# Insider Information.... :)



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

So.... I read these 2 comments somewhere else on this forum. 

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Quoted: 2. Show people do not groom dogs at shows for 2 hours. Amateurs do that, I think

Click to expand...

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> Somebody's response - EXACTLY…finally someone is honest that’s it about the humans and NOT the dogs. “show people” absolutely do groom, blow dry and fluff the dogs at the shows and if those ppl are amateurs then they sure have a huge set up that looks amazingly professional to me. There are assistants, straight irons blow dryers, curling irons…. Curling irons gross. I saw a dog so tied up that they even had her tail tied aloft. That dog looked unhappy, when I train my puppies/dogs they love every minute of it. To pretend there is not a nasty underbelly to your industry is straight up lying and for the life of me I can’t see any benefit except for the narcissistic breeder who wants to be the “best”. This isn’t about the dog it’s about money and esteem, I promise you my owners would rather have a puppy fully potty trained, bell trained and obedience trained then one of yours that just gets raised and sold because your so busy working on the dogs that you show
> .
> Stop lying to ppl when they come here for questions about what is best the poor OP has now cut out everyone in the business who legitimately strive to have small businesses not cattle farm like operations. WE teach the pups how to be productive FAMILY pets and if they qualify support animals but ALL of my puppies get the same training. And in my business, we don’t throw away a bitch because she is unable to breed any longer, we use her as a stable Influence on the other dogs in our pack. Tsk tsk tsk……..


And -



> Somebody's response to being told that full clearances matter more than title: 2. Read above to the answers that were given to OP….she is now completely confused because you ppl led her to believe that dogs that are shown are better, not true at all.
> Watch just one dog show and they will always go to the back where the dogs are getting beautified….to claim those ppl are amateurs in a televised dog show is naive…maybe your neighborhood dog show but not the shows that really count.


I read these two comments and sat there in silence pondering what the heck this person had been watching. 

I mean.... 











So maybe this would be a good moment (yes, while I am 1 foot out the door to walk my dogs before it gets dark outside!) to share the general routine that goes into showing a golden retriever from start to finish. 

Maybe others that show their dogs could share their routines - I know for all of us, it's a little different one way or another. I think maybe it would help alleviate some of the scary stories that some people believe when it comes to dog shows. 

Here's my donation.  

I have a dog show coming up on 9/10. That's our next show. Our last show was a couple weeks ago. Yes, I know. So odd to be off for a whole month! 

So fast forward to around that time - 

*Mon-Weds *- one of those days will be a toenails day. Takes me about 5 minutes per dog, give or take. Maybe less. No biggee. That's it. The dogs hold still while I snip the nails - and they get treats afterwards. 

IF I have time, I will get the dogs up on the grooming table and trim ears and feet. This is usually about 30 minutes per dog. 

*Thurs AM or afternoon*: I drive out to set up at the show site. 

*Thurs night: *I bathe the dogs (10 minutes per dog). Dry the dogs (25-30 minutes per dog). And then I touch up ears, feet, and tail. And then I trim whiskers - oh yes, I do. 

Entire groomathon takes about 2 hours.... for 2 dogs. The dogs individually probably take about an hour by themselves? As I told somebody recently, they "droop" during the 10 minutes in the bathtub and look happy and pax on the grooming table while they get fussed over. The drying process is kinda like a massage for them - especially when I go over their necks/chests. 

*Friday *- assuming we show mid morning, I plan ahead to get there within an hour of showing. If I have electric (not sure what we will have yet), that hour means both dogs get put up on the table, spritzed wet, and dried with last minute touch up. Takes about 15 minutes per dog. Not much time needed with my dogs. They have easy care coats and I show them honestly. 20 minutes prior to showing, I go to the ringside and watch the judging prior to going into the ring. 

*Sat *- 2nd show day of weekend. I arrive an hour before show time, spritz, dry, etc... go to the ring 20 minutes before. 

