More on AKC All-Breed Dog Shows

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I believe it is necessary to share more information on the topic discussed in my previous post titled "AKC Conformation Events, A Closer Look." A friend of mine and I were conversing about the decline of dog entries at AKC conformation shows, and I wondered how the loss of 384,000 entries over a ten-year span had affected her and her breed. She regularly exhibits and is well-known in Longhaired Dachshunds, not only here on the East Coast but she also travels great distances such as to the mid-west and Florida's Eukanuba. I was keenly interested in her feedback and the experiences she has encountered in her breed.

Wow, was I surprised with her response, though, actually, I should not have been. First, a quick point that the AKC Most Popular Dog Breed list ranks Dachshunds as number 13 out of 184 breeds in popularity. However, her reporting of few to no entries at all-breed shows led me to believe that we could have been talking about a low-entry or rare breed!

To illustrate, she referenced an upcoming and usually very popular New Jersey all-breed dog show circuit beginning on Thursday with the Central New Jersey Hound Show, followed by Tuxedo Park, Somerset Hills, and Sunday's conclusion with the Westchester Kennel Club Dog Show. Starting with Thursday's Hound Show, she reported that there is only 1 class entry of each sex in the Longhaired Dachshunds competition -- no points. Friday's Tuxedo Park Kennel Club Show, again, only 1 of each sex entered in the classes -- no points. Interestingly, there are no majors in the other two varieties as well at this particular show. On Saturday, Somerset Hills hosts the long-time Dachshund Club of New Jersey Specialty, which she continued, has only 1 class male and 3 class bitches offering just 1 point total for Long-Haired Dachshunds classes! Sunday, the Westchester Kennel Club has only one of each sex in the classes with, again, no points.

How dismal is it that a highly respected, competitive East Coast all-breed show circuit cannot attract enough entries of a favorite breed variety, which ranks 13 of the most popular breeds, to offer even 2 points, let alone a major win? My friend added that there were several mid-west specialties in which, again, no major championship points were available in her breed, but she went further listing a recent number of familiar dog shows, to include one or more upcoming events, that had or have no points available. In fact, she concluded that she could not recall any major points offered for Long-Haired Dachshunds at an all-breed show this year. Frankly, she stated, she was sick of it.

Inevitably, I inquired if the Long-Haired variety was more scarce or rarer than the other two varieties, those being Smooth and Wire-Haired. She was emphatic in her reply stating that there is nothing rare about Long-Hairs. Indeed, she went on to recount that this variety is so popular that, in past decades, it used to take 12 entries in competition to make-up a Major in which she had neither difficulty in finding nor winning.

Well, her feedback certainly mimics what I said previously about my breed, Irish Wolfhounds, when I also recalled there was a time, here on the East Coast, when I could finish a wolfhound with three or four majors amid a large number of competitors.

AKC Conformation Events, A Closer Look

After writing my post, "Sad to See," I decided to look closer into how many AKC conformation all-breed events are held annually. If you read my earlier article you would be familiar with the argument by many, many fanciers that there are too many dog shows today, and as a result, the number of entries are spread very thin but also membership and volunteerism as well.

First, do you believe that there are fewer entries at conformation dog shows? Take a look at the data concerning AKC conformation events and for those who disbelieve, this will change your mind. The AKC Annual Reports state the following:

2015, there were 1,599 all-breed shows with 1,326,737 entries
2014, there were 1,610 all-breed dog shows with 1,356,066 entries.
2013, there were 1,614 all-breed shows with 1,386,727 entries.  
2012, there were 1,604 all-breed shows dog shows 1,435,266 entries.
2011, there were 1,589 all-breed dog shows with 1,455,971 entries.
2010, there were 1,586 all-breed dog shows with 1,473,751 entries.
2009, there were 1,548 all-breed dog shows with 1,516,098 entries.
2008, there were 1,534 all-breed dog shows with 1,641,004 entries.
2007, there were 1,548 all-breed dog shows with 1,698,840 entries.
2006, there were 1,519 all-breed dog shows with 1,710,265 entries.

Get the picture? This reveals a significant decrease of nearly 384,000 entries between 2006 through 2015. However, more spectacularly, it has been accompanied by an increase in the number of all-breed dog shows. What do you think happens when there is a loss of 384,000 entries but an increase of 80 plus conformation all-breed dog shows? Here is what happens: 2015's 1,326,737 entries are spread very thin. Ahh, some might feel that AKC should have been more responsive to the situation. Let us take a look at that as well for every dog show entry is accompanied by the following verbiage: "Including $3.00 AKC event service fee per entry & $.50 AKC recording fee first entry only."

