Shaar

I have heard all sorts of fantastic yet 'illegal' things people have done to their dogs in the show ring from dye jobs the false topknots in poodles (not anyone I know personally). It's better to be known as an honest exhibitor than a cheat, I would rather see a dog out there with a bit of sun bleaching than a solid chocolate dog dyed up to the eyeballs, and trust me you can quite often tell what dogs have had a dip in the dye. Would you consider setting up a shade cloth over the area he likes to lay? You can get the triangle or square shaped ones you just attach to the side of your house and a pole, then you can put a comfy bed under it to encourage him to stay in the shade. Apparently there is a spray on SPF for hair (made for people) but I can't vouch for how well it works.

I'm pretty sure you just need to send off an authority to sign form, meaning you can enter on the owners behalf. I have a dog that is co-owned and I had to get the breeder to sign the authority form and post it to confirm I am allowed to enter shows with just my signature alone and not hers as well. They are usually available to print out from your states KC website. Alternatively the breeder can fill out a stack of entry forms with her signature on them but the authority to sign is much easier!

Dying is a big no-no, it's essentially cheating and if you get caught it won't end well. Color enhancing shampoos are good, they don't contain any dyes, they just bring out the natural coat color, you can get them from horse supply shops. I would be putting a thin cotton coat or t-shirt on him when he's outside to prevent the bleaching. Poodle people wrap the ends of the hair with cotton or wraps to prevent both breakage and bleaching.

Reducing the number of shows won't help, we don't have a show every weekend here in Tasmania as it is and entries have declined. Another point I thought of is better facilities... I know with the clubs budgets it's just not possible but making the grounds nicer may attract a bigger draw card. For the Tassie people, remember how wonderful Elphin Showground was... Indoor rings, big benching area, grandstands and the best part, indoor canteen with full glass front to watch the judging. Now we have a paddock and a toilet.

Awwww baby Rotti cuddles! I have Westbury this weekend then a nice big break till the Christmas Show... Unless I can bothered driving 3 hours to Stanley, haha geez that sounds bad after reading about mainlanders driving up to 8 hours to get to a show

I have a breed that calls for the tail to be "falling naturally at rest", meaning it just hangs limply, which doesn't look very good on the stack. Sometimes I will hold the tail out while the judge is looking and then drop it to show them both how the dog can look when the tail is carried out (looks impressive) and then drop it to show that the tail is correct. It's the same with Great Danes ears, my dad always used to 'crop' the Danes by hand to show off their heads and then drop the ears to show they had the correct ear set.

Well, my name is Sharyl which gets cut down to Shar. Shar was already taken so I threw an extra a in there and it was accepted

We paid $40 each for our walls for the deluxe model. Mesh and clear plastic walls were a lot more. We went with the deluxe after having 3 compacts break in the wind (yes, they were tied down) and haven't had a problem since, we've had it for about 2 years now.

Buying pups from interstate happens all the time. I'm in Tasmania so it's common practice here! Mine cost about $200 all up for transport, but that was for a toy breed puppy, obviously a boxer pup will weigh a lot more. My list of what happened went like this: -Call breeder and make first contact. -Wait several months on expected litter. -Get sent photos of said litter once they were born. -Get a phone call that a different older puppy will be arriving on the plane tomorrow -Pay for pup -Annoy breeder with photos every month. Things don't always go as planned, but I was after a show dog so it wasn't a case of just waiting for a pup, it was waiting on the RIGHT pup. The older one happened to turn out better than the pups and she couldn't keep another male on herself at the time, so we agreed to co-own and he was popped on the plane. I chose my breeder from her website initially, there were health scores, the dogs all looked to have fab temperaments and also the most important thing for me was that her dogs were CONSISTANT. I don't just mean in terms of winning, i mean in terms of appearance, I couldn't find a single dog on the site I didn't like.

Wow, we have it lucky here, entries are between $8 and $13 for a normal champ show, baby puppies are cheaper (some clubs only charge a couple of dollars). We only pay around the $20 mark for Royals. BUT we don't have the option of picking shows, we only have one going at a time in the whole state and even then it's not every weekend. I guess in the grand scheme of things it is good because you can't have people "avoiding" certain dogs... Here you have no choice. Back to the topic of shows being social, I think this has inspired me to organise a get together for exhibitors. You are 100% right Mandalay, too many people only think about the wins and not about the actual hobby... It's your DOG that wins, not you. Hobbies are supposed to be fun.

I have a friend who is in NZ judging at the moment, hope she makes it back on schedule!

