InsideTHESPORT by Pat Trotter
Does Misery Love Company?
“M
isery loves company” is an old saying that has been around for some time. It took the New England naturalist, tax resister, abolitionist, poet and philosopher Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) to observe “If misery loves company, misery has company enough.” Certainly our dog fancy is not the only interest group to feel both the pain of the current economy and the lack of interest in ascertaining the future well-being of many activities. So yes, we have plenty of company. The horse racing industry is experiencing a tremendous drop in foal registrations, participation in events and attendance just as is the sport of dogs. Enormous investments in thoroughbred stud farms and stallion shares are feeling the hit as stud fees have been lowered by the thousands across the Blue Grass, and breeders have struggled to cut costs in dealing with lower revenues. There is a general nervousness within the Jockey Club and across the industry about the declines in yearling sale prices, attendance at the track and even betting on those tracks with no slot machines to lure bettors. Purses are down at many tracks and the expense of keeping horses in training means fewer starters to spread across the tracks. Sound familiar? Many mare owners opted to skip their mares in the 2010 breeding season rather than make the investment of breeding costs and stud fees. If you think the shipping, stud fees and breeding of dogs is expensive, you should check the numbers when it comes to horses. Across the American “home of horse racing” in Kentucky, gimmicks to lure fans to the tracks include such whimsical ideas as offering wagering on old rebroadcasted races without the names of horses, jockeys or trainers identified. There are all sorts of unusual ideas being utilized such as those conceived by the organizers of the Preakness Stakes in Maryland in May. The staging of a humongous “Infieldfest” sponsored by a beer company attracted thousands of race goers to the all-day party that featured Emmy-award winning bands, concerts and other activities between races for the fans to enjoy. To many the actual running of the Preakness must have seemed like an afterthought that went with the festival rather than vice versa! As recently as 2006 NASCAR races were attracting an average daily attendance at the big Sprint Cup races of 125,986 fans. To date in 2010 the popular stock car events are averaging 99,853 fans per race, a drop that has officials very concerned. Even baseball, always known as America’s “national pastime,” is big time feeling the drop in attendance. Interestingly enough, the drop today is more at the major league level than in the minor league ballparks. This could be a signal that minor league parks offer a much more user-friendly venue for families strapped by the continuing downward economy. Some such signals are out there in our sport too. A conversation with AKC president Dennis Sprung last weekend in Houston convinced me that this man is doing his homework and trying his best to preserve the sport in which he grew up. In discussing how we could attract more young people and newbies to the sport, Dennis observed that our society is being influenced by so much more than just the troubled economy. It’s been about twenty years since most youngsters have acquired their own cell phones and/or computers which consume so much of their time. When you add to that the explosive expansion of other activities that attract kids such as karate, judo, soccer and mall browsing, our sport is facing competition from the outside world that simply did not exist just a few decades ago. And of course as each generation grows up uninvolved in dogs, the more unlikely their offspring will become involved. Perhaps the most alarming report President Sprung 18 Dog News
provided had to do with the Boy Scouts of America membership declines. In February 2010, the Boy Scouts of America celebrated its 100th Anniversary with one of the lowest percentage of American youth involved in its program in its history. Evidently kids have so many other things on their agendas today that the BSA is no longer as attractive to them as it once was. These seemingly unrelated examples of “misery” in other troubled activities besides our own sphere of dogdom do send some strong messages. These messages should help us realize: There is a lot of competition out there these days to draw people’s interests. Ideas aimed at keeping interest in the sport and giving it a much needed blood transfusiontype boost are to be embraced by all of us. This includes incentives such as the Grand Championship Title. People are so busy with other activities that even if they are into our dog show world, they may not have much time to spend at the show unlike many of us did in our youth when so many shows were benched. Thus we need to do all we can to welcome them and encourage them to learn and spend more time at each show.
J
udges, exhibitors, handlers, club personnel and anybody else involved in the sport need to go out of their way to say something nice to obvious newcomers and kids if you want them to come back. A judge at a recent California show was truly kind to an eleven-year-old exhibitor obviously at his very first dog show ever. The boy showed one of my youngsters on the day while waiting for his own to come of age and went home wanting to come back! Next time he will show his own puppy. Assorted activities such as rally, agility, fly ball etc. not only bring more people through our doors, they offer the possibility that some of those folks will become interested in conformation. I had such a conversation with a potential show exhibitor at Houston who does earthdog events with her Jack Russell. This conversation took place at ringside while she stayed to watch groups and become more interested in conformation. No matter how mediocre some of these exhibits may be, when all of us offer courtesy and kindness to their owners, it influences them to want a better specimen. Many great breeders started with mediocre specimens and aided by knowledgeable mentors were able to get past those early dogs to produce great ones. All of us need to reach out to the newcomers. We need to think of ways to make our sport more attractive to them. Last week’s Houston event is very inviting for newcomers and features activities designed for all. Being realistic means acknowledging that our dog fancy is not the only element in our world on the downward spiral. The fact is that life as we have known it is threatened by dynamics far beyond the control of the AKC and for that matter the U.S. government. People will need to tighten their collective belts and do with less. Life styles will have to adjust to less energy, less resources and less extravagance. Thus we are compelled to be as user-friendly as we can possibly be to appeal to potential newcomers more than other activities which might interest them. Thank God for the dog itself with the ability to draw people close whether they ever attend a dog show or not. During troubled times we can be comforted by the individual beauty, warmth and love they bring to our world. •