THE DOG SHOW.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume I, Issue 16, 15 November 1890, Page 2

THE DOG SHOW.

Having nothing to do on Saturday afternoon I paid a visit to the dog show, j was much pleased on entering to find the way it was arranged, as it gave you plenty of room to view the dogs, they not being too close together. The only fault was that the larger animals were on rather a short chain, and not able to stand up to show themselves properly. This the courteous president told me was on account of the ladies. I asked him if it was owing to the old adage, “ Beef, etc.” He told me that as an old man I ought to be ashamed to say such a thing. I do not profess to be a judge of all kinds of dogs sb I will confine myself to the classes I know something about. Having met a congenial companion we proceeded to inspect the mastiffs. Taken as a whole they were an inferior lot, not having sufficient size or markings. In the Champion class it is my opinion that the award ought to have been reversed, as though Colonel had perhaps the best head, Jumbo had decidedly the best legs and feet. I may as well remark here that the judges throughout the show appear to have ignored

>e points for legs and feet, and gone more for the head. This is a great mistake. The next class was the Newfoundlands. There was not a true one in the whole lot. The real Newfoundland is a powerful dog, not standing very high, with a black wavy coat and webb footed. After Sir E. Landseer’s celebrated picture called lhe Humane Society came out at the Royal Academy Exhibition a new made breed came into fashion, which is generally known among dog fanciers as Landseer’s Newfoundland, which is a very large black and white dog with curly hair. The original Newfoundland dog is, I am very sorry to say, at the present time very scarce and fast disappearing.

The St. Bernards came next. Lion was far ahead of the others, but here again we come to a cross breed. The . monks of St. Bernard originally used a thick close coated dog. The Rev. Macdonna, I think his name was, obtained a couple of them from The Hospice, and by some means bred them with shaggy coats. When the monks had nearly lost the breed through distemper he sent some of his back to them, and the consequence is there are now two kinds of St. Bernards, the close and shaggy, coated. With the exception of the champion, who only showed a little quality, the others had a good deal of cross in them. We then proceeded upstairs, where I met some more friends. Addressing one of them I said, “Franky, what a lot of mongrels there are here,” when a young masher doing the heavy, who was standing by, turned round and said, “ You may know something of horses but nothing about dogs.” I was astonished, not having addressed myself to him. On inquiring who he was my friends informed me that he was a chemist’s assistant, well known as a dispenser of patent medicines, etc. Mr. Waymouth, sen., hearing the above remarks, stated that my name was in the Kennel Stud Book as a breeder of fox terriers before he was born, whereupon he turned on his heel and walked away. Then came the fun. Some of the varmint tykes as he passed them evidently thought from the way they gave tongue that they had winded a Foumart. We then proceeded to the Gordon Setters, a breed I am particularly fond of, having used them freely on the moors at home. The prize dog Don if as good in the field as he looks, would be well worth the fifty guineas against his name. The judges must have g<>t misled about the others, and the less said the better, as I am informed that they are amateurs and received no recompense for their services. The collies were a fair lot, and what may be called bench dogs. It would be a good thing if the Society introduced what I once saw done in Glasgow, «>., before the dog got the prize he had to be tried on sheep. The trial was this: —six black faced wethers were turned loose in a large park of over 100 acres, and the dog that penned his sheep the quickest without the aid of his master was the winner. If the winner on the bench did not succeed in doing this he was passed over. Bull dogs came next. Patch, the champion, is as nice a dog as I have seen in the Colonies, but he is a long way off first-class form, and is not the stamp that Bill George of Kensall Green and Jimmy Shaw used to pride themselves in breeding. The bitches were poor in the extreme. In the bull terriers Vigo was rather a nice dog, too but narrow across the forehead, a little thick in the nose, and did not stand quite fair bn his legs. The rest may be passed over. One I noticed in the open class was a bull and terrier, not a bull terrier. We now come to the fox terriers —my specialty. Here we were joined by some others who asked me what I thought of the judging; at the time I did not know who were the judges. I answered that they could never have seen a fox terrier in their lives. Space will not allow me to go minutely into them all. Crib, the champion, was the only entry in the champion class. He is a nice dog, rather broad in the head and one ear does not come forward enough. Now comes the open class. In this there was the most egregious blunder in judging that I ever saw. Bob, who was placed first, had hardly a point to recommend him. He was too big, showed bull, out at the elbows, splay footed and had crooked legs, his only recommendation being his ears. No. 142 with H.C. before his name should have been first, the other two are in their right places. The bitches

were better judged, but I should have placed Rouge first, as she was the best in shape, but had a bad expression, which spoilt her. Dogs under twelve months were only moderate. The Ist prize dog had too open feet, and was not straight on his legs, also defective in bone. In bitches under 6 months the judges were again Jwrong, in my opinion, as the second dog should have been first and the first placed third. I must again repeat what I said in the beginning of this article, that the judges did not pay sufficient attention to legs and feet. The tail end of the show amused me, as it is seldomso many curiously bred dogs are collected together, and it would take a clever judge to tell what they were, though several were entered under false names, especially so among the ladies’ pets. I have still to learn what a Maltese terrier is. Picador.