At the AKC National Championship presented by Royal Canin, we had the chance to sit down with Kamie Eckert, the President of Royal Canin USA.
One of the great things about getting to attend the AKC National Championship in Orlando, besides being surrounded by so many amazing dogs, was getting the opportunity to speak with some fascinating people. And one of the people we had the chance to sit down with was the President and General Manager of Royal Canin USA’s Kamie Eckert.
Considering Eckert is the person overseeing more than 1,000 associates across the country, it makes sense that she would be an extremely busy person. And yet, she is also passionate about pets and has made a career out of her love of animals.
It is with the help of Kamie Eckert that a partnership between the American Kennel Club (AKC) and Royal Canin was able to form, leading to the company being the presenting sponsor for the AKC National Championship. She is also one of the people we have to thank for helping to bring this particular dog show back to national television, which is definitely something we appreciate at Dog O’Day.
And during our chat with Eckert, we learned quite a bit more about what inspires her work with Royal Canin and the AKC National Championship.
Perhaps one of the things we found interesting, was the real passion Kamie Eckert has for Royal Canin and her partnership with the AKC. One of the things she explained about the show is that their goal is help the dogs with being their very best in and out of the show ring.
According to Eckert, “conformation is precision.” (And considering conformation is a big part of a dog show and the judging, this is important to note.) And this is important because as she pointed out, Royal Canin is “a brand that is all about precision, and there’s no better place to showcase the precision both in the magnificence and the diversity of the breeds than the National Championship.”
By working with the AKC to present the National Championship, it was an opportunity to make the showcase bigger in many ways. And this is definitely something we can appreciate.
However, it was not just about showing off the precision that can be achieved with the help of Royal Canin, but according to Kamie Eckert, “We also believe that the appreciation for what the American Kennel Club has done for well over 100 years isn’t always understood or known and what we wanted to do was to make that excitement and those magnificent dogs accessible to more audiences. And so that’s why having a partner like animal planet to be able to bring that back to life has become a really big part of it.”
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By helping to bring the AKC National Championship to national television, they believe that they will be able to bring more of these amazing dogs to a much wider array of “pet loving people.”
And what does Eckert want people to know about the National Championship? That’s easy, “This show is the culmination of a lot of hard work by all of these breeders, handlers, and owners throughout the year.” She even goes so far as to call it the “Show of Shows.”
When it comes to being the sponsor for the National Championship, Royal Canin takes that relationship seriously. And as Eckert pointed out, “Our goal is to make sure that we deliver absolutely the best in quality and precision. And so the idea of those two things being tied together and the magnificence of the animals that come into this couldn’t be any better.”
Having watched the show for myself and seen the magnificence of these dogs in person, I can understand exactly what Eckert is saying. With the standards of both the AKC and Royal Canin at the forefront, the National Championship truly is the “Show of Shows.”
If you want to see which dog can win over all the others to take the title of Best in Show, you will have to tune in to Animal Planet on January 1. It really is a show you won’t want to miss.