[gemy]

Good points Mike - but more than entry fees - we need more health clinics that are subsidized - free posting of results on offa and chic and like health organizations. We need vets who are geared and support show breeders - who have the training the real training to help out with whelping - pregnancy and after care for the nursing mother.


What I and you can do is to help out at shows the newbies. They are easily recognized - the look of a deer caught in the headlights. Make the atmosphere collegial. Say hi - be welcoming. Offer to share your fan or a brush. Look around you to see who might need a helping hand.
Just yesterday I was having a convo with a fellow breeder - she hates showing! But she is a very good breeder puts oodles of performance titles on her dogs. She just can not stand what she calls the politics of showing. So she does UKC shows as you can enter the same day of the show. Her at home situation makes this ideal for her as she has a sick husband whose condition can change day to day.


We have some programs on TV like dogs 101 or some such. Promote those - give not a sanitized version of the breed - but a real life critique. For our Yorkies show them doing agility obedience rally o dock diving - barn hunts. They are small but they are feisty. Some are therapy dogs. Give the whole panorama of what this breed can do - if you the owner and you the breeder do the *right* things with your dog.


Show the breeders raising a litter - doing the neuro stimulation and other puppy rearing techniques to raise a well adjusted puppy. Let the public know what goes into making a beautifull pure bred dog. And do this over and over and over again.


Solicit public attendance at each show. Give them the public something more than the dry ring performance. Most folks don't follow don't know what is going on ringside. Have demos mid day - dog dancing - rally o obedience demos - scent work. Show them a temperament test - offer free testing to the public for that day. Want to know your dogs temperament?


Interview the exhibitors - small cameo shots. Oh what are you doing here as an exhibitor is prepping their dog for show. Why does this dog have that hair over their eyes - how can they see? How do you get that coat to gleam so much?


And finally urge and support the public that you meet to purchase a purebred dog - and here is why!