INDOORS VS. OUTDOORS: DOES THE VENUE MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
other vehicles, which allows exhibitors to groom at their park- ing spot with their pop-ups and ex-pens, and a place to tailgate, relax, socialize, and even cookout. Outdoors, the natural light- ing is great and many dogs shine under the sun. The outdoor show, however, also has its own set of drawbacks. A lack of proper tenting or cover can be a safety issue, especially in the case of extreme weather—be it heat, rain, wind, and everything in between. Some locales have great level ground, and short well-kept and maintained grass. Others can be a field of weeds and holes or hills that can make a ring unsafe. Tent poles can get in the way, as can an occasional tree sitting in the middle of a ring. If the weather turns bad, rings can become a muddy mess. And if the grass is not cut properly, short-legged breeds may have difficulty looking their best. There is no doubt that we have many excellent indoor as well as outdoor venues in our country. We also have numerous locations that meet the average needs, and unfortunately, some that are less than ideal. In today’s world, many clubs are limited as to the facilities that are available to them. However, for many years before the advent of large clusters, these clubs found workable venues in their hometowns to put on good shows (at least twice a year) and share the world of purebred dogs with friends and others in their community. Those small town venues were a nice change of pace, as opposed to today’s shows with certain locations being used on numerous weekends throughout the year, depriving the clubs in small towns the opportunity to keep the show home. I think any club (as well as the AKC) that hosts a show needs to look closer at our venues to ensure that the size of the rings can handle large breeds and large entries. Can you imagine what would happen if a stadium wasn't large enough for a regu- lation area for a football, baseball, basketball, or hockey game? Do you think the leagues, players, and fans, would support or play there? We need to take a closer look at our venues, and the AKC needs to review the size of ring requirements. Even though a 40' x 40' ring meets the minimum standard, are we being fair in our evaluations of the breeds and exhibitors of larger breeds? The safety of everyone in a crowded ring should also be a consideration. I admire the hard-working volunteers of every show-giving club. Putting on a show is not an easy undertaking. All clubs have a variety of obstacles to overcome, from working mem- bers to financial costs, available facilities, workable dates, and competition from other shows. These people work hard to plan, schedule, and lay out their shows. Keeping all of this in mind, the clubs and the AKC must consider the needs of the exhibi- tors. They must provide venues that are safe and large enough to satisfy their exhibitors. Smaller venues still need to provide for proper ring sizes even if it means lowering the limit on the size of the entry. When planning your show, your question should not be how many rings can we fit in this building? Rather, you should ask the question: “Using a combination of various-sized rings, how many good rings can we provide for our exhibitors?” Another possibility might be that your building is not ideal, so is there another site that might work better? (Even though we don’t live in a perfect world, we can adjust to meet the needs of the fancy.) Making our show sites user-friendly and safe for our exhibi- tors will keep them coming back for many years. What do you think?
These shows were some of the largest in the country with 3,000 or more dogs regularly. More recently, the Palm Springs Janu- ary shows at the Empire Polo Club, the week of shows at the spacious Orlando Convention Center, and the large shows in Louisville and Houston stand out as shows where the venue can accommodate not only large entries, but also offer large rings and a huge spectator following. Over the years, as both an exhibitor and a judge, I have expe- rienced a wide variety of venues, both indoors and outdoors. I do believe that a venue can often have a direct or indirect result on the success of various exhibits at the shows. First, the size and layout of the venue dictate the available space for rings, avail- able grooming areas, the width of aisles, parking, vendors, and numerous other things. In my humble opinion, the size of the rings in which we exhibit is too often dictated by the size of the venue. For those exhibitors of Sporting, Hound, Working, Herd- ing, and a few other, larger breeds, small rings truly hurt the overall performance of many of the dogs. The AKC mandates a minimum of 40' x 40' for ring size, and while this is adequate for Toys, Terriers, and most Non-Sporting breeds, it is not suf- ficient for most other breeds. Add in large classes and it can also be a safety hazard. In small rings, a well-put-together dog barely takes a few steps before he is cutting corners and running into the dog in front of him. For the handler, this usually means keeping a tight grip on their charge to be able to control him in the limited space. Go watch German Shepherds sometime, in a 40' x 40' ring, and tell me how a judge can truly and objectively evaluate the breed. Small rings hurt the good-moving dogs. Conversely, they can often help those that are straighter in the shoulder and rear angulation as these dogs can look balanced and under control while the dogs needing a larger ring never really get a chance to “move out” at an effortless speed on a loose lead. As an exhibitor, I love outdoor shows because there are usu- ally large rings, and I love to see dogs in natural sunlight. (Of course, good weather always helps.) Without considering the judging panel, what are some of the pros and cons of the various types of available venues? When showing indoors, there is safety from adverse weather conditions; no worry about rain, snow, and storms. And if they have a great heating and cooling system, the building will be comfortable. Most sites also have plenty of electricity, which helps those with certain grooming needs. Some of the cons: In many buildings, everything is crammed, the rings are usually smaller, the grooming areas jam-packed (or there is an extra charge for reserved grooming space); often the aisles outside the rings are crowded with chairs and spectators, creating an area ripe with opportunities for a dog fight by those not carefully watching their dog; you need to unload and move your vehicle; some are on dirt floor horse arenas in which you breathe in dust and dirt all weekend long; some lack good light- ing and proper ventilation; and in the case of cold weather, some lack proper heating for the building. As previously mentioned, some of these buildings are fantastic and provide large rings, good lighting, and all the things that make a show great… but these sites are in the minority. Outdoor shows also have a range of plusses and minuses. First, almost all have much larger rings, and a more festive and relaxed environment. Most have plenty of parking for RVs and
118 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, AUGUST 2021
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