Multi-Day Show Circuit
By Michele Wrath
Over the past several years we have moved from the model of a 2-day usually on a weekend dog show to the multiple day mega cluster event. For those who subscribe to the tenant that you can never get enough of a good thing, you are in luck. The multiple day circuits seem to be here to stay. Depending on your perspective, the multi-day cir- cuit is either the best invention since indoor plumb- ing or the bane of every owner handler’s existence.
I know, some of you are saying how could the multiple day circuit be a bad thing? After all, you can travel to one location, set up for multiple days, and often at least double the number of times you have to win.
On the surface this all sounds great,
and often it is. Certainly you use less gas and with today’s economy we’d all agree that’s a good thing. Remember this when you get to the afternoon of Day 5. Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing!
The multi-day circuit has its own rhythm. The first days of the show are generally quiet, especially if the show starts mid-week. The show building can feel half-empty and there is still ample room in the grooming area to move around.
If the show
cluster offers day of show crating, this area looks abandoned as folks are still generally working at their day jobs. And the number of non-show folks wandering around is almost nil. This will all change by the weekend, when there will barely be room to move dogs from one ring to the next. The judges are optimistic about what new star they might dis- cover, the dogs are freshly bathed and groomed, and energy levels are high as owners and handlers busily calculate the possible point accumulation should the
cluster go well. It’s Day 1 and the starting entry is small. For the person trying to get major points on class animals, it’s probably not going to happen on Day 1 or 2. In fact, sometimes it’s hard to keep the entry large enough for a single point. Those entering for the sake of a major probably stayed home that day, and for the stalwart entrant who shows up no mat- ter what, it can be a very expensive fun match, but good practice nonetheless. Not much changes in the specials entry. The dogs in contention are there from the start; the only thing that changes is the point accumulation.
Day 2 arrives. The class entry may have picked up a bit, but there is still plenty of room in the building. The exercise area for the dogs is still relatively clean. Hope still springs eternal for the cluster. After all, only one day of judging has taken place, and de- pending on your perspective and mostly on the results of the first day, the judge was either brilliant or an absolute idiot, and life and Day 2 of the dog show goes on. By the end of the day you’ve been to all the vendors, have a good idea of what’s good and what’s not at the food concession, and have scoped out enough of the local restaurants to know what your options are.
It’s Day 3. Hump Day. The building is starting to feel full. The 3-dayers have arrived with their dogs and their grooming tables and chairs. It now re- quires a modicum of skill to maneuver through the grooming area and out to the ring. The class entry is either just at or approaching a major. Heaven help the person who stayed home thinking they could wait till the weekend. If the major was
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