# I needed help getting into my car....



## Megora

... because of my swelled head. 

I know people are gonna laugh at me for babbling away like this, but I just have to share. :

I went to our first handling class feeling really tentative and nervous, because I had no idea what to expect. Bertie's been in classes since he was about 12 weeks old, but no conformation stuff until today. 

It was such a relief when I went in there and Bertie immediately went into training mode when I put the choke chain on him. Phew. 

The biggest thing I noticed right up front is it is very helpful to have a natural stack, stand stay (meaning both the stay position with the feet in place and making sure his body was stretched out proper and ability to lock in place while the judge is poking in his mouth and going over him), and ability to trot on a loose lead and look happy and like a golden.  

All of these things he learned from obedience class. And the last 2 weeks I've been doing a crash course on getting him used to having his mouth handled by random people. 

And there were little things I picked up last week from a seminar thingy like me like getting him to let me hold his tail up without him fussing or tucking it. 

LOL. 

The areas where I didn't expect to have problems, but there they were.... :

1. When rounding the turns while gaiting Bertie - I was terrible at handling without shifting into obedience mode. That being getting him to slow down or STOP while we turn left. The teacher was so patient in reiterating that he wanted me to speed up so that Bertie floated around the curve, but nope. Old habits die hard. 

2. Jumping out in front or giving the stand signal FAST ENOUGH when we finished our run around and went back to the judge for him to do the expression check thingy. My obedience dog smacked the floor with his butt he was sitting so fast the first couple times before I figured out how to stop that. That was a learning experience.... :uhoh:

3. I learned that when you go up to the judge, you don't do the obedience thing and jump out in front while your dog does a stand stay. :doh: I learned to stay by my dog's side and hold his collar and tail quite proper. <- Must say he did a very nice utility exam with me in front those first two times. He was looking up at me like "Mom, I don't know what he's doing back there, but I'm being good." :bowl:

I am a total novice at this and am learning everything fresh... so hope people don't mind seeing this yahoo babbling away time and again.... :


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## OutWest

Sounds like it went very well. And Bertie is such a good boy to let strangers handle him. You did good!


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## Megora

It was all him being good. I was a klutz.  

I'm now trying to figure out how to discreetly bring my camera because I just got word his brother (littermate) will be coming to class next week.


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## Pammie

You have reason to have a bit of swelling!  I've seen the vids of you and Bertie and you both have worked very hard!!! *high fives*


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## Megora

2nd class was a little tougher.... but I think from my perspective mainly? More stuff I had to remember like holding the tail up by the tip and not the middle and when setting feet, always do the same routine with setting up the head and shoulders first and keeping them straight while fixing the front feet right first and then switching hands and doing the left. And so forth....

The funny thing that happened is that this guy came in (without a dog) and zeroed in on Bertie, fussing over him. He liked Bertie, Bertie liked him. 

Fast forward to the midway point of class and Bertie's breeder and her husband came in with Bert's brother and their aunt (mom's full sister). I lost the kiddo during that period of time because he was all excited about seeing the breeders. And then the brother got loose in the hallway outside the gym and came running in to visit everyone - and that blew Bertie's brain.

The guy who was fussing over Bertie earlier was the handler for the brother.... and he was having a tough time getting the brother to settle down (lots of jumping and spinning and then ZOOMING during the gaiting part). He asked if I wanted to switch dogs with him. I had to say honestly, my guy would probably be doing the same stuff. I know he would.  

Then the breeder chipped in at that point and let the guy know the two were littermates. He dropped jawed. LOL. I guess Bertie was looking deceptively calm by comparison. 

We practiced the triangle pattern again... and then this straight up and down pattern. Which we nailed because Bertie knows his about turns. The teacher commented that he could definitely see the obedience background in spots like that. 

And we are learning to place feet (only the front feet today) - which I stink at. I commented to the teacher that I was pretty sure that Bertie had his feet right and I put them wrong. 

Other than that - I just had so much fun visiting with his breeders and getting to see him loving all over them. He's not a shy dog in the least, but he remembered them from last time we visited with them. He likes her the best but even with her husband he was leaning in and slipping his head under Larry's elbow and trying to get him to hug him like Judie was. <- It was awesome seeing that since he was kinda flaky and shy the first time they met. 

*** I also made a leash that will be a lot more comfortable to use with him. It's short and skinny, so fits better in my hand than the long skinny leash I'm using right now. I just want to test it out at home or class to make sure the clasp is secure enough.


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## OutWest

That's very very funny story with the brother doing zoomies. And there's Bertie being such a good boy.


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## Brave

So proud of you!!! Way to go Bertie!!! 


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## CarolinaCasey

Sounds like you're enjoying yourself. I love conformation and starting with a youngster. Dogs know the difference between venues and collars. I discourage all obedience behaviors like watching you while moving, etc. We are working thru that with my 5 month puppy. That can be a hard one to fade. The more you do it, the more of a routine you'll get into. The dog will be on autopilot if you keep it fun and exciting and train the dog well. Bertie will be a pro! 


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## Megora

Again had fun today. I did see a difference using a leash I'm comfortable with and then I gave it some thought today and really need to make sure I'm working on "strut" with him every day so it's a little less work on my part (and his) to maintain a relaxed trot down the mats and hopefully preserve a little energy through the end of class (for both of us). He can be prancy-leapy right now. I'm really glad the leash (this is one I made) worked though. I HATED that long leash.  

Little question - just to make sure I have this right. When you are placing your dog's feet.... you want the back of your dog's front feet to be a straight line down from your dog's shoulders. And the front of your dog's back feet are a straight line down from the rear. And front and back legs need to be straight when viewed from the front or back. Right? 

Bertie generally places his feet very well, but I'm learning to place his feet. The cunning thing is I think he is connecting with what I want when I tell him "feet" (my horse show background, lol) whether I'm placing them or just getting him to set up on his own. 

Is the main deal really making sure you practice in front of a full length mirror, or are there other tricks to doing it right?

ETA - I forgot to say, but there was a Tibetan Mastiff in the class today. Bertie was transfixed.  I think that was the biggest big-and-fluffy dog that he's ever met.


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## Megora

*Anyone?*



> Little question - just to make sure I have this right. When you are placing your dog's feet.... you want the back of your dog's front feet to be a straight line down from your dog's shoulders. And the front of your dog's back feet are a straight line down from the rear. And front and back legs need to be straight when viewed from the front or back. Right?


Am I right? :uhoh:


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## sterregold

Yes, put a big picture mirror on the floor--place the feet and check. Then look straight down over the back of the ear and reference where that foolt is placed so that you can recreate it without the mirror.


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## lgnutah

When I read that you had difficulty getting into the car.....I thought you had hurt your back or something (or had slipped in the shower and landed on your ribs like I did)
but I was glad to see it was because of your pride for Bertie. Yay!


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## Megora

lgnutah said:


> When I read that you had difficulty getting into the car.....I thought you had hurt your back or something (or had slipped in the shower and landed on your ribs like I did)
> but I was glad to see it was because of your pride for Bertie. Yay!


LOL! 

It's a running joke between me and my sisters about me getting inflato head from hearing nice things about my baby boys. : 

@Shelly - I just need to go shopping tomorrow for a mirror.  The only mirrors I have here are either over the bathroom counter or too narrow to show the whole dog.  

I tried putting his feet into place, telling him stay and taking a step back - but honestly - I still think he does a better job of setting his feet than I do. :doh: I guess it will come.


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## sterregold

If he can partially walk into a stack so much the better! Only adjust feet that need to be adjusted--that is the trick--learning to reognize the ones that are already right! My Bonnie and Breeze can both walk right into a stack--it is a good thing as it means they are soundly made! There is nothing saying the dog cannot get into position via walkin and then you make minor adjustments and kneel hold them for the exam--just because people are madly adjusting all four legs does not mean you have to, and I find the dogs stand better with minimal fussing.


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## Megora

What I have learned from obedience work is that the dogs will put their feet where they are comfortable. A lot of people really fuss about putting the feet in place in obedience, and when you have dogs like my Jacks who are comfortable sticking one foot forward (he's doing that in my signature), they will shift that foot forward anyway and cost you a point (unless you go through the headaches of drilling stand stays until they hold them no matter what). 

Bertie was my first pup who actually learned stand-stays fast and by putting his feet in a very nice position each time back when he was a puppy - way before I let myself get talked into doing conformation classes with him. 

Looking at Barb's illustration in the other thread (the pics with Tito), I can def see where I can nudge his feet here or there - but I'm definitely really happy I'm not going to be one of those people fighting with their dogs feet! *knock on wood*


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## Megora

It certainly makes a huge difference practicing every day! 

Been doing the conformation thing in the morning (every morning) and.... class went very well. Even WALKING he was moving nicely. And I was thrilled when one of the other people pulled me aside and told me they love watching him move, that he's a beautiful mover and looks so happy out there. Considering how nervous I am about making him use himself and easily go into that trot, I assured her it meant a lot to hear that all the practice is helping. I mean I could see him trotting next to me, but glad it also looked nice.  

And all of the stacking tips and pics helped me a huge deal as well... and we picked up more tips at class as well. I'm learning so much and greatly appreciate the help I've received.


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## Megora

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlEPmaVxNOc
This is a wonderful video. Very eye-opening for me....


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## lhowemt

I like following this thread. Our breeder intended Pearl to go to.a.show home. She is the end of his 40 year breeding and showing program. Sometimes I think I'd like to show her a TINY bit just for fun. But wow you are describing way more commitment than I want to give it. There aren't many shows around here either and they all fall during seasons of other major activities for us. Do you have any advice whether or not it would be silly to dabble just a tiny bit? I do want to do some agility with her too, there is a lot more agility here than shows. We just happened to move hear s facility that has about 6 competitions a year! Perfect!

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## Megora

I think the other ladies may need to give you tips since I'm a newbie at all this...  

Compared to obedience training - it is a LOT LESS WORK.... mainly because except for the stacking part, you are encouraging your dog to perform behaviors that comes natural for a well-socialized and confident dog. 

I have to train every morning with Bertie to undo a lot of the bad habits I built up through the obedience and around-the-block training. 

Our morning training consists of pretending I'm waiting for the judge so encouraging Bertie to set up. Then we trot to the "judge" and stack again, this time with me placing his feet.... and then we do our triangle pattern back to the judge and do a free stack (we are working on that). And then trot around and done. 

This whole thing takes about 5 minutes or so every morning. 

Obedience training takes a lot longer because there are so many exercises that we are cleaning up and polishing. And obedience too needs to be worked every day to get the dogs cleaned up for show. 

So it does take commitment and work every day - like everything does. But it certainly is fun and I hope we will have a lot of fun next winter/spring when I get Bertie into conformation shows....


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## lhowemt

Just found on the local kennel clubs website that there is one conformation instructor. I think I may contact her and she what she says. I think she even has a facility somewhat close to me. I do want to focus on Pearl's CGC this winter. I've never gone for any titles or tried "real" events.

