Members
Walter J. Sommerfelt examines the challenges facing dog clubs, from venues and staffing to judging shortages, and the future of the sport.
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The sport of purebred dogs has seen many changes over my lifetime. Many of these changes have been fantastic, creating more opportunities for the average exhibitor and their families to find activities that align with their personal goals. The added sports, trials, and other forms of competition have greatly benefited the puppy buyer who is not interested in the Conformation side of our sport.
With so many opportunities for involvement in activities, our kennel clubs should be bursting with members seeking the fellowship and knowledge of like-minded people to promote and staff the events. Sadly, this does not seem to be the case. Today’s clubs are facing more problems than ever before, just trying to survive.
Let’s take a look at some of the obstacles our clubs are facing today.
There is no doubt that finding suitable venues and compatible dates for shows is a major issue for our clubs. Rising costs and more shows in competition on the same weekend are just the tip of the iceberg.
Look no further than the granddaddy of dog shows, Westminster. The COVID-19 epidemic and the unsafe conditions at The Piers a few years ago forced them to change not only the dates but also the location of the show. Fortunately for the fancy, The Westminster Kennel Club had the members and resources to address the problem, and we are all happy to see them back at Madison Square Garden. But even though they are back, the show’s dates remain flexible, and only time will tell whether they return to their traditional dates at some point.
Show venues are becoming a huge problem for many clubs. My club is currently dealing with the loss of a venue we have used since the 1930s. We have been searching for a new venue in our home territory, but so far, we have not been lucky enough to find one that meets our needs.
The loss of a venue has forced us to move our shows about 100 miles south of our city for the coming year while we continue to search for a long-term venue closer to home.
In our search for a new site, we have encountered discouraging obstacles. One of the main obstacles is finding a place that can not only handle the 100-plus RVs we normally have, but also allows them to park overnight. Several venues that looked promising declined to allow us to use their location because they would not allow motorhomes and trailers to stay overnight onsite due to security and liability issues. Also, finding venues with at least 60,000 square feet of exhibition space is another problem. And if you are fortunate to find a venue, you must consider the cost of the facility, electricity, parking, and the requirement to purchase all food from the facility, as well as other obstacles and issues unique to each one.
Are there enough hotels/motels that accept dogs in proximity to the venue? We see many clubs moving their shows to a few very nice facilities outside their home area simply because they cannot find one in their area that is affordable and meets all the needs for space and parking. This is truly hurting our sport. When we move our shows to a limited number of areas, we deprive our home locations of the opportunity to provide a showcase for the people in those areas, where they can see dogs, meet breeders, and become familiar with our sport.
This is not just a Conformation problem; it is also difficult for Agility, Obedience, and other events to find affordable, workable venues. Today’s exhibitors expect nice, well-lit, climate-controlled sites with full electrical hookups. They don’t want the old fairgrounds and outdoor fields of days gone by. When a club has to move to another area outside its home, it also creates a problem with getting members to work at the show, since they don’t want to pay for overnight accommodations.
Another large problem facing our clubs is the difficulty in finding “volunteer” manpower to work the shows. You need people for setup, teardown, ring stewards, hospitality, cleanup, catalog sales, trophies, and numerous other tasks. So, in small clubs, they are forced to hire ring stewards, parking attendants, and clean-up crews. They also end up renting cars or hiring a service to transport judges. These are all areas that members previously handled. For many clubs, the membership is only interested in showing at the show, and many do not offer to work.
As our clubs continue to face an aging leadership and a lack of new members, they risk fading away simply because they cannot afford the added expense of hiring labor when they are barely surviving. Even though almost all clubs are not-for-profit, you cannot lose money and continue to operate.
Many of our shows are part of a 4-5-day cluster. This in itself is a problem for many clubs. In some instances, the partnering clubs have differences, which can often create problems when putting on a successful show. When there is a cluster, clubs need to get along so that things run smoothly. Working together on hiring judges and other things is vital in making things run efficiently. Clubs try to control costs by hiring judges who can work multiple days. This is not as easy as it seems. All Breeds must be covered as well as the Groups, Junior Showmanship, Best in Show, and all Owner-Handled Groups. The availability of judges, as well as possible conflicts due to time and distance and other constraints, also comes into play. Many judges are still part of the normal workforce in America, so they may not be available every weekend due to job commitments.
We are all aware of the shortage of all-breed judges in the country, so many clubs are now hiring all-round judges from foreign countries to meet their needs. This does hurt many judges simply because of their limited capacity to cover the Breeds and Groups needed.
The judge problem is not new and is often a topic of discussion. Still, until something changes, we need to be realistic about the availability of judges to meet the needs of clubs, not just in Breed availability but also in terms of the economic cost to the clubs.
Our sport is changing. With more shows and declining entries at each show, only time will tell how many clubs will survive in the long term. As a sport, we need to think about a lot of our issues going forward. Clubs need new members to keep them viable, and exhibitors may need to lower their expectations regarding show sites.
The AKC needs to be working to assist clubs and judges in providing workable, affordable solutions. What would happen if clubs found a site, but did not allow overnight RV parking? Would they still get an entry?
I ask everyone in our sport, “Are you a contributor to the clubs and organizations in your area?” If not, shame on you! We need everyone to help keep us going. Join a club and work; we can all give up one weekend to work for our sport. Hopefully, we won’t look back in a few years to find clubs and shows disappearing, and hear the words, “What went wrong?”
American Kennel Club (AKC)
