Going for the Blue (7 page)
T
he AKC licenses or sanctions approximately thirty-three hundred conformation shows a year. There are two styles of show to
reckon with: benched and unbenched. At a benched show, to which admission is generally charged, all entered dogs that are
twelve months old and older must be “on the bench” throughout the advertised hours of the judging. That means that people
who are interested in finding a breed that suits their lifestyle and sense of aesthetics (an enormous number of people attend
dog shows for this reason every year) have an opportunity to shop the world of dogs and get to know breeders and handlers
personally. It can be a long, tiring day, but an awful lot of dogs, like Snickers, love the excitement of meeting new people
and new dogs. It is a highly social event shared by dogs and people.
The benching period usually runs from about nine in the morning to seven or eight in the evening. It is an outstanding opportunity
for people who are trying to learn what purebred dogs of show quality are all about, to pick up a month’s worth of wisdom
in one day. In every sense it is a happening. Regulars sometimes have elaborate picnic equipment, even refrigeration units,
that are used for just these events. Old friendships are renewed and new ones are formed. Trivia becomes a species of wisdom,
and gossip fills every heart with incredible satisfaction. (
Trivia
, from the Latin, is actually two words:
tri via
, or “three roads.” In the old caravan days, what did you find where three roads met? A market and probably a well or surface
water. Today you find people showing off their beautiful dogs.) It must be noted that the benched show is an endangered species.
There are only eight or nine of them left. Most people opt for the unbenched show. You can still walk around and meet people
and look at dogs. It is just that benched shows have always made that a little bit easier to do. It is kind of sad in a way.
People don’t usually dress up for dog shows either. I liked the old traditional ways. This whole thing of making even dog
shows more democratic takes its toll in grandeur. At least the dogs are still grand, even if the people are not. That can
never change.
Most of the people who avail themselves of this opportunity to see it all with the hope of one day knowing it all are practically
walking on the sides of their ankles by the time the whole thing breaks up in the evening. But leaving, they know a great
deal more about dogs than they did coming. If they make a good impression, they might even have managed to get their names
put on an important breeder’s list for a future puppy. That can be step number one in a dream’s coming true.
At a dog show you can avail yourself of vendors’ booths with leashes and collars, stainless steel bowls, grooming supplies,
toe nail clippers, brushes and combs and blow dryers; book stalls with nothing but dog books, of which there are an endless
number; art and antiques dealers who specialize in dog art and figurines. Breed-oriented T-shirts abound, and bumper sticker
artisans and crate-label, flag, and banner specialists are all there to be of service. There are more ways to make a buck
off a dog than most novices realize.
In the larger shows major dog-food companies have elaborate displays telling you why you should use their products. They give
out free samples for your dog to evaluate. Free literature that the manufacturers tell you will guide you toward good canine
nutrition and their products is available everywhere. There are kiosks with computer games you can play that will call forth
breed information and other doggy data. By the end of the day, if you are not selective, you will have instructions on how
to do just about anything that is dog oriented, free samples of all kinds, monstrously overpriced cold-cast bronze figurines
of your breed, and 1950s ashtrays also depicting your breed. You can also buy bird feeders, although the connection is, I
think, vague. It is, you learn, addictive. It is a good idea to bring a folding cloth shopping bag on one of these expeditions.
You’ll need it. A caddie to carry it and a therapist to massage your feet and ankles at the end of the day are personal options.
You can do this thing, this plunge into dogdom, as simply or as elegantly as you want. However elegant you want to be yourself,
all the dogs around you will be—elegant, that is.
With all of the coming and going, there is a bit of a carnival atmosphere. (Be careful where you step.) As you will probably
note, it is amazing how few dogfights there are. That is always surprising to newcomers. People are extremely careful, however,
that their dogs don’t get their leashes crossed or tangled with those of other dogs. That kind of mix-up can lead to absolute
mayhem. Anyone not completely in charge of his dog is looked down upon by all the other participants. Dogs and people at a
dog show are expected to be on their best behavior.
