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| Passion Investments: Sports |
A Breed Apart
Richard J. Pietschmann
01/01/2006
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Ch. Kan-Point’s VJK Autumn Roses—an exuberant purebred German shorthaired
pointer better known to her millions of television fans and her owners Linda and
Richard Stark by her call name, Carlee—has reigned for the past year as
America’s top dog. When she won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog
Show as a 5-year-old last February, throwing what Westminster’s David Frei calls
“the free stack seen around the world,” it was an electric moment of showmanship
rarely glimpsed in dog shows. “She sets all four feet into place and gathers
herself and stands there like a rock, without touching or poking or prodding,”
Frei marvels. “It was a thing of beauty, and it brought down the house.”
Linda Stark is even more ebullient. “What makes Carlee stand out is that
effervescent quality, a look-at-me charisma,” she says. “She is a dog that comes
along once in a lifetime.”
| “When the judge points to the winner on that special February evening, the price
tag to get there is the furthest thing from anyone’s mind.” |
Dog owners who are in the show circuit cultivate
that very magnetism in their own animals, and dream of the day that they—and
their canines—will achieve what the Starks and Carlee now have: top dog status.
The costs of this quest will no doubt far exceed any financial reward. Most
shows, including Westminster, offer nothing but ribbons and trophies. Yet these
proud owners persist, with training, grooming, breeding and a host of strategies
that they hope will someday deliver the Best in Show title.
“It is difficult
to place a price tag on a dog that is campaigned for Westminster,” says Danny
Seymour, president of the American Pointer Club. “For that one dog that wins,
you can guarantee that there have been years of hard work and countless dollars
behind it. But when the judge points to the winner on that special February
evening, the price tag to get there is the furthest thing from anyone’s
mind.”
When they are measured as investments, in almost every instance
purebred canines are well dogs. To begin with, animals intended for
the show ring or competitive field trials violate two primary para-meters for
any investment: First, emotional attachment to the four-legged assets is
virtually certain. Second, and even worse, dogs that routinely win also
routinely lose money for their owners.
“I don’t think too many people
showing at a high level have any intention of making money,” Richard Stark
admits. “People spend an awful lot of money to win.”
Dogs are often shown
for as many as 48 weekends a year, all over the country. “One hundred thousand
dollars is nothing to campaign a dog in the show world,” says Dorothy Macdonald,
a widely admired show and field judge from Carmel Valley, Calif.
Such costs
often drive breeder-owners who come up with a superstar dog to partner with
affluent backers who underwrite the costs necessary to show the animal.
Sometimes a dog is syndicated to multiple owners. “In many cases that allows a
dog of quality to be seen when [the original owner] wouldn’t be able to afford
it,” Macdonald says.
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