The Seven Secrets of Show Success:
BY MICHAEL AND CATHY DUGAN continued
“YOU HAVE DECIDED TO LIVE AND WORK WITH MAGNIFICENT LIVING CREATURES WHO WILL DO ANYTHING YOU WANT (UP TO A POINT, DOGS HAVE STANDARDS TOO). FOR US IT REALLY IS ABOUT HONORING THE DOG AND EMBRACING THE TRUST PLACED IN US TO CARE OF THEM ALL OF THEIR LIVES.”
If you have decided to compete at a high level in anything, including the world of dogs, you’ve made a personal decision to succeed; the only question left is how you are going to actually do that. You have decided to live and work with magnificent living creatures who will do anything you want (up to a point, dogs have standards too). For us it really is about honoring the dog and embracing the trust placed in us to care of them all of their lives. As part of our learning process we observed and listened to as many vet- eran breeders who would put up with us. We found that the breeders/owners who have had success year after year are a fairly rare bunch. Faced with the same variations, health issues, down- line breeding surprises, and sheer cra- ziness of the business, they have man- aged to operate above the fray, plow ahead stubbornly once they’ve made their breeding and competition deci- sions and live with wins and losses with equal aplomb. From the outside, they just look “lucky”. HOW TO MAKE YOURSELF LUCKY: Many people assume that luck is what happens to other people; their success must be the result of luck. Oth- ers just aren’t very lucky; they have a great dog but can’t seem to catch a break! There must be something going on here. In fact, most people who are regard- ed as lucky in the dog ring aren’t lucky
at all. They have common traits that made them successful. What are those secret traits? Set your goals…assess your dog, prepare for the ring by observing your competition. For most breeders and owners getting an AKC title is enough. Timing is everything. Consider if there is a big winner in your area. It may not make sense to initiate a campaign if you have to go up against this dog every weekend. As we’ve talked about in our col- umns, some owners decide to go for broke, closely following where fools rush in…That decision, in itself, will define and drive what follows. Successful dog owners, like any driven people, take the time to consider dogs, handlers, the way competition works, how much it will cost and what their tolerance for risk will be. Make or break questions pop up pretty fast. Am I willing to spend fifty thousand dollars this year on advertising and not take a big vacation or add to my retirement? If the answer begins with the thought that hell yes, I enjoy this and watching my dogs do well, the rest is easy. Logic? Actually, there is a certain clarity of log- ic that occurs when you decide to “fol- low your joy” as the philosopher Joseph Campbell often used to challenge his students. It all starts with a plan and a per- sonal vision. Asked why he endured years of toil and sacrifice to climb Mt. Everest, Sir. Edmund Hillary answered with characteristic brevity, “Because
it’s there!” Now that’s a deceptively simple plan! NBA Legend Larry Bird was asked why he had dedicated his entire life to something as mundane as the game of basketball. His answer, “It’s the only thing I know how to do”. Maybe, maybe not; what is true is that it was the one thing he wanted to do! Being lucky and succeeding with your dogs is a personal decision that only you and your family can make. Like anything else, half-baked commit- ments will produce half-baked results. Besides, it is, after all, about the dogs. Another show year is upon us, and Cathy and I scour the upcoming dog shows schedules for the nuggets and gems where our newest batch of young- sters can shine. We’ve been doing this for over thirty years and we never tire of the newest challenge, waiting for the latest hot contenders to appear, weigh- ing in on who will be the next “legend”. While dogs, shows, judges, handlers, owners and the whims of the fancy come and go with chaos and irony, the cycle of the dogs and the competition we have invented for them is immuta- ble. Dogs have influenced our lives for thousands of years and we have occa- sionally evolved as much as they have. They love us unconditionally, tolerate our foibles and mistakes, and yet, make us feel better than we did ten minutes ago. Perhaps that’s the greatest luck of all.
40 • S how S ight M agazine , D ecember 2018
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