Tuesday, November 10, 2009

DON'T MISS THESE SHOWS

We have a couple of marquee shows coming up. First, this coming weekend is the Kennel Club of Philadelphia’s annual benched show. In recent years this show has become know as the National Dog Show (presented by Purina). The Saturday show is taped for television and has become a Thanksgiving Day staple akin to the Macy’s Parade, drawing 20 million viewers annually.

CH Rocky Top's Sundance Kid
KCP 2005 BIS Winner

However, to dog folks the Philadelphia show is a link to the way it use to be. The club has antecedents dating back to 1876 and is one of the AKC’s oldest clubs, becoming a member in 1913. The Great Depression interrupted the annual event, but the KCP has been a continuous annual event since 1933.

For long time fanciers Philadelphia harkens back to a time when the big benched events were convivial gatherings where friends caught up with one another, showcased the best of their kennels, and brought out new show prospects like a grand canine debutante ball.

CH Cookieland Seasyde Hollyberry
2008 BIS Winner National Championship

A much more recent tradition is the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship scheduled for December 12th & 13 in Long Beach CA. This show is a 21st century innovation and is rivaled only by the venerable Westminster Kennel Club in prestige. It has all the robust energy of this century, utilizing all the latest technology to stage a truly global event with entries from over 50 countries in both the traditional Best Of Breed classes and in a separate international competition.

The show is normally by invitation only, limited to BIS winners and the top 25 dogs of each breed. This year, in honor of the AKC’s 125th anniversary, the show will open for all normal competition. However, entries close tomorrow at 3:00 PM CST. You can enter on line at Onofrio.com. We won’t have a dog entered, but we will be on site to report all the action to you.

We were at this year’s Montgomery County Kennel Club and, as much fun as we had, we were disturbed by the lack of support shown by some of the breeds. We hope that the pettiness that has become all too prevalent among some in this game will not be apparent at the Philadelphia or Long Beach events. We encourage you all to get behind the top dogs in your breed and cheer them on at these events, and every event you attend. Remember every dog that catches the fancy of the public is an ambassador for us all. Many of us have breeds that are in danger of disappearing from the ring and from our world all together. Think about that the next time you bad mouth one of your competitors.

1 comments:

  1. So that's the show they butcher up for thanksgiving.......

    ReplyDelete