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Yesterday I received this e-mail from a fellow club member about how one of her puppy buyers and a first time exhibitor received this “rude letter” from the AKC and she went on and on about how rude the letter was and what a bad impression it was giving this first time exhibitor blah, blah, blah.

Like every organization that sponsors any kind of competition, the AKC has specific rules about what you do and when you do it. They’ve put it all in this nice little booklet that’s about 30 pages long (it’s the size of a half a sheet of 8-1/2 x 11 paper, so would be 15 pages if full size).

Does that sound like a lot of rules to you?

Since dog shows is a progression type competition where you start out at the lowest level and advance up, there is a system in place for a reserve winner in case the winner is later determined to have been inelligible for any one of a number of different reasons. So there is a rule that states if you win second place in your class, you have to hang around for the awarding of winners in your sex before you can leave. If you aren’t present (or more accurately your dog isn’t present) to go back into the ring, you forfeit what prizes you may have won (usually that’s a 2″x6″ red ribbon, but sometimes its something more substantial).

This particular person failed to honor that rule. His dog had been awarded a second placement and the person left before winners class. The dog that beat him was chosen as the winner and New Exhibitor wasn’t there to go in for Reserve judging, so he got a letter from AKC to return his loot.

This is what the breeder was going on and on about.

When I asked her why she hadn’t helped him learn the rules before going into the ring with his dog, her excuse was that he’s across country from her and usually uses a handler. Then I was accused of “coming down on her” because I refused to acknowledge the letter and treatment of her New Exhibitor was rude — trust me, it wasn’t rude. The language was business like; it cited the rule and told New Exhibitor what he had to do plain and simple.

Then she tried to say that this was a shabby way to treat a New Exhibitor in our sport. Huh? That AKC should KNOW he was new and cut him some slack. HUH?

He’s been using a handler. So this is NOT the first show this dog has ever been shown in. How is AKC supposed to know just exactly who it was on the end of the leash? They are not the CIA where there are cameras everywhere and people behind every screen noting who is holding the leash of which dog. Sorry, that one doesn’t fly either.

Ok, so I’m a compulsory rule book reader — I’ll admit it. I want to know what I can do and moreso I want to know what everyone else can do, so I read rule books pretty often and very thoroughly. I read my breed standards pretty regularly, too even for breeds I don’t own. To me, reading a rule book about a sport you are playing in is a no-brainer. You don’t just buy something like one of those ipods then don’t read the instruction manual, do you? You do??

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