President’s Message
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I
think that we all knew this year would be different, and it certainly has been. And our dog world has had its share of disappointments, happy times with our dogs, and challenges. The array of event cancellations in July and August was disappointing, but understandable, given the way the Delta variant has taken hold down South. However, the surge in vaccination levels has been very encouraging. Although the Ekka was cancelled and the All Dogs Sports Spectacular postponed and other events have been cancelled or postponed, a number of events and shows have been able to continue here in Queensland and for that we are grateful. What has become clear is that organisers at club and Dogs Queensland office level need to be nimble footed and be able to change arrangements and judges in a matter of days before scheduled events. We have become much more flexible in getting events and shows happening, sometimes with less than a week’s lead time. Club officials and the office are to be commended for rising so effectively to this challenge. It does show that we can be flexible and that is not such a bad thing as we look to doing things more effectively in our dog world. Agricultural Shows I have a been a keen supporter of dog shows at Agricultural Shows for many years. I see it is a continuing opportunity to interface with the community at these Show Society events and showcase what our dog showing is all about. Of course, the premium Agricultural Show in Queensland is the Ekka and, sadly, that did not happen this year because of COVID. It would be great if just the dog show could still happen, but time will tell. These shows are all about giving the public a great experience and opening doors about what our dog world is all about. The community love of dogs and all our dog breeds and seeing the dog show is top of the “to do” list with surveys of people attending our Royal Show events.
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DOG WORLD September 2021
A recent local example of this was the Gold Coast Show Society Inc show last weekend. A bouquet to David Kill and his team in running a successful and well organised event in a compact section right on Marine Parade at Southport. As you will see from the photos it was a huge drawcard to the public with David keeping up a dialogue with those moving through and explaining what was happening and how to get a better spot to view the judging action.