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## Megora

lhowemt said:


> Just found on the local kennel clubs website that there is one conformation instructor. I think I may contact her and she what she says. I think she even has a facility somewhat close to me. I do want to focus on Pearl's CGC this winter. I've never gone for any titles or tried "real" events.
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Go for it! Talk to your pup's breeder and make sure s/he's on the same page as you as far as showing Pearl. Besides that conformation instructor, see if the breeder recommends anyone in your area to take handling classes from. With the handling classes it is the same thing practiced over and over until it becomes habit as far as running your dogs around, visiting the judge, running them around, showing to the judge, running your dogs around, stacking and working faces while the judge walks past, etc... 

Obedience classes are a great plan as well.


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## itried

Its really great to see how our dogs progress. Be proud of all of your sweat and tears and hard work!


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## Megora

One thing I'm smiling about today after class is you know how I was trying to figure out how to set Bertie's feet and stressing out? 

I've been setting Bertie up and then looking to the judge to tell me if Bertie's feet aren't lined up. When I set Bertie up and looked at his feet - they were straight and right where I wanted them so I wasn't touching them. The judge told me that yes Bert was right, but I still need to be picking them up or even just touching them in class so he gets used to having them set up. There was one time that he adjusted a front foot (bringing it forward) and he commented again that Bertie was planting his feet in place so he's starting to get the "memory" thing. Even putting his front feet straight. Whee! 

Gaiting him - I was feeling like somebody running around with a young and untrained dog. LOL. He was trotting with ease - but TROTTING WAY AHEAD OF ME. I thought the flimsy lead was going to snap. >.< 

He was very Mr. Social today as well - there is a boxer girlie that he has a crush on and he kept trying to turn around and play with her. 


ETA - I saw this posted somewhere else and I thought this was absolutely fascinating as far as sound dogs and understanding what I'm looking at. The interesting or sad thing is that I think that outside of sitting next to the show ring, I've only seen one dog out there that epitomized soundness of structure and movement. And this is a champion GSP I've seen in obedience. I know this dog has achieved greatness in everything possible and she's music in motion. 
http://rufflyspeaking.net/what-is-a-sound-dog/


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## Megora

Another very good class yesterday.  

One thing I'm very excited about - again, is that Bertie is readily trotting. I believe a lot of that has to do with our daily practice sessions, and I'm learning how to handle him better... with practice. 

There was something I SAW with another dog that had me feeling a lot more confident and happier about where we are in training. Like - hey, I can do this! :bowl:

One thing Bertie is doing that has me scratching my head a bit is for some reason he is STRETCHING after the judge has checked him out and gone to the front to look at him and get his expression. I have NO IDEA why he's doing this. We have about 5 run-throughs per class, and about 2 of the 5 he was stretching his front legs AND his back legs. <- I like to see he has good flexibility with his legs, but geez. :doh:

W/regards to our daily sessions - even those have become a lot more successful in that instead of having a lot of reps like I had been in the beginning, we are basically just doing one triangle and one up and back and I'm releasing him for good behavior.  In the beginning, I had to do a lot of reps because he was either pacing or jumping around or just out of control. Right now he is "working" like he's used to the routine and knows what I want him to do. 

Only uh-oh thing is that at the class, the judge really wants me to work Bertie without baiting him. :uhoh: That's easier said than done. With Bertie being a social butterfly, when I'm not working him with a treat pinched between my thumb and finger, he is wheeling around to flirt with the dog behind him or to smile at the people sitting on the side. 

One other thing that had me smiling yesterday.... there was a PE class at the gym we train at before our class. So we were standing in the hallway waiting for the kids and parents to get out of there.... 

Bertie was all golden when those kids went past him. Didn't care about anything else other than getting those kids to look at him and touch him.  With everything else that I work on with my dogs, the most important thing is still making sure that they love people, especially kids.


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## Megora

There were PUPPIES at today's class.... Somebody brought them in to have them evaluated and get them socialized (11 week old bulldogs). They were absolutely adorable. And I know this is me being drawn to the boys, but it was 1 boy and 2 girls. The boy was the one I would have picked if I were looking at the litter. ! He was so confident, outgoing, and busy.  The girls were cute too, but when brought out were shaking a little. I think they came out of it, but... hmm. 

And class went so well that I didn't really feel so sheepish telling somebody that we are very close to entering Bert's first show. I just want to get him out to a couple big shows so I make sure he's comfortable before we do any ring things with him. 

He is gaiting very nicely and definitely starting to understand what I want when I tell him "feet" - he starts stretching into position. 

We are both having fun. 

I got home today and decided to groom both dogs before I get too busy this week and forget. Trimmed Bertie's ears and feet first. His ears are getting easier to trim - thank goodness. 

Trimmed Jacks' right after... very little trimming needed on his ears. His feet though - it was so weird handling them right after Bertie. They seem so little compared to his baby's brother's meaty feet! His front feet are easy, but I always have a hard time trimming the back feet because they aren't "rounded". So I have to kinda work a little more to trim the fur back without shaping to the feet.


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## lhowemt

Why are show Golden's feather feet trimmed? 

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## Thalie

I love how enthusiastic you are about all you do with your boys as well as all the information your posts give. You put in a lot of wok into them and you have all reasons to be proud of them. I will never be where you are but enjoy reading about your journeys with them.


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## Megora

lhowemt said:


> Why are show Golden's feather feet trimmed?
> 
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*Feet* medium size, round, compact, and well knuckled, with thick pads. Excess hair may be trimmed to show natural size and contour. Splayed or hare feet to be faulted.

^ This is in the breed standard. 

The problem with leaving the fur to grow long on the feet is it can be deceptive as far as showing the shape of your dog's feet. It can make the feet look bad, in other words. 

Trimming Jacks' back feet too, I can see where artistic grooming would help with a dog whose feet are probably not the best as far as matching the breed standard. 



Thalie said:


> I will never be where you are....


Well.... never say never.  

I share a lot of the training stuff and even the troubles I have with training - be it obedience or conformation, because I want people to know it is not effortless. But it's not that scary - and a lot of it is fun. And maybe we'll get more people trying out obedience or looking into conformation.


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## lhowemt

Well no wonder, thanks!

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## Megora

*smiles* We went to a different place tonight because the usual place had no class....

I was feeling a little nervous, especially when we got there a half hour ahead and the pole barn was dark and empty and there were no other cars...  I had my sister (and Jacks) come with for moral support (I hate driving at night - especially this time of the year while the deer are so active), and we were both mumbling to each other about this being a bad idea. 

Then the owner walked out and opened up the building and got it set up. I had the boys out by then and he stopped to fuss about the dogs and visit with them. And I felt at ease immediately based on how nice this guy was with the dogs. 

Went inside, people started arriving, the husband and wife team came in, and basically it was a very nice facility. More so - while it was a group class, there was a lot more one-on-one teaching going on. It was awesome. While I think we have learned a ton attending classes at the other place, they were directly addressing various things I had questions about and working with us. The wife taught the class with the husband stopping in to talk a bit about the big show coming up (he's the treasurer for one of the kennel clubs).

Overall - she liked Bertie's movement, liked his stacking each time, liked his "stop" on the go out and back, liked his expression (he was really looking pretty tonight for the bait), and told me that he's going to be fun out in the ring. <- IF I jog him around when we get to the show to calm him down. He got increasingly better through the class as he calmed down. She told me he reminded her a lot of a chessy she had who likewise had to be tired out so he would well in the ring. 

The best part, which worked a lot for my guy who is starting to have "whoo hooo chase issues" while going around the ring with the other dogs.... at the end - they did a red light/green light game where people were gaiting their dogs around the room and then when she called red light, they had ten seconds to stop their dogs and stack them. 

I was very happy with the gaiting-with-everyone-else practice + I was only too happy to show off his very quick and easy stacks. It is getting a lot easier to set him up and during the game, he was set up each time in 4-5 seconds - took the last second to stand up straight and bait his head up. Thanks to people's tips here, I always set the left legs first and then the right legs.


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## coaraujo

Megora said:


> The best part, which worked a lot for my guy who is starting to have "whoo hooo chase issues" while going around the ring with the other dogs.... at the end - they did a red light/green light game where people were gaiting their dogs around the room and then when she called red light, they had ten seconds to stop their dogs and stack them.


Just had to say that this sounds like a very fun game, what great (and creative) instructors . I'll have to have my 5 year old little sisters do something similar with my boys (not stacking, but maybe asking for a sit or something). They're going to love when I tell them that the dogs will play red light - green light with them .


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## lhowemt

Woohoo! He sounds (and looks) like a doll. Thanks for sharing!


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## Megora

"You have learned enough to compete in handling with the pro's" 

^ This has me smiling tonight. This was an answer from our teacher (who is an active judge) when I went over an entry form and asked him if I should enter Bertie in an amateur owner handler class or do 12-18 or open with him. 

I still feel that doing well in classes is probably a world different than being in a show and dealing with your own nerves (I'm wondering if the judge will object to me going out there with a paper bag on my head - in case I vomit and/or if people I know will be there watching). But it was nice of him to sat that.


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## tikiandme

Walk into that show ring like you own it. Don't let anything or anyone intimidate you. Show confidence (even if you don't quite feel it). You'll do great!!! Have fun!!!


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## Megora

I had planned on going out to a dog show this morning to watch and learn (and see a flock of Bertie relatives showing)... but that didn't work out too well. >.< 

^ I was a little uncomfortable about taking Bertie to an all conformation show without having some kind of entry to back us up. I forgot to enter him in something random so we could go train/socialize without feeling like we'd get kicked out.  

^ There was a major league emphasis on no cameras.... which blew my other reason of going in person (taking pictures and videos to learn from) -

^ And then I didn't necessarily feel motivated to get up early and head out without either dog. They were especially snuggly this morning.  

So we skipped. 

And to make up for it, I sat down to watch various videos with goldens being shown - including last years Westminster show with all the goldens. 

So anyway - 

I have a question for people.  

See the attached picture from WDS. Why the heck did they call *everyone* into the ring into ten million rows with the judge running around and... checking stuff off?.... only to send them back out again? 

What was going on there?


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## Megora

Thought I'd share... 

I have to do another round of pictures later or set up the video camera, because this was not the best attempt at stacking re/the side picture with Bertie. His front legs should be back under him more and his back feet could be stretched a smidge back a bit. 

Stacks with Jacks because I didn't want him feeling left out.  It was interesting feeling the differences between dogs. Jacks if you look at his picture has a higher section on his shoulders... that's not bone. That's really built up muscle, as well as his fur. Keep in mind his front is very built up and very strong, probably because his hips are not perfect. I actually freaked out when I went from Bertie's back which is not as muscled. The other thing too, and I guess this goes towards those people who neuter dogs at Bertie's age. Jacks has the bones of an adult dog who has been active and athletic. Very solid and dense feeling bones - and muscles. 

With Bertie he has some of that musculature, but he literally felt like a young dog compared to Jacks. 

And add to that, his rear legs are so much more flexible than Jacks. I initially tried to see if I could get Jacks' rear legs "right", but found he simply did not have that flexibility and resisted. I was happy to see his front legs were very easy to set up properly.































