Baby Puppy To Minor Puppy

[Topoftheheap]

hi all,

One of my puppies is going up into minor next month (where has the time gone????) and im just wondering if the level of behaviour and ring skills much different to that expected of baby puppy? When i first started everyone told me to 'not stress out, it's only baby puppy' when i was concerned about particular behaviours (ie not walking a whole triangle without bouncing, sitting on the grass in the line up, etc, etc). Im not saying her behaviour is shocking, she has done really really well at the bp level, even winning a few sweepstakes and group ribbons, but im just wondering does it all change when they go up into minor and become eligible for challenge.

[SparkyTansy]

I think it depends... I would prefer a puppy being a puppy in Minor and having fun, and if there are judges that expect more of a puppy of that age, I say too bad

i think probably by late puppy class and by junior, you should have your pup fairly well behaved.

[Havasneeze]

I think it depends... I would prefer a puppy being a puppy in Minor and having fun, and if there are judges that expect more of a puppy of that age, I say too bad

i think probably by late puppy class and by junior, you should have your pup fairly well behaved.

When I was showing my bearded collie he had just gone into minor and still behaved like a baby, of course. I was told by a Judge that this was NOT acceptable behaviour and he should be well behaved by now... just depends on the Judge really. We would like our dogs to behave a bit better when they go out of baby but who cares really, it's all about them having a good time so they ENJOY showing and don't become little robots. Just my 2 cents worth...

[mish13]

I am showing my Newfoundland and didn't start him in the ring until he was over six months old. He has just finished in minor and will move into puppy at his next show in February. He is by no means trained like some of the other dogs in the ring but as Havasneeze said I would rather he was having fun then behave like a robot.

Last Saturday I saw a young girl ( under 20) hit her dog and not treat it very well at all and the poor dog wasn't do anything wrong that I could see. Her robot dog beat me in class in group. I didn't care except I wish she didn't win just because she was a nasty nasty person.

[Bullbreedlover]

I am skipping Minor puppy class cause I cant really see the point in it. Its OK if you have a couple of pups the same age so you can split them.

My baby(soon to be 6 months) while animated in the ring, is enjoying himself, but it is time to play with the big boys.

I try to train my show dogs to enjoy what I would like them to do, but still have some animation.

I guess it all depends on how committed you are to their career in the show ring. And how you want them to learn.

Small, Medium and Large breeds all mature at a different age. Physically and mentally.

What I would like to see in a 6 month old Bulldog, is totally different in a 6 month old Bullmastiff.

[SkySoaringMagpie]

What breed? It will also depend a bit on what breed the judge has.

For those of us with less biddable late maturing breeds, a bit of feral is usually inevitable in the younger classes, and breeder judges often like to see a bit of spirit providing the naughtiness is just naughty, and not freaking out. We aren't usually seriously playing for the challenge against mature quality adults at that age tho', it might be different in sensible, early maturing breeds.

[yarracully]

I would rather they still enjoy it. If that means they misbehave while having fun so be it. If the judge doesn't like it too bad, they are dogs and pets first - show dogs and robots second. I prefer that to working like a robot but not enjoying it. We have two here that started at the same time. One used to play around in the ring and another that I was a bit stricter with.

Now many years later the playful one still enjoys showing and gets very excited whenever she sees a ring. In fact I can't start washing the other dogs for a show unless I wash her first. We did retire her but if I take her to a show we still have to get her out and groom her and put her lead on her just to settle her down. I can't even walk past the hydrobath without her jumping in and expecting a bath.

The other gets bored very quickly and we often have to give him a break for a few months every now and then. I have often felt that their attitudes now to showing all go back to their start in the ring.

If a dog doesn't mature mentally until about two years of age I feel it unreasonable to expect them to behave at 6-9 months of age.

[Dellcara]

All puppies should be allowed to enjoy the experience without too much pressure....

I don't care if my puppies play up in the ring .. it's all about having fun.

[emery]

I hope dogs are not meant to be robots in minor, my rotti male is in junior and is still somewhat of a turd, behaves at home tapdances in the ring and worms around lol. At least he is enjoying himself and on one of his worst days like this he got Junior in Group so judge obviously could see enough even with him not standing completely still :D

[brentland]

My young girl was an absolute monster in Baby and Minor - dropped her coat, so wasn't shown in Puppy. She enjoyed

herself - me - not so much!!!! I used to tell the judges that I hadn't found the "Off" switch yet!!!

