Please read....
Recently we decided to make some changes in the dog shows, which seems to have caused some upset. We understand why you are upset and feel you may need a bit of explanation.
We originally decided to add shows in order give back to our loyal breeders. When they started asking for a show we started with just a couple a year. Over time we were able to grow the show program because our breeders/dogs/litters were continuing to grow. This growth gave us the opportunity to have more shows and use some of the excess funds to benefit you all. We chose to not make money on the shows, generally taking a loss, but it was something we could provide and enjoyed providing. With the current economy, dog market, and the situation with dogs switching to AKC, funds are lower and costs are higher than they have been in previous years, and until things stable out we have to cut back a bit.
We have also seen some complaining about distance to shows and understand it is not ideal; however we have learned from the past that if you go to a show, people will come to yours. If we had not had multiple competitors willing and happy to drive 12+ hours to a show to support the other areas, we would not have had shows. We have people that still regularly drive 18 hours to shows, so a couple of hour drive is wonderful to them! Eventually in the middle of those 12 hours a couple more people asked for shows and the people driving 12 hours soon found themselves with a wonderful short 6-hour drive. This is the best way for shows to grow. We see all entries as they come in and we NEVER see those that are complaining about wanting more shows in their area traveling to support other shows, while still expecting people to drive to them. In order to keep shows in your area and grow new shows, you must first get the attendance at the shows that are currently there or closer to you.
We know that times will change, and we will be able to grow again as we have a huge base of breeders. There are things you can do to help us and the first thing is register, register, register---that is what keeps us going and our main source of funds (remember we lose money on almost ALL of the shows). We have several new programs we are working on to help you be seen and sell puppies. A new microchip program is coming out in a week or so. Our Pet Insurance program will be launching soon, it just takes time. We also have added pre-registration of a whole litter in order to make it cheaper for you and hope that you will take advantage of it in the next year. Please remember that shows are a bonus, our real business is keeping the pedigrees, registering dogs, and registering litters that will be the future. We can’t grow without that. Even if you sell just pets, register them as they provide proof of ownership in the case of loss.
We ask that this year you understand that we need to recover and having less shows will help us. These shows are a huge amount of work for not only the person putting the show on, but our ASDR office. We didn’t make these changes lightly, we all need rest from a year with so many shows. If and when things level off we will absolutely add shows.
2025 Dog Shows
March 18 - 23, 2025 ASDR Gateway Adventure
Conformation, Sweepstakes, Rally, Agility, Scentwork, Trick Dog, and Polite Herding Dog
Gray Summit, MO
Entry Opening: February 10, 2025
Entry Closing: February 19, 2025
Remaining Schedule TBA