Alias....LOL! Well, since you asked...... It all started back in 1973 when I bought first hubby a Lab as a hunting partner. We spent months training him and in the process I got hooked on obedience trials...then tracking....then worked for a kennel that trained dogs for law enforcement. Somewhere in all that I managed to collect quite a few Labradors and Flat-Coated retrievers, finished several AKC championships while always using our our home-bred show quality dogs to hunt over.
The shows are just like any other hobby - you develope friends within a common activity.
If you are asking why the judge always handles the "buddies"....the boys have got to have two of 'em or it is a DQ!
Now I have a few Olde English Bulldogges that I attempt to do agility with. The word here is attempt.....I mainly just attend shows now to keep in contact with friends.