I was talking with a friend about this today, I would like to see more social events organised. I remember when I was little going to a fancy dress party at the showground. Everyone was there and I still have good memories from that night (along with a bunch of photos I would probably be killed for for sharing). Barbecues at fellow exhibitors houses after each show used to be packed and everyone would celebrate each others wins that day. You just don't really see that anymore, well not here anyway. I think more social events that don't involve the dogs might help encourage people to "get along", plus it's an extra draw card for new exhibitors, making it more interesting and letting them make some new friends in the dog world.

I said, "Honey, I'm getting a Chinese Crested". The end.

Sorry I do not believe there is only one perfect dog that wins all the time, I have seen many many dogs that are worth a win every week......JMO What about if the baby puppy entry be a little less as alot of breeders run on a couple of pups to see how things are working out this could make it a little easier....or should it be Cash & Sash to help with the costs a little.....?? It's the same here too, rarely does a particular dog not go best or r/u in group. I love cash and sash shows, have won at a couple now and it really does help cover costs. The only win that should come with a prize as well is Best in Show (possibly a trophy, not actual 'prize'). I relly don't need 12 crystal platters or 27 cofee mugs so cash is always welcome instead, no matter how small the amount.

I sometimes only enter the first day of a 2 or 3 day show. If I have been beaten on the Saturday people probably think "sour grapes" that I didn't go the next day but that's their problem... I know I just never entered for whatever reason (work, family engagement etc). I don't have a problem with the entry cost of actual shows, ours are always around the $10 mark except for Royals, it's the petrol travelling to shows that's the killer, that's why I rarely venture down south unless it's a big show or I am going halves in petrol with someone.

Is the only symptom soft stools on and off? I wouldn't jump straight to any sort of virus if that's all it is. Stress can cause loose stools and if you have only just started fostering the pup that can definitely do it. As can a change of diet if you switched brands (or even flavors) from what they were previously feeding.

That explains it better, sorry I thought you were talking about conformation being a 'lesser' competition, took it the wrong way. Still disagree that it should be allowed, but people will always disagree on the subject.

I guess I musn't be as "hardcore" as some others, I don't have a problem missing a couple of shows a year so as not to annoy some exhibitors. Some peoples dogs may show better with a bitch in season around, fine, but others yes it does annoy. Saying a ban on showing bitches in heat because you can only show entire dogs is ridiculous... You aren't desexing the dog you are just leaving it home for a few weeks, is it really going to kill you? The mentality of some people astounds me, why is your dogs performance more important than mine, no matter what field it is in? Yes all my dog does is "trot around the ring", all your dog does is trot around an agility course. Both require training, both require the dog to concentrate on the task at hand. I don't think what I do in conformation is more or less important than other fields. Obviously others feel that their agility work is "better" than conformation, and if my male shows like a bag of poop it doesn't matter because he can't jump a hurdle.

I have been thrown all sorts of breeds over the years. Never expect anything for doing it but sometimes get bought a gift if I handle for them regularly. The price professional handlers charge varies a lot. I know some who do it for $20 I know other who do it for hundreds for big shows like royals. I would just ask around at shows, see if anyone would like to handle for you and go from there. Some people just go to shows with 1 dog of their own and handle 10 others through the day, some people just go to shows purely for the fun of it and like handling.

But the dogs still have to be able to perform whether it be 10 minutes or 1 minute. We only get a minute and a half to make an impression, a dog with it's nose on the ground or going hypo over outside smells doesn't go down well. I don't see any difference between conformation or agility/obedience/etc.

I have been in trouble for my opinion when this topic has come up before but no I don't think bitches in FULL season should be allowed to be shown. If they are only a few days in, the dogs tend not to take much notice so that would be acceptable, but unless you are driving from Queensland to Perth you would know full well if your bitch was in before you left. I have attempted to show my dog when the bitch in front of me for the group line-up was in season and I might as well have scratched him... It's not fair to other exhibitors. And incase this argument comes up again, no you can't "train" a dog to ignore a bitch in season. I don't have any entire females living here so it's not like I can condition him to ignore it, nor would I want to as I plan to breed in the future.

Best in Show - GSP - Gr Ch Moruada Californication R/U - Corgi - Gr Ch Pricewey Billie Flynn

Yes there were a couple of standards that I know of, I wasn't there myself so I have only heard bits and pieces from the roving show reporters on Facebook. Only names that have been posted so far is the Toy and the Jack, it's frustrating me too! I am pretty sure BOB standard was a local dog

Group 7 BIG was a Toy Poodle (Eng and Aust Ch Montflair Toy Soldier (imp uk ) and RuBIG was also a Toy Poodle. Group 1 BIG Cavalier RuBIG Papillon Group 2 BIG Jack Russell (Gr Ch Whatajack Rebel) ruBIG Bedlington Group 6 I think BIG and RuBIG were both Huskies.

Set yourself up at the base of the fence with a water pistol ;) In all seriousness though, talk to the parents, they probably don't even know their kids are doing it.