This is going to cause some ructions!

Pedigree is going to pull all it's sponsorship for shows by the end of 2007

The stand will still be at the shows but no more sponsorship - and no more brilliant prizes for CC and BOBs!!

Debs

Including Crufts?
Becky

They say they're going to remain Crufts' principle supporter - whether that means sponsorship remains to be seen.

Debs

No great loss in my book to be honest. I don't feed any Pedigree products!
Becky

Neither do I but the prizes for the principle winners are lovely - what am I going to do without my new showbag every year? And no new free toys for the dogs! No brollies, coolbags, suit carriers, space blankets, towels etc!

The main thing though is the lack of sponsorship for the Ch shows - the amount of money that Pedigree plough into the shows is mindboggling. The shows are going to be hit very hard unless one of the other food manufacturers comes up with a deal pretty quick. Unless that happens the shows are going to have to find ways of recouping the lost income - which may mean via the poor exhibitor...

Debs

I'm pretty certain other manufacturers will pick up the slack. Some of the more quality foods may sponsor the smaller single breed shows etc.
Besides I'm not bothered about having bits and pieces as prizes, it's the placings that's more important!
Becky

Well a lot of the breed shows are already sponsored by other manufacturers. But it's everything else Pedigree paid for at the general Ch shows that could cause problems.

As for the bits and pieces - I love 'em! Of course the placings matter but then you don't get the freebies anyway unless you're BOB, BOS or BP, by which time you're quite happy with the placings anyway LOL I know it seems trivial but over the years I must have had thousands of pounds worth of prizes from Pedigree - from food to everything else. It just won't seem the same without them! They've been doing it for forty years now.

Debs

The bits and pieces is why their food costs so much! The ingredients they use in their products are very very cheap but the price is whacked up to pay for your free showbags etc so someone has paid for it all. It certainly isn't the company! They'll still make a profit, now they'll make even more!
Becky

There are plenty of us who have been showing for years and never a sniff of a CC let alone BOB. Therefore, those who get the prizes must be in the minority so would not care too much about the fate of Pedigree. I would personally rather brag about a CC than a cheaply produced prize which is little more than a free advert for the sponsor!
No offence intended!

I don't think that Pedigree will be missed too much.

Can only be a good thing for dog showing IMHO! But the impact could be a lot more than first imagined. It's not just the bits and pieces picked up by winners at the champ shows, but the annual competitions for Top Dog, Top Breeder, Top Puppy etc etc, awarded for each CC breed and for group & overall winners. The crystal awards for these are actually good quality too, or at least used to be.

Then we have the end of year competions for qualifiers ..... not to mention the huge spending on 'hospitality' at shows.... and gifts for Champ show committee members (oh yes!). If all this is to go, then we could see a huge improvement in the quality of the food..... or maybe not