^ Food face - and yes, his toenails need trimming. I have to figure out a way to get them trimmed back somehow. Right now the quick is right up at the tip of the nail and he will bleed if I trim. 



















^ A better stack in the works, but was not caught on camera.... :doh:


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## Megora

Bertie was a treasure tonight. A "I don't want to stand still" kind of treasure.  

The little things that made up for his "You fixed that foot so I will move THIS foot" mood was the fact he was moving very nicely the entire class. 

There is this L pattern where it starts out like an L in obedience, but then you switch the dog to the right side while and again to the left side - this to keep the dog between you and the judge. 

I was a little worried doing this with Bertie, but he crossed over, trotted along on my right side, and then crossed back again like he's been doing this all this time. 

I also discovered what "being boxed in" means (I think) as far as when you are at the very front of the line and stacking your dog or trying to while the person behind you has pushed you up to a point where you don't have that much room to set up your dog. That was quite awkward. 

The other thing that has me laughing... not only do my dogs have a huge aversion to dog poop (theirs and other dogs), but vomit falls into the same category. There were two bulldogs who basically threw up their breakfast (I'm a little nervous because I had both my dogs there and hate to think of them being exposed to gastro or something else that might be going on with those bulldogs). They threw up in 2-4 spots on the mats. While the owner cleaned up the mess, Bertie had a HUGE issue stepping on the spots where the dogs had vomited. Miss Priss he is!


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## Megora

For the sake of "learning", I have been watching the golden retrievers that showed down at the Eukanuba show yesterday. It was interesting picking out the things I like and didn't like - while focusing specifically on handling. 

The tight leads don't necessarily bother me - but when the handler is pulling the dog's head crooked (and sometimes the dogs) - I don't like that. Little things like that. 

And it was interesting to see how many dogs seemed to show an inclination to pace, paced from the judge over to the "starting point" and got a pop-pop at the start of the down-and-back to get them trotting. One poor girl actually wasn't able to get the dog out of the pace until she got back to the judge and was sent around back to the lineup. 

Stacking dogs - on one hand I could see a little "no no" where somebody got in the way of the judge to re-adjust the back feet one more time. This when the dog just shifted one foot as the judge was making his way down to the rear. <- On the other hand, this one guy messed things up for his dog when the dog shifted both legs so they were under him, this while the judge was approaching to check the head and front end. The guy just LEFT the legs underneath the dog - even while it hunched the dog's body up! 

And the other thing I noticed that I was wondering about.... most people set up their dogs and then held onto the choke chain while holding the dog's head up (I generally do that). But there were some who had a hold of the chain with their left hand, but had their right hand holding the dog's muzzle up for the judge. <- I was under the impression that wasn't allowed. 

**** My favorite was the lady showing a flatcoat who literally ran out of her shoe and kept showing her dog without missing a beat!


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## Megora

Ohw.... just following up. It's different posting updates on handling classes as opposed to obedience classes.... obedience, you are working on so much stuff each time. Conformation tends to be hammering at the same things over and over and building good habits. 

That all said -

Yesterday I freaked out about Stands when Bertie peed all over about a big guy friend form class going over him. I had that thunder booming over dead grave feeling as far as the upcoming show. LOL. 

But today it was back to business as usual. Bertie is getting a lot more polished as far as me tugging up on his collar (dead ring when stacking on the side, me slipping a finger under his collar when setting up for the judge and tugging up there without any tightening around his neck). I tug and tell him "feet" and he shifts his weight accordingly, toes square in front and usually I have to reach back and fix one of his rear legs.

There were a few people (kids, wives, etc) just sitting on the side watching and I had to smile when a very honest kiddo asked me how old Berts is and then seriously told me that he was the only dog out there who was doing good. 

At that point I was already tired and sweaty from working stacks and pretending there was a judge who might look over at us any moment + setting him up and making him hold the stand during the exam + and letting him go at the trot and show himself. <- So yeah, it was nice to hear he looked good.  Of course, I also have that feeling that I get as far as doing fun matches in obedience. Yeah, the dogs may look TERRIFIC working on their home turf in a class environment. It's a different ball of wax when you actually get into the ring. :


----------



## Megora

Just following up after 2 days of showing for the first time.  

It was a very different experience than I expected - but more positive than negative. Seriously! 

1. The other golden handlers - including a couple people I know of by sight because they kinda are popular pro handlers here in Michigan + they are on my short list as far as pro handlers I'd look into if I truly get very serious about showing Bertie. Or at the very least, I might check and see if they'd be OK with grooming Bertie for me or touching up before I head out into the show ring. More on that later - 

Anyway - these people were the nicest out there in the ring. And outside the ring. Yesterday especially I was like a fish out of water when I went out there. They calmed me down and gave me tips and invited me to come over to chat if I had any questions. So when I went out there today, I didn't feel that intimidated, even though I was the only owner handler out there. Felt like I was out there with friendlies. 

2. I was scared to death that Bertie was going too go out there and shy away from the judge and waddle-pace when we were supposed to be trotting with the judge's STARING us down. : 

Turns out that Bertie was "ON" as far as trotting his heart out. In fact, he was pulling quite a bit out there, some of which I allowed, because I was nervous that checking him would pull him back into a pace. 

I think vaguely the pulling was not necessarily a problem. 

The leaping for joy thingy he did yesterday and then again today - that was the only issue. I think when I show him again in April, that he should be a bit better behaved. 

3. I'm excited about his "show brain" as far as how it will relate to obedience. While waiting for the judge to show up (she was a little late coming back from lunch), I was pacing around today near the ring and unconsciously doing obedience warm up with him (I know - bad, right?). He was heeling beautifully and scoop-sitting every time I stopped. I was looking down like "I'm so proud of you - oh wait! Wrong sport!" LOL. 

In the ring - he was very comfortable and not SPASTIC. Or not in the out of control sense (the flipping out during the gaiting is something I think he will grow out of). 

^ Based on that, I think I'm very close to entering him in BN in a couple months. :

4. Well, there was one kinda mortifying thing today. The judge was so nice and obviously understood I have a young dog who is getting used to be out there. Bertie dribbled a little on the exam. And the judge made no mention of it or anything. She just went back up to chirp at him and help him relax and tail wag before sending us off to the down and back. 

We had a similar experience yesterday with the judge. Just very gentle and kind with Bertie. Soft hands with the mouth and patience. 

5. I have no anonymity. LOL. I kept seeing friends and fellow trainers and my instructors ALL OVER. And generally Bertie recognized THEM before I did. Right down to him having a play-outing with our instructor's flat-coated girlie. And of course he recognized his breeders before I even saw them. Bertie started pulling to the side and was twirling and fussing. He really really worships the one guy.

6. Grooming went a lot better today than yesterday. Yesterday I freaked out about walking around with a table and not finding a spot, so I left it all in my car and showed Bertie as is (he had been groomed/blown out that morning). Today I was determined to get the routine right at least, and brought in the table and set up the arm. Bertie got up there and stood very nicely while I fussed over him. <- I probably will need help from somebody before or at the next show to figure out how to "fix" any curls that happen. Bertie's getting a little "flip" around his rear. Probably the way his fur goes when he sits down. :bowl: I spritzed up the area and used a long comb to smooth the hair down and then hair sprayed it and all that under the dryer.... and it just flipped right back up! 

The nice thing is talking to the breeder, they were very happy to see how he looked and praised the grooming job. <- Maybe they were worried I would take Bertie out as is! :

7. His stacking when not having a judge go over him was solid. And that was despite the fact that he did not want anything to do with treats out in the ring. 

^^^^ So, I'm planning on entering him in the golden specialty and then the All breed show in April. Should be fun.


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## AmberSunrise

Sounds awesome  Congratulations!!


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## LJack

Congrats. Sounds like an educational and fun start!


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## MaureenM

Congratulations, it sounds like you had a great time and you're off to a good start!


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## Megora

Funny thing with class - I got there and the instructors wife (who is close friends with Bertie's one breeder) came running up to talk to me about letting Bertie pace on the down and back. 

I was like.... "huh?!" Because the one thing I was thrilled about was Bertie did not pace even once out there in the ring or even outside the ring. 

I think there was some confusion about what went wrong there. Told her that Bertie started jumping around when I had reached the "about turn" point of the down and back. So I stopped, settled him down, did the about turn and went back to the judge to free-stack him. 

She told me I should have gone back to the judge to do it again. Noted that.  

Today Bertie saw his very first Shiba Inu puppy, and he was convinced it was some kind of cat. You know how you bait a dog by holding up on the collar and holding the bait in front for them to stretch forward while concentrating on that bait? He was stacking like while concentrating in that Shiba Inu. 

I've never really seen one up close (they're just not a breed I'm into so I haven't stalked them at shows), and geez they DO look very foxlike. I didn't know they were that small too. 

Other thing too.... there is somebody in our class who I swear there is something wrong with their dog. The dog smells very gassy and just rank. This was the second week in a row like that. I'm not going to be mean and say anything, but if my dogs smelled like that - they probably have huge mushy poops too. Need flagyl or something. >.< 

Other thing or quandary that I have is Bertie basically automatically takes the full trot with his focus and momentum forward. I'm aware that he looks very nice when he does this and I don't want to discourage him or check him. But geez, he's not exactly doing all that on a loose lead. Which I'm not thrilled about but unsure of whether I'm encouraging that or not. 

<- I've heard a mixture of things from people going back to these dogs only being shown on a loose lead, to Bertie's breeder saying in the seminar that he gave last year that it's one of those nod things. That if his dogs work better on a tight lead, that he's showing them on a tight lead. 

And adding to that, the other handlers were readjusting Bertie's chain and telling me to keep the leash and collar tight.


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## gldnboys

Interesting comments about the loose leash thing, since I've had the same dilemma. When I was taking handling classes (years ago, with a dog who is no longer with us ), my instructor told me that my boy was sidewinding on the down and back, and tightening up on the lead prevented the problem. Fast forward a couple of months to when we were showing at a match.... The judge thought she had given us Best in Match and congratulated us a little while afterwards (short memory, I guess ), and I reminded her of what had happened. She thought about it, and then said it was something about his elbows.... She asked me to move him, said he was "throwing out" his elbows on the down and back, and asked me to try a loose lead. Problem solved! He went on to get his first 5-point win the following weekend.  

So.... I guess it's not even just what works best for the particular dog, but what works best at any given time. Keeping in mind that my boy was still young - 16 months - and very immature at that stage.


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## gldnboys

Megora said:


> .Other thing or quandary that I have is Bertie basically automatically takes the full trot with his focus and momentum forward. I'm aware that he looks very nice when he does this and I don't want to discourage him or check him. But geez, he's not exactly doing all that on a loose lead. Which I'm not thrilled about but unsure of whether I'm encouraging that or not.


To clarify this, do you mean that he's not on a loose lead because he's moving out so much that the lead is tightening up? If so, I wouldn't worry about it. I always think of the loose lead thing as being more like when handlers "string up" a dog or hold him/her back to the point where they are potentially impeding the dog's natural movement. Personally, I love to see a Golden moving out the way you're describing.


