Showsight Magazine

Measuring Progress: How Did We Get Here?

There’s a saying that goes something like: If you want to know where you’re going, you have to know where you’ve been. Another way of putting it would be to say that in order to achieve success in the future, learning from past successes (and past failures) is essential. Equally important is avoiding the tendency to “live” in the past ...

The Value of Inviting Lawmakers to Dog Shows

These are actual conversations AKC Government Relations (AKC GR) staff have had with local officials:

“Why should we listen to AKC? It’s not like you have anyone here helping the community.”

This was a major US city with dozens of clubs hosting shows, holding basic training and CGC classes, and making signifi...

The Bloodlines We Are Working With

When I talk about the dogs in our breeding program, I usually refer to “the bloodlines or pedigrees I’m working with,” rather than “my lines.”

That distinction may seem small, and perhaps to some people it sounds like semantics. But in breeding, language often reveals how we understand our role. The words we choose can reflect whether...

The “Best of the Best” in Britain

The Fell and Moorland Working Terrier Club (F&MWTC) in England is a dog club like no other. It was formed in 1966 and based on a cooperative effort to come together to rescue terriers that were trapped during work. The club can and does provide the logistics an...

Becoming the Little Old Woman Sitting Ringside

I started in the sport of dogs when I was sixteen years old, when I began learning about the dog show world from an Afghan Hound breeder. The hours I spent at her home and kennel, and going to shows with her, were exci...