“No Facebook, nothing,” Sturz, 60, said by telephone. “I live far from social media. “I posted a photo of myself and my husband at the judges’ dinner on Sunday night and then went to the radio in silence.” The idea, he said, is that when he enters the ring tonight, he will be free of prejudice. “Part of the dream of this critical mission is to get on the floor and have no idea who the seven dogs are,” Sturz said. The best judgment in the show requires skills that are both special and strange. Dogs do not compete with each other on their own, but are judged on how faithfully they adhere to a certain set of breed standards as defined by the American Kennel Club. “He is the dog that has the most virtues as described for his breed,” Sturz said. “They also need to convey the essence of their race in behavior and character and metaphor.” With 209 different types of dogs competing in the show, Sturz must be well acquainted with the breed standards of all of them. Thus, he studied, mainly looking at endless pictures of dogs in books and magazines and on the Internet, to attach to his head a model of every breed, a kind of Platonic ideal. Regular people watching dog shows often support their favorite dogs – ostentatious golden retrievers, for example, sleek Afghan hounds or silly sheepdogs – without realizing that these qualities do not necessarily count as virtues they gain in the eyes of the judge. “There are certain breeds that lend themselves to a showy atmosphere,” Sturz said. “They are more active, more fancy, more elegant and have more presence. But what we are looking for is what the race is supposed to carry. “Some breeds are supposed to be more restrained and calm and royal, and that speaks to a judge as much as the dog standing there wagging its tail and jumping up and down.” In real life, Sturz is the caretaker of Valley Stream School District 24 on Long Island. But he is also a lifelong dog lover who has been watching dog shows for 50 years and judging on 32 of them, including Westminster. This is the first time he will award the Best in Show. When he spoke, Sturz did not yet know that one of the dogs in the final would be a French Bulldog – and therefore probably a personal favorite, as he has one, named Emmet, at home. (She also has a bull terrier, Lola.) But he vowed that whatever he faced, he would judge as a neutral observer, without fear or favoritism. “Dogs are works of art,” he said. “I love all breeds.”
