Editorial: August 30, 2024

This week’s editorial addresses current items that are newsworthy and interesting. A show chair for an upcoming event took to Facebook to express her feelings about exhibitors who are or were considering entering her club’s show have taken to contacting her and complaining about the announced judge or lack of a posted judge’s name for their breed. First, contacting a show chair is perfectly fine, as it is their responsibility to answer any and all questions about the show. That’s what part of the job entails. However, having said that, it could and should be done in a polite fashion without any hostility or malice. Show-giving clubs give their show chairs a range of freedom, from total authority to hire judges to taking suggestions from the club president and/or board members. The club’s responsibility is to select a club member who has years of experience breeding and showing dogs and who puts that experience and knowledge together when creating a judging panel. We understand the unhappiness of exhibitors who wait an entire year to exhibit on that particular weekend, and expect judges to have more than a working knowledge, if that, of their breed. But it’s still not a reason for rudeness, and the exhibitors’ only recourse is not to enter that dog show. Action speaks louder than words.

The board of directors of the Kuvasz Club of America has decided not to hold its 2025 national specialty. Citing a poor entry and financial issues, the board has decided to cancel. We know something about endangered and low-entry breeds, and to think that a parent club would take such a position is preposterous. There are so many alternative answers to the issues given. Many national specialties that can’t afford the luxury of an independent event are held in conjunction with all-breed shows. That’s just one solution, the first of many that come to mind. The parent club has a moral obligation to support and promote its given breed, and should do all in its power to do so. This is a serious matter and a hugely negative decision. With the public’s negative outcry regarding purebred dogs, this only encourages those naysayers to support shelter dogs and to stay away from breeders of purebred dogs. As the caretakers of purebred dogs and supporters of dog shows, it is our obligation not to see this sport deteriorate and ultimately disappear. Some things, when lost, can never be replaced. We are saddened by this decision and hope that a solution can be found in time to hold their national specialty in a timely manner. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: 

We are delighted to hear that the Kuvasz Club of America National Specialty has indeed not been cancelled, but rather just postponed.

Here is the Facebook message sent to Dog News by Kuvasz Club of America board member Sarah Karger Krickeberg: “We did not cancel our national. We voted to postpone it until September or October and go in with a cluster as a designated specialty. Perhaps our communication was unclear, and I am working with the communication committee to fix that. But your post is not false and misleading. Please correct your post."

Like many others, we too misunderstood the intent of the initial post. We are delighted to inform everyone that the Kuvasz national specialty is in fact only postponed.