Monday I wrote about Freighter and Thunder’s weekend at the dog show.  You can ready this post here.  Today I wanted to write about the Michigan Winter Dog Classic more generally.

Up until 2010 this show was held at the Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit.  The show was a smaller one because space in the fairground buildings was limited.  Still, Chessies usually showed up and we had a decent entry whenever we attended.  The fairground was a nice venue for a show and go with ample parking and it was not far from home.

At the end of 2009, the State Fairground property was closed and the show had to find a new home.  It moved to a convention center in Novi, Michigan where it has been held ever since.  This facility allowed the clubs hosting these shows to offer a wider variety of exhibits for the general public.  Over the last few years these shows have really grown.  A total of 7, 580 dogs competed in the show over the four days.  That is a lot of dogs in one place. source

This year in addition to Conformation, Obedience and Rally, the show also offered Health Clinics, Dock Diving, Barn Hunt, Weight Pull, Canine Good Citizen testing and various other demonstrations.  They also offered My Dog Can Do That! where the general public can bring their dogs are try out agility.  There are trainers on hand to help them get started and to explain how to use the equipment. schedule

If you are interested in finding out more about any particular breed a show is a great place to see some fine dogs and meet breeders to ask questions.  If you are thinking about participating in certain dog related sports, a show like this is a great place to find out more information and to get in contact with people who know what is involved.

However, there is a downside to growth.  A show that was once a quick show and go has turned into drudgery.  Depending on what time you show, parking can be an issue.  On Saturday we showed at 11 am.  Prime time and we had to park in front of the building which worked out fine for me because the health clinics were in front.  For hubby and Freighter, they had to wade through a crowd to get to their ring.  When you have a dog, your gear, and a chair, having to navigate a crowd is not that much fun.

Also, whenever you have people who are not experienced with attending shows and they bring their dogs, you always have to be on the lookout for people who let their dogs roam to the end of the lead.  I cannot tell you how many times I had to tell people to pull their dog back from Thunder.  Thunder is a good dog, but I do not know them or their dog and who needs to tempt fate or a fight.

I understand that the show is trying to make it a destination and admissions paid by the general public help to support the show, but I am not sure it will be on our must-enter list going forward.  There were a lot of new rules about where you could sit and watch (limited to one side of the ring only) and where you could go.  It is costly to attend with parking at $5 and admission of $10 on top of the entry fee which only included one of us to enter since we only entered one dog.

A larger four day show will pull more professional handlers which makes it hard for the little guy to get noticed.  It happens at the Breed level, but is very evident at the Group and Best of Breed levels.  We were lucky in our breed because for the most part, the Judges we saw judged the dogs and not who was holding the lead.

I was interested to see how Freighter would do on Saturday.  The judge that day was the same one who gave Thunder the final two points to earn his Championship in 2009.

We have not shown under him since.  Thunder and Freighter are different looking dogs, but he seems to like good movement and both are nice moving dogs so they are similar in that.  I guess he liked Freighter too because he awarded him Winners Dog on Saturday which was also 2 points.

On Sunday after we finished, a couple of photographers asked if they could take a few pictures of Freighter.  They were taking photos for the show’s website.  (I think they said for next year’s show.)  They had an area set up in the lobby.  We agreed and they took a bunch.  I saw them also taking photos on Saturday when Thunder and I were at the health clinics.  They said they would send me one of the photos but I have not received it yet.  If I do I will share it.  I can imagine they took a lot of photos over the course of the show so I am not sure anything more will come of the photo session.  They had a nice set-up for taking photos.  I was jealous.

That’s a wrap for today.  Have a nice weekend!