photo courtesy of Phillip MacKenzie @ Sxc.hu
Could you afford to own a show dog? This question is the one posed by Nightline during their expose of the show dog business. Why? It featured dogs from the Westminister Dog Show and the money owners shell out to prep them.
This episode of Nightline showed that the price of placing or winning a trophy in the show dog business is high. Dog owners who want their canine to place must pay for a wide range of things to give them an edge. It is not just about training a dog to prance around an arena or jump through a hoop. There are several charges. Besides the cost of travel and a fancy hotel, dog owners must pay for other services to get their dog "show ready". Here is a break down:
- Hair: $400
- Headshots: $800
- Accessories: $4000
Need more prices to go on? Overall, according the Nightline report, an owner of a show dog will invest at least $100,000 into his pet. This figure is the bare minimum cost for a dog to compete. However, this number is really no biggie. Why? According to statistics, the dog industry isn't suffering from a lack of money.
Despite the recession, Americans are still pouring big dollars into their pet dogs. Based on recent figures, Americans spend around 43 billion dollars a year to care for their canines. So regardless of hard times, people give a lot of tlc to man's best friend. As one ladies at the Westminister show stated, "we do it because they are our babies".
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Watch for the airing of the 2010 Westminster Dog Show in your local area on 2/15 and 02/16.
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Comments
Nightline didn't lie, but they didn't tell the entire story. If you want to have one of the top-winning dogs in the country, the sky is the limit on what it could cost to achieve that. That report didn't exaggerate the top-level spending that some of the dogs at Westminster have behind them.
BUT...most of the people who compete at dog shows don't spend anywhere near that much money, and they still manage to have a great time. They can even make it to Westminster without spending the big bucks, though the trip to NY and the hotel adds up.
Dog showing is a great family sport, and can be done at nearly any level. The bare minimum requirements:
Dog, pure-bred of your choice
Place to give the dog a bath - sink or shower or bath tub
Towels to dry the dog - get them at yard sales or Goodwill for cheap!
Appropriate grooming tools for the breed. Some need blowers, clippers, brushes and combs, but some need nothing more than a towel and a good shake.
Leash and collar appropriate for the show ring. (available at dog shows for between $10 and $15...and up!)
Entry fee, which is typically $25 per show entered.
As someone who's been showing my family pets for 30 years, I can attest that you can have a LOT of fun and not spend anywhere near that much moolah! :-D
Then there's all the cross-country travel expenses. And a dog of such caliber should be insured.
Owing a top show dog of any breed is enormously expensive due to the high costs of travel, care items, the dog itself and a handler; and only the most dedicated with lots of extra income can do it, hence they charge a lot of money for a pup from their exceptional show stock. And that's how it should be - dog shows are intended to highlight the best specimens and those dogs closest to the written breed standard hence the best dogs to breed not or money but to perpetuate the breed itself.
Show dogs have a horrible life being stuck in cages, traveling all the time. Dogs should be free to run around and play not stuck in a crate all day.
Personaly I dont believe that show dogs have as horrible a life as you seem to think. I do not show nor breed but am considering it, in the future. Think about this:
Show dogs get the best quality food and vet care.
Most are only in crate during travel which many dogs are anyways
I've seen a ton of dogs that absolutely love being in the show ring, then again I have seen those who dont like it
A lot of show dogs are family pets when they arent showing
And personally, my pet dogs adore traveling with the family: in or out of their crates
It depends on the dog and the owners/handlers.
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