Came back into the ring as a Junior, and was much better - even to the point that I now enjoy taking her out! LOL

The judge only sees them for 2-3 minutes - far more important that the dog enjoys the experience than worrying

about some judge who wants a perfect show dog!

[Gayle.]

My little man is now in intermediate and has only been shown intermittently, so he's still a bit of a wriggle poop on the stack, and does a bit of leaping and hopping instead of gaiting. But he loves being in the ring with me, I'm not a good handler by any stretch but he adores doing stuff with me so he tries really hard for me. And he's managed a few class wins, a puppy in group, a few reserve dog challenges, a challenge and a runner up of breed.

I show him for the sheer pleasure of a day out with my beautiful dog, so whatever happens along the way is all good.

[Flaves]

They are babies

you dont expect a 3-6mo human, or a 2-3yo human to be perfect so dont expect it of a baby/minor puppy

[Nevafollo]

I expect a certain level of behaviour from my dogs be it in the ring or out of the ring! My boy Konrad has been a very big challange to show, his biggest win to date was a puppy in show win in sydney and his performance was interesting! We were lucky enough to do our triangle whilst two birdies danced in the ring, being a Pointer you can guess what he did!!! He is the most birdy dog I own but despit his gait gait gait point gait gait point gait point he still won! The judge commented that it was nice to see he could do what he was breed for even if it was at a very bad momment! Pointers are known for being naughty in the ring so no point trying to break it out of them, aslong as they gait enough for the judge to see and free stack/hold a stack for me when I ask even if it is only for a moment im happy! Obviously I expect them to improve each time we enter the ring! My boy has just hit jnr and is just starting to really shine and behave! He won a MASSIVE sweep stakes at one of the xmas shows and I was shoked but I was also very happy with his performance and even if he had walked out with nothing I was happy as he held his stack the entire time and when he gaited it was like he was floating on the end of the lead!

[Bullbreedlover]

My young girl was an absolute monster in Baby and Minor - dropped her coat, so wasn't shown in Puppy. She enjoyed

herself - me - not so much!!!! I used to tell the judges that I hadn't found the "Off" switch yet!!!

Came back into the ring as a Junior, and was much better - even to the point that I now enjoy taking her out! LOL

The judge only sees them for 2-3 minutes - far more important that the dog enjoys the experience than worrying

about some judge who wants a perfect show dog!

I am not saying Minors or puppys should be absolutely perfect in the ring once they hit 6 months, but just for a minute look at it from the judges point of view. It can be very very frustrating(but we must all take it in good spirit) when a dog who has entered the "big classes" is still very very naughty while in the ring. You have a nice dog in front of you but no matter how much time you do spend with it(and you only do have a couple of minutes) the dog just wont behave enough to get some movement going for the judge. The judge is then between a rock and a hard place, because they havent seen it move to its full potential. I dont ask them to be statues or robots, but if you are going to start them at a show career and if it is what you and they like doing, then starting them young in ring training is the best thing to do. Otherwise all they have learnt by the time they get to a year old is how to be naughty and not move correctly. As I have already posted different breeds mature at different times but by getting them to understand what is required of them IE: judges mouthing dogs, placing hands over them, checking male dogs for being entire all goes hand in hand of training. I have seen Bulldogs that havent even been shown before but are expected by their owners to go into the ring as a six month old(or older) puppy and behave. Even a 3 month old baby which has never been on a lead before and acts like the owner is strangling it. What do they(the owners) expect? It just doesnt work that way. By that age puppies have developed an attitude to doing things their way and many people come away from their shows disappointed.

Start as you mean to go on(but let them have fun as well to a point)

JMHO.(Have been showing dogs for 35 years and have seen many a nice dog ruined in the show ring by bad training)

Training for the show ring also helps hugely with general day to day socialisation. Calming situations, basic obedience, lead training. All this goes hand in hand.

[Pockets]

I would like a pup by 6 months to stand still and be able to do a nice steady gait, doesn't mean they are not having fun, a pup/dog can still do what you want them to do and have fun at the same time

In saying that, I would never tell a baby/minor off if it played about in the ring, it's all learning and letting them know what you expect much like any other discipline

I was at a show in NSW and saw a lady take an adult dog out of public view and quite strictly reprimand the dog the dog then went back in the ring, tail down, didn't want to run, lost all animation and quite obviously the dog didn't win. At the conclusion of the breed the dog was quickly taken from the ring, "spoken" too before being shoved back in the crate

Dog showing to me is a partnership, and something that you both should enjoy I fell over quite a few times at one show, my poor dog was probably imbarrassed, but thought it was a fun game!