# Ideas for conformation shows



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Last weekend was another local dog show. I was showing Saturday and Sunday. Since the arena is only 10 minutes from my house, I chose to not have a grooming set up. Instead when I arrived I spent time walking around the show talking to people with my show dog Lucy on a leash. We spent most of our time in the front of the arena, not in back with the grooming area. So I noticed things differently at the show since I was coming through the front door. I came up with some ideas that I think all of us could maybe do at our shows.

1. We need to have someone greet people as the come in and buy a ticket. Maybe use junior handlers. Have them with a dog they are showing. They could greet the new people and offer to help them find the ring/breed they are looking for.
2. We need to have more literature that helps people know how to find local breed clubs or kennel clubs and other dog events.
3. We should have roving people at the show, offering to help people read the schedule and find out what is going on at the various rings. 

My point is, that we have the public at our shows, and we do so little to help them understand what we are doing. As the animal rights people continue to trash dog shows and tell us how bad we are, why don't we put a positive face on things? Why don't we help the people more that have paid to come to our shows? This might turn someone into a puppy buyer or maybe someone who enters dog sports in the future. So I spent a lot of time explaining to people how to read the premium schedule and how to find a ring. I also directed them to people that had a breed they were interested in. It was fun and I hope I helped some people get a pure bred dog and maybe get involved in dog sports.

I also encouraged people to pet my show dog. I would tell people that she is there for the people. Yes she's a show dog, but gosh if you can't pet her there's no point in having a dog is there? So Lucy enjoyed meeting and greeting and so did the people visiting our dog show. Maybe she was a bit mussed up in the ring from all the petting, but she still got WB on Sunday.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Stacy - congrats on the win! Was this first point(s)?!

About your suggestions... I think it is club responsibility to really get volunteers who are willing to be on the spot to help people find where they are supposed to go and/or what to do at dog shows. 

I absolutely feel people should be nice and keep PR in mind when interacting with the public... I know I personally spend some time outside the ring (usually 20-30 minutes before show time) and am there to let people visit my dog and answer questions or offer suggestions. But as I am paying for my time at this show, I should not feel required to do what is actually the club's responsibility? Because there's always some shows where time/space is really tight for people showing their dogs....?


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## DanaRuns (Sep 29, 2012)

Congrats on the win Sunday! Woohoo!!!   

I live in a place with millions of people. Our dog shows don't cost money. Aside from parking, they are free. And still, we really don't get the "public" coming. Our GR club is talking about ways to increase "public" participation (like with a puppy event or something at our specialties) but every effort I've seen has been extremely anemic. Dog shows just aren't really accessible to the public. Sometimes it's hard just to find where to buy a catalog. I'd like to see announcers in each ring talking about the dogs in the ring. I'd like to see judges give evaluations of the dogs they put up. I'd like to see a more family atmosphere, with family things to do.

I'm not sure what the answer is, but it's pretty clear that we aren't really even trying.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

Problem is getting volunteers... I am helping plan my third specialty with my club. It is always the same few people that do the work, lots of heavy lifting - I am the youngest and I will be 50 in June. Most of them are over 65. We are exhausted. We do have some of the children passing out catalogs, etc.

We were talking to a couple old time judges and they were telling us it is so sad that that there is no longer the "fellowship" that used to be at the dogs shows. Years ago the dogs required very little primping, so there was a lot more time for everybody to sit around and socialize with each other and the spectators.

Years ago my friend and I were dogs show junkies. It was our girls' weekend thing to do with each other, often driving a couple hours to follow our favorite dogs. Unfortunately the only way we knew about the shows was through Dog World Magazine. Not sure how the average person would know about them.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Something I was kinda thinking about a little more after reading Dana's post and Marie's as well.... 

There needs to be more outreach as far as club people putting posters at vets and petstores. Putting up signs at training locations. Encouraging people to visit the shows. Better presence on facebook - with people sharing events with their friends. And obviously getting more media type coverage... because you have a lot of vendors at some of these shows, there absolutely is a huge reason for dog lovers to come out. Also what Dana said was very true - a lot of shows, particularly those at fairgrounds are essentially free. You pay for parking, but that's it. 

