Meet The Breeds Packs ‘Em In!

By Amy Fernandez

AKC is doing something right.

These days, Meet The Breeds has become an AKC tradition. But even in its earliest days, when it was more of a pop-up event at Madison Square Park, it immediately became a lightning rod that galvanized NYC’s disenfranchised purebred fans. And even in a place like New York, they were starting to feel very alienated thanks to PETA, HSUS, and the rest of that evil axis. So, even though it wasn’t a major league event back then, it certainly arrived at a crucial time.

Over the next few years it gained momentum and AKC tinkered with the format until finally hitting on the current arrangement at the Javits Center. Personally, I consider the Javits to be, by far, NY’s finest large event space. Spacious, well-designed, and easily accessible, it usually hosts three or four big extravaganzas every weekend.

On the recent weekend of January 25-26 while the boring old Boat Show, and the Travel Show dominated the place, downstairs in the back was Meet The Breeds. Now, don’t get the wrong idea. This place is so big, that even the back basement is a fabulous, gigantic venue.

Meet the Breeds was not only jam-packed despite Saturday’s torrential freezing rain, I knew it has really hit the mark when I witnessed crowds defecting in droves from upstairs because they heard a rumor about actual live dogs at the other end of the building.

This is the 11th year for this particular incarnation of MTB and it’s safe to say they’ve perfected the formula. The two key elements were there all along of course:

A) People wanna touch the dogs

B) Breeders love talking about their dogs

The breeds are grouped alphabetically- because this crowd is NOT acquainted with breed groupings. And it actually works to advantage having the Afghan Hounds by the Affenpinschers and so on. People end up seeing and learning far more than they would by simply honing in on their favorites. Every club had a nice big space which they were encouraged to decorate for maximum crowd appeal. Some went all out; and AKC does run a sort of contest to reward those efforts. But the thing that matters most is obviously having sufficient dogs on hand. Because even the most sociable, patient dog will get fed up with nonstop kissing and petting after an hour or two.

The unusual breeds are always a big draw. Crowds packed in to see the supersize models like the Mastiffs and the rarities like the Peruvian Inca Orchids. I had a nice chat with the PIO breeder. He had trucked up to NY from West Virginia with six of his dogs. He loves the breed, loved showing them off, and he found an appreciative audience in NYC.

Another stroke of genius has been the inclusion of cats. At first, this combination sparked some critical backlash within the fancy, but let’s gets real. The purebred cat world has suffered in tandem with our sport in recent years. Officially under the banner of The International Cat Association, that wing of the show drew equally enraptured fans. Yeah, there’s a bigger crossover audience than you would imagine. And it is pretty doubtful that TICA or any other national cat group would be able to stage a standalone event of this type. Solidarity is good business and 200 examples of purebred cats and dogs on display presented a very convincing case for the merits of selective breeding.

Anyway, getting back to the dogs. The size of this venue easily accommodated the cats as well as several interactive features and demonstrations that really gave the crowd some bang for their bucks. There was a big ring devoted to petting puppies–yeah, it sounds simplistic but don’t underestimate the appeal of that stuff.

And the center of the show was dominated by an enormous ring for ongoing demonstrations throughout the day. Many of them were sponsored by the legendary Port Chester Obedience Training Club. And I can assure you that people never get tired of watching superbly trained dogs run through their routines. The Hudson Housatonic Disc Dog Club was there winging Frisbees around to everyone’s collective delight. Also, twice each day the United States Police Canine Association offered hour-long programs showcasing the skills of their various K9 units. The unscripted highlight of that came Saturday afternoon when, during an audience participation exercise, a young couple from Connecticut upstaged the vapor wake demo with an impromptu marriage proposal.

And, of course, there was plenty of swag for sale. Some might say that AKC is going overboard monetizing their message, but the Javits doesn’t come cheap. If selling scads of overpriced tote bags and tee shirts will ensure that MTB keeps going, have at it.

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Posted by admin on Jan 31 2020. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.