New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-06
JUDGE Tells
OF HIS WOES
IN SHOW RIM
English Breeder Find.
Difficult to Proper,
Apportion Points ,

S"'" .'use are apuy described \, y
Rev. A. r. Skinner, in ,....Te'
Der Of "our Dogs" an Engli,. .! =
cation. Mr. Skinner, 3, app..,, :,
hard 70 escape the responsibi,.,. Il
a wearer Of the ermine, bu, ~.
~ his fame as an exhibitor A :
various English shows he Va, q.
forced 70 NEE: the issue.
Five years ago started
smooth fox terriers, ard was
nate enough % meet with thu n,,
Of all other men could see ts,,,'
not make too many mistakes !.
my novitiste," says Mr. SKIM. .
first began 70 apply the Nend.li.
coyery to breeding, and ne, VA
suits that more and more co,..'
NY belief in the theory.
"A year ago it was eyider. T. :,
snoula nave 70 Judge fox tra
though 7 had refused on s.y.,
casions, giving as ny reason 8,
did not know enough abou. Il
the inevitable came, and IN Deer.
1914, I promised the secretary y -,
at the Great Joint Terrier Ga,
May last. II was a big orde. q, =.
beginner. but I had s,r mo.,, :.
think about - and think sbo., /, ;
did. First OF all, raked I'd >, sr
years Of experience as an sr.h.,
and | came 70 the eonclusio, -.
every judge had his own method, =.
these methods nearly always vrst,,.
different results
For instance. one Judge s.e-., ),
make a specially Of heads. ano,h,, J
legs and feet. another Of coat, al |,
on so much so. indeed. tha, /. vu
no use 20 show dog on the N,,,,
20 a man who preferred little one, !
vice versa. Nor could / get sny y,
sons either Tor success or failure, ),
awards seemed 20 flow impar,lsly h
the rain from heaven, on the jus A.
on the unjust alike. When. q, !,
stance, ! asked a Judge who ii! !.
give a card TO a dog that hsi ,,r
ously won ten frsts and a chsr,r
snip, his reply was: I did no, a
him And that was all 7 could gs.
IL then took 20 Watching the jsif.,
very carefully from the ringsids. n
often found tina. those judges ~
were the most serious and painsac,
in their methods had their dees.l
most severely criticised By the ,,u
Now. this 7 thought and still ..s
unfair. A man is paid the complies
Of being asked his opinion. He ia
it 70 the best Of his ability, and i "a
blamed by these critics. Let ne ~
however, in this connection tha. gsr
one was most kind 20 me az the M
terrier show; and although penclll
was not satisfied with ny oy, :.
forts, | met with nothing bur Il. -
appreciative and sportsmsnlise xe;.
ance Of the results by Others.
During the four or FIVE mor.s,
preparation for judging though.
many schemes FOR arriving az q CORE,
decision, and all az once Il flashed u,o
me that the only certain method "
numerical one. II the Kernsl Gu
lays down a scheme in which rsrtel
fox terrier If ever one shall be tosr'
- considered 10 be worth 100 por,
then every fox terrier Judge oggs.
be able TO say what number from
rank bad ono lo) and a moderate q
800 is represented by the animal !.
stands before him. Nay, mon:
ought 10 be able 20 dissect his ..
and 20 say whether 7 or 1914 reprey'
its true value for symmetry. siH q
character as embodied in the Is POI,
laid down by the Fox Terrier Club
have always been fond OF mathems.'
problems. and the more ! thoughtU'
this scale of ratios on a fixed sesi
points the more II fascinated ne
But here, again, was met byst
ficulty. had two bitch puppies. q
| wanted 70 know which was the BET
one, so | sought the opinion OF 81
known Judge, and asked him 70
down their values by the scale
points. He refused point blank 9
said Il was never done. Then ! ssi'
Which is the better puppy he
piled: Some judges would say 3
and some the other This I'D ,
help me out much. out was no' 9
couraged. and | put the matter 70
other judge. who tried 20 conylna
that my method was all wrong; Q
when he gave his reasons ! not I,
began 10 see daylight. but ] thocg,.,
saw way out Of the difficulty.
argument was that II numbers I"
used, a moderate animal Nigh! q
ceivably beat a dog that was suptf'
celleut in certain particulars.
This is exactly what happens iha
tain examinations. have done q g.
deal of examining az certain times
public examinations. A candidate
70 pass, say, in FIVE subjects. u
fails in any one he does not pass
examination. although his total IA
mlSnt exceed tno,e OF sucNessAs. '
Lidate. 50 I evolved a plan as foll''
81 would keep the scale OF poin.
my head. and II a dog failed badly
one or two OF the nine divisions
would be put on one side till the !
had been dealt with. From that y
began TO think in numbers. and s''
dog saw became four n,He
II. II. L. s.. three tens b. ;. g.
two fives y. s.. This is just q -,
way OF remembering that IN the e
head and ears. headquarters. less ;
feet. symmetry, size and character
each given Is points; back and ". ~
shoulders and chest and coat sre q
given 10 points. while neck and W
have 5 points each"