Royal Shows The Safety Of Our Dogs

[oakway]

Do you believe that Royal Shows provide adequate security for our dogs ?.

I believe they don't depending on what royal you are at. Sydney Royal being somewhat better

in my experience.

[Aziah]

No they don't - I'd rather not have the public there at all

ETA: in the grandstands for the public but no where near the pavillions.

Edited September 9, 2010 by Aziah

[WreckitWhippet]

I personally think the benching areas should be well fenced off from the general public, for the comfort of the dogs and the exhibitors. Scoring an outside bench at a Royal is a complete bastard.

There are also the safety aspect or dogs, exhibitors and the public. The bench areas should be a complete no go to the gernal public.

Provide meet and greet, club stands to give the public access to the different breeds, or they can watch from the grandstands.

[poodlefan]

Maybe the Royals need to reconsider how many entry passes you get with your number. Folk might do well to take a friend so that their dogs are never left unattended.

Either that or chip in and hire their own security guard.

Or provide secure benches and its BYO padlock.

Edited September 9, 2010 by poodlefan

[SparkyTansy]

I personally think the benching areas should be well fenced off from the general public, for the comfort of the dogs and the exhibitors. Scoring an outside bench at a Royal is a complete bastard.

There are also the safety aspect or dogs, exhibitors and the public. The bench areas should be a complete no go to the gernal public.

Provide meet and greet, club stands to give the public access to the different breeds, or they can watch from the grandstands.

Agree - particularly the bolded bit.

The fact that most royals expect exhibitors to keep their dogs benched all day long on display to the public, and yet provide no security in the way of suitable benches or barriers seems pretty one sided. If nothing is done and in light of the incident yesterday, I have no doubt that entries will drop next year.

Edited September 9, 2010 by SparkyTansy

[*Lolapalooza*]

I personally think the benching areas should be well fenced off from the general public, for the comfort of the dogs and the exhibitors. Scoring an outside bench at a Royal is a complete bastard.

There are also the safety aspect or dogs, exhibitors and the public. The bench areas should be a complete no go to the gernal public.

Provide meet and greet, club stands to give the public access to the different breeds, or they can watch from the grandstands.

Agree - particularly the bolded bit.

Totally agree! I hate the feeling I get at Royals, am paranoid someone will try and do something to my dog while my back is turned.

Also sick of people thrusting their children at my dogs.

[*Lolapalooza*]

No they don't - I'd rather not have the public there at all

ETA: in the grandstands for the public but no where near the pavillions.

wonder if the RAHS will rethink things after this year. I hope so!

[oakway]

I can only speak about Brisbane really. Having spent the last 20 odd years there.

Has anybody been their on peoples day and tried to get your dogs to the assembly area ?.

Remember trying to bring a trolley through the crowds to get to the assembly area, only to be told NO trolleys to brought into the assembly area.

This has changed slightly in the last few years with sweepstakes on this day now.

(If you have more than on dog you need helpers in the assembly area should have dogs in following classes)

Having to leave the dogs unattended in a public area if you are on your own.

Yes of course we ask others to watch them but should they be called away, after all they are doing you a kindness, it's not their responsibility.

In this day and age we need far better security for these enclosed (benched) shows.

[flatchat]

I didn't enter Hobart Royal this year and one reason was because our breed was on People's day and I am so over spending the day watching wall to wall bogans pushing through the dog pavilions and being abused if I ask people not to touch my dogs. And over being too scared to leave the dogs for a nanosecond and worrying that when I come back to the benches with them after being judged that things will have been stolen.

Until security among other things improves I won't be entering for the forseeable future. :D

Edited to add, I much prefer Launceston Royal where you can take your car and trailer on to the grounds, can set up gazebos so you and your friends can watch out for each other more easily and where you are not crammed into an inadequate indoor space.

Edited September 9, 2010 by flatchat

[petsearch]

Our advice to anyone who is considering leaving their dog somewhere unattended is would you leave your wallet or handbag unattended there, if the answer is no, then don't leave your dog there. This applies to tieing dogs up outside shops or leaving them at a show. Theft of a dog is mostly an opportunistic crime, so if you remove the opportunity you will greatly reduce the chances of theft.

[oakway]

I didn't enter Hobart Royal this year and one reason was because our breed was on People's day and I am so over spending the day watching wall to wall bogans pushing through the dog pavilions and being abused if I ask people not to touch my dogs. And over being too scared to leave the dogs for a nanosecond and worrying that when I come back to the benches with them after being judged that things will have been stolen.