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## Megora

gldnboys said:


> To clarify this, do you mean that he's not on a loose lead because he's moving out so much that the lead is tightening up? If so, I wouldn't worry about it. I always think of the loose lead thing as being more like when handlers "string up" a dog or hold him/her back to the point where they are potentially impeding the dog's natural movement. Personally, I love to see a Golden moving out the way you're describing.


I think another reason why they "string up" a dog is keeping them from pacing in the ring. <- That wasn't the issue with Bertie, but I saw a couple dogs at the show who trotted their hearts out inside the ring when the leashes were up and tight.... and then when they were outside the ring and going back to the grooming area, even with handler walking fast, the dogs were pacing. <- I just kept thinking about what Bertie's breeder said in that same seminar about being aware of the judges looking around at shows and first impressions. He said this "look around" happens in the ring - like if the judge is waiting for somebody to set up their dog. They will turn around and look down the line. He said this look around also happens when the judge is walking to the ring. He says he tries not to eyeball goldens out there, but it happens and he has the "oh no I have to judge that" thought in his head. I would think that's everything from letting your dog stand all "hang dog" outside the ring to walking by the ring with your dog pacing... 

Back when Bertie was pacing (see my first few posts on this thread) one of the places I trained taught by a husband and wife team who are both pro handlers, they told me the best way to fix that is bring the collar up to under his jaw and keep the leash tight and his head higher while moving out with him. Said this would stop the pacing <- And it fell in line with what obedience people talk about with heads-up heeling. If the dogs have their heads up, they aren't going to pace. 

*** sorry dithering. 

Yes, he's forging a little on the leash while gaiting. I've seen this on videos with him (I need to post over here) and he looks good + he's not prancing in heel position which is the alternative when he's more focused on me instead of ahead.


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## gldnboys

Interesting point about the head up meaning no pacing.... I had never made that connection in conformation, but I have noticed it in obedience - and yes, I have a dog that used to pace on occasion while heeling until I got him prancing, which completely fixed that issue. 

And I know what you mean about the "look around" that judges do while waiting for handlers to set up their dogs, etc., though I hadn't realized it extended to way outside the ring. :uhoh: Guess I'll have to take a closer look the next time I'm at a show, and be extra-careful the next time I'm out and about with a dog! 



Megora said:


> Yes, he's forging a little on the leash while gaiting. I've seen this on videos with him (I need to post over here) and he looks good + he's not prancing in heel position which is the alternative when he's more focused on me instead of ahead.


Given all the obedience work you've been doing with him, I can see how that could happen, though you may find that with more experience, he'll figure out the difference and move accordingly. Having said that, my boy had a tendency to really move out too, so I just made sure I left lots of space after the dog and handler in front of us, and if I was lucky and managed to timed it right, we'd have the proper spacing at the point where the judge was looking at us.


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## Ljilly28

The only dog of our who was shown "strung up" on occasion was Copley outdoors. At one show, some seagulls decides to invade ringside bc of an impending storm on the water. I give handler Diana Mason all kinds of credit, bc anyone who knows Coply knows he is a huge lover of life and of having all four feet off the ground in pursuit of birds. He was stacked, but trembling with bird fever and eyeing the seagulls every chance he got. So when his turn came to move? No choice but grab hold of that nut. Thank you judge Denny Mounce bc he did end uo winning the points, but she commented" a bit of a wild ride".


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## gldnboys

Wow, congratulations on his having won the points, even with that type of distraction! And good on Diana Mason for knowing just how to handle him under such circumstances. "A bit of a wild ride" - I love it.


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## Megora

Yeah.... I was watching at a show back in 2012. Winter show - which means that the building had an invasion of birds (small birds). I couldn't believe what I was seeing with a mob of birds swooping over and even landing in the golden ring in front of me. 

If something like that happened in obedience, you would probably have a LOT of trainers calling fowl and refusing to go out there with their dogs.


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## cazzy

The one thing I hate with showing outside is the birds it's happen to me a few times.
I have. Been reading this and congrats on how well it is going for you and your boy with the training 
It is amazing how quick they pick things up. 


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## Megora

Thanks<:

I just filled out UKC registration and my devious plot is to get extra practice showing in that venue between AKC shows (next AKC show isn't until April). Everyone has been telling me it's easier for beginners. I sure hope they're right.


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## cazzy

We have our first official show in 11 days this is our first of the year. I don't know what Ukc is. I am from way across the water ... Lol I use inofficial dogs shows for training mine they get the training and we save some money with the toys/treats among other things they win.


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## Megora

Random question to ask people...

When you clip whiskers for a show and let them grow back between shows.... is it just my pup or are they like super thick and sharp?! Wow... I'm debating about clipping them off again right now just because they are so sharp. >.<


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## CarolinaCasey

Megora said:


> Random question to ask people...
> 
> When you clip whiskers for a show and let them grow back between shows.... is it just my pup or are they like super thick and sharp?! Wow... I'm debating about clipping them off again right now just because they are so sharp. >.<


I do it the "day of" the show or first of a weekend circuit. I don't do it between shows. So right now, they're wild and crazy-- and sharp looking! 


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## Megora

But are they terribly sharp? Like you're kissing your dog in his "best kissing spot" (Bertie's is the side of his muzzle/cheek area) and you get STABBED?


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## Megora

Today was a face/palm type of class....  

Good news is Bertie and I apparently are efficient and nice enough out there that we have people coming up and asking me questions or asking for advice on stacking and doing the "food face" thingy with the dogs. I tell them to watch TV (meaning the Eukanuba breed judging videos which are still online, as well a Westminster videos which are still online + what little they can see next week with their breeds).... 

Lemme see - the part where we stacked for the judge, stood for the judge, gaited for the judge, and ran around back to the line and stacked again - basically all the parts where he knew he had to work, he worked and did very nice today. 

And our teacher wanted to use Bertie as a demo-dog.

Now the "I do not know this dog" part.  

I apparently have more of a "stud-brain" than I'm used to having.  Somebody brought their bulldog in to visit. And this dog was very dominant and came marching in to stare down all the dogs before making friends with them. 

Bertie saw this stout dog posturing his way towards him and HE started posturing. :doh: I broke his focus, but the fangled owner of that dog kept swooping past and bringing that dog into our space. So dog would posture at Bertie, Bertie would puff up like a blowfish (no nose wrinkling, but definitely making his hair stand up and STARING), I pull Bertie away... repeat.

And he got so worked up that he decided all the dogs in the class who LOOKED at him were worth challenging.  So while we were on the floor - I basically worked him nonstop through his signals (stand, drop, sit), touch high and low (him nose-bopping my hand), spins, stretches, stacking, etc... <- If I stopped, then he was turning around and puffing up while looking at whoever was behind us. 

Rude little dog that he is. He made me work today. >.< 

Oh and the part where our teacher tried taking him away from me to be the demo dog? Total DRAMA. End story, he was not demo dog.

LOL.


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## Megora

One of the things I was worried about heading into the shows last months.... <- And definitely not planning to shave Bertie's ears the next time we show, because he was doing this a LOT in the days before the show....

And jean leggings!


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## Brave

Are you handling him yourself in the shows? And forgive me b/c they all look so similar, which one is Bertie?


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## Megora

Those are pics at the Westminster show (watching online). 

I'm a homer so will only show in Midwest when we get going. No big city shows.


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## Brave

LMAO!!! OMG! I totally thought it was Bertie up there. SMH.


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## Megora

Class went well tonight.... lots of people were antsy to get the handling practice done and done so they could go home and watch WDS tonight. 

Just funny thing I picked up between yesterday's obedience class and tonight's class -

Favorite from the obedience people last night was the portie (which won working group). 

Favorite from the conformation people tonight is apparently the min pin (which won the toy group - I believe). 

Bertie had a good night except because of the obedience thing we do, he wants to look at me when I free stack him in front of the judge. And no amount of clucking, quacking, whistling, or treat fingers from the guy will get Bertie's eyes off of me.... except when the guy told me to give him some bait for the last two run throughs. That did the job. Bertie really truly stacked very nice while looking up and fixating on HIS TREATS being waved around by the judge. Was nice to see.


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## Megora

Decided since I had a free night (whee!) to take both dogs for an open floor training (obedience training for both guys) opportunity - connected with a drop in conformation class. 

Once again consider myself so lucky to have so many different training groups/facilities around here. This class was run by a handler/groomer guy and he picked up a lot of different things that my regular Tuesday teacher hasn't. 

Good example would be when I first got there and put Bertie into a stack, he was leaning back or slouching. The handler guy called it "posting". Thought it was interesting since I saw a conversation on facebook on what's going on with some goldens' toplines. The fix for the slouching issue was bringing Bertie's head/chest forward so he shifted his weight forward and evenly. 

Other great thing is this guy picked up on a "bracing" thing I'm doing when gaiting Bertie. 

Bertie himself - he did very good. I think because this was a different (and HUGE!) group of all kinds of dogs, he was up and strutting his stuff even when I was walking. Very up (hence my bracing myself for dear life). It's when he's bored out of his skull or stressed that I worry about him pacing or jumping around. 

But anyhoo - it was cool going somewhere new. 

And I never knew that great danes are allowed to have uncropped ears and tails in AKC shows! Weird.


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## Megora

I went to class tonight... and probably shouldn't have. Very sad day for me. My brain wasn't "there". Proof of that was me jumping on the wrong highway and heading about 15 minutes the wrong direction before I realized my mistake. I was halfway to another location with drop in classes, so I went with it. The nice thing is because it's a bigger place and a lot more dogs (I'm guessing 20 dogs - class was split between two rooms), we had lots to work on. I waited at the end of class to talk to the instructor and get some ideas on how to work through the problems (dog go zoom) I had in the class. Got some positive feedback. I think all of this will get easier when the snow goes away and I can start training in the street every morning again. It isn't enough to just train at class... and there just isn't enough room in the house for me to move out really.


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## gldnboys

Sorry to hear about your rough night, but I'm glad that you were get something positive from it all. I know what you mean.... I really miss training outdoors, too, and this winter has been soooo long. Though we had a nice break in the weather yesterday, so we hit a small vacant parking lot and had a nice training session there. I got a bit of spring fever, just from being able to do that! 

Hang in there....


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## Megora

Funny to share re/ my obedience dog....  

Bertie free-stacks very nicely (tug up on the leash and stand signal and he puts his feet right each time) - but he won't look at the judge. He just watches me. It's not like I have bait in my hands or even reward him at that time. He is utterly unfazed by clucking and treat fingers from the judge.... 

So we decided to build a little more "Excitement" on going up to the judge. I gave him a treat before I went into the down-and-back. When I came back up and he caught a whiff of the treat. Totally different. <- Unfortunately he was convinced based on how the guy was holding the treat out that he had to most emphatically sit and look pretty for the treat. I get him back up on his feet and PLOP he'd sit again all wagging his tail, eyes FIXED on that treat.  

