Justicemom
Forums Celebrity
Yes same in BC, labs, setters you name it. Sad.
Agility
- Thread starter Sharon
- Start date
Yes same in BC, labs, setters you name it. Sad.
And another thing -- If the invitational is always held in December, why isn't it held in a place that has adequate inside space for all activities? No matter where it is held, there is a higher than acceptable likelihood that inclement weather will interfere with outdoor events. Shoot! We were in Kauai in early mid-December last year and it rained hard for 2-1/2 days solid.
Those heavy, show Aussies just look wrong to me. An Australian Shepherd was my first babysitter and he was also a working cattledog on our diary farm. My earliest memory of working with a dog was bringing in the cows to the milking barn with Jack. I was probably all of 5 years old.
k9kreationz
Forums Celebrity
Well, in their defense......we've been in a drought and had the lowest rainfall over the past 3 years. AND it doesn't typically rain here in December all that much. We typically get rain later in winter (we're still in fall). I had to check. The average rainfall in Long Beach, CA is 1.76". So, in all honesty, we are a good destination for a "December" outing.
Something to think about.
Also, Kauai has the wettest spot on the Earth. It's also called the Garden Island for a reason....it's green. It only gets that way cuz it rains.
Even in summer, it rains a lot there. My family is from there. We'd go every summer and rain or not, we'd hit the beach. hehehe. You can't really compare a tropical rainforest with a desert.
(but I agree, they should've had some sort of back up plan. we ALL knew it was going to POUR here over the weekend. granted, sunday was beautiful. but still. they had enough time to secure more tents, tons more sandbags, etc.)
k9kreationz
Forums Celebrity
Well, that explains why my friend's Aussie looks like a BC. I kept thinking it had to be mixed, or underweight or something. Because most Aussies I see are larger and heavier. I should tell her, she was worried her dog was too skinny or something.
I'm sorry, but that's a poor excuse for a lack of planning on the part of the AKC. I doubt that the conformation people would think it reasonable to schedule an outdoor invitational in December, even in Long Beach.
As for the desert, well, I live in the desert. We train outside year-around, even when it's in the 30s outside, but there's no way I would suggest that an outdoor invitational trial be held in Albuquerque in December. That's why we have convention centers.
If AKC wants to continue to be taken seriously as a venue for performance sport, then they need to take the needs of the performance dog athletes seriously. With all the various agility organizations, agility folks have choices and they just might start voting with their feet.
k9kreationz
Forums Celebrity
I'm curious. Does anyone know why it wasn't indoors? Did they not have the space? Or because they thought having it on grass would be awesome and hoped it wouldn't rain or something?
corbinam
Moderator
Since we just started agility I haven't been exposed to a whole lot of the "politics" behind. Just recently have I heard from people that they prefer not to compete in AKC because of "politics". Even then I wasn't sure what they meant. This certainly clears that up a bit...I can't believe those poor dogs went through all of that.
And the dogs in conformation had better bathrooms than the people in agility!!!
And the dogs in conformation had better bathrooms than the people in agility!!!
HopeShelties
Forums Enthusiast
They should look into having it at facilities that can give EVERYONE competing, whether it be conformation, agility, or obedience, EQUALLY NICE areas to crate and show.
The Cluster here is a great example of a show that does it right. KY state fairgrounds are HUGE. There are three wings, along with freedom hall, and broadbent arena. That show puts on conformation, rally, agility, and obedience all at the same time, and everyone has a nice place to crate, and to show. I know it's not the only one out there, either. Why not pick places more like this that are really suited to host big events like the invitational?
The Cluster here is a great example of a show that does it right. KY state fairgrounds are HUGE. There are three wings, along with freedom hall, and broadbent arena. That show puts on conformation, rally, agility, and obedience all at the same time, and everyone has a nice place to crate, and to show. I know it's not the only one out there, either. Why not pick places more like this that are really suited to host big events like the invitational?