How To Avoid These Three Poor-Sport Pitfalls

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216 – February, 2025

By Sandy Weaver

Do you use Facebook? Then you’ve seen them–people who use the open forum the way most people use a journal or diary, posting their raw emotions and showing off their exceptionally poor sportsmanship for the whole world–literally!–to see. No, this isn’t going to be a “quitcher whining” article. There are three major areas that poor sportsmanship shows up in conformation sports, so this article is to help people understand how to stop crossing those lines in real life as well as on the internet.

In conformation, as in every sport where newbies and spectators are part of the equation, it’s essential to foster a positive environment so that everyone feels welcome and safe. That’s done through following the tenets of good sportsmanship. The AKC Code of Sportsmanship is included in many club premium lists and catalogs, and some clubs even create a poster to be used on show grounds, reminding exhibitors and attendees that how they behave matters. A lot!

Pitfall #1 – Bad-mouthing fellow exhibitors, their dog, and/or the judge when the ribbons don’t go their way. Yes, everyone enters the show hoping to win. Yes, it’s a lot of work and a lot of expense to attend dog shows, especially those out of your area. Yes, it’s disappointing when the dog you’ve poured time, energy, and dreams into gets the gate. For most people, the walk out of the ring is silent and hopefully without dramatic body language. For some people, though, the poor sport hat goes on immediately. Maybe they snatch the un-hoped-for ribbon out of the judge’s hand, stomp out of the ring and fling it on the ground. That’s just the beginning of their antics–they start trash-talking to friends and sometimes even strangers right there at the ring, making excuses for why they lost and belittling the winner, the dog, and/or the judge. This behavior is beyond childish–it’s detrimental to the sport of dogs, which makes it a benchable offense. If you know someone at the shows who behaves like this, here’s what they need to know:

Click here to read the complete article
216 – February, 2025

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