Questions of the Week

Marlene Groves

Kiowa, Colorado

The upside/highlight for me this year, like most years, was Junior Showmanship! There were so many talented Juniors from across the country (and I was thrilled to see so many from my Colorado area). The Junior judges had a difficult task and did a fine job sorting through all the talent. It was especially heartwarming that they were both former Juniors who had competed together and now were judging Juniors at the AKC National. Keeping Juniors in our sport must be a priority. 

The downside/concern that I saw is so many breeds cannot pull a major, even in Orlando …

P.S. The AKC Museum of the Dog was/is my favorite booth — you all need to join them!

Constance Bartlett 

Northern California 

It would be proper to rotate the National Championship every other year to the West Coast. 

This show excludes many top dogs, breeders and people from attending, due to its exclusive East Coast location.  

Gay Kuehnel-HIsatake

Trenton, New Jersey

I was fortunate to be one of the judges for several of the Working breeds entered in the Central Florida Working Group club this December. The quality of entries was outstanding, as should be expected with the huge numbers in attendance at this very prestigious show. I also had the pleasure of judging a group of fabulous Juniors, and look forward to seeing how they progress in this sport.

Orlando is absolutely the place to be in mid-December for anyone with an interest in purebred dogs. There are the wonderful dogs, the dedicated handlers, exhibitors and breeders, and the seminars for aspiring judges. 

And did I forget to mention the WALKING?

Anita Brown

Hazel Green, Alabama

Was it just me, or was it just not “as special” this year? This show usually has that special feel that separates it from the usual. This time, it was just a dog-show weekend with a few more vendors than usual. By the way, it has nothing to do with how we personally did, because we did our share of winning. The sparkle just wasn’t there for some of us.

Dr. Daniel W. Dowling 

Hope, Maine

This “Orlando Canine Event” is truly a well-organized, enjoyable annual affair well worth attending. The venue is spectacular, with great hotels nearby. There are many opportunities to reconnect with friends, judges, exhibitors and breeders. Multiple breed/health seminars are also available. The Canines and Cocktails party is always fun, along with some very good vendors this year. I thought the overall quality of the dogs that were exhibited was high, with some outstanding individuals present.  

If you haven't attended these Orlando shows, it needs to go on your “bucket list” indeed!

Susan Burge

Brecksville, Ohio

It is massive and can be overwhelming. My biggest criticism is the ring assignments. Standard Poodle were in the same ring as Toys. The judge first had to separate the males from the females and then only judge half of each sex each time. I saw this happen in many other large-breed dogs with good entries.

Richard Lopaschuk

Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada

The weather was lovely and warm, and we met many friends from all over the world who we haven’t seen for years.

From a judge’s point of view (I am a retired all-breed conformation judge), I was very disappointed at the ring setup for the finals judging on Saturday and Sunday evenings. If AKC was planning on encouraging spectators and new people into the sport, they did a very poor job. We went on Saturday evening for group judging, and sitting in the spectator section you could not see the handlers and dogs who were being presented except when they were brought out to be examined. From the spectators’ view, the dogs were so far away you needed binoculars to see them being examined and gaited. I had an iPhone and watched the show on AKC.TV, as I could now view the dogs and handlers. The friends that were sitting with me did the same thing. I noticed after the first group was judged the spectator section was almost emptied. We left as well and went to our hotel room and watched the groups on AKC.TV on our iPads. Sunday BIS, I stayed in the hotel and watched on the iPad.  

What a disappointment after spending more than $3,000 to attend THE spectacular event. In my opinion, the extravaganza of the final events was a flop from a spectator’s point of view. Could have stayed home and watched it on my big-screen TV and saved a lot of money. 

Linda Layfield

Crownsville, Maryland

The one thing that caused frustration for us was that the NOHS Sporting Group took place at the same time as our Irish Setter specialty that day. We had to miss the NOHS Sporting group and wish that scheduling could have worked out better for us. Otherwise, great show. 

Sulie Greendale-Paveza

Ft. Pierce, Florida

Once again, a well-run, well-laid-out show that drew many, many of the top dogs in the country and the world for all to see. Those behind the scenes — both superintendents, the chief steward and all the ring stewards, the individual specialty clubs, the folks who put together the beautiful trophy tables, the Orange Guys (nobody is better than you all) and the staff who prepared the judges’ lunches — should also get an A+ for all their hard work! A WONDERFUL way to end the year! THANK YOU ALL!