# what would make you stop showing your dog?



## DevWind (Nov 7, 2016)

Well, I can't afford a handler so mine won't ever be there. They both received nice CCA scores. They both got a really nice score from at least one judge. I know that the judge that gave Winx the lowest score gave Pilot the best score. Two of the judges raved about Pilot. His biggest fault? His size....he's a little guy at 22 - 22.5 inches tall. Perfect proportions though. Don't know why....looking at his background, he shouldn't be. One didn't care for him and for whatever reason, he didn't care much for her either. Wierd because he LOVES everyone! One judge told me I should be showing him even though he's little. I heard a lot of "he REALLY loves her" in the background which made my heart burst when total stangers could see it! 

Sorry, can you tell I'm bored at work? LOL


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

When I see a promising puppy disappear from the ring, I assume either more than one missing tooth, or failed prelims, or failed eyes. A dog who is out of standard size wise but within the inch either way forgiveness, I might try to get one point on but I might not too- depends on what's showing. The reason I would want a single would be because it counts more than a CCA to a VC.. and I do try to do a VC on everyone. 
There's no point in showing a dog who's not in the standard for size, counting that inch- there are too many dogs out who are well sized and it's throwing money out the window. Showing is expensive! A handler runs about $2k a month plus entries, and could be more. So if a dog isn't in the ribbons the first month, it comes home. I may send it out again, for another month, but would be unlikely to keep spending money when it's not getting points and I can get a CD and JH knocked out and try again after that...


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

And I will say too that being involved in dogs does let you notice dogs who suddenly quit showing.. a 'heads up' of sorts that that dog might have failed something.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I honestly have seen dogs "fade" from the ring because they don't show very well, the owner is not committed to spending the money on handlers beyond age 3, and sometimes there is a serious fault that they can't get past. Usually it is the first two that's enough. 

I've been friends with a number of breeders and have noticed that they may always have puppies that they are excited about as they keep their picks....but these dogs may not turn out well as they grow up and I think some of these breeders have really good eyes for spotting when elbows or hips aren't promising even if they don't do the prelim peeks, and these dogs are placed before they are old enough to show. It was one of those cases where I heard from somebody that elbows failed on a very promising dog while another did not turn out well. 

Personally speaking, I think the way I look at it = by the time your dog is between 2 and 3 years old, he should be ready to start winning. And he should start winning. He should naturally have a set look for the show ring and he should have a correct temperament for the breed. 

So if your dog has something going on with him like a high tail, or missing teeth, or poor ear set, hard or plain expression, and no ability to move without looking like he has eggbeaters for legs or something else going on.... sometimes one of those faults isn't a game ender for the dog, but more than one of these faults might be.

If I had a dog fail hips or elbows - I've waffled about what I'd do if that should happen. I've said I wouldn't show a dog that failed hips or elbows - because among else, most golden judges base their decisions on how the dogs move. And I would be a nervous wreck that the judge would see something. But also, it just is a lot of money to spend showing a dog who cannot be bred.


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## DevWind (Nov 7, 2016)

Prism Goldens said:


> When I see a promising puppy disappear from the ring, I assume either more than one missing tooth, or failed prelims, or failed eyes. A dog who is out of standard size wise but within the inch either way forgiveness, I might try to get one point on but I might not too- depends on what's showing. The reason I would want a single would be because it counts more than a CCA to a VC.. and I do try to do a VC on everyone.
> There's no point in showing a dog who's not in the standard for size, counting that inch- there are too many dogs out who are well sized and it's throwing money out the window. Showing is expensive! A handler runs about $2k a month plus entries, and could be more. So if a dog isn't in the ribbons the first month, it comes home. I may send it out again, for another month, but would be unlikely to keep spending money when it's not getting points and I can get a CD and JH knocked out and try again after that...


Im actually okay with just having a CCA. Mine are getting theor VC points from other places. Winx has 10 points and Pilot has 7. All Winx needs is 1 field title to get it. Pilot will be showing soon in Utility. When he gets it, he’ll only need a field title too. I can’t spend that kind of money on a handler so even if he was perfect I wouldn’t do it anyway. I would love to also see him contribute to OS/OD. He’s 1 point shy of that one In obedience.