Until security among other things improves I won't be entering for the forseeable future. :D

Edited to add, I much prefer Launceston Royal where you can take your car and trailer on to the grounds, can set up gazebos so you and your friends can watch out for each other more easily and where you are not crammed into an inadequate indoor space.

Yes, I entered Launceston and not Hobart for similar reasons.

[Aspyre]

I thought that the small dogs in Adelaide had inbuilt cages on their benches??? Well I'm sure they did two years ago when I was over there?? Most of the toy people seemed to padlock their dogs into the cages too from what I remember.

The benching in Adelaide is pretty open, with only a bar seperating you (and your dogs) from the public. So its nothing like Sydney where they are seperated by the big fences. We always took crates to put on the benches, so our dogs were secured.

[Shaar]

It's not just the safety (although that is a huge factor) I have seen some rather nasty incidents with children, fairy floss and coated breeds.

I like the idea of more passes, I only take one dog so only get one pass, but rarely go to a show by myself, I need someone to watch my dog while I duck off to the toilet or to get a drink.

Better facilities for the public to be able to watch would be a good idea at a lot of shows. I know at Launnie they provide a couple of bench seats but otherwise you just have to sit on the grass.

Also like the idea of meet and greet sections. Those who CHOOSE to go into a certain area can have their dogs interact with the general public and answer questions.

Perhaps a certain row of benches or a tent (depending on how your show is set up) designated for meet and greets, and exhibitors can come and go out of this area as they choose.

[mirawee]

I have not had a problem at either Perth or Brisbane Royals in terms of security - the only 2 Royals I have competed at.

Saying that we have a group of people so the dogs are never left unattended (in fact it is in the show entry info that they are not allowed to be!). When we are all out for judging of our main breed my "odd dog out" (Kelpie) is taken over to sit with other friends. Actually his first year he ended up at the Pedigree tent being looked after by them while our other breed was judged after they offered to take him I don't want to know how many treats he got while in there :D

One of the main reasons we do the Royal is to promote our breeds to the public. Our dogs all love the attention and in fact our oldest Lappy would be quite happy if he sat on the table all day getting pats and didn't have to go into the show ring. He was most disappointed in Brisbane that it was harder to get pats from any kids walking by.

At Perth Royal though we get a minimum of 2 tickets even if we only have 1 dog entered.

[SwaY]

Lockers close to where exhibitors are to put there valuables.

Security watching over the benches when breeds are in the ring.

More exhibitor only space.

Meet and Great area would be great!

[flatchat]

I would be happy to take my dogs out to a meet and greet area but am not prepared to put up with the pushing hordes in the ordinary pavilions. :D

Glad I am not the only one Oakway. I actually think there are quite a few of us doing one and not the other.

[canowna]

Lockers are a great idea, although no padlock is safe with some people.

I think health and safety would have a field day with dogs padlocked in permanent enclosures. The fire risk in these building is high and anything that is locked creates problems in a swift exit should an evacuation be needed.

We absolutely need more room around the benches, again if the need arose imagine trying to evacuate the bench areas at Melb Royal with the Public all over the place and the cramped in benches.

[Blakbelgian]

More passes would be good, so one person can go to the loo etc & the other watches the dog.

Close the doors to the public for lunch.

More space between us & the public.

One can only hope th RASV will consider these things.

BB

[Sheridan]

People have to take responsibility for their dogs and not leave it up to the Royal organisers to provide security for them. If you only get one pass then pay for a ticket. I recall one dog at the Canberra Royal a couple of years ago that was left by itself for hours while its handler was elsewhere. The meeting was still going when I left and the dog was just by the toilets, so behind the trees and out of sight of anyone in the rings. It was late so every other exhibitor in that area had left and the public were leaving, too. So easy just to grab the dog and go.

Edited September 9, 2010 by Sheridan

[Paptacular!]

Darwin Royal set up is much like our normal shows. It is not a benched show, however there are exhibitor spaces for gazebos marked out, and a 'rope fence' as a barrier between us and the public.

Adults seem to respect the rope more than kids, which isn't great when you have your dog crated near the front for people to see and kids stick their icky fingers in the crate.

Exhibitors are quite close together, so there isn't a big security risk if you need to walk away quickly, there is always someone there to keep an eye out. We are a friendly bunch! If dogs are going back into trailers after being exhibited, most owners are vigilant about locking the doors. A few years ago kids were seen playing with the doors on a trailer where dogs were inside, so that was a bit of a reminder for everyone.

We are able to pre-purchase additional entry tickets with our dog entries.

Edited September 9, 2010 by pappylove