Dog Shows: Only Fun and Crazy People Allowed

Who are the people who show dogs? Are they lunatics or fanatics?
The dog people have a favorite joke about themselves. They say
you don’t have to be crazy to enjoy shows, but it certainly
helps! This is because they actually go through many hardships
and disappointments but still enjoy it and call it fun.

It is one of the fascinating peculiarities of the dog game that
the people who are thrown together in the pursuit of this sport
are from so many different walks of life: dentists, carpenters,
teachers, bankers, housewives, farmers, musicians, engineers,
artists, industrialists, young and old, rich and poor. All have
the same desire-to take home a blue ribbon.

Perhaps you wonder why they show dogs. I take it you are
interested in showing or you wouldn’t be reading this article. I
warn you, however, that the day may come when you will wonder
why you ever decided to go in for something involving so much
hard work and heartaches but so much sheer enjoyment!

Well, why do they show dogs? There are many reasons, and here
are a few. First, we have the serious dog breeders. They make a
promise to theirselves to improve the breed in which they are
interested, and they are anxious to compare their dogs with good
competition, for it shows them if they are on the right track in
their breeding program. This is important. Many dogs look very
good at home and only when they are compared with other good
dogs can you see if they are better.

Comparison is the material of which dog shows are made. Every
dog looks good in the back yard, but how does he look in the
ring? To the serious breeders, showing is important for another
reason. It gives them a chance to let other breeders and
fanciers see what they have accomplished. They may own an
excellent specimen of the breed, one which would be very
valuable particularly for their ability to sire exceptional
puppies, but no one would know about him if he were not shown.

Then we have a group of people who look at the dog shows as a
competitive and active sport. The dog game affords plenty of
action but is not so strenuous as, let us say, skiing or tennis.
As a matter of fact, there are a great many physically
handicapped persons who show dogs successfully.

We have another group. A person buys as a pet or receives as a
gift a puppy which turns out exceptionally well, and they are
advised to show it. They do so, and it makes some nice wins and
the dog becomes a Champion. Very frequently this person is
“bitten by the bug,” and succumbs, and dreams about breeding
their own Champion. They stay around and often become an
important member of the first group, the serious breeders.

Then we have the person looking for a hobby or perhaps a weekend
activity. What better hobby than one which offers you some
traveling, some outdoor activity, and a great deal of pleasure
and good fellowship while also keeping you fairly active and
very much interested? I remember being at an outdoor show rather
early one very beautiful Sunday morning talking to Mr. Percy
Roberts. Percy was then a top professional handler, one who
shows other people’s dogs for pay; he is now a well-known
professional all-round judge, one who is eligible to judge all
breeds of dogs. Percy told me that one of his relatives had
chided him earlier that morning for being in a profession which
occupied all his weekends. He looked around the beautiful show
grounds, at Long Island Sound sparkling in the background and
dotted with a few sailboats, at the clear blue sky overhead, and
as he lovingly patted his dog he began to laugh, and he said to
me, “And to think I get paid for this!” Yes, there is much
enjoyment to be had in the dog game.

Finally on our list of those who exhibit dogs we have the
“show-off,” the exhibitionist. If you like to be in the public
eye, here is your chance. Go ahead, show a good dog, you’ll
really enjoy it! But I’ll tell you something. One of two things
will happen: either you’ll fall in love with the sport and
become serious about it and a part of it, giving you an interest
which will lessen your need of the spotlight; or you’ll look
elsewhere for that spotlight, for without a genuine love for and
interest in dogs and the dog game you can’t last, you will
become bored, you’ll be forced to find a new spotlight.

In whichever category you fell you fit in to, there is a great
chance that the sport will pull you in more and more. It takes a
special person to be a dog handler, so enjoy the experience!