Why Are Ankc Members So Low?

[GeckoTree]

I was just looking on the ANKC site and had a look at the membership stats and it's gone down from 54,590 to 33,855 in 14 yrs over 20 thousand members gone.

[Aziah]

Most probably a myriad of reasons - old timers not renewing their membership, less newcomers to the scene, the list is endless...

[MolassesLass]

The thread title had me thinking this was a totally different topic!

Dog registrations for just about every breed are way down too. It's very sad I think.

[Janba]

Unless you are showing, breeding, trialling etc there is no incentive to be a member of your state body, so unless more people are encouraged into these fields memberships will keep dropping and so will registations.

[SparkyTansy]

I also think it is a result of todays lifestyle... and all clubs are suffering...

Busy lifestyles and longer working hours restrict our free time. It just isn't worth being part of a club anymore. It isn't always even necessarily about incentives to be part of a club... i just think that free time is becoming more precious,and there are less chances to do things even i f the desire is there.

[blacklabrador]

Too much politics and in fighting. Most people have enough crap to put up with at work without deliberately exposing themselves to the childish crap that goes on in breed clubs and dog shows out of hours. Problem is that the people causing the problems can't seem to see that they share any responsibility in the decline in memberships. It's not all bad but it's sufficiently bad to make sure that a lot of newbies walk away and don't go back.

[eglus]

Too much politics and in fighting. Most people have enough crap to put up with at work without deliberately exposing themselves to the childish crap that goes on in breed clubs and dog shows out of hours. Problem is that the people causing the problems can't seem to see that they share any responsibility in the decline in memberships. It's not all bad but it's sufficiently bad to make sure that a lot of newbies walk away and don't go back.

I totally agree with these comments.

My breed club is exactly the same. I joined as a lover of the breed, eager to learn and was encouraged to join the club in a newsletter to join committee as 'the club may die out' if it doesn't have new blood.

Well, of course I put my self out there to be a club committee member, tried to contribute, but apart from 3 or 4 people in the club and committee, everyone else either ignored me or put me down in emails when I tried to introduce new activities or events to help keep 'pet' only members of the club engaged and happy to rejoin the club.

My advise to pet only people, don't bother joining breed clubs or trying to make a difference to help clubs to attract new members, as it won't get you anywhere.

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

So the rise in popularity of "designer breeds" which are excluded except from trialing - would have nothing to do with it?

[voloclydes]

Too much politics and in fighting. Most people have enough crap to put up with at work without deliberately exposing themselves to the childish crap that goes on in breed clubs and dog shows out of hours. Problem is that the people causing the problems can't seem to see that they share any responsibility in the decline in memberships. It's not all bad but it's sufficiently bad to make sure that a lot of newbies walk away and don't go back.

say what you really think!......

i think that applies to most clubs or organisations..

[Janba]

So the rise in popularity of "designer breeds" which are excluded except from trialing - would have nothing to do with it?

Owners of designer breeds who want to trial their dogs still need to be ANKC members to do so. There are plenty of associate and sporting register dogs competing in dpogs sports. Designer dogs shouldn't be eligable for showing as they are cross breeds.

Stae body membership offers nothing if you don't compete or breed. If they ran things like fun days, more information days, seminars in dog ownership it might help. Why should the average pet owner pay a large membership fee to just get a magazine that has very little in it to appeal to the average pet owner?

[Chocolate]

Unfortunatley the show scene is not welcoming of new people. New people mean more competition. I have tried to introduce a few new people and it doesn't take long for them to realise how cold, nasty and petty a lot of dog people are at shows.

One evening I had invited 4 friends to join me at a large 4 day show. As it was over 4 days there were clear instructions for people to not stick gazebo's ring side if they weren't showing that night to allow room for those who were showing. Of course this was ignored as people like to claim their space at shows so the ring side was lined with empty gazebo's when I arrrived on the first night. Well I sat in front of an empty gazebo next to the ring we were going to show in. Friends arrived and being taller than me popped the gazebo up from half height to full so their heads weren't hitting the gazebo. After a while we get a couple of females come over and pull the gazebo back down into half position and accuse us of stealing a peg. It wasn't their gazebo but a friends apparently. My friends could not believe what they were hearing, being accused of stealing a peg just defied belief! Well I was certainly very embarrased by my fellow dog lovers! And later realised one of these ladies is a judge.

