AUCKLAND POULTRY, PIGEON, CANARY AND DOG ASSOCIATION.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume II, Issue 67, 5 November 1891, Page 2

AUCKLAND POULTRY, PIGEON, CANARY AND DOG ASSOCIATION.

The above Association held their fifth annual show last Friday and Saturday at the Drillshed. This year’s show does not in many ways compare favourably with the last. There appeared, in the first instance, to be no management, so things did not work smoothly, and the arrangements were not as good as they have been previously. The Committee were certainly placed at a disadvantage in not getting the shed until the previous evening, therefore it was a question of all night working to get things ready. The pens were much too small, especially for the larger class of dogs—the consequence was they were not able to show themselves properly. The Committee were also unfortunate in their judges. The gentleman

they had selected to judge missed his steamer, so they had to fall back on Messrs. Henderson, Alexander, and White, who had to judge all the classes. There can be no greater mistake than having all classes judged by the same judges, as no man can have a thorough knowledge of all kinds of dogs. Everyone has his own particular fancy for certain breeds, therefore he knows all their points. Two of the judges confessed themselves that they knew nothing of two or three of the classes ; the consequence was that there were some great mistakes made. The sporting dogs as a rule were well judged—the mistakes occurred chiefly in the fox terriers, bull dogs, spaniels, and fancy dogs. If the Committee wish to make these shows a success they should spare no pains or expense to obtain the best judges possible for-the different-classes. - One could easily be found to take three or four kinds, as a shooting man ought to be well up in setters, pointers, retrievers and spaniels; another could take terriers, and so on. The judging was not concluded until after four o’clock, so the show was not open until then ; the consequence was the attendance was meagre in the extreme, but in the evening and on Saturday afternoon more paid for admittance, though not what it should have been. Taking the show all through, the dogs were not up to the mark, and a great many were quite unfit for the benches. There was only one mastiff shown. He was far from a good specimen, but as he was only thirteen months old he may improve with age. There were only two exhibits of Newfoundlands, and they were sorry specimens, showing very little of the pure breed about them. The next were the St. Bernards. They were a fine lot of dogs, but were not the kind you generally see at the monastery, being all very heavily coated, taking more after the Rev. Mr. Macdonna’s breed. Some of the owners must think a great deal of them, as the one that took the third prize was marked whilst the one that took second, and ought to have been first, was only marked £25, and a very nice puppy, just under twelve months old, that was placed first in his class, was only marked but they are a class of dogs that might be called fancy ones. The greyhounds were a good class all through, and were well judged. The retrievers —black, both wavy and curly coated —were another good lot, there being some useful-looking dogs amongst them ; but the other variety of retrievers were very moderate. The pointers were neither numerous or good. The first prize winner in the champion class was not much, though he may be a good worker. The English setters were good all through, and well judged ; but the Irish setters were inferior. The majority of them were poor in colour and not of good carriage, the best of them being No. 83, in the open class for bitches. There was only a small show of Gordons, but there were two or three nice ones amongst them. The collies were the feature of the show, and were very numerous, there being 29 entries in the different classes There were some really first-class dogs amongst them. Several of the winners gave you the idea of being more for the show bench than for working—in fact, were pets; The entries for the different classes of spaniels were numerous, especially those that came under the head of “ Field,” but they were not a good class, nor were they well judged. The same may be said of the “Cockers,” most of them being too big and heavy-coated for the genuine type of a cocker; Nos. 127 and 129 were two nice-looking -clumbers. There were only three entries in the bull dog class. They were far from good ones ; and in the bitch class the two might have been reversed. There were only two exhibits in bull terriers, neither of them being good specimens, being too thick in the nose and not broad enough in the head. The fox terriers were not so numerous as one would have expected, nor were they as good all round as they were last year. In the open class for dogs the judges were, in my opinion, greatly astray. Spice ought to have been placed first and Bob second, while No. 180 should have been placed third instead of Pickles 111. In the class for dogs and bitches, under twelve months old, Mr. Waymouth took first prize with two very nice ones, Diggory and Snow —the latter having the makings of a first-class bitch. There was no competition for the other classes of terriers. In the class for any other variety of dog was an extraordinary-looking animal. What his

breeding was no one could tell, though he was called an Airedale terrier. He weighed over 501 b., and looked more like a cross between an otter hound and an old Southern harrier, What made the judges give him a first prize puzzled a good many, unless it was, as one gentleman remarked, on account of his ugliness. The Pakuranga Hunt Club exhibited the imported foxhounds Stringer and Gadfly, with four puppies. They are a nice-looking lot, and with judicious crossing should improve the pack. As several of the dogs, especially collies, will be exhibited again next week, it will be interesting to see how the judges place them.