Some Thoughts, Considerations and Quasi-Conclusions Gleaned From 58 Years In The Purebred Dog Fancy

by Herman L. Felton

            Rumor is something that goes in one ear and comes out through the mouth. A gossip is one who makes up in suspicion what he or she lacks in knowledge: who is a fact-mangler and misinterpreter; who likes to shake things up for the sake of shaking things up, not for constructive purposes; who puts two and two together and makes five; and who acts, almost always, with spiteful intent.

            After 58 years in the sport of purebred dogs, I can express myself as one:

• Who, as an elder, can look back at the life that was not perfect but was honest, ethical and considerate of others.
• Who had only one marriage, to a wonderful woman, still his wife, with whom he hopes to celebrate their 60^th anniversary in May, 1994.
• Who feels that people and animals are God’s creatures and should be treated accordingly.
• Who believes in the small “c” commandment: Thou shalt not tear others down so as to build yourself up.
• Who never shrank from responsibility and who challenged the mighty when he thought his cause was right.
• Who always, when judging dogs, put up the ones he considered the best specimens in the ring on that day and was not subject to outside considerations or personal prejudices.
• Who, as a professional, made it an important precept to have and to renew frequently a full and complete knowledge about the breeds he is judging and not who the dog’s owners and handlers are or what a dog’s show record is.
• Who believes that individuals tend to attribute to others the type of action that they themselves would take under similar circumstances. If they would do something unethical or dishonorable, they assume the other party would do the same. The essentially honest person has no such misconception, although he or she need not be naïve.
• Who has realized that to too many individuals–especially the self-important– form is more important than substance: how one does something is of more importance than what is done. The package is more important than the contents. The perception of the emperor’s lovely clothes overwhelms the fact that the emperor is wearing no clothes.
• Who has concluded that the vast majority of participants (judges, handlers, exhibitors and owners) in the purebred dog fancy are essentially honest, ethical and caring people subject to their share of human frailties but, as is true in any other competitive activity, there are some bad and a few rotten apples. These act as “spoilers” for an otherwise wholesome and rewarding endeavor.
• Who believes that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones, but, unfortunately, they are the most likely ones to do so.
• Who does not feel that he is unique in all of the above. Age, experience and the rough and tumble of a life in dogdom and other endeavors have contributed to this essay.

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