Does Anyone Here Show Newfies?

[Kaffy Magee]

There is a lady who lives in my town who has a 14months old male newfie that she wants shown and asked if I knew anyone who would show him for her. I wouldnt mind doing it myself, however I know nothing about the preparation for a show newfie. He obviously has had no show training and if her other 2 newfs are anything to go by, probably not much obedience training either

She would have to have him groomed, ready for the show, however I dont know exactly how much grooming that entails and whether she would be able to arrange it. She takes them to the groomer because she cant do them herself, due to shoulder injury, i think. Does a newfie require any scissoring to tidy up or can you wash, blowdry brush and its all done. If I was to take him on to show what tools and products would I neeed to touch him up before entering the ring? Does anything need to be applied/done to the coat between shows?

Im not confident this will work out, as she has no idea about the grooming and show training and whilst I can show a dog, Ive only ever dealt with short coated breeds. If its going to be too much to take on, I wont be doing it as I have my own dogs to worry about. I just thought if it was a matter of him just needing to be bathed, blow dryed and brushed before a show (which the owner can arrange)and a few minor touch ups before entering the ring(that I can do), it could work.

I have bathed and blowdried and brushed her other 2 newfs before(i no longer have the equipment to do so though) and unfortunately their coats were in pretty poor condition as they werent groomed regularly. I hear now though that they do go to the groomers often, so who knows.

Any help suggestions would be much appreciated. I would like to have a go at handling another breed, but I dont want to bite of more than I can chew with this untrained 65kg hairy boofa.

[Miranda]

I don't own Newfoundlands, but I used to help a friend groom her dog for shows many years ago. The dog has to bathed and thoroughly blow dried, then you comb out the entire coat. The coat then needs to shaped with thinning scissors and any wispy bits removed and the feet are trimmed underneath and between the toes, however even though the dog is trimmed it's still required to look 'natural'. They may look like a dog that's simply bathed and dried and then taken into the ring, but they're not, there's a fair amount of work and skill required to prepare them and they're a very large dog so it takes a a fair amount of time.

It is very hard to keep a dog in show condition when it's in a pet home and they don't maintain the coat between shows. They must be kept free of matts and that means that the coat requires constant attention. I also wouldn't leave bathing and grooming to a commercial groomer, most of them don't have individual breed knowledge and have a 'one size fits all' approach. The dog must be completely free of matts prior to bathing because afterwards the matts will be twice as hard to remove and you'll lose a lot of coat getting them out. Really if you're going to show a dog you need to learn how to prepare it yourself.

Just another thought, is the dog show quality?

Edited August 17, 2010 by Miranda

[Kaffy Magee]

Thanks Miranda, as I expected.

I have not since the dog since her was a little puppy so I cant comment on him now. He has good bloodlines, his sire is

http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/profile.asp?dog=8170

And his dam is from Bouvet Newfs.

His owner told me she would show train him and have him groomed etc but she doesnt know anything about show training or grooming for shows so, I couldnt see that happening.

I expected it would be a lot of work and I am simply not up for that, but I thought I would just double check first to confirm my thoughts.

Thanks again.

[Miranda]

Perhaps she should approach the breeder and have them assess the dog prior to venturing into the show ring? There is little point in preparing and training the dog if he's not show quality.

If you don't get any replies from newfie people contact showdog, she is a brilliant groomer and very knowledgeable about the preparation required for most breeds.

Edited August 17, 2010 by Miranda

[Bjelkier]

I use to show Newfie's (the son and daughter of the dog you put up actually) and I agree with Miranda, not the easiest breed to get ready for a show.

Their sheer size makes it difficult enough!

The bitch I showed belonged to someone else and her coat wasn't in great condition between shows and it took me absolute hours to get her brushed enough for bathing and then everything else on top of that, I gave up most of my day to get her ready!

It was made even worse when she was dropping coat, the knots she got where unreal!

Other people might have more info then myself, I gave the breed up after awhile, I can't handle all the drool and hair!