We need to work on that.


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## Megora

Such a mixed bag today.... 

I went to the handling class where I actually have to "work" (as opposed to the Tuesday class where he's an angel). Lots of dogs = Bertie gets super hyped up and out of control. <- Basically if this were an obedience class, I'd be taking him off to the side until he calms down. Lots of little dogs and he's obsessed with them. 

Other thing is he peed on the first go-over right from the get-go and the guy took his leash while I cleaned the mess up - which made Bertie get very silly and pee again. Oh, I forgot to mention: the instructor assumed Bertie is just "like that" for guys and handed him off to a lady who was eagerly waving her hands to hold onto him.... and yes, he peed for her too. Like he wanted to compliment EVERYONE - with his pee. :doh: 

I actually had him gaiting at the start of class and after the pee incident, he actually was doing fine for exams and stacking. Funny thing is I noticed Bertie tucking his butt against me every time the evil instructor came our way so started feeding him nonstop every time the guy came our way. Which led to the instructor feeling like he had to teach me to bait Bertie properly (showing me something I've been doing for the past 6 months)... LOL. <- I mumbled I was just doing it to keep Bertie's attention off of HIM, but yah.  Except for THAT, I was feeling pretty good about the class.

Towards the end when we did the last "all together" lap around the room, another dog (Bertie thinks he's the most awesome dobie-buddy in the whole world) started bouncing around acting silly and Bertie thought that was a good idea and started really racing through everything. He was just flying. The faster I went, the faster he went and I think there were definitely some chasing-fast-glorious-objects thoughts going through his head based on how focused he was on the dogs way ahead of me (as I tried to build lots of space between us). He had this "GO FASTER GO!" look on his face - while I held on for dear life. Plbbt. Not fun - especially since it was the last thing. >.< 

 LOL. I will definitely keep going to these classes because they are a challenge and Bertie is showing all of the behaviors that I want to stop or figure out how to fix or control before I show again. 

I think the instructor saw I was frazzled about Bertie peeing AGAIN and he put somebody and their vizsla in front of me. Bertie is submissive and pees because he gets hyped up... but he's not fearful. While he pees when touched, he still stands nicely and wags his tail while being touched. This dog was very fearful of both dogs and people. During the exams, she was shaking and huddling and peeing. The owner explained this 3 year old dog has all her points except a major and hasn't been able to do anything since she was a year old and "mentally snapped". 

My mouth popped open and I started to tell her that I went through something similar with my Jacks around the same age (15-18 months).... but decided to let it be. I figure somebody with a conformation dog may not want to hear a suggestion that they have their dog's thyroid checked out. 

ETA - Something I've been vaguely thinking about is gently cutting the Tuesday classes and just going to this location and possibly picking up other random locations on other days, just so I can get more people patting him down so he stops the "I must pee to impress them" thing. But the teachers are friends with his breeder and his breeder sometimes goes to these classes so I feel obliged to continue going there as well. But he's so used to the instructor and everyone else, he's on his best behavior.... >.<


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## gldnboys

First off, your story made me LOL, so thanks for that. :-D Glad to see that you're laughing about it already - definitely a good thing.  

It does sound like your idea about attending different classes makes sense, since having as many different hands on him as possible seems to make sense. Do you suppose you could just explain the situation to the other instructors, your breeder, etc.? I would imagine they'd understand your going elsewhere, at least for the next little while, since you have something specific you need to work on and only "other people" can help you with that. 

I can understand that it may be a touchy situation, but these are just my thoughts, from the outside.


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## Megora

gldnboys said:


> First off, your story made me LOL, so thanks for that. :-D Glad to see that you're laughing about it already - definitely a good thing.


 When I was there at class - I had this "what the heck happened" dark cloud swarming around me. Haha. When I got home though, telling my family about what happened and sharing it here - it did bring out the funny side so I could laugh it off.  

The thing that bugged me to no end was I got to class early yesterday and worked with Bertie specifically. And he gaited effortlessly out there. Very loose lead, moving out next to me without pulling, face forward, etc <- That tells me right away that the racing thing is all excitement because of the crowded room.

Which leads me to wish that I had one of those breeds where entries are way down and you are the only one out there. :


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## gldnboys

Megora said:


> When I was there at class - I had this "what the heck happened" dark cloud swarming around me. Haha. When I got home though, telling my family about what happened and sharing it here - it did bring out the funny side so I could laugh it off.


Oh yes, I know that "dark cloud" feeling well. It's pretty horrid. I find myself stewing over things like that sometimes... I think you're onto something, with regard to sharing your experiences making you feel better. 



> The thing that bugged me to no end was I got to class early yesterday and worked with Bertie specifically. And he gaited effortlessly out there. Very loose lead, moving out next to me without pulling, face forward, etc <- That tells me right away that the racing thing is all excitement because of the crowded room.
> 
> Which leads me to wish that I had one of those breeds where entries are way down and you are the only one out there. :


LOL, that aspect of it would certainly make showing him easier, but then you'd have problems when it comes to finding shows where you can get majors, etc.  He's a young dog and you're working so hard with him... I really think it's just a matter of time, and then everything will fall into place. It might even happen all of a sudden. (At least, that's what I keep telling myself, when it comes to my crazy young boy!


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## Megora

Much better class tonight.... I wonder if that's because he's settling in this location, or if my running him around and working with him before class (I moved nonstop with him the 15-20 minutes before class) helped. 

The funny thing is that the teacher said he wants me to start baiting him on the "free stack" (where you are in front of the judge) like a show person vs obedience person. LOL. I think that means he wants me to loosen up and get out in front of him with baiting and so on vs. putting him in a moving stand with him at my side.


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## Megora

*Just sharing a disgusted sigh here....*

Throwing it here because with everything I've been learning with handling classes and now entering shows.... this is nonsense. 

Differences - D's Creamy Goldens

 I was trying to look up information on topline rolls and roached backs. Not Bertie's problem, but I saw a picture of a young dog his age who had something going on with the back and I was pretty sure it was just a topline roll primarily and maybe a deeper tuck than most. 

Didn't find anything helpful, but this came up and YEESH. 

Are people so stupid as to write this? Or do they think people are stupid?


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## Megora

I realized one very nice thing about the Tuesday classes.... I always leave the class feeling very confident about entering Bertie in the next show (as opposed to the Wednesday classes where I leave feeling like there's a ton to work on before the next show). 










About an hour before class, this was Bertie gaiting through the big puddle that's thankfully starting to flow away from the house as our driveway melts....










And this was the close up side view - which did not show the twigs knotted into his tail feathers.










Oh - here is a view of those twigs....

I was looking at him as I ate my supper and thinking that I probably didn't want to take him to class. 

But then I heard on the radio that certain areas of the state may be getting up to 10 inches of snow overnight so there might not be class tomorrow. So I grabbed a slicker brush and stuffed him in the car and started driving out to class.

By the time we got to class, he was mostly dry and he shook out any dirt or debris that I didn't manage to brush out. So he was actually pretty clean in class.  

And he was very easygoing. Guess running around with a beach ball helped burn off excess energy. He was on his very best "I know what I'm doing" show dog behavior in class.

So chittering with my friends in the class I'm back to planning on entering him in the next show (golden specialty) after all. I'll send the entry out tomorrow morning so I can't panic after class tomorrow night.


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## gldnboys

That's great!  Glad the two of you had a good class, too. When is the show?

Oh, and we're supposed to get a pretty good dumping tomorrow, too (more like 10-15 cm, not 10 inches, but still....). Just after we've been enjoying watching a fair bit of the old snow and ice melting over the past couple of days. Ugh....


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## Megora

Show is the first weekend of April - so 3 weeks. 

Class tomorrow - if there is one - I'm going to see if I can get somebody else going over Bertie besides the instructor. Obedience class last night - he did his stands very well. And tonight he was just all business and doing his "food face" the whole time. That's my only concern before the next show. 

It's raining right now - I'm really hoping the winter storm fizzles. Though people in class were rooting for 10 inches so we break some kind record for snowfall.


----------



## gldnboys

Megora said:


> Throwing it here because with everything I've been learning with handling classes and now entering shows.... this is nonsense.
> 
> Differences - D's Creamy Goldens
> 
> I was trying to look up information on topline rolls and roached backs. Not Bertie's problem, but I saw a picture of a young dog his age who had something going on with the back and I was pretty sure it was just a topline roll primarily and maybe a deeper tuck than most.
> 
> Didn't find anything helpful, but this came up and YEESH.
> 
> Are people so stupid as to write this? Or do they think people are stupid?


Oh my goodness.... :doh::doh::doh: Seeing what their agenda is, I'm actually wondering if it might be the latter. :uhoh: Wow,I can't believe you managed to dredge that up just by looking up such innocent things as topline rolls.  Don't you just love the internet?!


----------



## gldnboys

Megora said:


> Show is the first weekend of April - so 3 weeks.
> 
> Class tomorrow - if there is one - I'm going to see if I can get somebody else going over Bertie besides the instructor. Obedience class last night - he did his stands very well. And tonight he was just all business and doing his "food face" the whole time. That's my only concern before the next show.
> 
> It's raining right now - I'm really hoping the winter storm fizzles. Though people in class were rooting for 10 inches so we break some kind record for snowfall.


LOL, we had a winter like that 5 or 6 years ago.... We had so much snow that people were thinking, might as well break the record already! I think we were about 12 cm short. : Rain, though.... I hope your temps stay mild, since it's supposed to get really cold here by tomorrow evening, so anything rain-like would just turn into ice. 

What do you mean by "food face"? Sounds like it should be a good thing for a conformation show , but clearly I'm misunderstanding something here.


----------



## Megora

Did you read the comment about the front end walking and the rear end crawling?! 

And the comments on trimming? Last time I checked, they clip a lot more fur off the dogs overseas for shows than they do here! 

A couple people posted an incorrect diagram here on GRF showing similar fallacies and I thought that was BAD. But the assertions in the attached link are far worse!

Lol - "food face" is my term for getting his serious expression with the ears up while I'm baiting.  Generally if I can get him doing his "food face" - it means he's not worrying about the judge going over him.


----------



## gldnboys

Yes, I saw all of those things on that page. Only some of the reasons for all the head-bashing I was doing.  I think the walking/crawling thing was one of the worst, though. At first the link you posted reminded me of that diagram too (sloping topline on American Goldens, etc.), but this link was far more intensive (and therefore infuriating). 

Lol, good, so "food face" is indeed what I was imagining!


----------



## Megora

I will probably have to post pictures.... or maybe bribe my sister to come with to handling class this week with a video camera....  But I was very happy with the grooming job I did on the kiddo today. 

Been working on bathing him every week - and learning the quickest and surest way to get him prepped without getting flippies or him having wet spots here or there. 

And this was the second straight week where for sure dry coat and NO FLIPPIES!!!! I love my dryer.

Other thing - I used clippers on the fur between his pads and behind his big pad. Then just thinning shears around the foot + straight scissors snipping around the nails. I trimmed up the nails a little but otherwise. Yep. 

