Declining entries / Declining participation

[Elaine]

Is it just me, or have you all noticed that entries are down ... pretty much all over the place. The upside is that shows like the Tarheel are more enjoyable, in part because there were fewer people on the grounds. The downside is that majors are harder to find. I was wondering if others have noticed this... and if so, any thoughts on what we can do to turn it around?

[Athy]

I think we can all agree that gas prices and the economy in general are definitely contributing to lower entries in general. People just don't have the disposable income anymore. Let's hope that changes in the near future :)

We had hoped that rally classes would boost our entries and they did to an extent. But now we're seeing just about every kennel club including rally in their shows, which is creating a saturation of rally classes. Same theory as Novice A and other obedience classes in general.

Over all we have the largest obedience entries of any of the Chapter Clubs in the country. What helps us immensly is being part of the cluster at the Maryland state fairgrounds. Being on a Friday is somewhat of a negative, but that's just the luck of the scheduling :-/

MBDPC feels fortunate that we've been able to retain our Friday Specialty. Quaker City whose specialties were on a Friday and an independent for over 30 years has had to drop their show. They are now with a kennel club and on a Saturday. And while our obedience entries were always better than their Friday shows, their conformation entries always were bigger than ours relatively speaking. Plus they had a Futurity for years.

Penn Jersey after having an obedience trial for years and years and years, dropped their obedience 4 years ago. They are independent like us on a Friday. (Quaker City now doesn't have obedience, as they are with a kennel club and it's all mixed in.)

Given these developments, we feel fortunate that we're doing as well as we are in obedience.

With regards to conformation classes, judge and venue work together to affect entries IMHO. Our upcoming specialty on April 18 will have a 4 point major in bitches and 2 points in dogs (assuming all who entered come of course.) We believe that our new venue, combined with three Dobe specialities over the course of the three day weekend, have allowed us to maintain. Folks can bring their motorhomes, park and be done with it. We of course wish we had more grassy space at the fairgrounds but it is what it is.

Chapter clubs have a heck of a hill to climb up when it comes to shows - shows are labor intensive and we're always short on labor. It can be disappointing to work as hard as you must to put on a show then have low entries. I'm grateful that MBDPC has such a hard working show chair in Lyn Kargaard. Thanks to her creativity and energy, we've been able to hold our own fairly well :) I've sent this thread to Lyn and to Mariann Hein, longtime dog show devotee and Obedience Goddess. Perhaps they will add to this discussion :)

Athy Conigliaro
Metropolitan Baltimore Doberman Pinscher Club

[Elaine]

Your shows sounds like a “must attend.”

We lived in Olney while Arthur was in medical school. We kept a mare up in Monkton and had dear friends in both Monkton and Butler. We were up there every weekend, and often mid-week as well. We must have passed Timonium a thousand times... we passed the area so often we even named our Pinto Lord Sinclair stallion son Lord Baltimore (photo attached). Loved Maryland, loved that time of our lives, loved that people, loved that area in particular ... yet somehow we never managed to make you show.

It was our loss. If we could get away, we’d come up to watch this year.

About shows in general, we’re members of MCKC... our All-Breed show is in September at the Pinehurst Track and Polo Field. We love our kennel club members... we feel privileged to belong with so many wonderful, accomplished dog people. One of our members just won the Terrier Group at Crufts with their Soft Coated Wheaten- BIS Ch. Caraway Celebrate Life.

Anyway, I don’t have to tell you how important a few key people are when it comes to sustaining the energy and drive to put on a show. Kudos to you and your group.

I was thinking we should do a couple of polls to see if we can get some idea of what draws exhibitors and what puts them off.

[Athy]

Thanks, Elaine - as a club, we work hard to put on a nice specialty and we appreciate our exhibitors. Our showgrounds are in Timonium - a wee bit south of Monkton. Hopefully one day you all will be able to come and visit our show. I think it's very convenient to the traveller - you can come in, set up right there and stay there for the entire Cherry Blossom Cluster.

And as long as we're sharing horsey pictures, here's a photo of my Maryland-bred Thoroughbred, Marty (aka Autopilot.) Wonderful aspect of Maryland - lots of horses :)


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Athy

[admin]

Hey Athy... I looked... there ain't no Pinto in that field in the background... I'll be sending Sandro D up to you tomorrow. You can thank me later. :D

[Athy]

Believe it or not, at one time, we did have a nice paint WB/TB cross on the farm. Beautiful babe named Betty. Last I heard, she was doing 3DE. Seems most of the hunters prefer more conservative (bays with minimum chrome, solid chestnuts) but hey, times are a'changin' - we're seeing more color, even up here in the conservative northeast :)

Athy

[Elaine]

EXCUSE ME!!!

We have PINTOS!!! We do NOT have Paints... Oh horrors!!! How could you even hint that it was otherwise?

:p:p:p:p:p

Here are some factoids you will probably never care to remember... but there are several important distinctions between the two. In general, a Pinto has been inspected and approved Warmblood breeding registry, a Pinto must have ideal phenotype something like Cooldanz (photo attached) who was inspected and registered with one of the bigggest Warmblood registries in the USA. A Pinto is the color of a Warmblood.

In contrast, a Paint is a breed, typically has a Quarterhorse build (reflecting a mix of Quarterhorse and Thoroughbred blood) and would be registered with the APHA. It is not that one is better than the other... they are different, bred to excel at different disciplines. I don’t think you’d ever see a Paint make one of our Olympic Dressage or Showjumping teams. You may see a Pinto do it some day. In contrast, you will never see a Pinto in barrel racing, they are not built for it.

It's a bit like the difference between a Miniature Pinscher and a Doberman. The similarities are superficial.

Btw, mu idol Little Joe on the old T.V. show Bonanza rode a Paint.

[Athy]

Good golly, who knew there was a difference? We just called her "the little paint pony Betty"! Now she was close to 17 hands and a bruiser at that but she sure was purty!

Athy :)

[Elaine]

Good golly, who knew there was a difference?


You're too kind... should be who "cares" there is a difference (except a Pinto Warmblood Sporthorse breeder).

Btw, we will need a full report on your shows... :)