Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog

I was flipping channels recently and came across a dog show competition. These always make me think of the movie “Best in Show” which is hilarious. If you’ve never watched it I highly recommend it. I’m more of a cat person but don’t tune out on me here. As always, I became curious about what goes into planning a dog show; what some of the categories are, what the criteria are, and what is unique to a dog show that I would have never considered. So I did a little research.

According to the American Kennel Club, there are seven categories of dogs: sporting, hound, working, terrier, toy, non-sporting, and herd. Four placements are made for each category but only the winner advances to the “Best in Show” competition. There is actually a best in show competition… What I didn’t realize is that dog shows are intended to evaluate breeding stock. A dog’s “conformation” at a dog show is an indication of its ability to produce quality puppies. In my research I encountered the most amazing and helpful document by the AKC called a Beginner’s Guide to Dog Shows that broke down the classes, ribbons, levels of grand champion, judges and their roles, dog parameters, and much more.

This event has a language all of its own. I’m glad I stumbled on this document or I may never have survived planning a dog show. It had a glossary of terms that if you were to walk up to me and say something out of context I might give you a funny look, pretend I’m on the phone and walk away, or deck you and hope you don’t recover in the time it takes for me to get away.

Before the show, you can view a dog while it’s in the grooming area. This gives you a chance to see the dogs up close and personal, check out their coat, look them in the eyes, get a glimpse of their personality, or see how they behave with their handlers. If you are the dog’s owner and handling a dog is not your thing, you can always hire someone to handle the dog for you (kind of like a jockey for a horse). There’s a market for everything.

I found the ribbon colors intriguing. They include: blue, red, yellow, white, purple, purple and white, blue and white, purple and gold, red and white, light blue and white, and red, white, and blue. Hmmmm. With all of the colors available it seems a bit repetitive. Perhaps the creator of the ribbons had a printer that had limited ink colors. Clearly nobody asked me what I would choose because with the vast array of colors at our disposal and the limited number of ribbon colors needed, there shouldn’t be a need to use the same color more than once.

When planning a dog show, some of the unique aspects to accommodate include a grooming area complete with tables or grooming stations for smaller dogs. There also needs to be pet relief areas or easy access to a nearby outdoor space where the dogs can go and I imagine there will need to be a dog bathing area for those last minute dirty dog emergencies. I didn’t see anything about a practice or warm-up ring but after researching how to plan an equestrian show I could see how one might be helpful. Next to the show ring needs to be a judges panel area and plenty of spectator seating. These dogs are usually crated so additional storage space will be needed probably more so than some shows. Plus, a trade show almost always accompanies a dog show. There is a huge industry for dog supplies, food, services, and more so a ballroom large enough for these vendors is important.

And, of course there needs to be a place of prominence for all of the different categories’ trophies and ribbons to be displayed. Lest we forget, there should be a dog-sized Olympic-style awards stage for distributing trophies and ribbons when honoring the winners. These proud pooches and their parents need to be photographed with their newly donned awards for the local paper, their dog breeding materials, and Fido’s Instagram page.

As with any awards or runway show there is certainly an after party or two. I’m just not sure who’s invited. Just the humans or the dogs too?

Have you planned a dog show? What have you learned that we need to know? Share it here or send me an email. I’d love to hear about your experience!

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