Trimmed up his tail, and trimmed the feathering on his hocks and front legs just as I'd been shown - 

Just used my mars king on his ears and under the ears, no need to thin out the ears. I think the next time I groom I will have to trim around the edge of the ear, but otherwise the Mars King is doing the job. 

And I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to do this myself in a couple weeks... 

*bounces up and down*


----------



## Megora

Holy crud. I meant to post this HERE. Not on someone else's thread. 

This is a random comment observation on something that bugs me a little when I see pictures. I didn't want to start a new discussion/thread on this because it seems people get touchy. So just randomness here.... 

I don't think golden retrievers should have eyes this light....


----------



## Megora

Randomness, but I still really love my dryer....  Had to quickly groom Bertie because there is a fun match tomorrow + I'm trying to get both of us used to the whole grooming routine so we do not have an experience like I did at the show back in January with the flippies and so on. :bowl:

Somebody had a real fun time (not) as I used the clippers on the inside of his ears and snipped his whiskers off.... but he does look all purty are dry, clean, and trimmed and brushed.... 




























^ Front feet - the nails are way too long still. But trimming just the edge had them bleeding.... 





































I think that is the first time I've trimmed back feet and came CLOSE to being very happy with how they look.


----------



## gldnboys

I hope you and that handsome boy have a blast at the match!


----------



## Megora

We had a real nice class tonight.... all loose lead + nice movement from the kiddo. I was waffling between going to my usual Tuesday location or going to a different spot which is a bit further away. I opted for the usual spot and was relieved at the end since we have snow squalls out there. That was a really tough drive home with me being glad there was a car in front of me who apparently knew where he was going - I just kept his taillights in front of me and hoped for the best.  

Um... interesting conversation before class - just getting caught up on some gossip about a breeder for one of our past dogs.... when we bought our guy from her, she only had 6 dogs (5 females and one male, and she wasn't always breeding to that one male). As of right now, she has 15 female dogs who are bred whenever they come into heat. And one male (apparently). I stared at the lady telling me this and commented that was basically a puppy mill. Even if the dogs are inside the house with the owner. One instance that had me falling out of my chair was a description of the male dog getting out into the yard with the females - and the breeding being easygoing and relaxed about the "natural breeding". Just terrible. 
:bricks1:


----------



## Megora

Very good class tonight.... everyone is getting ready for weekend shows and everyone was just in a great mood today. Plus huge class. 

Somebody was snapping pictures of their dog and the flash of light was scaring poor Jacks (he thought it was storming?) - in a second he managed to rip a dog sized hole in his crate and he was OUT and would have been RUNNING FOR HIS LIFE if it weren't for a nice person grabbing his collar. 

I was standing with the judge and getting ready to do a down and back with Bertie... decided since somebody had a hold of Jacks to just finish what we were doing. As I recall Bertie moved beautifully next to me especially that time. And he even did a full free stack while the judge cued him. And then when we made our way around the ring, he again moved really pretty. I hope I can get him to do that when we show. And or, as we get more experience showing - I hope I can consistently get him to move like that. We'd do just fine out there, I think.  

Jacks got to hang out in the car the rest of the night. The crate - I think will stitch up fine, but I have plenty of material to patch it up with if needed. I might do that anyway.


----------



## K9-Design

Kate I know there are a lot of people who groom this way but I HATE the look of a little round foot carved out with the nails sticking out. I think it looks gross and isn't fooling anyone. Let the hair grow out, keep the nails short, and trim it all into a neat round foot. Goldens aren't supposed to have little bitty toes at the end of their legs. They need to have FEET.


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## Megora

Totally agree, Anney.  

I hate the look of the nails sticking out. That's how his breeders trim the feet and how the lady helping me with grooming does the feet. <- Me personally, I'd prefer to trim around the feet but keep the nails covered.


----------



## Megora

^ Have to share something that had me smiling. At this point, he discovered the reddish golden "chasing" behind us and was starting to clown around and I had to haul up on the leash to keep him from turning around and bouncing. As it was - oh dear gosh, don't know what was worse the sideways dangly tongue or the proud tail going straight up.  

Including the below to show his normal tail carriage...  










I was kinda warned going into this show that the judges were not going to be owner handler friendly. But the judge was nice and I liked how she handled my guy and basically gave me my time in the ring and made for it being a good experience. That was definitely a good day and I'm glad I didn't turn around and go back home when the highway was closed down just north of us because of a truck flipping into a ditch. 

Other stuff - really got some training time in while waiting our turn. Bertie was rubbing his nose all over the ring gate (unused ring) practicing "go-touch" and we did some heeling and signals as well. Both breeders were there. I saw the kids of the one breeder. Bertie's other breeder - was very happy to see her boy (Bertie's bro) got 4 points.


----------



## Megora

Just realized something looking at the catalog today - the reddish guy behind Bertie was Robbie - owned by a GRF member here...


----------



## Claudia M

hahaha - just read thru your conformation saga! You are way ahead of me. I can get Darcy groomed, but I am still afraid to do her ears. 
The first show, I was not nervous because I had no clue what I was doing. I had the number on the wrong arm, after we went down the diagonal I had no clue that I was supposed to turn around and come back down the diagonal; instead I took a 45 degree angle to come back to the judge. I heard some laughs in the audience. I looked at the judge and he winked showing me which was I was supposed to go. Darcy was such a good sport. She looked at me and said OK we will go this way. 
The second time I had treats in my pocket in a plastic sandwich bag. I tried to get a treat and the darn bag was turned around. I finally took the plastic bag out, got the treat, dropped a couple on the floor including the bag. Told Darcy to leave it, picked everything up and asked a lady sitting in the chair if she would care to hold them for me until I get out. The lady judge was absolutely wonderful. She actually showed me how to stack Darcy. 
The lady that does conformation classes has been quite busy with other stuff and I probably cannot start until some time in May. 
I figured that if I pick her up by the belly and put her in position and then tell her whoa she "freezes" like that. Or I back her up a couple steps and she gets into position but whoa does not "freeze" her in that situation. We have been working every morning, especially with Rose being sick.


----------



## Megora

I think flatcoats have the same stack at goldens - 

wider in the back than the front
front of back toes straight line down from rear-point
front of front toes straight line down from shoulder-point - 
practice in front of a mirror to make sure the way you set your dog keeps the topline straight and compliments the dog.... and make sure you know how to visually check the stack just looking down front and side. If you have in your mind the picture of a perfectly stacked flatcoat, that's what you want to see with her....

And when you are setting the feet - you want one hand on the collar or her jaw - keep her head up and straight. 

Practice the routine of physically placing the feet 
- hand on the elbows/lower shoulder, hand on the knee/upper hock - not only will it become habit for you, but she will remember to place her feet herself with minimal setting by you. It takes a lot of practice to get there. 

Bertie was probably started on stacking by his breeder when he was a puppy or his structure helps, but he does 80% of the work himself just stepping into it. I normally have to look down and back to make sure his feet are in the right spots and I adjust. <- Usually this is setting his front feet a smidge wider and fixing the back foot that the judge is looking at. Bertie tends to overextend his rear - sticking them too far back.

Practice will go into improving the free stack for your dog. Also if you do clicker training or something like that - marking and rewarding when she sets herself up right on her own - that helps. 

With Bertie pretty much the free stack is there - I just do a tug up on the collar and give the moving stand signal so he doesn't sit in heel position. But this came after we've done a few months of classes and practice with me manually putting his feet in the right spots.


----------



## Claudia M

hmm - a bit hard to take a mirror outside. Maybe can try it in the hallway or living room (which doesn't get used much except on holidays).

That is the image I strive for. Her tail won't stop moving though. She is such a happy Tinker Bell. And then I got the licking.


----------



## Megora

For stacking though - you want the back feet up a little more. The way they are extended (I think) in the pic causes a slope with the topline.


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## Claudia M

So more like this?


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## Megora

Yep - you want the back to look like that.


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## Megora

Had the best class EVER at Wednesday location. 

WHY? You ask? 

Because this was probably the first time that there was zero submissive peeing + I actually had the kiddo gaiting on a loose lead. 

The guy teaching the class was actually convinced that Bertie just didn't like him. So it was nice to see Bertie wiggling and doing the golden greeting for the guy before class and holding a nice stack during the exams during class. 

Bad thing? Basically, I was so overwhelmed by the fact that the kiddo had not peed once, that I forgot how to do a triangle pattern. Truly. I did the L and then did an about turn at the tip of the L and started going back to where I started. <- Maybe I thought I was in obedience class or something. LOL.  

Speaking of which, we did an obedience demo for the club people who came to oversee the class - as I got there about 40 minutes too early and had the room to myself while the club people set up their table. Bertie did his articles, go-outs, offleash heeling, and some drops before I put his show lead on. The show ladies were agog and asked if he had his UD title. <- In my dreams.


----------



## coaraujo

Megora said:


> Had the best class EVER at Wednesday location.
> 
> WHY? You ask?
> 
> Because this was probably the first time that there was zero submissive peeing + I actually had the kiddo gaiting on a loose lead.
> 
> The guy teaching the class was actually convinced that Bertie just didn't like him. So it was nice to see Bertie wiggling and doing the golden greeting for the guy before class and holding a nice stack during the exams during class.
> 
> Bad thing? Basically, I was so overwhelmed by the fact that the kiddo had not peed once, that I forgot how to do a triangle pattern. Truly. I did the L and then did an about turn at the tip of the L and started going back to where I started. <- Maybe I thought I was in obedience class or something. LOL.
> 
> Speaking of which, we did an obedience demo for the club people who came to oversee the class - as I got there about 40 minutes too early and had the room to myself while the club people set up their table. Bertie did his articles, go-outs, offleash heeling, and some drops before I put his show lead on. The show ladies were agog and asked if he had his UD title. <- In my dreams.


Happy to hear you had such a great class! Just goes to show we need to do those patterns a million times because one little thing can so easily throw us off and we lose our brains - just like our dogs . Go Bertie for gaining some confidence!


----------



## Megora

coaraujo said:


> Happy to hear you had such a great class! Just goes to show we need to do those patterns a million times because one little thing can so easily throw us off and we lose our brains - just like our dogs . Go Bertie for gaining some confidence!


Or as the case may be - given a brain spazz you revert to what you practice the most. In my case I could do an obedience L pattern in my sleep. And that's apparently what I tried doing in front of everyone.


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## Megora

He needs a bath (he's a little gummied up and tousled after playfighting with his bro and running around outside), but pretty much the rest of the grooming is as done as I'll get it for an upcoming show. May ask somebody there if he needs a stripper on his ears or if his feet need touching up. But I'm afraid to take anything more off.


----------



## Megora

Bertie did a good job today. Very proud of my little one. The judge took Bertie's face in his hands and held him like that for a moment looking at him. And I was smiling to see Bertie just relax and ooze contentment while this strange guy looked into his face. :smooch:

The black curtain behind the ring separated the regular show from a Scottish terrier specialty. The din was HORRIBLE. I had mental images of these dogs running around the ring barking the whole time. There was like a nonstop roar! I finished with grooming early and decided it was more important to get him used to the noise as opposed to keeping him fluffed, so we went and sat down outside the ring for the 45 minutes or so. He was cool as a cucumber. My poor Jacks would have been climbing the walls!  

