The fascinating edible dog

In October 2016 I wrote my first article in a series of breed histories for the leading US publication, The Canine Chronicle. The first of these is about the history of the Chow Chow. See it here at http://caninechronicle.com/uncategorized/the-fascinating-edible-dog/

THE REAL REASON PEOPLE ARE QUITTING

Published in my Dog World column ‘Crossing the headlines’ (19th October 2016), my article sparked a large debate – with hundreds of share and online comments – among exhibitors in response to my observations and suggestions regarding dog shows, breed standards, judging and exhibitor dissatisfaction.

One subject that has certainly got a lot of you talking on social media is the announcement of an idea that a reduction in the number of breed clubs through amalgamation could lead to higher show entries. I can see where those who support such a move are coming from but, like a lot of you, I think they are missing the point.

Show entries are falling for a whole host of complex reasons, reasons that have been fully discussed in this paper by various commentators for many, many years and frustratingly so many of the useful ideas put forward by people who really know what they are talking about have been dismissed or completely ignored.