Just How Free Is Your Speech?
Oct 28, 2025
Happy Freedom of Speech week, and please be careful how you celebrate! At the risk of sounding like a grey-haired old woman (wait…what???) sometimes I think many things that are said aloud and/or typed into a social media post would have been better off locked up, not set free.
- I’ve been ringside when a competitor wasn’t awarded in the breed ring and they let out a very loud sound of disgusted disbelief.
- I’ve been ringside when a competitor snatched a ribbon from the judge, stomped out of the ring, and threw the ribbon down once outside the ring entrance, loudly complaining about the judge.
- I’ve been ringside when a competitor who was live-streaming the breed loudly disparaged the dog the judge was examining.
Maybe you’ve witnessed things like this, too? I hope you haven’t done things like this, and if so, I’m not asking you to rat yourself out. In the heat of the moment, it can be tough to keep your emotions to yourself.
Yet it’s important that we all do just that.
We all show others who we are by the way we win, the way we lose, and the way we discuss issues, people, and dogs on social media. Giving others the benefit of the doubt seems to be a lost art, yet how do you feel when someone else misunderstands your actions or motives?
Yeah. Not great.
Most sports have a code of ethics, and the American Kennel Club just updated theirs. Here are some words worth considering:
- Sportspeople contribute to a positive atmosphere at events by avoiding negative gossip, disparagement, or unsportsmanlike behavior.
- Sportspeople extend their values of civility, fairness, and respect to all digital and social media platforms.
- Sportspeople actively support the education and mentorship of newcomers, helping them learn the rules, values, and traditions of the sport in a respectful way.
- Sportspeople recognize that they are role models in the sport, and strive to lead by example through humility, kindness, and ethical conduct.
- Sportspeople treat fellow exhibitors, judges, officials, volunteers, spectators, and AKC staff with dignity and respect, regardless of experience, background, or differences in opinion.
Those five points are a great virtual mirror – hold it up and examine what’s about to come out of your mouth or your fingertips and then decide whether your words are appropriate.
Because here’s the truth – people judge you by your words and deeds. How do you want them to feel about you? Do you want to be a person that others respect and look up to, or do you want to be a person that others avoid so they’re not “guilty by association?”
So yes, you have freedom of speech. You don’t have freedom from the consequences of that speech. Be as kind and respectful to others, just as you’d hope they’ll be kind and respectful to you.
Exercise your right to uplift others, the sport, and yourself through your freedom of speech.