Of course, there are people-food vendors, too. You can smell your way to them as surely as a Bloodhound or a pack of thirteen-inch
Beagles can. There is a lot of tradition here. The cheeseburgers are characteristically vile, while the barbecue pork on a
bun is not only poisonous but ruinous to your cleaning bill. People with mustard, ketchup, and barbecue sauce on their chins
and shirt fronts are everywhere. Still, traditions are essentially nice things to have, and the dog-show world is full of
them.
Mordecai Siegal is the respected six-time president of the Dog Writers Association of America (DWAA) and very much involved
in matters doggy. He is kind of a Wolf Blitzer of the hydrant set. I asked him to define a dog show as he knew it. “It is
many things to me,” he said. “It is part competition, part exhibition, and part yard sale. It is part circus, part bazaar,
and a good part great entertainment. The show part is a very important, very meaningful social event.”
Most shows today are unbenched. Dogs arrive in time for their moment of glory in the ring, and if they don’t win early in
the proceedings and therefore have no chance to move on up the ladder later that day, they can leave as soon as they are out
of the ring. The cheeseburgers are no better than at the benched shows. The dogs, of course, are just as nice; that is a given—splendid
companion canines that are variously beautiful enough or handsome enough to make showing them off one of the most compelling
forces in the lives of their human partners.
THE CLASSES
Whereas groups divide breeds by type (see “The AKC Recognized Breeds” sidebar in this chapter), the class is the entry level,
the first stage in any regular conformation show. It is where all dogs start out on their climb to stardom—and unfortunately,
it is where a good many end up. It is where enthusiasm, hope, and dreams have to face off with reality and truth, condition,
and more than a bit of luck. (I’ve watched a lot of people ringside, and it always seems to me they are praying. I don’t know
if that helps or not, but perhaps it’s like chicken soup—it couldn’t hurt.)
Dogs, except for established champions, are shown in one or more of seven regular classes. Most of the shows you will attend
will feature all seven classes, but on occasion one or more can be missing, although that is the exception rather than the
rule. Dogs cannot be entered in any given class if they are a day under or a day over the designated age. In such matters
in the world of dog shows there are no approximations.
In the United States dogs (and bitches, of course) are entered in only one of the first six classes. (In England they may
be in more than one class at a time.) First is the Puppy Class, for dogs six months old and older, but under twelve months.
This class is sometimes further divided into six to nine months and then nine to twelve months.
Dogs older than twelve but under eighteen months that are not already champions can be entered in the Twelve-to-Eighteen-Month
Class.
The Novice Class is for dogs that are at least six months old but don’t as yet have any of the fifteen points needed for the
championship designation. It is another classification for beginners, a way in and, it is hoped, a way to start the climb
that in the end will put a Ch. in front of the dog’s name. AKC rules state that a dog can’t be entered in this class if it
has already won three first-place ribbons in Novice or a first place in American-Bred or Bred-by-Exhibitor.
The entrants in the Bred-by-Exhibitor Class (often shortened to Bred-By) must have been whelped in the United States, or if
whelped outside of the United States, they must have been registered in the AKC studbook. They must be at least six months
old, they cannot be champions, and they must be owned wholly or in part and handled by the person or spouse of the person
who was the breeder or one of the breeders of record. It is a kind of ultimate family affair. (A studbook, of course, is,
as its name implies, a record of what bitch had what puppies as a result of a liaison with which proud dog. It is a kind of
nonfiction romantic novel. Of course, assigning numbers to these things takes much of the romance out of it.)
The American-Bred Class is for dogs older than six months (excluding champions) that were born (whelped) in the United States
from a breeding that also occurred in the United States. (It is all very chauvinistic!)
The popular Open Class is for any dog six months or older. In the case of a specialty show, the club sponsoring the show can
designate that for that one show the Open Class is for American-Bred dogs only.
Those are the first six regular classes that more or less begin the climb upward toward Best in Show in all conformation shows.
