mirawee

How do poor examples of a breed get the Group or Show wins though? That is in judges training as they have to choose to put them through not just choose if they withhold or not if it is a single entry breed. I would have thought needing to have x many judges award Group should stop this happening

We have gotten to the stage with international judges that we will try and make sure we enter an older dog even when at one stage the older dogs were semi-retired (and had been beaten by the younger dogs on occasion as our male hated showing so often didn't show brilliant expression). In this way we were less likely to have the whole breed non-awarded for a valid reason that only time could change and that the rest of the world didn't hear.

Oh I also thought they checked under the paw to see a better view if the paw shape and in breeds that are meant to have profuse hair between the pads (which can be seen even if trimmed to neaten up the pads)

That particular judge non-awarded at least 3 CCs that I am aware of on the weekend. Not all judges non-award.

I have minority breeds where we often only have 1 or 2 dogs in for challenge. I have had challenge withheld on a few occasions, generally at the Royal Show with European judges. One USA judge withheld for any CC that didn't have an exhibit over 12 months of age which was 2 or 3 breeds including my girl who had only just turned 6 months. One European judge withheld and told me my dog (18 months old) would be stunning when fully mature :laugh: Another European only awarded BOB and withheld rDCC and BCC because he would not award CC or rCC to a dog he would not grade Excellent (the bitch he thought was only Very Good). Although we did have one judge who non-awarded all three dogs entered due to movement. He was then queried by our breeder who knew him personally who was told "they don't move like your dogs do". Of course all three dogs were bred by her...

I am another who automatically assumed they had more than one bitch and make sure that between all their bitches they don't have more than 2 litters a year :)

Aussie Shepherd's are such lovely dogs :D He is so cute :D

It is always great to find a good vet :) Not as easy as it sounds either! I agree about the humidity At least tomorrow is meant to be cooler although the weekend warms up again.

Dare says hi :D He also wants to be just like his Mum when he grows up so he is practicing now :D

You sound like a new parent :D Is he your first puppy? In regards to the vet personally I believe you are better to see a vet if you are concerned than ignore something that may turn out to be a sign of something more serious :) Most vets I know are of this opinion as well. As you get more experienced you will learn when to panic and when to watch :) If you are tossing up whether to call the vet about the worm issue just call and talk to the vet nurse/receptionist and ask what they suggest you do. Often you can get advice over the phone and they will tell you if you are better off coming in. I imagine all you will have suggested is to retreat in a few weeks time rather than the usual 3 months. Lab puppies are good at getting into "interesting" situations though from what I have heard :D A friend raised a guide dog puppy and he had to have quite a few vet visits including an operation to remove a pair of socks he ate whole At least my Lappies chew them into smaller sections before swallowing :laugh: ETA: you are only a bad parent/owner if you ignore obvious signs that something is wrong :)

My guys learn stand fractionally before sit and I don't tend to have a problem unless one of them goes into slight obedience mode but they don't tend to as they more differently as well :) The only dog I have really had an issue with is my youngest kelpie but she taught HERSELF to sit! In fact sit or drop is the default position for her not stand She has figured it out now though :) I don't worry if my pups sit when a judge goes over their teeth - just wait until the judge has finished looking then ask for stand again. Better for the pup to sit and have a nice teeth experience than for them to get confused with being asked to stand at the same time. As they get older and their teeth are less sore they are usually happy to remain standing without it ever being a big deal :)

Sorry ncarter, I can't help except to suggest talking to the Shire. Apparently Anikka has decided that she wants to be a Kelpie rather than a Lappy Only 2 weeks before puppy of the year as well

So are you proposing that to get points you can only get it at Group and GS level? How about we bring the same in for entire dogs? A lot of them title without competition as well. At this point in time we have 4 Group 5 dogs in WA who regularly (ie pretty well every time it is offered) compete as Neuters. All have won Open Neuter in Group. Only 1 has ever gotten anything more than a 6 point challenge because we are all usually the only one of our breed showing and we don't get any extra points for winning ON in Group.

(((hugs))) to you Cazstaff RIP Buddy

Poor Millie. Do you have to do anything to treat it or does it resolve itself? Depending on the weather next weekend I might take Jive down :)

So when are people next planning on going to the beach?

Agreed :) The dog world is one of the few I know who haven't welcomed showing sterilised animals :) Both the horse and cat world have big entries of sterilised animals :)

Just to note I didn't think you would the question was more to those people who think neuters shouldn't be shown because they can't be bred from ;)

It could be that there are no suitable females to breed with - my 5yo male Kelpie has not sired a litter and probably won't as there is nothing to breed him too in WA (except maybe my young girl when older but at this stage probably not). However I know a multi-BIS winning Supreme Champion bitch who has never had a litter. She probably was fertile but hasn't been bred on vet advice following an illness when younger. Because she "can't" be bred does that mean she should not be allowed to show? Her litter sister has produced some very good dogs. At the end of the day I don't care about the points for neuters. I would be happy to have a neuter sweepstake instead if the points weren't on offer. But neuter sweepstakes weren't offered! It isn't worth keeping many breeds in full show coat for just a couple of shows a year.

If the puppy people were in contact with the breeders and if the breeder thought the dog was good enough to be shown surely the breeder would mention it to the puppy person? Not all puppy people want to show, so maybe they have been told but don't care for it? In my experience most breeders don't even mention showing unless the puppy buyer asks them about it directly.

I think the other reason is that people not in the dog world aren't aware that neuters can now be shown! At this stage in WA there aren't enough shows offering neuter for me to really be pushing new people to join in either. Although the shows are increasing now so I might try :)

Yeah that is the other reason most people believe neuters shouldn't be shown - because they can't be bred from. Doesn't that mean that all the entire dogs who are sterile or shouldn't be bred from due to health reasons also shouldn't be shown? Certainly a good way to kill dog showing completely :laugh:

I am a bit confused by your posts. Are you saying because there is the possibility that the cat is aggressive due to previous mistreatment it is allowed to attack people who are walking by and trying to ignore it? That it should not be reported as it "isn't" (possibly) it's fault? I would be ringing the council ASAP

Try Qld where we don't even acknowledge the title ETA - so neuter classes are offered, but you can't get your neuter title? They don't offer the classes in Qld as far as I am aware. Or at least we recently had a judge from Qld and had to quickly explain neuter class points to him (while he was judging my dog) :laugh: He did say it was a good idea though ;)

If it isn't good enough to be shown entire then I agree it shouldn't be shown as a neuter :) But there is one person in WA who argues that since they can be shown in neuter (because they weren't transferred into limited on retirement) then neuter classes should not be offered. Instead of not offering neuter classes it is up to breeders to keep their non-show quality dogs out of the ring by moving them to the limited register (or not transferring the ownership over). Although this isn't a neuter specific problem as there are entire dogs showing who should be on the limited register as well. In my breed you can't really tell a neuter coat from an entire coat except that neutered bitches have so much more undercoat than their entire counterparts :laugh: I do think that in many breeds getting a neuter to show is possibly an easier alternative for a first show dog as many of the top breeders won't sell their dogs to people who want to keep them entire. So rather than getting an inferior dog you have to keep entire you can (hopefully) get a good quality dog who is shown sterilised :) Maybe the breeder safeguards themselves by keeping the dog in their name until after the pup is sterilised?