Gayle.

As poocow says, you'll definitely get another note from someone if you use staples. When I was entering a dog in a different name I just put him on the back of the SAE, ie , "IW 3" which gives the envelope stuffer some help to find the right envelope for the stray Irish Wolfhound. He wasn't entered in another name.

If I enter that particular show again next year, I'll just staple the lot together, that way they can't get confused. Entry form, cheque and reply paid envelope, then they'll know that the number for that dog (or those dogs if I'm showing more than one) on that particular entry form needs to be returned in that particular envelope which will be addressed to me, because I need the numbers not anyone else who might be listed on the entry form. Problem solved.

I've got nothing yet.

So really the initial cost of health testing isn't any more than breeds that require hip and elbow scores, DNA testing and eye or hearing tests.

We chatted regularly and sat near each other but it was a shame that no one from her breed made any effort to befriend her and include her as she was very clearly new to the show scene. While I realise you don't *need* to sit with people who show the same breed, it's nice if they make some effort to make newcomers feel welcome, as the people in my breed did with me. There are some things that only those who have the same breed can show you or talk about with you, and they are quite obviously your best source of info. If people don't make an effort with newcomers, they can't expect they'll stick around for long and they really have no cause for complaint about the dog show scene not attracting people. One person who isn't made to feel welcome can easily influence other people to not even bother going to a show, let Aline taking it up as a hobby.

It's a bit easier if you go with someone you know, who already knows the ropes. I agree it can be very intimidating for a newcomer, it's easy to say "Oh just ask" but when you don't know who to ask......they all appear to be so busy......or what exactly you're supposed to be asking, it's not quite so easy. Not all people make you welcome either, I was lucky in my breed there were a few regulars who made sure I sat near them and they helped me groom my dog and made sure I knew what was going on and that I was in the right place at the right time. But there was one DOLer, who started showing her dog about the same time as me, in the same group, and we'd often see each other at shows. And every single time, she'd be sitting on her own, near the rest of the (large) group of people showing her breed and not once did anyone speak to her let alone offer to help her out, or include her in a conversation. She stopped showing her dog before he was a year old, but to her credit she gave it a red hot go, week after week, but it can't have been a fun day out for her.

I was under the impression that each kennel club has to hold a certain amount of championship shows per year, to justify their existence.

I enquired about one once, and spoke to a breeder on the phone. Her price (at the time) was about $500 more than the going rate and she did no health testing I asked why not and she said she felt it was a waste of money and she didn't see any need. She was an ANKC registered breeder of long-standing. They are that price because that is what people are willing to pay. They aren't particularly rare and have gotten much more popular in the past couple of years. Where the puppy ads on DOL used to be around 3-5 at a time, now there are over 20. They don't always have small litters......litters of 6 or more isn't uncommon, just check the ads regularly and you'll see that. I doubt that a lot of the breeders currently advertising puppies do lots of expensive health testing, in fact I'd bet pounds to peanuts that some of them wouldn't even know what tests were meant to be carried out on the breed.

Did you ask that to the show secretary when you picked up your catalogue? The guy handing out the catalogues didn't know when I asked him and the lady he asked just snapped that the dog was entered in a different name than the one on the envelope. Which he wasn't. Same name. And she didn't answer the question about the kennel name which started all the confusion in the first place so I'm still none the wiser as to who's kennel name they were referring to.

But the cheque, the entry form and the envelope were all in my name, the entry form had one other name on it and the envelope was in the same envelope as the entry form and the cheque. And there wasn't a kennel name in sight, not even the breeders. It wasn't much of a stretch to understand that the self addressed envelope with the name Knowles on it was to be sent with the number for the dog entered under the name of Knowles, which was written on the entry form and also written on the cheque which was in the same envelope as the entry form and the self addressed envelope. All with the name Knowles on them. Where was the kennel name referred to in the hand written note on the back of the envelope? Who's kennel name?

That's really sad that you went to all that trouble and you weren't even acknowledged. I have heard of the same thing happening to someone else at KCC Park, she'd been told some trainee group 5 judges needed dogs to go over so she took along her Australian Shepherd and no one even looked at her dog let alone touched it. She ended up leaving in utter disgust. I had a strange encounter with "officialdom" at a recent show. Very strange. I'm still a bit puzzled by it. I got my numbers in the stamped, self addressed envelope I'd included with the entry and on the back was a handwritten note "Don't use your kennel name as not all secretaries know who you are." Well, I don't expect anyone to know who I am and there wasn't a kennel name in sight as I'd addressed the envelope to me....my name.....and there was no kennel name on the entry as the dog was co-owned by his breeder and me and was entered under my name and hers. No kennel name there. I assumed it was written on the wrong envelope and wasn't meant for me. I went to the office to collect my catalogue and handed the guy behind the window the envelope which had "Catalogue Paid" on it as well as the mystery note. He pointed out the mystery note to me and I told him I didn't use a kennel name, I used my name. He checked the catalogue and saw the dog was entered in my name and another name (G. Knowles and L.Matthews). He called to a lady who I assume was the secretary and asked her about the mystery note. She said the dog was entered in a different name than the envelope was addressed to. I said no it wasn't. She said the name on the envelope was not one of the names on the entry. I said yes it was. So the bloke pointed out that it was very confusing, the dog was entered under the names Knowles and Matthews and the envelope was addressed to Knowles. (They had actually crossed it out and written Knowles and Matthews on my envelope before posting it back). I said it wasn't confusing, how could it be confusing, I needed the number to come to me as I was showing the dog, not Matthews as she lives in South Australia. He said it was very confusing as it was different to the entry. In the end, I did this :rolleyes: and this and walked away and thought "Faaaark! Who's confused now??? And these are the people who organise the shows I spend my hard earned money entering." I wonder what they do when people show dogs they don't own. And expect the numbers to go to the person who'll be showing the dog, not the owner. That must really confuse them, or maybe they just don't bother with sending them anywhere. OK, off topic, just a funny little story about confused people.

