Shows Now And Then

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90 – June, 2024

By Amy Fernandez

Dog shows are nothing like they used to be. How often do you hear that? I am being sarcastic. That question invariably leads in to a long list of exactly how things have changed for the worse. It’s fair to say that similar critiques are frequently applied to just about everything in life–mainly because we conveniently forget about the really crummy stuff. Still, the subject really comes up a lot in reference to dog shows.

Recently, I was paging through an old issue of Popular Dogs, which was at one time a weekly news magazine. The February 10, 1928 edition featured a full page editorial that really brought some clarity to this nostalgic sentiment – Dog Shows of Yesterday, Today and the Future.

“Shows were much more interesting in those days. That is the remark frequently heard from the lips of veteran exhibitors.” The first thing that struck me about this story was the fact that it sounded exactly like the current criticism. Worse yet, 1928…how many shows existed to complain about?

As the story admitted, “It is scarcely probable that when the first dog show was held, those responsible for the innovation could have anticipated the future that lay ahead of their experiments.” The historical start of American shows is generally considered to be 1874, mainly because that event, held in Hempstead, New York, received some official documentation. Otherwise, it wouldn’t qualify as a respectable match show today.

Click here to read the complete article
90 – June, 2024

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Posted by AnthonyA on Jun 8 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.