Next night still sits a row of empty gazebos so we sat in front of the half height gazebo again. These women still weren't happy they wanted us no where near the emtpy friends gazebo and even got people to pretend it was theirs and that they would be wanting to use it in a minute so we'd best move.

[Gayle.]

Recently I saw a comment on another thread that you had to be involved in the dog world for at least 20 years to really know anything.

It's attitudes like that that drive people away.

[blacklabrador]

Too much politics and in fighting. Most people have enough crap to put up with at work without deliberately exposing themselves to the childish crap that goes on in breed clubs and dog shows out of hours. Problem is that the people causing the problems can't seem to see that they share any responsibility in the decline in memberships. It's not all bad but it's sufficiently bad to make sure that a lot of newbies walk away and don't go back.

say what you really think!......

I usually do - why should this be any different?

[whippets]

Recently I saw a comment on another thread that you had to be involved in the dog world for at least 20 years to really know anything.

It's attitudes like that that drive people away.

Yes there are some real snots around. Reminds me of a saying "they have been in the breed for 20 years or have they been in the breed 1 year 20 times over".

Anyway the costs of shows these days are quite expensive plus the amount of international judges seen at shows is pretty poor. I took a 15 year break from showing and when I returned I noticed a HUGE difference in show size and the lack of big shows. The newer people to the game wouldn't remember the big EXPO weekend for the ADI dog club and Kilmore champ shows in Vic. There use to be people from all over the country for those two International spectaculars.

I think it was the Junior Kennel Club here in Vic that still have international judges plus the entry fees are low. They get awesome entries as do the shows over the Melbourne Cup weekend. So it can STILL be done.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the number of judges in Australia also declining? That pretty much sums up that once the older fanciers go there are few to replace them. I also remember the numbers of judges declining when they introduced the number of stewarding appointments a trainee had to do. I think that was introduced in the late 80's maybe early 90's. If someone has a busy life then the extra commitment may put people off.

[RubyStar]

Speaking of the attitudes of some.... I was sitting ringside one night on my own, watching a fellow DOLer in the ring, when one of the other puppies in the ring took a nice dump while it was being examined. They were all looking around desperately for a poo bag when I remembered I had one in my pocket. Thought I was doing a good deed, I jump up to give it to them when the steward said "no that's ok, such and such has gone to get one". No worries I thought, so I turn around and walk back to my patch of grass, when this pack of b!tches next to me made some really snotty remark in a really condescending tone "it's not the steward's job to pick it up" while laughing with each other in my direction of my apparent stupidity. I was gobsmacked! The nerve of these women to be so vicious to a spectator who was clearly only trying to help. It got my blood boiling. I can't imagine the remarks they must make to actual competition!!! Way to encourage new people into the showring. I walked away thinking this is soooooooo not for me

[whippets]

You see if that was me, I'd be juvenille enough to stick two fingers up and "raspberry"... jog on

[blacklabrador]

Speaking of the attitudes of some.... I was sitting ringside one night on my own, watching a fellow DOLer in the ring, when one of the other puppies in the ring took a nice dump while it was being examined. They were all looking around desperately for a poo bag when I remembered I had one in my pocket. Thought I was doing a good deed, I jump up to give it to them when the steward said "no that's ok, such and such has gone to get one". No worries I thought, so I turn around and walk back to my patch of grass, when this pack of b!tches next to me made some really snotty remark in a really condescending tone "it's not the steward's job to pick it up" while laughing with each other in my direction of my apparent stupidity. I was gobsmacked! The nerve of these women to be so vicious to a spectator who was clearly only trying to help. It got my blood boiling. I can't imagine the remarks they must make to actual competition!!! Way to encourage new people into the showring. I walked away thinking this is soooooooo not for me

That kind of behaviour is just p*ssing on trees RubyStar. Sorry that you were humiliated like that. :D

[dancinbcs]

Recently I saw a comment on another thread that you had to be involved in the dog world for at least 20 years to really know anything.

