From reading the British dog papers, it certainly would appear that the dog show goers and breeders were anything but happy with the great successes of the foreign exhibits at Crufts. I read nothing negative about Chance's great win, nor really was anything said negatively about the other foreign winners either. The question which kept coming to the fore revolved more around "whether our dogs were that bad" or "were the other dogs really that good!” Don't get me wrong about what I am about to write. I really love to go to Crufts—it's one of the truly great dog events in the world. It is unique, huge and exhausting from any standpoint. One of the most difficult aspects of the show, particularly with the large number of breed entries, is to sit through all the varied classes watching a judge pick out the wheat from the chaf. The late, knowledgeable Audry Dallison used to write that going to Crufts is like going to a giant farm show. You see some great animals, but finding them is another thing. And her observation of Crufts was most accurate. On the other hand, one may go to Westminster and see only Champions, and often ask oneself how in the world was that dog ever made up. But that's another story, for sure.
Back to Crufts and the entire British system. The shows in the U.K. are massive by any standard. Indeed, the 32 odd all-breed shows, which make up their entire annual show year, run forthree or four days for each show. Entries are from 8,000 to 14,000 or 15,000 per show. Most of these dogs compete in varying classes against each other at each show. This results in a rather small gene pool of judges adjudicating and dogs in competition. While it rarely, if ever, happens that the same judge adjudicates the same breed in a year, or even two years, the gene pool of judges remains relatively small and the same, as are the dogs. There are the occasional foreign judges, as well as what was the occasional, but today, under the new Pet Plan, more frequent foreign dog as well. The insular attitude of the British breeder/exhibitor, as well as what was expected to be the singular attitude of the British judge, was thought by many to be the death knell for foreign competition in that country. Quite the opposite occurred this year, primarily, in my opinion, because the hard core of 15-20 Britishjudges who go overseas regularly and who visit foreign countries more often than their contemporaries see what other breeders in other countries have accomplished. When they come back home, they are tired of seeing the same faces and dogs week after week, and perhaps reward with justification or overly react favorably to the new and unexpected dog face in the ring.
I will say this: For certain the cream of the British judges are as outstanding as the cream of our own judges. Our judges, because of our system and the number of shows we have, are exposed to more dogs and a greater variety of types within breeds than British judges are. Once you go below the cream basis, there is little doubt in my mind that overall our multi-breed and multi-group judges are the best in the world. It's hard sometimes to beat their breed specialist, particularly if no politics is being played. This does happen there all too often in the case of certain breed clubs. Furthermore, I make the British cream and the American cream far superior to the Scandinavian cream and overall Scandinavian judge. Those from Scandinavia who seem to act so superior because of the so-called advanced training they get prior to judging and the rigorous tests they undergo, fail to appreciate the extremely small gene pool and limited number of dogs to which they are exposed. Personally, I make Hans Lehtinen from Finland the top all-breed judge in the world today. His expertise is like that of Andrew Brace's—it comes from exposure and a natural talent to recognize the best of dogs. Obviously there are exceptions to any discussion such as this, but it is hard to deny the impact of any foreign judge’s decision in a country other than their own. Just as the impact of a foreign dog competing out of his country can serve as a valuable, introspective tool for a real breeder in evaluating his or her breeding stock. •