Puppies Take Over Orlando!

By Amy Fernandez

The AKC National Championship presented by Royal Canin, which kicks off next Tuesday and runs through Sunday, gets bigger every year. This year’s record breaking entry of over 8600 qualifies as North America’s largest show, and it’s the biggest AKC event since the 1984 Centennial.

Obviously, that wasn’t the original intention of an exclusive showcase of top winners.

That time-honored concept long ago gave way to a wider focus, and is the reason for its steady success and growth. But it’s still an Invitational. It’s both. It’s hard to explain. If there’s any consistent element guiding its strange, all-encompassing evolution, it has been an unswerving goal of broader participation.

Tailored events for juniors, owner/handlers, breeders, and breeds at every stage of the recognition process are just a few things that have been implemented over the years to appeal to what many consider frequently unappreciated segments of the fancy. What’s the one thing that has been consistently disregarded in our version of purebred celebration and the biggest news this year…puppies!!!

Always exciting and full of potential, the future of the sport are usually overlooked and outclassed at events like this. Well, 1200 of them didn’t get left home this year.

Jason Taylor, Assistant Show Chairman and National PRO Sales Director for Royal Canin, has been part of this creative management team since 2006. He says, “We absolutely care about the top dogs in the country and we are really proud of how the National Championship continues to showcase their achievements. We have always wanted it to be breeder-focused as well. Of course, there’s the BBE competition and the significant prize money associated with that.” This year 1079 will vie for that $15,000 chunk of change. “We see the puppy competition as another way to support breeders within that theme. We are really excited about it,” Taylor says. He’s got a good reason.

Taylor adds, “Recently someone asked me what we hoped to achieve when we first conceived this event. We thought it would be great to see 500 puppies competing, if we could do it. A little later, when Gina DiNardo and I did the Facebook live broadcast with The Canine Chronicle, we talked about the challenge of 1000 entries. I don’t know if either of us really believed we could do it. I never expected more than 1200!”

Yes, indeed. Actually, 1228 puppies are slated to compete in the inaugural AKC Royal Canin National All-Breed Puppy and Junior Stakes on Friday. Jason describes it as a typical sweepstakes format. “They compete by breed in four class divisions divided by sex.” Puppy 6-9 months, Puppy 9-12 months, Junior 12-15 months, and Junior 15-18 months – that adds up to eight class winners multiplied by 190 breeds. Breed winners then proceed through the usual Group and BIS elimination process.

They’re not doing this halfway, either. In addition to the prize money, there’s no segregation for Miscellaneous breeds. They compete in their designated groups. And it’s not sidelined to some dark corner of the show. It’s safe to say that it will add more than a little mayhem to Friday’s already hectic schedule.

Perhaps it’s turning out to be a bit more than expected, but it’s not the first time. Whatever happens Friday, let’s face it; nobody comes to the National Championship for a routine, predictable experience. The new celebration of the best puppies our sport has to offer continues to add a new experience to the mix.

Short URL: https://caninechronicle.com/?p=136810

Posted by admin on Dec 13 2017. 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.