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

Just kinda reiterating here: most of the time if a very young dog suddenly stops showing, it’s because they failed eyes or miserably failed hip/elbow prelims. Sometimes people will show their young dogs a few times between 6 and 12 months old, then let them sit out for several months to a year+ to let them grow up. I’m kind of in a limbo area with Eevee myself. She’s in this period where she’s going to be aged out of the 12-18 class by our next show, but isn’t really mature enough to be competitive in Open yet. I’m still going to show her a few more times this year because I like showing, but after this fall, I will give her a break until next spring.

Or like Kate said, if the dog has more than one pretty serious fault that maybe didn’t show up until the dog was older, then the dog might quit showing because it’s just not competitive.

As for the size thing, there are lots and lots of Goldens that are outside the ideal height range (both sexes), but still within standard that are shown and that win. That’s not a non-starter for me. Most people say that bitches on the larger end of the height range tend to do better in the breed ring than smaller ones.

If Eevee failed a clearance, I have no idea if I would continue to show her in conformation or not. Assuming she was asymptomatic though, I would absolutely continue to show and train her in obedience, rally, and hopefully field.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Tons of reasons. If the dog is owned by an experienced exhibitor I would say there was something about the dog that they couldn't get past...in other words, the dog was not better than it's parents or housemates...why continue the effort...we should always be improving.
If the dog is owned by someone new to showing...it's usually attrition...they get tired of the rigamarole of showing, with little success. Goldens are really hard. Typically they are super gung ho to show their puppy, the breeder is encouraging, everyone is out to help a newbie, but guess what, puppies don't win very much, or maybe they do some winning in puppy class but they hit 18 months and the owners don't know to hang them up for a while, so they put them in Open, or even worse AmBred, and suddenly the dog isn't winning at all. Dog shows aren't fun anymore. They move on to another pastime. Two years later, what could be their gorgeous, mature show dog, is a fat pet sitting on the couch.

I gave up showing one dog...Slater...he has a front like a mack truck and failed eyes. I showed him for a year, he would place in open, won a bunch of Reserves, could never get a point. He placed in a big class at the National, he placed in a giant open class at Eukanuba. I wanted to finish him because he was beautiful, and by my stud dog, and loved showing, and could be a CH-MH...but it proved too difficult with the front. Judges couldn't get past it, and I don't blame them. 

Funny story...I drove up to I think the Lenape GRC specialty and showed Slater in Open to Ken Matthews. We were the first dog in the ring. Slater of course was magic, he always showed like a dream. When Ken was done with individual exams on all the dogs in the class, he came up to me, and asked me to do another down and back. I gave him this look like "Do I have to?" So we did. He said thank you very much and I went back to my place in line. He then picked four dogs for his placements. Nobody else did a down and back. I found him after the show and asked why he did that. He said, when your dog came in the ring I said there's my Winner's Dog. He's absolutely beautiful. But that front!!!!! I couldn't do it. I wanted you to know why you didn't win. I said, no problem, I'm well aware. But I also want you to know this dog is a Master Hunter. Ken clapped his hand to his forehead and just shook his head. He said well ****, too bad I can't know that when judging!! Follow up to the story...Bally was 4 months old at the time, a year later Ken gave him a five point major from 12-18 at White River specialty.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

@K9-Design - one good thing about this covid nonsense cancelling show after show... there's people like me with a slow developer like my Glee who would have been shown 10 times this year by now but maybe only now starting to really fill out (rib spring, chest dropping, etc) and probably would be better showing in another 6 months. 

Because the shows I was interested in filled up like super fast and closed.... it's looking like I won't really show again until maybe Nov or next Jan. 

Now hopefully Jovi won't get too fat in the meantime.  He's been ready to win that I could see since January.


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## Ffcmm (May 4, 2016)

Abeille said:


> Well, I can't afford a handler so mine won't ever be there. They both received nice CCA scores. They both got a really nice score from at least one judge. I know that the judge that gave Winx the lowest score gave Pilot the best score. Two of the judges raved about Pilot. His biggest fault? His size....he's a little guy at 22 - 22.5 inches tall. Perfect proportions though. Don't know why....looking at his background, he shouldn't be. One didn't care for him and for whatever reason, he didn't care much for her either. Wierd because he LOVES everyone! One judge told me I should be showing him even though he's little. I heard a lot of "he REALLY loves her" in the background which made my heart burst when total stangers could see it!
> 
> Sorry, can you tell I'm bored at work? LOL


what if you handled him yourself in the ring?