The dogs entered are generally younger dogs, but one or more of them may be the most stunning dogs in the whole show. Still,
they must go up through the classes until they are champions of record. The “class dogs” cannot be champions, or finished.
That is what they are in those six classes for.
Important point: Which class, since there is clearly very often a choice, does an exhibitor pick for his dog? The class where
the dog has the best chance of winning. It would probably be a poor idea to take an immature, puppyish dog and plunk it down
in Novice, where it will have to compete with dogs that are more mature and probably more experienced. In American-Bred or
Bred-By there may be just a few entries, while in the same show there may be twenty dogs in Novice or Open. I have seen as
few as one or two dogs in a class. Unless your dog has his head on backward or his tail in the middle of his chest, he is
likely to win if he has no competition—not guaranteed to win, but with a chance.
All right then, the first six classes have been judged, once for dogs and once for bitches for every breed represented in
the show, and you have all those eager winners and their handlers. This is when the Winners Class comes into being. It comprises
all the dogs that have won a blue ribbon for their breed and gender in any of the six classes. There will potentially be a
Winners Dog and a Winners Bitch for each breed and class.
From the Winners Class, the Best of Breed selection will be made. At this point the breakdown by sex is no longer in force.
Competitors include all the Winners by breed from all classes, plus any champions of record that now enter into the competition.
The overall winner gets the Best of Breed or Best of Variety of Breed ribbon.
After the Best of Breed has been determined, the Best of Opposite Sex title will be awarded. Best of Opposite is simple. If
a dog wins Best of Breed or Variety, a bitch is chosen for the Opposite title. And, of course, vice versa. The Best of Opposite
is equivalent to saying that the dog would have been Best of Breed if the actual winner had been absent.
Finally, the Best of Winners will be chosen. Each Winners Dog and Winners Bitch for each breed, representing all the first
six classes, will be judged and the Best of Winners Chosen. The Best of Winners title holder gets the points set for Winners
Dog or Winners Bitch, whichever is greater, calculated by the number of entries.
Everything that has happened up to now has been setting the stage. The points are awarded and all those Winners dogs move
closer to their championships. In some cases, some dogs will finish—complete their championship requirements—either with needed
points or with a missing major win (remember, two majors are needed under two different judges).
All of this is not as jumbled and confusing as it may seem. It is considerably worse. Nothing daunted, the trick is to stroke
one’s chin and say
ummmm
as convincingly as possible. Just look wise. Mutter words like
interesting
and
profound, cool
and
daring
. No one will seriously challenge you. The people around you will be just as confused as you are. No problem, admire all the
beautiful dogs and have fun—most of them are (the dogs, that is). The only ones who seem to understand all this or not care
a fig if they don’t are the dogs. The exhibitors just think it is their day in the sun; the dogs know it belongs to them.
Everyone gets a chance to be a happy camper. After all, if the owner and the dog aren’t both happy, why go through the whole
thing? Why spend the money? Buy a boat instead and enter a regatta. You don’t have to housebreak a Boston whaler. As for the
competition, the AKC registers nearly a million and a quarter new purebred puppies a year. Theoretically, all of them could
be entered in shows and compete. All told, there are about eleven thousand licensed and sanctioned AKC events (including conformance
and field shows) every year.
THE FINAL JUDGING
Now comes the group judging, and this is pretty clear-cut. The Best of Breed or Variety, dog
or
bitch, for each breed is automatically entered into one of seven group competitions—Sporting Dogs, Nonsporting Dogs, Working
Dogs, Herding Dogs, Hounds, Terriers, Toys—and is judged simultaneously with its counterpart winners from every other breed
in its group. The Group 1 ribbons go to one presumably spectacular dog in each of the seven groups. There are second-, third-,
and fourth-place ribbons in each group, too. Although highly coveted and well and truly boasted, these group placements, other
than first, do not carry the winners any further in that particular show. Exciting though it may be to earn a group placement,
they are still the dogs that went almost all the way. They have, though, done very well and will be watched in the future
by that breed’s fanciers.
