STL All Sports

Each breed is judged by an authority on that breed. The rules of judging and of awarding points differ with each breed. What may be a point-winning feature with one breed is ignored in another.

What is a standard? For every breed eligible for AKC registration there is an official standard. A breed standard is a word description of what the ideal dog of that breed looks like. A standard is an attempt to describe "perfection." The standard is the "model" towards which breeders are striving in their efforts to breed better dogs. The standard is the guide judges use in evaluating dogs at a show. Each animal in competition is compared with the judges minds eye view of the perfect dog described in the standard.
The Mastiff and the Newfoundland must be judged on 12 different points, the Borzoi (Russian Wolfhound) on 11 and the Irish Wolfhound on 15-head, ears, eyes, teeth, neck, shoulders, chest, etc.

Dogs are judged in their breed classes first. Then they are judged on a group basis, i.e., Sporting, Hound, Working, Terrier, Toy and Non-Sporting. From the group winners thejudge selects the best in show.

In theory, the dog named as best in the show is the one scoring closest to the perfection of the breed standard.

In 1948 the Westminster Kennel Club made it a real championship show by requiring that all entries, except puppies, must have won a blue ribbon in a regular A.K.C. show.

The success and the popularity of the earliest dog shows in New York influenced breeders in other communities to originate exhibitions of their own.

Most picturesque of all shows, and the most famous of those that took place outdoors, was the Morris and Essex Kennel Club exhibit at Madison, N.J., on the border of Morris and Essex Counties. The show was originated in 1920 as an indoor display, but Mrs. M. Hartley Dodge, niece of the late John D. Rockefeller, decided in 1927 that indoor shows made for conditions too cramped for the dogs and the spectators. So she held it outdoors that year and thereafter until 1958 when it was discontinued.

The Morris and Essex is staged on what was a polo field on the Dodge estate, known as Giralda Farms. To provide shelter from torrid sunshine or rain, tents are set up. These have increased until now more canvas is raised than is used by the biggest circus.

The show is a one-day affair, starting at 10 A.M. and ending in the early evening. There is one judge for each breed. Attendance has ranged from 500 to 40,000. Money goes out in prizes for winning owners, or for silver cups and ribbons.