Editorial: July 21, 2023

The Return of the Phoenix and Five-Point Majors

So, let’s see how smart you are: What do Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, Irish Setters, Vizslas, Irish Wolfhounds, Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Scottish Deerhounds, Whippets, Bernese Mountain Dogs, Doberman Pinschers, Great Danes, Rottweilers, Samoyeds, Siberian Huskies, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Bulldogs, French Bulldogs, Australian Shepherds, Rough Collies, German Shepherd Dogs and Shetland Sheepdogs have in common?

The answer is to be found in reading the American Kennel Club’s point schedule for Division 2, which includes Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. In the breeds listed above, both sexes are required to have an entry of 10 or more for a five-point major. That’s 22 breeds out of 200 recognized by the American Kennel Club. A pretty dismal number.

It’s not much better for those 28 breeds that need an entry of 10 or more of one sex (either dogs or bitches) to have a five-point-major entry. So, do the math: Fifty breeds have to have entries of at least 10 or more in one or both sexes to have a five-point major. All the rest only need single-digit entries for majors. Even at that low rate, majors are very hard to find, the result of too many shows and the cost of reported entries going to waste. The American Kennel Club reports that entries are up in conformation; we are sure they are. But the rise in entries is in the Best of Breed class, where many exhibitors are content to make grand champions.

In the past, we have suggested that entries for class dogs should have a box on the entry form that they are eligible for exhibition if there is a major entry. The cost of exhibiting dogs is so prohibitive, and the number of available dog shows is so plentiful, that exhibitors spend untold amounts of money on entries to look for majors that don't exist. We understand that there would be paperwork involved, but a small processing fee is a lot better than a full-price entry fee. We think the time is long overdue for this discussion to take place with the delegate body and the appropriate committees that deal with dog shows. We are losing young exhibitors, as the show-giving clubs can attest to when it comes to working members. The costs associated with exhibiting continue to rise, and this is one area that could be corrected, as many who are reading this are looking for that elusive major. It’s way past the thinking stage; it’s ready for the serious talking stage and finally the action stage. With so many dog shows spread out over several days and into the weekday, the cost and absence from one’s home and work have curtailed the participation of many owner-handlers, bringing down the entries.

We can’t bring back the Phoenix, but we can address the amount and the length of a dog-show weekend that now can start on Wednesday or Thursday and end on Sunday or Monday. The competing shows have entries so low that their very futures are in jeopardy.