Top Dogs

A couple of weeks ago Beagle Man received a very interesting request:  I was invited to be on the panel of judges for Westport Animal Shelter Advocates’ (WASA) Top Dog photo/essay contest.  My name had been submitted by a dog-walking friend who volunteers at WASA, a group that

was formed several years back to advocate for and assist the dogs at Westport Animal Control. I jumped at the chance, of course.  If it’s about dogs, count me in.

The judging took place last Wednesday at Town Hall.  All three judges (Bud Siegel, Patty Strauss, myself) were asked to score each dog in three areas:  its photo; the essay submitted by its owner, and its “specialness” — that je ne sais quoi that makes a dog a Top Dog.

The judging, of course, was totally subjective, and for me, it wasn’t easy:  I love just about everything about every dog.  And we, the judges, all had our quirks.  One judge was an easy grader — gave every dog somewhere between a 27 and a 30.  (Thirty — 10-10-10 — was a perfect score.)

Another judge was all over the ballpark, awarding scores as high as 30 and as low as 14.  I was tough — trying to guard against “grade inflation,” and also overcompensating for my first inclination to give every dog a perfect “10” in every category.  We

also tried our best to put aside whatever breed biases we had.  One judge confessed, off the record, a preference for big dogs.  Another — wonder who this could be? — had to control

his urge to automatically give the lone beagle entry a “30” before even looking at the photo or reading the essay.

But in spite of the difficult nature of the voting and the idiosyncracies of the judges, I’m pleased to say there was an extremely high degree of consensus in the resulting pool of finalists.  And while the Top Dog won’t be named publicly until a

ribbon ceremony at Town Hall (date still to be determined), WASA President Julie Loparo gave me the green light to publish photos of the handsome finalists, shown throughout the post.

Note:  As much fun as I had serving on the panel this year, I plan to step aside next year — so I can enter my own dog, Ricky.  Just so there’s no misunderstanding, even though I was a judge this year, when it comes to awarding the blue ribbon next year, I don’t expect any special consideration whatsoever for Ricky.  That’s “Ricky” — R-I-C-K-Y. . .