Should Members Of The Public Be Allowed To Bring Their Own Dogs Along

[Guest CaptainCourageous]

VCA Regs:

3.5.6.2 It is the obligation of any person at an activity who observes a dog behaving in an aggressive manner to report the incident either orally or in writing to a member of the Committee as soon as possible after the incident.

3.5.6 Aggressive Dogs

The Aggressive Dog Regulations govern the declaring of a dog as "Aggressive" and Members and Secretaries are to be fully conversant with them.

Just a reminder, telling us all about it on DoL forum begs the question as to whether the VCA Regs were followed.

[blinx]

I'll be taking my pup with me to a show next month, as general public. I admit I have no experience in this matter but I can only do what is responsible on my part and make sure my pup is vaccinated and that I stay clear of the crates or where people are prepping for the shows.

Both of us are quiet observers anyway so hopefully it socializes my boy more then anything.

[Shaar]

I have seen a lot of show people who have been in the 'business' for decades who still don't control their own dogs...

The only difference is I have learned to avoid them.

I would treat any new dog the same way whether it be a showies or a regular dog owners, by assessing behaviour before I let my dog near it.

I don't know what mainland shows are like but most of the shows here the public doesn't go anywhere near the race, so the only time when you are at "risk" from these non-show dogs is when you are walking your dog for toilet breaks etc... and if you can't manage to keep your own dogs away from the general publics then that puts you in the same boat as them really.

[helen]

I don't show very often now but when I did got to KCC park recently had a very positive example of someone taking their dog to the show. The lady had a Samoyed cross she took with her because they do k-9 freestyle and were getting in some practice down there. She took her dog to the show with her for a look as she had lost her old dog recently and she wanted to see the different gundog breeds. She sat under our gazebo for quite a while talking, the dog was very friendly, mixed well with other dogs and it gave her the opportunity to sit back and see the different breeds in action, and guess what, she is getting a certain gundog for her next dog. Imagine if everyone had shunned her away, she probably would have headed to the nearest pet shop for her next dog

ETA - I got to learn a bit from her as well about freestyle so even better

Edited June 9, 2011 by helen

[klink]

Please correct me if I am wrong, but arent' most shows held on public/council controlled land ?

[RallyValley]

In WA almost every show is on land owned by WA Canine Association

[klink]

In WA almost every show is on land owned by WA Canine Association

Sorry, I forgot that here in NSW we dont own our own ground, the management would rather waste our monies on a lease arrangement than invest in their own asset. It is a disgrace.

[Sometimesnotoften]

This is a really interesting point. I don't like it, during the winter indoor shows there is sometimes barely enough room for the competing dogs let alone add ons. But I did agree that pups from interstate breeders etc, there to visit parents and the like would be a nice exception if the dogs were healthy etc.

My thoughts after this weekend of showing have been should "Showies" be forced to pass a basic dog handling course before they can enter there dogs? This is only because I saw two separate incidents of two different exhibitors of different breeds wallop (and I mean really give it a good go) their dogs over the head and more inappropriately the eyes. It was absolutely disgusting behavior by both exhibitors and while one was in reprimand for abhorrent behavior (as a result of a lack of training) the other owner taunted their dog in a disgraceful manner until out of fear it nipped back and then proceeded to belt it over the head and eyes repeatedly. I was appalled.

Which brings about the issue of should there be dogmanship training for exhibitors like there are exams for breeders?

[klink]

This is a really interesting point. I don't like it, during the winter indoor shows there is sometimes barely enough room for the competing dogs let alone add ons. But I did agree that pups from interstate breeders etc, there to visit parents and the like would be a nice exception if the dogs were healthy etc.

My thoughts after this weekend of showing have been should "Showies" be forced to pass a basic dog handling course before they can enter there dogs? This is only because I saw two separate incidents of two different exhibitors of different breeds wallop (and I mean really give it a good go) their dogs over the head and more inappropriately the eyes. It was absolutely disgusting behavior by both exhibitors and while one was in reprimand for abhorrent behavior (as a result of a lack of training) the other owner taunted their dog in a disgraceful manner until out of fear it nipped back and then proceeded to belt it over the head and eyes repeatedly. I was appalled.

Which brings about the issue of should there be dogmanship training for exhibitors like there are exams for breeders?

I would have hoped that you reported the person involved in that disgraceful behaviour to the show mananger. I am sick and tired of so called dog people at shows behaving in this manner and the quicker all fellow show people jump on them the better.....get rid of them.

[minxy]

I can't remember if I posted in here, or just voted. We took Kyojin to a show once. We've been to watch a few shows, but when we finally knew that there were definitely going to be other Akitas at one particular show, we brought Kyojin along as like an ice breaker, so we'd have something to talk to breeders about. It was easy to see what was going on, but still stand miles away from everyone so that we couldn't upset anyone or their dogs. It was great, because one breeder saw us as he was walking out of the ring and came straight over. He spent over an hour chatting to us and giving us lots of wonderful advice for Kyojin and then brought one of his dogs over to show us a few things. I don't think we would have upset anyone by it as we made sure to never walk Kyojin anywhere near another person, and where we were standing to watch was pretty much on the road so that we were out of the way. It was a wonderful opportunity for us though to meet some breeders so I'm really glad we did it.

[peaceful]

At a show once some pet owners had a large breed intact adult male dog that was walking off lead while we were walking 2 of our dogs and it came bounding over and attacked our dogs one of which was being walked by my young son at the time.

The owners slowly walked over from a long distance away and it was up to me to protect my 2 dogs and my young child.

It was a very traumatic experience for all of us and the main dog of mine that was attacked was always distrustful of that breed whenever he saw them for the rest of his life.

The owners were pathetic and didnt even know what to do to help. I ended up at the doctors with stitches and infections. My child could have been killed or maimed.

It was just horrible. We reported it to the show committee right afterward but since the people were not entered in the show there was nothing they could do.

So I answered No, never!

[Ron]

So was it reported??

This is a really interesting point. I don't like it, during the winter indoor shows there is sometimes barely enough room for the competing dogs let alone add ons. But I did agree that pups from interstate breeders etc, there to visit parents and the like would be a nice exception if the dogs were healthy etc.

My thoughts after this weekend of showing have been should "Showies" be forced to pass a basic dog handling course before they can enter there dogs? This is only because I saw two separate incidents of two different exhibitors of different breeds wallop (and I mean really give it a good go) their dogs over the head and more inappropriately the eyes. It was absolutely disgusting behavior by both exhibitors and while one was in reprimand for abhorrent behavior (as a result of a lack of training) the other owner taunted their dog in a disgraceful manner until out of fear it nipped back and then proceeded to belt it over the head and eyes repeatedly. I was appalled.

Which brings about the issue of should there be dogmanship training for exhibitors like there are exams for breeders?