WITH MEET THE BREEDS
BY RICHARD REYNOLDS
W hat’s not to like about getting up at zero dark thir- ty and wending your way into the cement canyons of New York City carrying a couple of dogs and more stuff than you’d need for any dog show? Love nature? Well, there is a cold, windy, driven rain to fill that need and an endless line of other masochists waiting to unload. There is the joy of setting all the stuff up and tidying up the dog that got all wet and muddy on the way in. At 9:00 AM the lights go up and the adoring public (more than 30,000 of them this year) makes its entry en masse. Meet the Breeds (MTB) is a family affair and you (and of course, your dogs) will get to meet and greet folks of every age and ethnicity imaginable, from babes in arms to oldsters in wheelchairs, bound together by a single thread: the love of and curiosity about your dog. What you DON’T see at Meet the Breeds is a lot of on-site groom- ing, puppy advertising, or overt puppy sales. I’m not sure whether that’s because of rules or just plain common sense, but the absence of this stuff lends a certain amount of class, both to the event and the participants. Many of the dogs appear as you might meet them on the street, while others are cut for show but not overly primped. All of them show signs of extensive preparation and cleaning, but most just present a nice, even “typical dog” appeal that is perfect for the public. For many of us, Meet the Breeds is a reluctant duty. Answering the same questions a gazillion times in that eight-hour period and trying to keep the dog safe and happy for what seems like many more than the allotted eight-hour days is unquestionably tiresome. Of course, the real work started days earlier with the preparation and printing of handout materials, cleaning and repair of the booth decorations and fixtures, and the basic grooming of the dogs themselves. All this repeated by the volunteers working with each of the 132 parent clubs (including FSS and Miscellaneous breeds) that were represented this year. But the amount of work, expense, and preparation that we put in pales alongside the herculean effort by AKC staff and contrac- tors. The total and unqualified support, financial and otherwise, that MTB receives from AKC is downright amazing. Each year, through- out the fifteen that it has been held the event, has been tweaked, pol- ished, and improved, and the clear-thinking (hands-on) management is most evident. Each exhibitor is reimbursed by AKC for some, if not most, of their expenses and there is free coffee and a great free lunch available on the main floor. Nice tables separated from the crowd are provided, but most exhibitors grabbed their food and drink and returned to the fray to eat, drink, and answer questions at the same time. For that matter, many of the AKC staff did the same thing.
AKC President Dennis Sprung joins Bedlington Terrier Club of America President Laurie Friesen and the Bedlington exhibitors at Meet the Breeds in New York City. (Bill Reyna Photo)
This is how MTB goes in New York and I can only imagine that it works the same in other cities. It’s expensive, complicated, and can be a king-sized pain in the butt for the exhibitors. The bottom line, though, is that it brings more of the public into beneficial and realistic contact with purebred dogs than any other form of outreach that we have. The televised dog shows can’t match it nor can all of the advertising in the world equal an opportunity to get warm and fuzzy with the breed or breeds of your choice. Moreover, with the clientele paying upwards of thirty bucks for an individual ticket, they really have a genuine interest in what you, as a breeder, have to say. The breed benefits, of course, but so do you, directly or indirectly. Now I’m sure you’ve been reading along with the idea that you know all this good stuff. The truth of the matter is that I hate going to Meet the Breeds. The first hour of the first day is fine. You get to see a lot of your old friends in the other booths and the dogs are fresh and co-operative. After that, the noise level reaches a crescendo that gives me a headache, which is only exacerbated by the endless questions. On the whole, I’d rather be hunting, or even judging, all alone out there in the center of the ring. Still, I’ve been at MTB every year since its inception and I’ll continue to be there as long as I’m able (or they kick me out for misbehavior).
72 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, FEBRUARY 2024
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