Fault judging used in an attempt to find a winner by comparing the faults of one dog to another, in arriving at a decision on faults possessed by the dogs, disregarding among other things the required virtues and qualities of the dogs relative to the standard.

It is quite an easy matter to find faults with a dog, for no matter how good a dog may be, he is certain to have faults of some kind, the perfect specimen devoid of faults is yet to be seen. Whether they are true, serious important or otherwise doesnt seem to matter, for this person can only see the faults that to him exist in a dog.
Obvious faults are usually easy to see, but they need not be always as serious or important as they are obvious.
It is the lack of through knowledge and understanding of the breed that prevents a person seeing the virtues of type, balance, soundness, and quality to the same degree as they do the faults. With knowledge comes the ability to see a dog as a whole unit with virtues as well as faults - all in balanced proportions. To judge dogs by the faults they possess is a positive method that can have disastrous results for both the exhibits and the career as a judge. A person who judges by faults alone, can put an otherwise excellent dog down to an average exhibit, simply because the superior dog may possess an obvious fault that the inferior exhibit does not have.

There are many average quality dogs with no outstanding faults, but these dogs never rise above the status of being average specimens, simply because they have no outstanding virtues of quality essentials necessary to raise them above the level of being average. For this type of dog to be placed above one of superior class and quality because it has an obvious fault is completely wrong. This action will only lower the status of the breed.
The important role of a judge is that of being able to find the best dog with the correct essentials irrespective of any minor apparent faults he may have. In no way am I saying one has to completely disregard the faults together, but do not see them in such magnified proportion, that one fails to see the virtues of quality to the same degree in a dog of class, because it has an obvious fault that is visible in this type of dog.

Frequently we hear comments condemning a winning dog because of an obvious fault it may have, such as: - a light eye, gay tail, slight fault in movement or some other similar failing. Little or no comment is made of the fact that this winner, despite the apparent fault, is a typical high class specimen of the breed, structurally sound with quality virtues that cannot be found with the other exhibits.
The dark eye - perfect tailed dog could be lacking in other head properties that make him devoid of true expression - his attribute of having a prefect tail will not help over come this problem, or if he is unbalanced or deficient in other ways that make him untypical of the breed his perfect tail will be of litter compensation altogether. Let us dwell on the light coloured eye for a moment. The light coloured eye is most obvious to see and could be classified as a fault in that respect, but due credit must also be given to the shape, size, placement, setting and expression so imparted from this eye, before one can condemn a dog for the colour alone, for colour in itself only one part of the eye, whereas there are five other parts that must be given some consideration in conjunction with the colour.
We also hear criticism of faulty movement apart from distinct physical unsoundness in the movement of a dog, in coming to, or going away from you, be it wide in front or close behind, but no mention is made in relation to the profile movement. This particularly in a Fox Terrier is every bit as important as the fore and aft movement, because if the dog cannot stride out covering the ground in a satisfactory manner doing what is required of him, then the true fore and aft movement will have gained little or nothing for him.
It is essential that the required quality and standard of the breed is assessed by the virtues, not by the faults they possess. The faults also need to be true faults, not just superficial irregularities.

Having found the existing fault, it is necessary to know the cause and effect. This is the basis on which knowledge must be founded, it is the duty of every judge to know the reasons for the apparent faults, thereby knowing if the faults displayed are caused by structural defects or are just misses of perfection to the effected part - or parts. This is when proper knowledge and understanding of the breed is required, so that the desired qualitys are not passed by in the search for faults. Faulting a dog by pointing out any of the apparent defects a dog may have in an instructional manner is not to be confused with fault judging in any way - in fact it has no bearing on fault finding at all.
It should be clearly understood that were true faults do exist, a judge takes due notice then assesses the quality of the dog and penalises according to the severity of the fault that is in existence.
Firstly a judge looks for type, balance, soundness, quality and movement. In doing so the practical judge penalises heavily the faults of structure, type and unsoundness, with less emphasis on faults that may be apparent but not so important to the dog.
He looks for the qualitys and virtues that brings a doh close to resembling the perfect specimen as laid down in the standard of the breed.
In conclusion this ode summarises a direction for one to adopt.

Dont look for the faults you find,
And even when you find them,
Be wise and kind and somewhat blind,
And look for the virtues behind them