Although the breed requirements supply plans, judges have their own choices and concerns. For some judges, Mr. Eubank said, evaluating a Cavalier King Charles spaniel is mainly about discovering a quite face. (The breed standard requires a “sweet, gentle, melting expression.”) But for Mr. Eubank, who matured with uber-athletic sporting dogs, a winning Cavalier need to likewise move wonderfully around the ring.
The audience, which can be lively at Westminster, frequently has choices of its own. But if there is knowledge in the crowd, it cannot be relied on by a conformation judge. Audience members “just glom on to something, and they like it,” Mrs. Vogels said. “They don’t have the expertise to know whether it’s great or not.”
Dog reveal evaluating has its disadvantages. The travel can be grueling. Dog bites are an occupational risk. And where there are winners, there are in some cases aching losers. “You’re brilliant if the dog wins, and you’re an idiot if the dog doesn’t,” Mrs. Stenmark said.
Still, judges said they couldn’t think of quiting the pursuit, which they are drawn to for a range of factors. “I guess it’s my drug of choice,” said Mrs. Stenmark, who said she got “a thrill” when she saw a superlative brand-new dog enter the ring.
For Mr. Faulkner, who is likewise an artist, evaluating dogs engages the imaginative parts of his brain. “I love the whole parts-to-whole gestalt approach to evaluating breeding stock,” he said. “And I love the balance and symmetry.”
And then, obviously, there are the dogs. Although Mr. Eubank stays a Cavalier man, he loves all of the types he’ll be evaluating on Monday.
“I love pugs, I love min pins,” he said, describing mini pinschers. “I love Pekingese.”
Pomeranians? “They’re the cutest.”
Havanese? “Crazy about them,” he said. “I love them all.”