Shelties showed before goldens... and I've never seen this, but they had tables right up against the ring and there was a row of shelties being poofed and spritzed! Full view of the judge! 

I did my duty as far as PR (if that's the word I'm looking for). A person from the humane society was there to watch a friend show a collie. The poor lady looked like a fish out of water and very tentatively asked if she could pet Bertie. I was like, "I absolutely WELCOME people visiting with him." She wasn't the only one who came up to visit and I was pleased to see he was just a little fluff-muffin for them and DID NOT PEE. 

The dogs who won WD and RWD - I _really_ liked them. I know the one was Hyline's Skirt Chaser (I think). I don't know who the other one was other than guessing Docmar Ewe from Da Hood (I'm pretty sure that handler was the other handler's wife - checking the video afterwards it was too foggy to figure out her number though - will see the results, I guess)? Both dogs were about a year old than Bertie and you could definitely see the maturity difference.


----------



## gldnboys

Glad to hear it went well, and that you and Bertie had a great time!  I like your idea of getting him used to the noise, rather than using that extra time to primp and preen him... No point in doing all that work if he might not have shown himself off to best advantage because he was too nervous. The Scottie specialty and the related din reminds me of a story that my former neighbour, who used to breed and show Bichons, told me: one time, there was a Scottie specialty at what was otherwise an all-breed show, and a group of people playing bagpipes came out. Spooked the heck out of a number of dogs.... Not good.  

Great to hear that Bertie was nice and relaxed, both in and out of the ring.


----------



## Megora

Something I was thinking about today - not getting all mushy, LOL, but - there's just a lot of nice people out there.  

Got to class today and was confabbing with everyone else about the few show sites coming up and getting a feeling for the set ups and what to expect. And just basically really supportive and relaxed. Lots of gabbing and getting caught with mouth's flapping when we should be heading up and setting our dog's up.  

My instructor's working with me on Bertie's weak points.... stuff that I can do and he's also going over and above with exams to get Bertie used to a LOT MORE than he'd have to deal with in the ring. 

And I'm also working my showmanship. LOL. My guy's breeder told me not to worry about setting Bertie up with me holding his tail up. And it's more important to get the head and shoulders up and forward. But I'm TRYING to get Bertie used to me holding him up on the right and picking his tail up on the left.


----------



## Claudia M

hahaha - I was so obsessed about Darcy's tail and everyone said worry about head and shoulders, tail is last. I have started just tapping her, once that I have the rest aligned nicely, right under her tail. It makes it straight but she keeps on waving it side to side like the Tinker Bell she is. 
For the life of me I cannot keep the tail straight without her moving her head as if to ask "what is wrong with me wagging my pretty tail?"

As far as the shows, I stopped looking at what to expect. The more I care about the show and the other dogs the more I get nervous. I decided not to even look at who the judge is, not to care at what the other dogs are and not even look at the other dogs until after the show. 

It is just me and Darcy before and during the show.


----------



## Megora

LOL - I was trying to figure out what to expect with the next show. 

I know there's going to be 9 boys. Which probably bulk of those will be in Open. 

I know the judge is somebody who likes fluffy solid dogs. <- So grooming will be very important. I'm really hoping there's outlets I can plug my dryer into! !

The dog show is outside? Or sporting breeds will be outside under tents. We have to go back to the early 90's in obedience as far the last time I showed a dog outside under a tent or out. So I'm a little nervous about what to expect. 

Bertie's going in to be groomed the day or two before (I need help with his ears - she's hopefully going to show me how to use stripping knives without cutting his ears off  ), so I'm planning to ask lots of questions.


----------



## Claudia M

I do rely on Darcy's breeder when it comes to trimming the ears. (Shrug) I have practiced on Rose (who just loves to be pampered and sits/stands so nice thru the entire grooming) with not much success. 
For some reason Darcy's breeder likes the outdoor show. 

I have never been in one outside. I prefer indoors (too many smells, grass and distractions outdoors) but we practice both in the living room and outside. Lately we have the "pressure" of spectators outside (the cows line up at the fence watching us). I will try to remember to take the cell tomorrow morning and take a picture.


----------



## Megora

Had a choice between obedience class and conformation class... and decided to do conformation since it was closer to home. 

Probably nice thing was seeing one of my neighbors there who I haven't seen in months since she and her husband moved. We used to be walking buddies. It was super nice seeing her and her setters again.  

And was glad to see that despite Bertie having over a week off from all training (just really bad weather and yesterday and today Jacks was over at the ER with a broken tooth) - he actually had his very best class at this location. Just moving and showing very well. Good baby. I hope things are still OK over the weekend. He's just been a little lost puppy because of us worrying about and dealing with Jacks.


----------



## gldnboys

Sorry to hear about Jacks' broken tooth.  I hope he's feeling better soon, and things will return to normal for all of you. 

Glad you and Bertie had a good class tonight!


----------



## Megora

Had one of those learning experience kind of days.... was really positive going into the Winners ring and oops. >.< I spazzed out there and did not set my dog up to his best advantage. I didn't actually stack him before the judge went out and looked at everyone. And by the time I though "doh - back feet aren't set up", it was too late and we were being sent around for the final hurrah before the judge pointed out the WD and RWD on either side of me. Bertie was showing nicely today too. Darn.

All that aside, was very happy to see his brother (littermate) got his CH today. That was very fast (his first show was January).


----------



## Megora

Basically had a ball tonight. We went to a grooming seminar given by Bertle's breeder vs conformation class. DEFINITELY worth the time and am very excited about the idea of them doing a full day seminar sometime this summer. I'm going!


----------



## Megora

^ Brought something home from the barn. 

It somewhat made me realize how much horse grooming stuff I accumulated when I emptied all that out and put my dog grooming stuff in.... 










Lots of room in there now. For now....  










The look I get from post bath and grooming session Bertles when I tell him to STOP rolling around the floor with his brother chewing on his neck hair + I'm going to trim his toenails and whiskers tonight. 










Jacks heard the toenails part - you can see him smirking behind his brother's back.


----------



## Megora

^ Bertie's first ever win pic. I see where he would have looked a lot better if I'd been able to groom my usual way (pre show or table bath and blow dry at show) and if I had to do it again, I would have set him up better, but darn he's cute!


----------



## Sally's Mom

He is cute and good for you!


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## Megora

And we officially just got our first AKC point. Hope we keep rolling.


----------



## LJack

*OMG!* Congratulations Kate, that is huge. What show? How many points? Who was the judge? What class where you in?


----------



## Megora

Thanks Laura. 

Sturgis show here in MI. I think it's only 1 point. Nathaniel Horn - I think he was a "looks" guy. Really kept coming up and taking Bertie's face in his hands and checking his expression (I guess?). Bertie moved like a dream too - just floated. Should add when I was looking him up before showing - everyone said he was a movement guy too. And that could be - he definitely watched the dogs even when sending them back to the line. 

We showed in Open for the first time. I was just telling somebody that it was really something being in the same ring as Beth Johnson and the Booths and winning. I was standing outside the ring feeling queasy going in. We've had just blue ribbons leading up to today and I really wanted to keep that streak alive.


----------



## hotel4dogs

Congratulations!! Way to go!


----------



## LJack

Megora said:


> Thanks Laura.
> 
> Sturgis show here in MI. I think it's only 1 point.


If you are not sure, you can go up the the superintendents desk later and look through the official sheets. This will give you the real count and you can make sure your win is recorded properly. My mom had a win miss-recorded one time so I always have to do this if she's not there because she will ask. 

Congrats again! Hoping for more good news soon.


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## tikiandme

Congratulations! Keep it up!


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## lhowemt

This is so awesome! Congrats and many more.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Megora

Just found out talking to one of his breeders that the open girlie who won the breed yesterday was actually Bertie's 1/2 sister (same mom, different dad - I think she's about 6 mos younger than Bert). What a treat to hear that. 

Next 3 shows entered.... hopefully we don't swing the other way. *knocking on wood*


----------



## Megora

5 points shy of UKC CH.... 

First show, Bertie got 3rd in group. 

Second show, was hoping to get another 10-35 points to finish off the day, but didn't get _any_. LOL. 

At the time I thought I had the CH anyway after the first show and the second show was just gravy, but yeah typing up numbers in my spreadsheet, I think we're off by 5 - glad I didn't get carried away announcing UKC CH to everyone. OMG. A friend suggested I move up to the champion class for the second show! I'm so glad I got that "deer in the headlights look" and decided to verify points before bumping anything. 

Other thing.... there was a bunch of golden people there so got a chance to meet new people and catch up on gossip with other people. One lady especially had me feeling very thankful for my grooming mentor wonder lady who has been helping me out as far as grooming for shows. This lady went somewhere to have her golden pup groomed by somebody who said they were a handler now or before? We sat down together and I showed her with Bertie all the areas that get cleaned up for show - stuff she knew already because she's not new to dog shows, just new to the breed. She'd already told the groomer that the dog's ears were still a little hairy and was told that they don't do a lot of trimming on golden ears for shows....?! Which may be the case with some, but I picked up the dogs ear and could show her all the shag under and behind the ears which normally would get stripped out or even clipped, not even talking about what's on the flat of the ears....


----------



## Megora

Got our second straight win in Open... though no points today. People were coming up and hissing about politics and saying Bertie should have won. Or coming up to congratulate me and tell me how they were SURE we were going to win. *coughs* But I honestly think we would have done better for WD if I were not going all woggly on one of the run arounds. Very humid. I made the mistake of kneeling down (short skirt) to fix feet and when I got back up - my head was spinning. Running around the ring - about all I could do was keep Bertie's head straight and somehow not fall over my own feet while stuff was blurring on me. >.< Then again, I felt better in the Winners ring and was able to move fast enough and sure enough to show Bertie. And win or not, I was really confident that he looked great. It's that wonderful feeling of jogging around the ring and looking down and seeing your dog moving out straight and full gait. 

This is common in conformation, but was flattered when I had a couple people asking me if I was free to handle a dog for them for BOB. I'm guessing they would not have asked if I did a really bad job of handling my own dog.  I told them "no" since my head was still spinning.


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## tikiandme

Great job with Bertie. Enjoy the ride!


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## Megora

tikiandme said:


> Enjoy the ride!


 Totally am.  

Probably every show gets easier as far as setting up, showing, taking down, and going. : And it always helps bumping into friendlies at the shows as well. I shared grooming space with a couple nice golden ladies and while we were all there 2 hours too early, time went REALLY fast with gossip and dog talk. Then even around the show ring I even had friends who are in other breeds sticking around and rooting for Bertie. 

I guess with dog shows - you really don't want to get on anyone's bad side. But generally speaking, I'm finding people are really nice and welcoming to newbies. And that helps the most - right after having a nice dog to show.


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## hotel4dogs

Great job!!