I guess putting myself way back to the beginning before I got involved with any training clubs or friends with show people.... I knew about dog shows at the big expo centers and/or the biggest show in town which got a lot of big media coverage (DKC show when it was in Detroit). We generally went to these shows every year because it was what we did as dog lovers. There were usually a lot of vendors so we could shop for a lot of dog stuff that was unique and special (like artwork, figurines, stuff like that). 

As we got into dogs - we found out about training clubs and dog shows through our vet. Usually other dog show people were clients at these vets and told the vet about where to train and where to go for fun. They usually had permission to pin stuff up on the corkboard in the lobby.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I think the best way to reach the public at a dog show is through meet the breed exhibits.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

Kate, You are right. I think the first show I ever went to was the Ladies Club show in Boston, I believe sponsored by one of the big dog food companies. Lots of media attention and lots of advertising. Lots and lots of shopping too! After that show, we started looking for the the others.

I also think that before that show, we did not realize that it was open to the public.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Our indoor shows cost $5 to get in. I'm not sure why they charge. In Anchorage in the winter, I think people are looking for something to do. So we have two winter shows, January and March. We do have a fair amount of the general public. We have a commercial on tv and since we are non profit we get on commercial on TV as public service. One of the local TV stations shows up to film during best of breed for the evening news. Anchorage is a big small town. So lots of people know about the show. I do know that our dog entry numbers are way down. Less than half what they were ten years ago. So I took the opportunity this weekend to be helpful. Lucy and I had fun and maybe we got some people hooked. 

Lucy was dead last in her class on Saturday, again. So I looked across the ring and thought Lucy could beat any of the bitches there. So I decided the only thing that was holding her back was me. I made the leap to hire a pro. I've shown her a bazillion times and never gone anywhere with her. So Sunday I hired a pro. Our pros here are different. We have very few shows. No RVs traveling around show to show driven by pros and loaded with dogs. Our pros are someone you hand the leash to right before the dog enters the ring. They charge you per show. Some charge for any points they get. Some of them will groom your dog, some will not. But that's what I did. Anyway, Lucy got winners bitch and 2 points. So there you go. I had to do it, Lucy will never finish if I continue to show her. By the end of July I hope to have her finished. She looks great, she moves like silk and she has a peppy fun look in the ring. So we'll see. I'm sad though it won't be with me...


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Alaska7133 said:


> Our indoor shows cost $5 to get in. I'm not sure why they charge. In Anchorage in the winter, I think people are looking for something to do. So we have two winter shows, January and March. We do have a fair amount of the general public. We have a commercial on tv and since we are non profit we get on commercial on TV as public service. One of the local TV stations shows up to film during best of breed for the evening news. Anchorage is a big small town. So lots of people know about the show. I do know that our dog entry numbers are way down. Less than half what they were ten years ago. So I took the opportunity this weekend to be helpful. Lucy and I had fun and maybe we got some people hooked.
> 
> Lucy was dead last in her class on Saturday, again. So I looked across the ring and thought Lucy could beat any of the bitches there. So I decided the only thing that was holding her back was me. I made the leap to hire a pro. I've shown her a bazillion times and never gone anywhere with her. So Sunday I hired a pro. Our pros here are different. We have very few shows. No RVs traveling around show to show driven by pros and loaded with dogs. Our pros are someone you hand the leash to right before the dog enters the ring. They charge you per show. Some charge for any points they get. Some of them will groom your dog, some will not. But that's what I did. Anyway, Lucy got winners bitch and 2 points. So there you go. I had to do it, Lucy will never finish if I continue to show her. By the end of July I hope to have her finished. She looks great, she moves like silk and she has a peppy fun look in the ring. So we'll see. I'm sad though it won't be with me...


Congrats! It is like that all over. Hope for more success!


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

There's a large show (conformation & obedience) here at a convention center around the first of the year that draws a lot of spectators. I think it was about $8.00 plus parking for the public. I saw several tours being given by people walking around with a sign on a stick that said, "Dog Show Tours." This particular show gets a lot of press, and there really isn't much else to do when it's -10 F.