Translation: revenue. Here are the AKC Recording and Event Fee Revenue breakdowns:

    2015 — $11,313,000
    2014 — $11,366,000
    2013 — $11,317,000
    2012 — $11,249,000
    2011 — $10,912,000
    2010 — $9,955,000                                                                                                                    

This is certainly not chump change but a healthy profit, and as you can see, the revenue has grown meanwhile there has been a marked decrease in conformation dog show entries. I suppose someone will logically ask the following question: "If there are fewer entries, AKC revenue should also be down." Perhaps, and this is speculation, that the two do not necessarily go hand in hand.

First, recording and entry fees most likely have risen over these many years. Moreover, the increase in the number of shows affords easier access to closer or even doorstep all-breed shows. The decreased entries are spread throughout the plethora of all-breed shows, and now, it is not uncommon to see shows with a number of breeds having only one or two breed entries. Few to no points are offered, but your entry money is nonrefundable after the Closing Date. AKC receives their cut, no matter. Fanciers do get discouraged and feel that it is not worth it any longer. They usually do not attend a show when there are either one of two entries or the only entry! Instead, years past, many of us old timers would have to wait with great anticipation to exhibit at a singleton show or a well-known circuit. We would have large entries, sometimes enough for 5-point Majors or when I could exhibit a wolfhound to their championship winning four Majors. Those were the days my friends.....

I speculate that AKC's answer to this dilemma is to lower the number of dogs required in their Points Schedule for two points to 5-point Majors. Just don't touch their revenue stream.

By the way, I did look to see the comparison for the circuit I spoke of in the "Sad to See" blog post. According to the earliest data on infodog.com, the Southern Adirondack Kennel Club dog show has been in the same location throughout these many years. On Saturday, August 1999 there were 1025 Total Dogs Present and Competing out of 1374 entries. On Saturday, August 2016 there were 664 Total Dogs Present and Competing out of 859 entries. That is a difference of 515 entries and tells us something right there.

Update on a Previous Post "Here We Go Again, Foreign Dog Show Judges"

I recently have been told that one or more members of the Potomac Valley Irish Wolfhound Club were allegedly upset that I publicly aired news of their April specialty show debacle involving the foreign judge, Knut Olav Wille. Although out of politeness, I originally did not mention their specialty association by name, nor the Judge's, I am doing so now for several reasons.

Clearly, the situational irony is thick here. This club and therefore, its show officials were happy to accept my hard earned money for my five dogs and their individual entries, yet, they assail me for talking about how their foreign judge was not adjudicating by AKC Rules, Policies, and Guidelines for Conformation Dog Show Judges! As if I were to blame for their failures.

When a specialty club is administered by people who have little to no regard for AKC Rules Applying to Dog Shows, there are after-effects. These by-products are consequential insofar as; first, it makes a mockery of the proceedings. The Best of Breed competition was a parody and several people outside the ring were bitterly criticizing what was happening. Read my Blog Post, "Here We Go Again, Foreign Dog Show Judges" to experience it almost first-hand. Even more, after all was said and done, a few exhibitors mentioned that they were not returning to the show again. If a show giving club does not intend for the Judge to adjudicate in a manner conforming to the established rules of the governing body, AKC, then why not hold your show independent of AKC? Just host a self-governing specialty show without championship points and allow the judge to adjudicate willy-nilly and then let the chips fall where they may.

Why did I mention the foreign judge Knut Olav Wille by name this time? For the very reason that even after his gaffes during the Potomac Valley Irish Wolfhound Specialty's Best of Breed competition, evidently, he did little to nothing to educate himself on how to adjudicate properly according to AKC dog shows. While judging at The Irish Wolfhound Association of the West Coast's two-day specialty in which his assignment was Friday, he allegedly attempted to disqualify an Irish Wolfhound entry for a narrow underjaw. This time, thankfully, there was an AKC Executive Field Representative present who intervened because there are NO disqualifications in the IWCA Breed Standard. How embarrassing for the unfairly censured exhibitor who paid an entry fee and then was publicly wronged. A few may excuse this blunder by saying the judge made a mistake so, what is the problem? These are the same people who are ready to forgive an evident lack of judgment until it happens to them and they are the exhibitors on the end of the lead who are singled out and disqualified in a breed with no DQs at a Breed Specialty dog show. Finally, think about this obvious, uncomplicated reason why this was yet another problem: It was and is disrespectful to the exhibitors and our wolfhounds.  

Sad to See

Last weekend, I attended a dog show cluster that used to be called "The Adirondack Circuit, The Place to Be," which is a well-known East Coast group of five back-to-back shows held in Ballston Spa, New York during August. Wednesday through Sunday, these shows have provided an opportunity for exhibitors to "park and plant it" for as long as I can remember and in years past attracted large entries. I have not exhibited at this circuit since 2009, but oh boy, what a surprise it was for me when I arrived. I entered one day out of the five being a Saturday and it was, as I alluded to, something of a shock for me and my friend.