It's attitudes like that that drive people away.

That was my comment and you have taken it completely out of context. What I said was that it takes about 20 years experience to really know a breed because you need to observe several generations over their full lifetime to do this. I was commenting on the amount of experience that mentors to new breeders / exhibitors should have. It is no use having a mentor who is only a couple of years in front of you in experience. As a newcomer you need a mentor who knows the breed in depth. I was lucky to start with such a mentor and do whatever I can to encourage and mentor newcomers to the breed.

The reasons for the drop in numbers are many.

When I started, most successful breeders where women who didn't work but had husbands that did. On weekends the whole family went to shows but the women had time as stay at home mums to devote to the dogs and breeding. This family situation is increasingly rare. With everyone working full time fewer people have time to breed or all weekend to devote to dog shows and activties.

The introduction of the Grand Champion title did a lot to kill dog showing. Dogs used to be brought out and titled then semi retired to only come out for Royals and Specialties or a show where the owner thought they were in with a good chance of BIG or BIS. This meant that no dogs were shown at 100 shows a year and the winning was shared around a lot more. More dogs titled in a breed encouraged more people to show. Now we have exhibitors trying to get breed records for challenge points in a lifetime. 6000, 7000 how many is enough? The more a dog wins the more likely it is to win on reputation and for every extra couple of 100 points the same dog wins, another exhibitor probably gave up showing. As the old saying goes, if the same one wins all the time, no one else will turn up. We even used to pull titled dogs on the day to let someone that only needed a few points finish. That doesn't happen anymore.

The increase in puppy farmers and dealers means that most breeders now sell everything on limit register. If no one can buy a main register dog they cannot become an exhibitor and breeder. Most of the successful breeders I have known never set out to become breeders. They bought a nice main register pet and either decided or were encouraged to show it. As dogs used to be judged per the standard, not on how well they showed, a novice with a nice puppy could do some winning and then they were hooked. The next thing they would breed their first litter and 10 years later would find themselves with a show team and having produced several nice litters. They in turn encouraged their puppy buyers to show and so the cycle repeated. If no one sells main register puppies to new exhibitors the numbers will continue to decline at an alarming rate.

Finally, money is a big factor. Showing and breeding has become much more expensive. Show entries are higher because numbers are down, petrol and accomodation is much more expensive and sashes and trophies get worse every year so exhibitors get less for their outlay. With a handful of highly successful faces, that do 100 shows a year, taking out most awards it makes it very expensive for anyone else to stay around long enough to win anything at all. In a popular breed like mine that still has relatively big entries it can take several years to title a dog, as you continue to get constant reserves to the grand champions that are there every week.

Vet costs, health testing, transport for matings have all increased the costs involved in breeding and then there is the increasing attitude that every problem is the breeder's fault and they should have to pay for it or be sued. Not a great incentive for anyone to breed. We need more breeders for numbers to increase but the attitude of many already breeding is to stop anyone else from even trying. You only have to read the rude comments on here directed at anyone that mentions becoming a breeder.

Time and money are two things we cannot change but judges need to get back to awarding dogs on how they conform to the standard regardless of how well they show, how well they are handled or how well known the handler is. Every breed has a standard and none of them make mention of the fact that the dog must "show well". So long as its stands nicely and gaits correctly a well conformed dog should be able to win.

Breeders need to have some faith in their ability to pick prospective show buyers and sell them some of the better quality main register puppies to get the ball rolling again. Of course many puppies are not good enough to be main registered, but every limit register puppy contributes nothing to the future of it's breed or to the future of pure bred dogs.

Edited May 21, 2010 by dancinbcs

[Bindii]

Recently I saw a comment on another thread that you had to be involved in the dog world for at least 20 years to really know anything.

It's attitudes like that that drive people away.

I read that too.

Being new to this dog world, a new exhibitor and trainee breeder (dont own a bitch yet!) I completely respected this! It excites me that i have so much to learn, what a wonderful challenge! How boring life would be if we knew everything the day we were born.

[jesomil]

Great post Dancinbcs