A Fort Lauderdale, Fla., dog show judge is biting back after a dog breeder made catty comments about him on an Internet discussion forum for people who breed Doberman pinschers.

Philip Martin, an American Kennel Club judge, alleges in a libel suit filed last month in Broward Circuit Court that Orlando, Fla., dog breeder Sandra Teague defamed him. Among the libelous statements, Martin claims, is that Teague suggested he had shown favoritism toward a show dog that was sired by his own stud dog.