This circuit used to attract scores of entries and with it came the vendors and great food. In fact, I recall one vendor whom I believe used to come from Massachusetts and they had delicious sandwiches on the freshest bakery rolls available -- the owner once informed me that they picked up the rolls on the way to the show. One had to wait in a long line just to get their food. Alternatively, there was also a favorite Greek food truck which had the most pleasant and refreshing food options such tzatziki, gyros, and the like. I cannot remember if they were one and the same but no matter because they are all gone now. We walked over to the vendor area and just turned around in an empty circle where once, years before, there were at least one to two isles of merchants. All gone -- no more food vendors except the solitary fairground stand and the smoothie Flip Bar. Gone are the dog bed vendors who used to have large assortments of dog beds as well as the numerous show dog supply vendors. Save for just three small, economical set-ups -- two show dog supply merchants with a small assortment of leads, bowls, and toys, and then another who was selling grooming tables.

It was sad to see and as I said earlier, very surprised. It was similar to looking sentimentally at a structure that held many memories for you, and now, it is rundown, forlorn and dilapidated. Perhaps I sound melodramatic but looking around at this circuit, on a Saturday to be precise, and not just a busy workday excuse like Wednesday or Thursday; my friend and I just felt pity, as it seemed so empty. There was a sundry of rings set-up, but nothing near the number I recall and it appeared that several rings had been taken down already. However, again this was a Saturday, the busiest day for any circuit and as far as I could ascertain, they were not taken down but were just empty spaces. In today's day & age, with all-breed kennel club shows losing entries like a fractured dam losing water, at least this Saturday show still had a respectable *859 entries with 804 present and competing. It goes without saying that I commend the volunteers who turn up, time after time, to host this conformation dog show but it must be a bittersweet experience.

A woman was walking her dog, and we stopped to ask her what happened -- where were all the retailers and food options as there were in yesteryear? She sighed and said, "This is what it is now, all that you remember are gone." There was just emptiness; how somber.

The stranger offered that it is an expensive hobby and after the financial crash in 2008, many people did not return to the sport. Though the points she made were valid, I feel that the most influential factor today is that there are far too many all-breed kennel club dog shows. Indeed, there exists a gluttony of all-breed kennel club shows to the detriment of the sport and exhibitors. How so? Well, harmful because old-established kennel clubs are dissolving. Not just because of low entries, but also because of a lack of membership. With so many kennel clubs vying for fanciers membership and volunteerism, some of the once stalwart kennel clubs have few members remaining, with many who are, I am sorry to point out, elderly. One example is Pennsylvania's Chester Valley Kennel Club which is in the process of dissolution. They simply did not have enough members where once this was an esteemed all-breed kennel club. We will see much more of these in the future. How do the vast number of all breed shows hurt exhibitors? Easy, the more shows, the fewer the entries. The fewer the entries, the fewer the breed points and or Major Wins. Many people today cannot afford to, or have the time to enter a dog show every weekend, every other week or every month. So, the far too many assemblages of clubs divide exhibitors attention, attendance, and money. This affects the number of dogs in competition and any possible points accrued towards their championship.

Take for example the dog show circuit I discussed above which ran from August 10 - 14, 2016, with five back-to-back all-breed kennel club shows located in Ballston Spa, New York. Just four days later, beginning Thursday, August 18 - 21, 2016, four back-to-back all-breed kennel club shows are being held in Apalachin, New York. The distance between these two clusters is only 158 miles or 2 hours and change, all highway. Let's go the other direction where six days later, on August 20-21, 2016, two back-to-back all-breed kennel club shows are being held in Marlborough, Massachusetts at a distance of only 175 miles from Ballston Spa, NY, or about 2 hours and 45 minutes distant, all highways. These above shows represent just a minority in what most likely is happening in the most populous areas all around our country. People are kidding themselves if they do not believe that the abundance of these all-breed kennel club dog shows is not affecting entries.

Consider that an AKC judge is not approved to judge the same breed, Group or Best in Show if it falls within 200 straight-line miles and or within 30 days of another assignment. So, why then are we allowed to have all-breed kennel club dog shows located within a 200-mile marker week after week? Exhibitors are going to pick and choose and as a result, down go the entries, and our hard earned money with them. How many times have you entered a show and there was just one, maybe two points and then once you are there, the other competitor is absent having said to heck with this. There went your $32.00 and more --depending on your drive time -- and if you had to get up at 4:00 AM to make an 8:00 AM ring time. It certainly gets old fast, especially when this happens time after time. Then after awhile you just say, "No more."

*UPDATE and Correction:

The Stats should read "664 Total Dogs Present and Competing out of 859 total entries." The previously cited and incorrect stats were taken from the AKC website three days after the show and obviously do not coincide with the Superintendant's records.