Well...MY opinion is that ALL wins are special, some more special than others but my view has always been that a win is a win, and finished is finished.
We have seen many All-breed entries that are equal in size to most specialty entries. We have seen a few specialty entries that where well below what many all-breed entry's are. Is it great to have a nice specialty win? Sure! Is it great to have a nice All-Breed win? Sure!
I can remember a conversation that I had in regards to a Specialty last year in Oregon that was the same weekend that a show circuit was going on in Montana.
Beth took Angus to Montana 800 miles away when the specialty and 2 days of all-breeds where 15 miles away.
The one day specialty entry was in the middle 20's and the Montana All-Breed entry was in the upper 50's, and for multiple days.
The judges in Montana each had over 40 years in the dog world with Multiple Breeds and Groups under their belts and one judge was even one of the few All Arounder's, able to judge Every Breed and Every Group with his 60-70 years in dogs. I have always found it fascinating when people make the assumption that just because a judge isn't a Bulldog Breeder that he must not have the knowledge of the breed to judge as well as a Breeder judge....
Dog showing is getting crazy expensive and it seams like it has happened over night. This last weekend we had 3 of our own dogs entered and the show was about 135 miles away.
$200 at the gas station for Fuel and Propane.
$180 for entries.
$50 for 2 nights of RV parking.
$50 for 1 Mat for under the X-Pens and some Bait...
I guess we can just call it a $500 weekend.....
We will be dog showing pretty close to home for the next 2 years.
My personal belief is that this economic down turn is just getting started and will be lasting for years and not months...
-Brian
This message has been edited by THE-Angus on May 5, 2008 7:03 AM This message has been edited by THE-Angus on May 5, 2008 6:54 AM This message has been edited by THE-Angus on May 5, 2008 6:48 AM