In the ring, the dogs typically know their "job" out there - even the babies. They work for the treats.  

Speaking personally, I'm juggling my two dogs myself and I think I've seen the answer as to whether these dogs are happy with their "jobs". Any dog handed off to a holder or put in their crate will sit there WATCHING and waiting excitedly for their turn. My younger dog right now celebrates with lots of aerial leaps and spins when I swap dogs and take him back into the ring with me. I want to tone down the jumping and silliness, but I am happy he loves going out there. Especially since this dog literally sets his head when he goes and is all serious business when gaiting and stacking.  


^^^ That's it. 

My set ups in grooming areas consists of a grooming table/arm, crate for my dogs, ringside crate/dolly, and my tack box. I don't even know how you would use a straightener or curling iron on a dog. 

Now in general shows here in MI/OH.... You have professional handlers - who specialize in golden retrievers (because most are golden breeders/owners themselves). You also have owner handlers who bring their own dogs. There's an even mix between the two and I will say that a lot of people looking over can't tell the difference between the OH and the pros. A good chunk of that is the OH who work very hard to match the comportment and handling skills of professional handlers. 

I will say that I have seen handlers who put dogs on tables and are grooming and grooming and grooming and grooming the SAME DOG for hours before showing. If it's a pro handler, it's generally a ringside drop off who had no grooming done at all. So you are looking at what would normally be spread out over a week being done on the spot there at the show. <= Nobody wants to do that though. Most people groom their dogs at least the day before in a much more lowkey environment for both the handler and the dog.


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

I'm still a newb to Conformation considering Lana is my only show bitch and she hasn't graced a ring since National 2019. However we've had some almosts in 2020 (venue cancelled due to flooding at the site) and in 2021 (I pulled her b/c she came up lame). Anyways, this is our routine (and we use professional handlers now so I'll touch on the difference in routine between when I showed her myself and when we used a pro)

-Weekly baths for at least 6 weeks before the first show (we don't usually do weekly baths so this is something that I have to put effort into working into my weekly routine). I will trim underside of paws but when we're in the 6 week countdown I do not normally trim anything important (ears, paws, tail). I let her handler and/or breeder do that. So she will usually have 1 pre-show appointment about 2 weeks before her show to tidy everything up and that way we have a cleaner slate to assess the night before the show. 
-Nails done at least once a week (hard try on doing it twice a week). All my dog's nails run longer than I'd like with long quicks. I will usually take her to her handler for a nail appointment a couple times before a show b/c I don't think my nail technique is the best or most efficient (obviously not b/c they all run long with long quicks so I'm clearly doing something wrong)
-If she is being handled by a pro, I drop her off 3 days before the show so that they have time to refresh her skills, and groom her and aren't rushed the day before or the day of. 
-If I'm showing her myself, I bath and blow her out the night before. It takes me about an hour to bath and blow her out (x 3 dogs though cause if you bathe one you got to bathe them all, haha!)
-Day of show, if I'm handling her, she is up on the table for maybe an hour (at the most) but it's usually a mist, re-blow dry, double check nails and paws, ask her breeder for a critical eye, get her off the table and gait her around a bit to drain some energy but do not put her away so she'll be out and on leash until she shows. If she is with a pro, I don't know what all they do but I don't reckon she'd be on the table long as they have a roster of dogs to attend to. The last pro I hung around the table to watch did the spritz and blow dry, some last minute trimming, and some product was added to the hair (not sure what) and then she was crated. Took less than 20 minutes if that. Probably less than 10. I try to avoid the pros cause she gets rowdy when she sees me. I also hide when she's in the ring otherwise she zeros in on me and doesn't look as nice gaiting.


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## DanaRuns (Sep 29, 2012)

I'd love to read those quotes in context. Can you give a link to them?


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

DanaRuns said:


> I'd love to read those quotes in context. Can you give a link to them?


Look at the English v America v Field thread. 

I wish you luck figuring out the context of those quotes, as the person was all over the place.


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