Aaah yes, almost forgot about those. My multifocal, transitional lens glasses that I wear for both close up and distance.......Isaak got them off my bedside table while I was in the shower and had a little munch on the arms and the nose pads. They were unwearable and had to be replaced at the cost of over $500. Little bastard.

Isaak ate 7 almost new pairs of shoes.....all mine and all Rivers brand. I bought 3 pairs, and he ate two of them after they'd been worn once. So I bought another two pairs and he ate one of them and the ones he missed the first time around. So I bought another two pairs and he ate both of them the morning I was to leave for Adelaide (I was going to take both pairs with me). I bought some more and he ate one pair that he hadn't gotten to before.

I see heaps of dogs being walked in halti's and easy-walk harnesses. They are calm and happy and their owners are too. I honestly don't see anything wrong with using them for the life of the dog if it means the dog and the owner get to go on pleasant walks each day. And I've never actually heard of any dog being injured from wearing a halti....but I've heard of plenty of dog owners getting sore shoulders and arms, or being pulled over by a dog pulling to hard on a lead. I used a halti for Benson for about 6 months, he was a pain in the arm, neck and shoulder to walk until he got older and he was instantly good once I put it on.

We moved to a larger place last year, and the dogs didn't get the luxury of a transition period. We started moving the furniture, then I took them in the car to the new house and said "Here's home, guys!" For the first few days we kept them confined to the courtyard area attached to the house, except for when I could supervise them on walks around the rest of the place. We have a paddock, about 1000 sq m, which became their supervised play area, so we'd go there 3 or 4 times a day for a play. Once we had the perimeter secure, we just let them into the larger yard and that became their area during the day. The paddock is gated and they still don't go there unsupervised because we always want to keep that as their daily treat. When we moved, I had 2 weeks off work and I think that helped the dogs settle in with regular playtimes and spending what time I could outside with them.

I like the US system, where once a dog is titled it moves to a class and competes against other titled dogs and the non-titled dogs compete for points. That would mean more people would stick around with young dogs to get them titled, unlike now where there are some very big winning dogs who've been titled 50 times over, and continue to take out BOB week after week, and others in the breed simply stop showing because it's just not worth the time and cost. it's not like that in all breeds or in all states but in some it definitely is and the numbers in the breed classes diminish rapidly. I suspect the pointscore competitions are in part to blame for this.

As far as shedding with Aussies, it depends on the dog. I have one, Ripley, who is followed by a snow storm wherever he goes. We've only had him since August so I can't tell whether it's seasonal or he's just like this all the time, but honestly. I've never seen an Aussie shed so much hair as he does. The others are all fairly good....Shae doesn't appear to shed much at all, Isaak's comes out when I brush him and Dusty has two big coat drops a year when she's coming into season, where she sheds more coat than she ever owned. That lasts a couple of weeks, then she's back to hardly shedding much at all. We have the four inside of an evening, and sweep the living area (tiles) once or twice a day and that seems to keep it under control. If you like Corgis, maybe check out Cardigan Corgis. They seem to have a sweet, tolerant nature that would be good with kids.

I never consult my children about getting a new dog......in fact they sometimes don't even know til they come to visit and the new dog is in residence. I don't consider it any of their business, fortunately neither do they. Leave your mum to do her own dealings with the breeder, it's her business, not yours.

You can get adult dogs with pedigrees......ones that have been returned to their breeder, or their owners can't keep them for whatever reason and they are looking for a new home. Also breeders sometimes rehome ex-breeding or show dogs, or younger adults they've run on and deiced aren't what they need for their breeding program. If you want an adult dog, you can still have one with a pedigree and that might be the best outcome of all.

A Grand Champion should be not just a good example of the breed, it should be that rare and special dog that is a living, breathing, text book example of it's breed standard. And it should beat LOTS of dogs to get a Grand Champion title, not just a few dogs lots of times. It shouldn't be just an accumulation of points, there should be some big wins along the way, whether at breed, group of show level. If a dog can't get the points at breed level due to lack of numbers in the breed, and can't get them at group level because it can't win best in group, maybe it's just not of the rare quality required to be awarded the title of Grand Champion.

The opening post has the facts and it's pretty detailed as to the situation. I wouldn't think anyone would require more "facts" to give a general answer. I would say at the moment, it's joint ownership and would need to be worked out between the two parties concerned. And the friendship might just have to go by the wayside if the original owner wants the dogs back.

Most shows don't offer graduate, novice or limit classes. The only limit classes I've ever seen are at our annual speciality shows.

Six junior bitches. There were a few from interstate.....one from SA and one from NSW that I know of definitely.

I think it was 91, which isn't as big as the year Sheila Polk judged (that year was over 130 and was the biggest gathering of Australian Shepherds in the history of the breed in this country) but it was a nice amount, and most of the classes had more than one entry, with the older age and open classes (aus bred, intermediate, open, limit etc) being very well populated. The club make it a fun day out by also having lots of property classes.........breeders team, best headed, best gaited, non champion sweepstakes etc.

Champion puppy (from Minor and Puppy classes), Ovensview Santas Blitzen. Fantastic to see a bitch from the veterans class (she's 11 years old) take out RBCC. And that's the second year in a row for her. Colleen, Janet's girl Georgi (Willabaa Arrognatly Hot) got Junior in Show, much to Janets absolute delight. It was a lovely show (as usual) despite the damp start and being very wet underfoot. Once again the ASCV did a sterling job of running things. The judge was wonderful, very gentle and respectful of the dogs and seemed to really enjoy the appointment,