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Yes Harry Mr. Reed was a great judge if there ever was one. I have seen several dogs steal a point and it is a problem if unseen by a judge.

I was judging once and rode up on a pair of dogs, one pointing and one backing. I stopped my horse and when my partner rode up beside me I said to him, "Somethings wrong here, this just doesn't look right to me.". At that point, my good friend Mark Flanagan informed us that his bracemate had refused to back and had stolen the point. I knew Mark pretty well and I didn't think that he would lie to me but I told my partner that although I thought Mark was telling the truth, we had to ignore him as neither of us had seen the action. Turned out that neither dog placed (for other reasons) so the question became moot. I told Mark later that he was a participant and not a judge's assistant so he should please keep his mouth shut in the future. IIRC, he told me to go to he11. As I said, we were pretty good friends so we were both laughing. :-)


On a similar note, a professional handle once informed my partner and I that had we not been riding so slowly we would have seen his bracemate steal a point from his dog. A little later, his dog pointed and then moved up and knocked a bird. As I rode away, I commented rather loudly, "Well, I saw that one!" and said to my partner, "I bet that guy regrets that 'keep up' comment now." :-) PS His bracemate didn't place either!