TV Dog Shows – What Makes Them Special?

By Francine Reisman

©Lisa Croft-Elliott

I never watch sports on television. I do remember summer days and evenings sitting on our porch watching baseball with my father; listening to him yelling along with the announcer… “tag him out!”, “safe!”, “that schmo hasn’t caught a ball all year!”. It was exciting, as I’m sure all the other sports are for those who live for their weekly games. But how exciting would it be if they knew who had won before the game started? Well, I think that may be one of the big differences between the popularity of Westminster Kennel Club and The AKC/Eukanuba National Championship… live television coverage. I know that I, living in California, could find out who went Best In Show at Westminster before watching, but woe to the person who would dare call me ahead of time with this news!

I just finished watching the February 2nd showing of the 2012 AKC/Eukanuba dog show. The show was held on December 15th and 16th, and what dog show fancier didn’t know who won within minutes or hours of the red, white and blue ribbon being handed to the winner. It was weird listening to the announcers place their bets on the Schipperke winning when knowing that the Wire Fox Terrier and company had gone home with that ribbon and $50,000.

Yes, I know there are millions of people who don’t have that inside news, but how many of them truly care and how many will be sitting home on a Saturday afternoon at 12 pm to watch a dog show? Never have I walked into the post-office or cleaners or any store where I was asked about the dog who won at AKC/Eukanuba. Rarely, if ever, has someone told me they saw the dog show in Philadelphia after the Thanksgiving Day Parade, but on the second Wednesday in February it always seems as if store clerks, receptionists, and doctors all have questions about the dog show they’ve watched for the last two evenings.

I like dog shows, I live dog shows, but it’s Westminster Kennel Club that holds the key to excitement. Do I think this is fair? Are the dogs or judges more exciting in New York than anywhere else? Of course not! So what can be done to even the score? With the brainpower behind the AKC/Eukanuba event and Philadelphia K.C. there must be a solution. I think it would be great to have my nephew sit next to me watching my sport and getting as excited as I did watching baseball with my dad.

Francine Reisman

Santa Barbara, CA

Short URL: http://caninechronicle.com/?p=15610

Posted by admin on Feb 4 2013. 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.