by caroline coile save our sport I n a recent AKC survey of dog show participants, almost half (47%) say they attend fewer shows than they did five years member who can chat about dogs there. 9) When possible, offer a Meet the Breeds area, even if it’s just a few breeds rotating
on behind the scenes. These same people said barriers to attending were that it was time consuming, exclusive, expensive, appeared to be political and the shows were hard to find out about. They thought the beauty pageant aspect was boring, overly formal and they couldn’t understand the judging or pro- cedures. And they had questions about the logistics of attending, such as what to wear or could they bring their own dog. Again, what can we do to make this better? 1) Free, or very inexpensive, spectator admission 2) Focus on local publicity as a major club activity, not an afterthought 3) Provide a contact number for questions, and man it with your most personable members 4) Provide a judging schedule before- hand, online, at veterinary clinics, feed stores and wherever else you posted announcements 5) Post online and provide handouts at the show explaining what happens in judging 6) Have club members circulating with “ASK ME!” type badges or t-shirts 7) Dog show tours are great! But also take them behind the scenes, chat to people grooming. 8) Provide chairs or rest areas so they don’t have to leave once their feet are tired. Optimally, have a club
ago. Reasons included costs, issues with judges (breed knowledge, politics, favoritism), time constraints and dif- ficulty getting majors. If we want dog shows to survive, we need to keep cur- rent exhibitors and attract new exhibi- tors. Focusing on the former, the thing individuals have the most control over is judging. The answer is simple: just judge the dogs. That’s how judges can save our sport. And exhibitors: don’t expect favors. Don’t cheat. That’s how you can save the your sport. How do we attract new people? I’m a huge advocate of keeping shows in their local communities rather than clustering them all in a few sites within a state. How many people wandered into a show and left being impressed by a particular breed or even left with a desire to be part of it? I did. But appar- ently 6-year-olds from a hundred years (or so) ago are more easily impressed than today’s adults, at least according to a study done by an AKC focus group with the goal of understanding the pub- lic’s perception of AKC and AKC shows. The groups consisted of owners of AKC registered dogs who already had a favorable impression of the AKC. One group was open to attending a dog show, the other to actually participat- ing in one. Their primary exposure to dog shows was the Westminster Kennel Club show on television. Among those open to attending shows, they were interested in agility, seeing the different breeds, having a family outing, socializing with like- minded people and seeing what went
10)Exhibitors: Let people pet your dogs. Be ready to help when some- body looks confused. Stop talking to each other long enough to wel- come spectator’s questions! Among those open to participating in a dog show, the major draw was agil- ity, which they saw as fun. They liked the idea of being with like-minded peo- ple and of competing, and also saw it as a way to teach kids responsibility. They saw agility as more fun, faster paced, easier to learn and more natural, as compared to conformation. Their barriers to participating in conformation were having ineligible dogs (spayed, neutered or with breed DQs), difficulty getting a good show dog, time and expense and lack of “Beginner Shows” where they could learn in a less stressful environment. So besides all of the above, we need to provide fun matches, training class- es and help finding a show dog. More agility classes could be a way to lure prospective competitors in, especially those with dogs ineligible for confor- mation. And don’t forget beginner level events like Canine Good Citizen, Cours- ing Ability Tests (and actually the new Fast CAT seems easier for a club to put
“again, what can we do to MAKE THIS BETTER?”
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