They are all Best in Show Dogs

SKC’s Woof By Woofwest wants to see them all!

The SeattleKennel Club is enthusiastically following the lead of the American Kennel Cluband a growing number of its individual kennel clubs around the country in makingits shows more inclusive for all dogs, including “public” dogs that may not beentered in regular show events.

The Seattle Kennel Club has re-invented its March dog showswith this philosophy in mind. So much so that the club has given the weekendevent a new name: “Woof By Woofwestpresented by the Seattle Kennel Club.” The name comes with a wink towardthe world-famous celebration, “South By Southwest,” held in Austin every yearabout this time for the past three decades, a convergence of interactive media, film, music andconferences.

It all startedwith the AKC and its welcoming of mixed breed dogs into its AKC Canine Partnersprograms, allowing them to compete in performance events.

It continues togrow with individual clubs, such as Portland’s Dog Fanciers Association, theHouston World Series of Dog Shows, the Detroit Kennel Club and others. Demonstrationand participation events such as the AKC’s “My Dog Can Do That”, come with trainersprovided to work with well-behaved, unentered dogs, teaching some basics about obedience, rally, agility, tricks and more, allactivities any dog can enjoy. Add in the AKC’s Canine Good Citizen test, thechance to the “Ask the Vet” and the chance to visit with an attorney to helpyou work on estate planning for your dog, and you get the idea.

“The dog in your houseis a Best In Show dog, too,” says Tammie Wilcox, SKC president. “We love alldogs and we want to be more inclusive with this event. We want to help all petowners learn about responsible ownership, health care, and fun activities toshare in with their dog.”

“We were discussing this at a club meeting,”Wilcox continued. “Dogs make such a difference in everybody’s lives, thereality is that our neighbors have a Goldendoodle or a Cavapoo; our friendshave rescue and shelter dogs; members of our family have mixed breeds; and wehave purebred dogs. Our dogs all play together in the back yard, inour front room, in dog parks, and we all smile and laugh about it.

“We want to share the joy that our dogs bring us, we want tohelp teach other dog owners about some of the things that we do with our dogs.Let’s see if they like agility, let’s teach their people about health careissues, responsible ownership and more. They can learn about all of this at ourevent and ultimately, we all win, especially the dogs.”

The number of dogs –well-behaved only need apply – allowed in from the public will be limited inthis first year to 25 dogs in the morning and 25 in the afternoon each day, hopingfor a manageable total of 100 over the two days. Advance registration isrequired and a number of rules and guidelines will be in place, and controlledaccess come with that. Procedures and rules will be announced soon.

If it works, maybe more dogscan participate next year. “Our club members believein this. We want to make it work for everyone,” says Wilcox. “We all love ourdogs and sharing in that joy makes it a better world for all of us – dogs andpeople alike.”