I came across this poem in the back of an old show book i picked up at a boot fair, :D

If You can show your dog when all about you
Are showing theirs and winning every blue;
If you can trust your choice when judges doubt you
But make allowances for their doubting too;
If you can breed and keep on showing puppies
To see them given nothing but the gate;
And still keep right on trying to do better
Unblinded by despair, or rage, or hate.

If you can bear to see the hints you've spoken
In judges ears deliberately ignored;
Or see the plans you worked so long on broken
When stewards write the placings on the board;
If you can hear the rinfside gossips yacking
Of dog show dirt and all the kinda stuff;
And realize, though in truth they're largely lacking,
You should give heed, not much but just enough.

If you can swear by everything that's holy
To shut your trap and not help start a row;
You'll be a man the equal of George Foley,
And if that aint high praise i dont know how!
If you can do all this and still keep showing,
No matter what a 'fancy' has to say,
You'll be a dog fanatic most worth knowing,
And maybe run the AKC some day!!

(As it might have been written had Rudyard Kipling been a Dog Fancier)

By Sherman R. Hoyt  :D

Love it!!!! so apropriate, love it, love it, love it.

Dawn R.