The New York herald., 1922-09-17

SHOULD DOGS GET
PENALTIES IF SHY?
Question Raised Over Decisions
at Noroton Show by Shep-
herd Dog Owner.
BY FRANK F. DOLE.

with the jurgling Of shepherds at the
Fairfield Kennel Club show at Noroton
recently. In handling the breed Mr.. Jay
V. Hall, the judge, carried light rose
wood stick with which he switched at
the dogs to see II they WINGED away .
possible indication of cowardice. One
Of the exhibitors. whose dog did finch
before the switch, has written an inter-
esting letter.
In part. she writes: Having closely
followed your writings in THE NEW York
HERALD and knowing you arb In the dog
game for the dogs sake, I want. to get
your opinion on the incident at Noroton.
Please do not misunderstood me. I am
not a sore head and do not put one
bit OF blame on the management of the
show I do feel. howevr If rally good
dogs ar to be brought into the ring and
then give nothing because they are only
shy. 1t Is time to make a kick.
i am new one In the field. I'll ad-
NIT, and l have lots to learn. but
have beautiful police bitch. shown In
the novice class at INoroton, who re-
ceived just such treatment. After the
Judging of the class. the Judge called
me back, not once but twice. and told
me before several people that had the
best bitch; that from the tip of her
nose to the end of her tail. she was al
most perfect, and should have received
the blue ribbon but she was shy and he
gave her nothing.
1T was sure hard to Swallow that.
You probably know how the Judge
rated the dogs. / have a very ugly
shepherd dog and because of that fault
have not shown him but IL ugliness Is a
necessary point. as it seemed to be at
Noroton l will enter him next time.
There Is no comeback for my bitch
now. ! don't expect It, But IL the judg-
ing Is to be on this line what is the use
OF trying? I admit my bitch was shy.
She Is young and this was her first
show, but l am not a bit discouraged
over her innate worth. l am proud to
say ! am a descendant of General Jack
son. who, although rebel. was fighter
and am coming back with my dogs,
not once, but several times If necessary,
until ] win."
The writer of the letter. M. p. Bat
tenhausen of Darien Conn. seems to
have reason to feel badly. although the
extent to which the disposition of dog
may be taken into account is entirely
in the discretion. of the Judge. 1t seems
hard to think that dog. apparently the
of shyness.
show Makes Dogs Nervous.
There Is no question that many
dogs which have all kinds OF courage
In a pinch become nervous in show,
IL they are newcomers. The
strain OF being chained tight to a bench,
in unusual surroundings. gets on the
nerves of the best of them Others
equally as good, and some which are
in normal circumstances shy. seem to
take courage from so much canine COM
pany and revel in show surroundings
On this account 1t seems to me rather
impracticable to stress temperament too
strongly.
1t is rumored, and perhaps with some
truth. that one of the best of the shep-
herds in this country Is here only be-
cause OF his shyness. In the German
trials the dogs are tested with pistols
and all sorts of noise maxim devices. 1t
is said this dog was gun shy and for
that reason only was such a specimen
permitted to leave Germany.
John n. Thorndike. perhaps better
known I'm the dog game as Jack. writes
that he has turned In his judging Ii
cense. The announcement came in an
swer TO a request to Judge at the Tuxedo
Kennel Club show.
In declining he wrote: II personally
believe that everyone should be allowed
to Judge. barring the handlers who can
not do IL anyway as they are busy show
ing i'm tho first place, and In the second,
II would not be practical Anyone COM
hitting n fraud in connection with dogs
or dog shows should. In my opinion. be
punished by the A. X. c., as they see
AZ. after full investigation by the trial
board. This is the way to control
things
The way things are now ! certainly
do not approve, and 40 would rather
see my name removed from the list OF
licensed judges. have been thinking
OF doing this for some time and while
was recently resting In hospital fol-
lowing an operation. made UP my mind
10 carry out my convictions. Some day
things may get normal again. In the
meantime. I am content to show my
dogs."
Thorndtixe's step Wrong.
Jack Thorndike has always had a lot
~ admiration from me. But this time,
think, he ls taking the wrong step.
There are too few good judges for any
~ those remaining 10 get out merely be-
cause other good ones have been forced
out aud poor ones taken In. III Tyler
Morse. Dr. Ford, Prentice Talmage and
come of the few like them. who are
holding M the reputation Of amateur
judge should ret out, the show game
would be In a deplorable fix.
Jack Thorndikc has done many things
For the benent of the dog game. From
the time he was boy IN the Back Bay
section of Boston. he has always owned
sood dogs His special love has been
Frt.h terriers and ne has done a tre-
uaenuous amount Of good for the breed.
ANY person of wealth and good in
auence helps tho game. II II gratifying
he "a ntIll 20 show his dogs. II would be
tremendously more gratifying " he had
kep, his ,udginE license.
Caarenoe =. Gray Of Boston has been
selected 20 Judge tho annual speciality
show Of the Rhode Island Boston Ter
yler club IN the Eiks Auditorium W
Providence on December 3. A large sun,
hms already been subscribed for casn
prines and there VIII be a number Of
trophies.
There promises 10 he great COLES.
tion or shepherd. az the annual spe-
calty show of that breed at the io4th
rteid Artillery Armory on October "
ard vs. Dr. Rooscback, the German
Judge. u coming 70 America to handle
the show and II should he interesting
a. compare his work with American Of
fsoials.
eE0RGE WhTS0N