo— Beauty) to his champion Red Rover 

 (champion Obo II —Woodstock Dinah), April " 



April 20 



WHELPS. 



Prepared Blanks sent free on application. 



Dido B. Tell Kennels' (Worcester, Mass.) pointer bitch Dido B 

 (Ainroy's imported Bob -Dapbne K., June 12. six (four do°-s) bv 

 their Darego (Mikado— Gypsy K.). ' * 



Countess Amelia. The Elms Kennels' (Forest Lake, Minn.) Eng- 

 lish seiter bitch Countess Amelia, June 6, seven (four ddefc) hV 

 their Monk of Fumess. 



Jess. The Elms Kennels' (Forest Lake, Minn.) Irish water span- 

 iel Jess. June 2, nine (four dogs), by their The Kerrv Oow. 



MottS. The Elms Kennels' (Forest Lake, Mini.) Irish water 

 spaniel bitch Moll S., May 29, twelve (six dogs), bv their Daniel 

 O'Rourke. * 



Dot. C. Kainmerer's (South Boston, Mass.) cocker spaniel bitch 

 Dot, June 12, eight (six dogs), by O. B. Oilman's Sancho (champion 

 Obo II.— Dido W.). 



Spunkey. Theo. J. Hook's (Rome, N. Y.) cocker spaniel bitch 



lie (Carlo— Beauty), June 9, nine (six dogs), by Ins champion lied 

 Rover (champion Obo IL— Woodstock Dinah). 



Jenny. North Fields Yorkshire Kennels' (Salem, Mass ) York- 

 shire terrier bitch Jenny (Deardon's Tell— Phillip's Violet) May 

 19. three (one dog), by their Toons Royal (champion Dreaduau- i\i 

 —Tricksy). 



SALES. 



gW* Prepared Blanks sent free on application. 



Currier's PHnce—Mayf/o whelp. Liver and white pointer dog 

 whelped March 25. 1890, by C. A. Parker, Worcester, Mass., to E. 

 E. Rogers, Norwich, Conn. 



Rose Graphic. Liver and white pointer bitch, whelped May 15 

 _J89. by Orapliic out of White Rose, by D, H. Moore, Athens O ' 

 to Chas. D. Roberts, Dexter, Me. 



Lady Agnes. Orange and white St. Bernard bitch, age and pedi- 

 gree not given, by The Elms Kennels, Forest Lake, Minn., to D 

 Bergman, St. Paul, Minn. 



Monk of Fumess— Lady Faydetle whelps. Black, white and tan 

 English setter dogs, age not given, by tbe Elms Kennels, Forest 

 Lake, Minn., one to A. M. Drake, St. Paul, Minn., and one to M 

 Poehler, Henderson, N. C. 



Spokatie. Black, white and tan English setter dog, age not 

 given, by Monk of Furness out of" Lady Favdette, by the Elms 

 Kennels, Forest Lake, Minn ,io O. Beraais, New Orleans, La. 



Corinna. Red Irish setter bitch, whelped April 10, 1890, by Blaze 

 out of Gladys B., byR. H. Burr, Mildletown, Conn., to O. T. Lord, 

 Turnerville, Conn. 



Framiugham, Mass. 



