The AKC recently announced an increase of $1.50 in the event service fee for conformation events. The fee will go from the current level of $3.00 to $4.50. It’s been hard to miss the conversations that have followed:
I bet your first thought, when you read the title for my thesis this month, was that it must be a typo. If not, your next conclusion had to be, “This girl cannot type.” Another likely response begged the question, why is the letter “R” lower case and the letter “E” upper case? Well, it captured, as predicted, your attention. After two-plus incredibly stressful years of building a house, while trying to keep the rest of my life obligations in focus, I doused myself with ‘reliability’. Whatever needed to be done got done. The words, “You can count on me to (fill in the blank),” poured from my mouth more times than I can begin to remember. Yet, here I am, Mrs. Reliability at the ready and wondering why.
“A beautiful dog can show better or worse on any given day; But an ugly one will be ugly forever!”
Tradition underpins our sport. We are so fortunate to love a sport that allows us time with mentors and friends, and our beloved pets. Showing dogs is a lifetime sport: We have kindergarten students in the ring with grandparents; and families who have blessed us with multiple generations of humans as well as their dogs.
Every sport has its rules. Lots of rules. And our sport is no different. The majority of AKC rules are necessary and quite sensible. Although sometimes it seems that those who write rules for any sport are getting paid by the number of unnecessary words they can squeeze in between the good stuff. But in spite of the time it takes to create rules, no one actually reads them … unless they absolutely have to. Maybe they’ve done something stupid and are looking to confirm their assumptions. Maybe they’re trying to find a rule to get even with someone who they feel has done them wrong. Maybe they enjoy testing their limits by bending a few rules.
This sport is losing the battle for public support–no secret there. Rather than endlessly debating the reasons why, let’s focus on solutions. One item rarely enters the conversation: the critical role of local all-breed clubs. Membership recruitment efforts invariably focus on parent clubs. Some are quite successful in that regard, but overall, it is clearly not doing the job.
STILL STANDING With AKC judges, breeders, and TV personalities Wayne Cavanaugh & Kimberly Meredith Brought to you by The Canine Chronicle Real talk. Bold takes. No fluff. The blogcast that goes beyond the ring — from two insiders who’ve lived it all… and are Still Standing. Watch. Listen. Only at The Canine Chronicle. Click here to watch on Canine Chronicle [...]
Will Alexander Drops Some Knowledge About What’s Happening in the Sport of Dogs. It’s Deep… It’s Humorous… It’s Provocative… It’s Will Unfiltered! Will Alexander has an in-depth conversation with Brett Hamilton. Click here to watch on Canine Chronicle TV!
“Whenever I see her judge, I know this is a person with integrity. You might not agree with every decision but when a judge is coming from a place grounded in integrity, win or lose, you really respect their opinion. You feel confident that when they walked in the ring their only goal was finding the best dog.” That’s a recent comment from David Fitzpatrick, someone with plenty of experience sizing up judges. But the real question is who is he talking about?
We do this because we love the sport, and we’ve always been told we should give back. Volunteers, by their nature, do not expect compensation. In fact, as non-profit club members, we are not allowed to accept any pay for our lost wages or work.
