Meet The Breeds – The Sunday Finale

By Amy Fernandez

By any definition, Sunday’s NYC weather was not inviting. It was cold and windy with non-stop pelting rain–and as most dog people know, all that feels way worse over on the west side with that wind whipping off the Hudson. In other words, it was the perfect day to revise plans and stay home.  Therefore, it’s kind of significant that MTB attendance was topping the record-breaking turnout for Saturday. This annual January event ended at 4 PM today, but the ticket lines still were long at 2:30. In contrast, the highly promoted and richly sponsored boat show and travel show held in the main pavilion was almost deserted.

AKC’s missteps and blunders are legion but this ranks as their best idea in many years. It is literally the most effective countermeasure to the endless flood of anti-purebred disinformation.  It offers a direct and effective presentation of purebred variety, beauty and especially their awesome skills.  Meet The Breeds has built performance demonstrations into the concept from the start–and that alone counts big. This year, the main arena offered a rotating schedule of Disc Dog, Agility, and NYPD Detection Dogs along with question-and-answer sessions on nutrition and training. That ring was packed all weekend.

Back in the day, demonstrations of hunting, herding and obedience were a routine aspect of Westminster halftime entertainment. And that was crucial since it was the primary venue for the dog loving public to meet breeds and breeders.  The dreadful benching aspect of the show provided an essential public service.  All that stuff was phased out, which sort of coincided with the encroaching nihilism of AR.

Unbenched shows never provided the same platform for communication, and it virtually eliminated any opportunity to witness purebred skills in action. We lost our voice and we are currently paying the price for it.

For that reason alone, it is no surprise that Meet The Breeds has been a breakout success from the start.  The NYC event continues to top records for spectator attendance.  Unfortunately, many clubs don’t seem to perceive the critical importance of events like this one.

No doubt, it is exhausting and intense.  Hauling a bunch of dogs into Manhattan is never fun but hey, don’t show dogs if you can’t handle that task. And we manage to do it every weekend.  It’s not that we can’t do it when we are motivated.

Many clubs went far beyond the basic requirement of showing up with dogs. They flavored up their displays, created promotional material and the result was overwhelming public interest.  And that was definitely not limited to the expected popular breeds.  Skye Terriers, Clumber Spaniels–it was impossible to get close enough for a peek of those breeds. How many of those people had even heard of a Clumber before that intro? It’s safe to say that those breeds have legions of new admirers thanks to the efforts of those clubs this weekend.  So many clubs went the distance to educate the public and promote their breeds.  But not all clubs.

That’s the problem.  A disappointing number of breeds were not represented at this event and several others bailed out after day one.  AKC hosts MTB events throughout the country but it is fair to say that this is our biggest opportunity to connect directly with the public. Clubs need to understand that this is a priority.

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Posted by Liz on Feb 1 2024. 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.