Nothing is more dispiriting to me than to hear a judge come out of a ring and immediately begin to discuss the faults of an exhibit he or she has just judged. Unfortunately, this seems to be the norm with most “wannabes,” as well as some of the more established people. But what really gets me is when the person cites what to their mind is a single fault as the reason for not putting one exhibit over another. Some people get hung up on tails, some on eyes, some on mouths, some on toplines, some on rear movement versus front gait, some on coming and going, some on side movement. Rarely it seems to me is the overall balance of the dog considered, and virtues, well, they don't seem to exist in these conversations at all.
Recently, a friend was showing a black and tan coonhound, which I thought from outside the ring was one of the finest exhibits of the breed I had ever seen. His movement was flawless, his topline just right, tail set incredible with a lovely neck, low hanging ears and what seemed to be a delightful temperament. I was truly taken by him and asked if I could go over him. Well, I did and picked up his head to look into the absolute “yellowest eyes” of all time. I was surprised and taken aback. The handler saw my reaction and asked immediately if I had reconsidered my feeling about the dog. Well, truth was I could not live with that look in my kitchen, nonetheless because of all its other superior virtues, I easily still made the dog an outstanding example of his breed. Certainly in breed competition he remained an easy winner. Groups, on the other hand, would have been harder to use him in depending, of course, upon the competition. That day I thought he was by far deserving of no less than a three, and I probably would have placed him higher.
The truth of the matter was, he frequently had trouble getting out of the breed—no doubt due to that single, obvious fault and was anything but a group contender. I would never in those kinds of situations have penalized this dog so harshly.
The hardest thing in the world for any dog owner is to have to put a dog down due to old age. The problem, of course, is how long to keep the animal alive and just who are you doing it for—the dog or yourself. Our old Airedale turned 15 and was in failing health for the last year or so. Of late she had trouble seeing, was virtually incontinent and within the last several weeks had great difficulty walking. Two or three days ago walking was such an effort and was so unreliable that, most reluctantly, we called the vet, and he came over to put her down. She has joined her many friends "up on the hill," where our own pet cemetery is located. She will be sorely missed but I assure you never forgotten. She was unique and a joy. As a show dog she was controversial, but I am happy to say even her detractors during her show days were among her best friends when she came to be a housedog only. She had a magic Airedale personality. Mary Elizabeth was her name.
On a much happier note is the news announced in this week's “Gossip Column” that David has decided to reconsider and will hopefully run for the Board again. It is said he will let everyone know by December 15 as to what his final word will be. All we can all do now is keep our fingers crossed and hope he will decide in the affirmative. •
