The Dog Show Game – Telling It Like It Is

After much observation over the course of my quarter century I can only describe what is happening as a transformation of our sport.

After much observation over the course of my quarter century I can only describe what is happening as a transformation of our sport.

The Pekingese Club of America ended 2009 on a high note as we celebrated our 100th year with the Regional and National specialties in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Wyndham airport hotel. The PCA was formed in 1909 in New York City by a group of socialites who appointed JP Morgan as the first honorary President. We’ve come a long way from the days when our National was a posh society event in the ballroom of the Plaza Hotel on Central Park South in Manhattan, but this parent club still holds its privileged past in high regard.

The AKC reminds us that the principles of sportsmanship are the prime reasons why our sport has thrived for over one hundred years. I would hate to think that these years may be coming to an end.

It is important to teach younger people, if they are truly interested. I do my best to do this and so do many others. Young people cannot or should not be forced to learn about our sport. There are a few young people who truly want to learn. They will be the backbone of our sport in the coming decades. It is important for young people to have the talent to look at a dog and evaluate them in their mind with the picture of what this breed should look like, and not be afraid to discuss this with experts in this breed.
How do our viewpoints impact the way we go about the business of evaluating respective merit? How do our priorities differ or vary? What impact does experience have? How well, or otherwise, do we translate educational experiences into acceptably valid practice? These are some of the things which seemingly always fascinate the mind.

96 – February, 2010 by Kimberly Silva What made you decide to become a judge? We handled dogs for twenty five years, and judging dogs was a natural progression. I always hoped to be able to contribute to the sport by judging. Who, if anyone, has influenced your style of judging? There were a number […]

My tenure as a delegate, representing my breed’s parent club, could well go down in history as the shortest lived ever. I lasted but a year. In retrospect, I probably never should have accepted the position.

I knew of Denny long before I ever met her as she was a legend in the German Shepherd breed as a great handler and a successful breeder.” She and her husband Les reared their family (David and Peter) in the mid-west and no matter where she went she carried a strong and true Midwest demeanor. In dogs she didn’t shoot from the hip on anything. She told it like it was and never gave it a second thought if she believed in what needed to be said.