“IT BECAME VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE MAJORITY OF EX- HIBITORS TO ATTEND MULTI-SHOW WEEKENDS AND CIRCUITS. For those who persisted in doing so, not only comfort but safety was being seriously compromised.”
and enforcement was increasingly rigid. It became virtually impossible for the majority of exhibitors to at- tend multi-show weekends and cir- cuits. For those who persisted in do- ing so, not only comfort but safety was being seriously compromised. For the show giving clubs, the superinten- dents and the AKC, holding a show had become a nightmare—a nearly impossible nightmare. At the same time there was also a huge problem in nearly every show giving kennel club. People were too busy with their work, their families and their computers to volunteer to help with the many-faceted details of putting on a dog show. Other than the few persons who wanted to be show chairs, no one wanted to do anything. No younger people who would be ca- pable of doing any of the physical work of putting on a dog show were joining the clubs. They were all too busymak- ing a living, driving their children to soccer and Little League games—and conducting their lives on Facebook. Eventually the aging show chairs all died or became otherwise incapaci- tated and unable to manage the run- ning of a show. “It’s so different now,” she said, half to herself and half to Sandy, who, as always, appeared to be listening, al- though she had long ago lost most of her once acute hearing. She clicked on the file button again and saved what was on the screen. Then, with a huge sigh, she checked the animation and prepared to trans- mit her entry, viamodem, toMB-F for the big closed circuit virtual show that would take place on the second Mon- day and Tuesday in February.
loved it. It actually had begun with the show sites. There were fewer and fewer of them available, and as the number of exhibitors with large motorhomes and trailers had grown, there had been fewer locations with sufficient parking to accommodate these be- hemoths. At the same time, warn- ings about motels had continued to remain unheeded. Exhibitors had been allowing their dogs to become a nuisance. Dogs were being left for hours unattended in rooms, where they barked and howled, disturbing other guests. Dogmesses and uneaten dog food were being left in vacated rooms. People did not pick up after their charges when they had exercised them on motel property and the sur- rounding areas. At first many motels had begun to ask for increasingly large deposits. Then exorbitant, non-refundable charges for keeping dogs in rooms were add- ed. Still, exhibitors had continued to trash motel rooms or to allow their dogs to do so. One by one the once dog-friendly motel chains had ceased to allow dogs at all. Eventually, the unthinkable happened. NO hotel or motel would allow dogs—anywhere in the country. Exhibitors who could not afford to buy or operate an RV—rentals on these to dog people were being almost 100% refused—were forced either to drive all night to get to shows or to sleep in their cars. Streets surround- ing show sites began to be occupied by bumper to bumper parked cars full of weary, cranky and unwashed people and dogs. Local ordinances address- ing overnight parking and occupancy of vehicles became more restrictive,
characteristics would be right for proper animation, not only for correct front and rear movement but also for presenting the ears when called for. Time was running out. The old dog in the bed under the desk stirred awake, shook herself, “rat- tling” her ears as no creature on earth other than an Italian Greyhound can do, and stretched lazily. She laid her gray but still handsome long, narrow muzzle softly across the foot of her mistress and closed her eyes again. The woman reached down and stroked the silken head. She sighed. Dog shows had been so much fun in the old days, she thought. Sandy, espe- cially, had been a joy. She had always been so responsive, so full of life and so full of love. There had even been a judge who had wanted to buy her after having given her that finishing major. She would never have parted with Sandy, of course, but it had been a very flattering offer. It had been years since the last of the old type of shows had taken place. At one point there had even been complaints about there being TOO MANY shows. Entries started drop- ping off, and shows became smaller and smaller. Then, suddenly, there had been not enough shows. Eventu- ally there were none at all. It would have been easy to say that computers and the Internet were at the root of the problem, that too many people had begun to prefer surfing the Internet over actively participat- ing in the pursuits they had normally followed. That may have been true of some sports and other events, but it was not the final denouement that caused the demise of the dog show scene as so many had known and
34 • T op N otch T oys , J uly 2019
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