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## SunnynSey (Jan 17, 2015)

Congratulations on Lucy getting WB Stacey! I applaud your efforts in trying to get more of the public involved in coming to dog shows, I completely agree that we need to be advocates for our sport especially in the face of so much ignorance spewed by the animal rights organizations. I do think that the dog shows could be more family friendly as DanaRuns pointed out, I know the first time I ever attended a show I felt kind of like a fish out of water and reading the premiums was definitely tricky so I can imagine how a lot of people can feel a little put off by the experience. It would be great if more people were like you and enjoyed interacting with spectators and letting them interact right back with your dogs, but the reality is (at least where I'm at) that most handlers are either too busy or just plain protective (as they should be) of what they are showing and don't have time or the desire to chat with onlookers. My understanding from those who show in the UKC venues is that the atmosphere there is much more laid back and amateur friendly, not nearly as intimidating as AKC might appear, plus you can't use professional handlers to show your dog (or anyone paid). Too bad they don't give breeders the choice of providing Limited Registration, I understand all puppies with UKC paper have equivalent of Full Reg so anyone can breed them, whether they be show or not. Otherwise, I support the idea of a more family friendly atmosphere.


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

Congrats on her win!


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

About UKC - something I experienced when getting Bertie's UKC CH was that there was very little to no spectators. It was absolutely more like an obedience fun match in that everyone who was there was there to show their own dogs. And honestly speaking - there was not a lot of interest in watching other dogs being shown. With AKC, I'm somewhat used to there being a crowd of people around the ring. There was nothing like that in UKC. 

While I hear about people talking about how "Friendly" UKC is - the fact of the matter is that um... there were two major turn offs for me...

1. The nonstop AKC bashing from people around me, especially when they found out that I was also showing my dog in AKC. You had some people who similarly showed their dogs in AKC, but they were somewhat outnumbered by people who absolutely hated everything that is AKC. 

2. Lack of pride shown by people showing their dogs. You had people sending their kids in - wearing tshirts and shorts and sandals to run around the ring with the dogs. On one hand, really fun for the kids, but other hand it looked like they didn't give a hoot.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

UKC only has obedience trials up here. 

I did spend some time with a couple that had just purchased a puppy that had a requirement to show in their contract. They had a golden puppy and we're excited to learn more about showing. Their pup was from a breeder in Ohio, so they were a bit of a fish out of water. 

My conversation with that couple made me realize how hard it is for people to get into dog showing without much help. So maybe we need to be more helpful to the general public to get into showing. What can we do to bring more people in?


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> My conversation with that couple made me realize how hard it is for people to get into dog showing without much help. So maybe we need to be more helpful to the general public to get into showing. What can we do to bring more people in?


 Supportive breeders. I would not be into dog showing if it were not for my dog's breeders totally being there and taking me under their wings so to speak. And not just them, but I've made good friends with a lot of people in the golden community who have just been supportive and helpful. <- A good example was yesterday I was freaking out about whether I should pay for a grooming spot at the National... and I now have somebody who is going to share a spot with me + groom my dog for me. There's great people in the breed - at least that I've met. 

I do know that definitely there's people out there who are not as nice though.... some because they just are in their own little worlds. Others - probably have a good reason to be how they are. I totally get why so many breeders are somewhat discouraging when it comes to their puppies - because for a lot of the public, dog shows (including obedience) is all about breeding. They miss the point that it should be about pride and participation. A lot of people just focus on the breeding part and/or they decide that rather than waste their time showing up at dog shows to give points to other people, they just going to show in easy peasy stuff to put a title on the dog so they can charge more for puppies. I swear this is what goes through some people's heads!


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

I agree, supportive breeders. One of the women showing last weekend lives down in the states. She was raised in Alaska and all her family is here, so she comes up for almost all our shows. I set her up with a puppy buyer that is getting the puppy later this month. I had asked the buyer if they were interested in showing, and they are not. The breeder would love for the buyer to show and isn't sure how to get more buyers into showing. So I offered to make a pitch to the buyer. The breeder is going to sell the buyers a show prospect and not tell them. Just hoping that the buyers will become more interested in showing. So I'll work on the buyer here in Alaska to hopefully get them interested in showing. They come to all our shows already, so I'm hoping we can get them going in showing.

I'm also very lucky. Alaska is a very small place and everyone in the showing world knows each other well. We have an excellent facebook group: Alaska Dog Show News with over 1200 members. Everyone exchanges information for conformation, obedience, agility, herding, and field.


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