The Cluster Effect

As I get older, I think it is natural that “the good old days” seem to be better than they actually were. In those “good old days,” shows were almost exclusively confined to Saturdays and Sundays. Furthermore, it was commonplace to pack up after the Saturday show and drive a couple of hours to the Sunday show, where we had to set up again.

Today, it is very rare for a club to hold a single show on its own and still survive. The norm today is a “cluster” of shows that may run from Thursday through Monday.

So, which is better? And better for whom? 

There is no question that it has been getting more and more difficult to find a venue that is suitable for a quality dog show. And when one is found, the cost may be prohibitive. As a friend said, “Exhibitors expect/demand air-conditioning, electricity, bathing facilities, ample grooming areas and quiet obedience rings.” So when a suitable location is found at a reasonable cost, clubs readily line up to hold their shows there, and to make it possible for the shows to make a profit (or at least not lose a lot of money), clubs “cluster up” their shows. The result is that we now have shows almost every day of the week, and these “clusters” begin to run into each other so that in some geographic areas days off become something to be cherished.

Certainly, these clusters may have enabled many clubs to survive where they may not have been able to had they tried to stay in their own area and hold a single weekend show. But long days that run into the next wear out club members, who often arrive at 5 or 6 a.m. and stay until everything has been cleaned up. When these clusters are held in areas that are far from the club’s home base, members have to drive long distances and stay in a motel (another expense) or not participate. Many clubs use members as stewards, and clusters are certainly hard on them also. For that reason, many clubs are turning to “professional” stewards, which results in another expense.

Another new feature are individuals who advertise themselves as professional show chairs. These people take over the duties of a show chair and charge the clubs for this service. Sometimes it is difficult to determine who is benefitting from this service other than the “professional” show chairs.

How have clusters affected owner-handlers? Believe it or not, some people have lives and work weekdays outside of our dog community, and they are unable to go to shows on weekdays. Does this put their dogs at a disadvantage when they show up on Saturday after another dog has won for the past two or three days? Does the new dog have the advantage of being fresh, or is it a disadvantage because judges have already seen other dogs winning?

How about the judges? Obviously, most of our judges are well over the drinking age, and standing all day — often on very hard floors — wears down their hips, knees and ankles. By the time judges show up for the third or fourth day of a cluster, do you really believe they are physically and mentally at their best? Of course, a judge does not have to accept an assignment to judge four or five days in a row, but it is difficult to say no, and most clusters want as few judges as possible to help hold down transportation expenses. Being honest, how do you feel about a judge who has seen Dog A win the group or Best in Show the first three days, and then judges your dog against that dog when you show up on the third or fourth day? 

How do clusters affect professional handlers? Probably more than any other segment of dog shows, clusters are a boon for professionals. They don’t have to drive as much, and staying in one place for multiple days and shows is much easier. Expenses are probably less — especially considering the price of gasoline these days. Familiarity with the show grounds is also a plus.

But all is not rosy. Although almost all professional handlers are considerably younger than the average judge (and certainly younger than I am), their bodies still take a beating making all those left turns without much of a break to recuperate. Pros — and everyone else — need to know when it is time to take a break to let the body recover.

So, have we now covered everyone? Absolutely not. What about the most important segment of our community — the dogs? There is a vast difference between a dog who can do some winning at a dog show and a true show dog. The true show dog thoroughly loves everything that has to do with shows, whereas a dog who can do some winning just does it because his owner asks him to, but he would rather be home. It is usually the true “show dogs” who are on these circuits, going from one cluster to the next.

These amazing dogs always give their all in the ring, so sometimes it is difficult to tell when they are wearing down. These are the dogs who get upset if you are packing your van and have not loaded them up. But they need their downtime, too. Physically and mentally, dogs need time to just be dogs and to relax. We all know dogs can feel the stress of their handlers, but they can be stressed out by themselves also. It takes a real dog-person — whether a professional or not — to know when to give their dogs some downtime. They need time when they are not crated all the time or in small exercise pens. They need their time to run in the backyard chasing birds or sleep on their master’s bed. I truly believe we should be able to limit the number of shows a dog can be shown at in a year, but unfortunately that will never happen.

As an offshoot to the discussion of show clusters, don’t these shows provide a great advantage to those who care about rankings? I am not one of them. Isn’t it easier to stay in the same place for five days — and five shows — rather than having to take two or more weekends to compete against the same numbers of competitors? Furthermore, does it benefit our dog-show community to have dogs stay in one place and compete against the same dogs week in and week out? If we really want to know which dogs are the real quality, shouldn’t they compete against a wide range of competition? As happened during the height of the pandemic, do we really want to consistently show our dogs to the same judges over and over? Of course, geography has something to do with this. There are certainly more choices for shows and judges on the East Coast than in the Southwest, where you go to a show because it is the only one around.

What is your first thought when you read that a particular dog has won more than 125 Bests of Breed during the year? Is it, “Wow, what a wonderful dog that must be?” Or is it — as with me — “OMG, at how many shows was this poor dog shown?”

How about when you see that Dog X won Best of Breed, Group 1st or Best in Show in Arizona on Friday, then won the breed and groups on Saturday and Sunday in Florida? Obviously, this is more than likely a smaller breed that can be carried in the passenger cabin (we hope) rather than a larger breed. Even so, we know how stressful flying can be these days for us — do you think there is no stress involved for a dog? Do you think any “judge following” might be involved?

So, these days — when it is so difficult to find good show venues — there are certainly reasons for shows to cluster up. As with most things, there are also negatives to consider. But it is a fact of our lives, so we need to use them intelligently. I guess I have very little faith that individuals will exercise care and common sense and not think that their dog needs to be shown at every show, every week. Remember, we choose to go to shows — our dogs don’t have that same freedom of choice.

What do you think?