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## myluckypenny (Nov 29, 2016)

I only dabble in conformation because I have a nice dog. However, this dog has borderline hips (could probably go fair with better positioning) and got an equivocal during his echo. Healthy as a horse and you'd never know and he requires no restrictions. Because he is as nice as he is and he really enjoys showing I like to enter him in the local show each year. So he is 3 and has been to two shows. The first one we did absolutely nothing because we both knew nothing and the only other golden was a special. The year after he was 2.5yrs old and had become a rather nice mover, his head has always been his best feature. So I sent him in with a friend of mine who actually enjoys it and with her he got winner's dog both days. I will continue to show him locally as it supports my club, adds another entry for points, and most of all he really loves it. But I'll never be one that goes out of my way to show like I will for field events.


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

K9-Design said:


> maybe they do some winning in puppy class but they hit 18 months and the owners don't know to hang them up for a while


This is the part where you need more dogs so there’s always one ready to show. Lol

In all seriousness, do you find that conformation newbies stick around more if they got into showing another venue first? As in not just a pet home that suddenly decided they wanted a show dog, but people actively involved in another sport.


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## DevWind (Nov 7, 2016)

Ffcmm said:


> what if you handled him yourself in the ring?


 I’ve tried conformation before. All the grooming and dressing up and all that just didn’t appeal to me I like to have more control over the outcome. Say, the judge didn’t like how he picked up a dumbbell. I would be able to fix it for the next time I showed him. If a judge doesn’t like his nose or eyes, I can’t change that. Know what I mean? I think Pilot is a very handsome little man Although I could be a bit biased. 🙂


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## Ffcmm (May 4, 2016)

Abeille said:


> I’ve tried conformation before. All the grooming and dressing up and all that just didn’t appeal to me I like to have more control over the outcome. Say, the judge didn’t like how he picked up a dumbbell. I would be able to fix it for the next time I showed him. If a judge doesn’t like his nose or eyes, I can’t change that. Know what I mean? I think Pilot is a very handsome little man Although I could be a bit biased. 🙂


yes that makes sense, and at the end of the day as long as you enjoy the sport, whatever it is  he is very handsome!


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

I know dogs that have been showed and finished with failed elbows, hips, eyes, etc. I've seen over height dogs too. 
I think it's all about the points. If a dog is getting points, people will keep showing them. I have a friend that had a GCh that failed elbows. He was never bred, but almost always was BOB (and Group placements every time too) when he was in the ring. He had the "look". Owner could afford to show and loved the show environment. She made showing my dog fun because she had a great attitude and showed just for the enjoyment, and she was fun to hang out with. Would she have continued to show if her boy wasn't put up? Probably not. If you have a winner, you'll continue to show. Or if you have a dog you bred and are determined that they have a Ch, you'll show until they finally Ch or you find another show prospect.
I quit showing because my girl didn't enjoy showing, and I wasn't good at showing dogs. I don't have the knack. We do ring side handoffs here with pros, and when I did, she did much better. I stopped when I decided not to breed her and thought it was better for someone that was going to breed to get the points.
I have a new girl I showed last month. She's in the 6-9 month class. We'll see where this one goes.


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## BlazenGR (Jan 12, 2012)

I have an absolutely gorgeous girl who I had shown at the 2017 National in Novice. Her handler had her for 60 days prior to the National, and it took everything her handler had to get her to show any enthusiasm, and she took 2nd with her ears pretty much pinned to the her head the whole time. Moves beautifully, rock solid top line, head to die for. We tried showing her at a couple of smaller shows, and she just quit. She absolutely hates it. She is now holding down my sister's recliner and bed. It's just not worth it. Her whole attitude on life is "bed warmer." Not an attitude I want to breed.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

BlazenGR said:


> Her whole attitude on life is "bed warmer." Not an attitude I want to breed.


Bed warmer isn't a bad life. She makes a good pet sounds like. But I understand the frustration.


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## Jmcarp83 (May 4, 2018)

My breeder has expressed showing my 9.5 month old. Actually said had nationals happened she was going to show that little girl. I just laugh. But I know she’s serious.

But like Prism said...I’m not committed to spending 2k a month on a handler and I’m 4.5 hours away from my breeder for her to show her. And I would be devastated to not have her with me for weeks at a time. Plus, I know I’m not interested in puppies so it would potentially make my breeders program look even better, it would just be a lot of $$ for me to have a title (potentially).


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