Editorial: August 22, 2025

This week there was a beating of the drums from the grass roots of the dog-show community to protest the announcement from the American Kennel Club that effective October 1, 2025, the service charge for each dog entered in conformation will rise to $4.50 per dog, plus a 50-cent recording fee, for a total of $5. The outcry was impressive from a community that usually has little to no reaction to decisions made by the board of directors.

Of course, when a new unpopular rule is presented and adopted, the old excuse has always been it’s because of “the staff’s” recommendation. When it’s a popular change, the board is pleased to accept the credit. Another old expression concerning decisions made by the board is that it’s nobody’s money, so it gets spent without questioning. Where was the outrage when millions were spent on a collar that was already outdated before it hit the market? Or the day-care centers that also cost a considerable price: Owned and operated by the American Kennel Club, they offered its experience when caring for and walking your dog along the streets of Manhattan. Were the directors coming into the city to be dog walkers? Where was the outcry when the powers-that-be decided to have their back office in Raleigh because the head of the computer department was retiring and moving to North Carolina? So they sent the computers along with him. Where was the outcry when we have a back office of four floors and only a handful of employees report to that building, with the majority working remotely from home? Why not consolidate the offices back to New York with a smaller back office commutable from New York City?

Some of those decisions created the $5 charge we now face.

Where was the outcry when these clubs stopped mailing premium lists, and entry confirmations were also put online, and those savings in printing and postage were not passed along to the exhibitor in a reduction of entry fees? Where was the outcry when the American Kennel Club decided to approve two shows in one day, specialties concurrent with all-breed shows and the clustering of shows? In a few weeks there will be seven shows in four days. Or the regularity of every weekend that’s three, four or five days of shows? When is enough enough? (As an aside, concurrent specialties were pushed and promoted for the additional fees made by the American Kennel Club. Fifty Labradors entered at an all-breed and then the same 50 Labradors entered at the concurrent specialty results in fees from 100 dogs: You do the math.) What about cluster sites that are overused by clubs that can’t afford to bring in judges from other parts of the country, so they wind up using the same local judges whose names regularly appear on judging panels?

Don't misunderstand all these questions: We applaud the concern and interest. It is our American Kennel Club, and there are approximately 650 member clubs eligible to have a delegate represent them. The average number of delegates attending a delegates meeting is approximately 300. Maybe that’s why delegate meetings start at 10 a.m., and most are adjourned by noon. So when all these proposals are made, where is your club’s delegate? Does your club tell its delegate how to vote, or does your delegate vote at his or her own discretion? Do you even have a delegate for your member club? The board, which actively wants to do away with term limits, has not been held responsible for some of its decisions. On occasion its directors need to be asked hard questions that only delegates can ask in order to get an official response. Where were these delegates when the president of the American Kennel Club for the last 22 years was unceremoniously fired and not one stood up and asked for a definitive answer for the board’s actions?

We need the beating of the drums to be proactive, not reactive.