WHO ARE THE PEOPLE WHO SHOW DOGS?
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 dog people 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. All have the same desire-to take home a ribbon, a rosette, a trophy.
Perhaps you wonder why dog people show dogs? There are many reason and here are a few. First, we have the serious breeder, making a promise to himself to improve the breed in which he is interested in. He is anxious to compare his dogs with good competition, for it lets him know if he is on the right track of his 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 a material of which dog shows are made. Every dog looks good in the back yard but how does it look in the ring? To the serious breeder, showing is important for another reason. It gives him a chance to let other breeders and fanciers see what he has accomplished. He may own an excellent specimen of the breed, one which would be very valuable particularly for his ability to sire exceptional puppies-but no one will know about him if it were not shown.
Then we have another group of people who look at the dog shows as a competitive and active sport. The dog game affords plenty of action but it is not as strenuous as let us say, basketball or tennis.
We have another group. A man buys a dog as a pet or receives as a gift a puppy which turns out exceptionally well, and he is advised to show it. He does so-makes some nice wins, and the dog becomes a Champion. Very frequently this man is "bitten by the bug," he succumbs, he dreams about breeding his own Champion-he stays around and often becomes an important member of the first group, the serious breeder.
Then we have the person looking for a hobby or perhaps a weekend activity. What better hobby than one which offers you some travelling, some outdoor activity, and a great deal of pleasure and good fellowship while also keeping you fairly active and very much interested?
Finally, there are those who exhibit dogs we call the "show-offs", the exhibitionists. If you like the public eye, here is your chance. Go ahead, show a good dog, you'll really enjoy it! One or 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 for the spotlight; or you'll look elsewhere for that spotlight, for without 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 especially when your dog is not winning anymore.
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