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## Megora

Tiny confession to make....

As soon as I got home, I jumped on AKC.org to track down another show to line up after the one next week.And yes, I did. _Really love showing._


----------



## Megora

Tiny thing that had me cringing and getting all mentally bunched up reading something elsewhere....

If you don't win - for goodness sakes - Don't have a tantrum about losing. Don't publically criticize the dog who won. Don't publically criticize or even _approach_ the judge to question his/her decision or criticize the dog that won. 

If you have to pass the other handler on your way out of the ring - be sure to congratulate them and thank the judge for your ribbon. And keep smiling until you are out and on your way. Grumble all you like privately with other people - but be a gracious loser!

I kinda saw this at my first show back in January (technically Day #2 of my first show cluster) when I was standing outside the ring shaking all over about going into the ring and worrying about my dog peeing on the judge as well as other TERRIBLE UNKNOWN THINGS THAT COULD WELL happen.... I saw this puppy in the ring bouncing around and jumping on the judge and acting really silly and was thinking the whole time "Doom!" because my own dog did the same thing silly stuff in his first outing the day before.

There was an older lady to my right watching her puppy dog shown in the ring. And when for the second day in a row that puppy dog lost to another dog, the lady had a big temper tantrum right there outside the ring, cursing out the big handler who came all the way out here to show to a handler judge and so on. 

My gut feeling watching what happened in the ring both days... while I understood that the specific judge and her hub have a bad reputation for picking winners based on the wrong end of the leash.... both days, the puppy dog _was_ jumping around and acting silly, while the other dog who was about 3 months older by comparison was better handled. And yep, it's not an obedience ring so judges should be able to put up a sillier dog if it's the better dog... but one dog looked like a 6 month old puppy with not a lot of coat and the other pup looked like a 2 year old as far as how big he was and how much coat he had. And then you can't judge movement if the dog doesn't gait because he's bouncing around (I know that very well since Bertie did a lot of bouncing around those first two shows!). 

Neutrally speaking - the judge probably made a decision based on the only 2 dogs in the ring. 

There was a couple other instances recently as far as people venting about judging and shows - sometimes very specific and sometimes not as specific, but generally the only thing it accomplishes is make _them_ look and sound disagreeable and less respectable. 

And the instance that I read about just the other day was a UKC show and that probably made the whole thing all the more GROSS. Because putting it nicely - most people showing in UKC are just starting out with their first dogs. You do have some people who basically only do UKC and have for many years and that's what they do... and or they even are showing UKC champs who are also AKC champs (that was the case both times I showed UKC). But others may never have shown a dog before and who knows, may even be showing a very beloved pet. 

I was putting myself in that other person's shoes and just imagining winning X with my dog and getting all excited and stepping out of the ring to hear somebody pointing out my dog and criticizing him in favor of her own dog. <- I would seriously be sinking into the ground with flames shooting out my ears or something. It would be really upsetting!

Sportsmanship means even if you are frustrated about losing - it's keeping it out and away from the show ring! And keeping it private if you have to vent. Because seriously - it just UHHHGLY in public.

[end rant]
:bricks1:


----------



## Megora

Maybe a little silly, but got a couple leads in this week. There's another one I ordered but I know it takes a long time so wasn't rushing on that - these were fairly cheap by way of leashes at only about $30-40 each. My regular lead cost me about $65 and the red one I'm waiting for is about $65-70 as well. 



















The yellow one... is too big for my likings as far as the show ring. But maybe I'll just use as an obedience lead. 

The blue one I love.  










^ This is my regular show lead. And probably still my favorite because the highlights kinda go with his coat... 

The lead I'm waiting for is red and being made by a friend.


----------



## LJack

I love my blingy leather lead. I just have the one and as of August 2nd three girls to show. I can't tell you how much I want 2 more but I am a cheap skate I buy the nylon leads for like $8.00.


----------



## DanaRuns

In response to your behavior post on 9/1/14:

So many big dog people are also small-minded people. They get so involved and focused that they become myopic, and they forget what is important in life, and what is trivial. I don't judge those people, for they are the ones missing out on life. What they say does not affect me, because they can see things only from their own ego and their narrow perspective.

Every time one of my dogs wins a class, or championship points, or whatever, I am certain that every other owner there believes that a major injustice has just occurred, and that my dog is horrid and undeserving, while their dog was superior and was robbed. So what? That's their loss -- and I don't mean the dog show, I mean their joy and enjoyment of life.

There have been a few times my dog has lost when I thought s/he was clearly the best dog in the ring, but I'm not the one being paid to judge. I don't have my hands on the dogs. And perhaps that judge has a thing for a particular style, or is focused on heads, or fronts, or movement, and saw something in that other dog that the judge wanted to reward. When my dog loses -- and particularly when I think s/he should have won -- that is an opportunity for me to enjoy and admire the winning dog and the other dogs in the ring. Because, truly, they are all wonderful dogs that have something special about them, and my enjoyment of life is increased when I see that something special in all the dogs, not just my own. When I speculate or carp about bias or politics, all I am doing is harming myself and making myself feel worse, I am not correcting anything in the dog show world. So why do it?

There is a prominent breeder judge I know (who never puts up my Gibbs, btw), who is adamant that many of the dogs she sees do not belong in the ring. But I take the opposite view. I believe that almost every dog I see in the ring here in California is deserving of winning a championship. Every one of them is the product of a careful breeding program, of loving decisions made over years or decades by knowledgeable and careful breeders. And each one is the offspring of all the 1st picks from previous litters. Each dog in the ring represents the top 0.01% of Golden Retrievers. My point in saying all this is that if we don't learn to appreciate each and every dog in the ring for the wonderful products they are, then we are missing out on the experience of witnessing the love, and caring, and careful breeding, and untold thousands of dollars invested over uncounted years that went into producing each of those dogs for us to admire. We are missing out on appreciating our part of the story of the Golden Retriever. We can look inward and be bitter and angry when our desires go unfulfilled, or we can look outward and revel that we get to be a small part of the 150-year old history of this wonderful animal.

I choose to look outward. I choose to find joy and appreciation in Golden Retrievers. I choose to cheer for the winners and encourage the losers. And I choose to know that my dogs will get their chances too, and that they are not harmed or disparaged because a judge liked another dog on a particular day.

It's just a dog show. There will be another one tomorrow or next week.


----------



## Bentman2

Megora said:


> Tiny thing that had me cringing and getting all mentally bunched up reading something elsewhere....
> 
> If you don't win - for goodness sakes - Don't have a tantrum about losing. Don't publically criticize the dog who won. Don't publically criticize or even _approach_ the judge to question his/her decision or criticize the dog that won.
> 
> If you have to pass the other handler on your way out of the ring - be sure to congratulate them and thank the judge for your ribbon. And keep smiling until you are out and on your way. Grumble all you like privately with other people - but be a gracious loser!
> 
> I kinda saw this at my first show back in January (technically Day #2 of my first show cluster) when I was standing outside the ring shaking all over about going into the ring and worrying about my dog peeing on the judge as well as other TERRIBLE UNKNOWN THINGS THAT COULD WELL happen.... I saw this puppy in the ring bouncing around and jumping on the judge and acting really silly and was thinking the whole time "Doom!" because my own dog did the same thing silly stuff in his first outing the day before.
> 
> There was an older lady to my right watching her puppy dog shown in the ring. And when for the second day in a row that puppy dog lost to another dog, the lady had a big temper tantrum right there outside the ring, cursing out the big handler who came all the way out here to show to a handler judge and so on.
> 
> My gut feeling watching what happened in the ring both days... while I understood that the specific judge and her hub have a bad reputation for picking winners based on the wrong end of the leash.... both days, the puppy dog _was_ jumping around and acting silly, while the other dog who was about 3 months older by comparison was better handled. And yep, it's not an obedience ring so judges should be able to put up a sillier dog if it's the better dog... but one dog looked like a 6 month old puppy with not a lot of coat and the other pup looked like a 2 year old as far as how big he was and how much coat he had. And then you can't judge movement if the dog doesn't gait because he's bouncing around (I know that very well since Bertie did a lot of bouncing around those first two shows!).
> 
> Neutrally speaking - the judge probably made a decision based on the only 2 dogs in the ring.
> 
> There was a couple other instances recently as far as people venting about judging and shows - sometimes very specific and sometimes not as specific, but generally the only thing it accomplishes is make _them_ look and sound disagreeable and less respectable.
> 
> And the instance that I read about just the other day was a UKC show and that probably made the whole thing all the more GROSS. Because putting it nicely - most people showing in UKC are just starting out with their first dogs. You do have some people who basically only do UKC and have for many years and that's what they do... and or they even are showing UKC champs who are also AKC champs (that was the case both times I showed UKC). But others may never have shown a dog before and who knows, may even be showing a very beloved pet.
> 
> I was putting myself in that other person's shoes and just imagining winning X with my dog and getting all excited and stepping out of the ring to hear somebody pointing out my dog and criticizing him in favor of her own dog. <- I would seriously be sinking into the ground with flames shooting out my ears or something. It would be really upsetting!
> 
> Sportsmanship means even if you are frustrated about losing - it's keeping it out and away from the show ring! And keeping it private if you have to vent. Because seriously - it just UHHHGLY in public.
> 
> [end rant]
> :bricks1:


 
"Flames shooting out my ears", really? Bet that was painful. Megora, you are so funny and gracious in your loss. We really enjoy hearing your story and hope you do well. :wave:


----------



## Bentman2

DanaRuns said:


> In response to your behavior post on 9/1/14:
> 
> So many big dog people are also small-minded people. They get so involved and focused that they become myopic, and they forget what is important in life, and what is trivial. I don't judge those people, for they are the ones missing out on life. What they say does not affect me, because they can see things only from their own ego and their narrow perspective.
> 
> Every time one of my dogs wins a class, or championship points, or whatever, I am certain that every other owner there believes that a major injustice has just occurred, and that my dog is horrid and undeserving, while their dog was superior and was robbed. So what? That's their loss -- and I don't mean the dog show, I mean their joy and enjoyment of life.
> 
> There have been a few times my dog has lost when I thought s/he was clearly the best dog in the ring, but I'm not the one being paid to judge. I don't have my hands on the dogs. And perhaps that judge has a thing for a particular style, or is focused on heads, or fronts, or movement, and saw something in that other dog that the judge liked best. When my dog loses -- and particularly when I think s/he should have won -- that is an opportunity for me to enjoy and admire the winning dog and the other dogs in the ring. Because, truly, they are all wonderful dogs that have something special about them, and my enjoyment of life is increased when I see that something in all the dogs, not just my own. When I speculate or carp about bias or politics, all I am doing is harming myself and making myself feel worse, I am not correcting anything in the dog show world. So why do it?
> 
> There is a prominent breeder judge I know (who never puts up my Gibbs, btw), who is adamant that many of the dogs she sees do not belong in the ring. But I take the opposite view. I believe that almost every dog I see in the ring here in California is deserving of winning a championship. Every one of them is the product of a careful breeding program, of loving decisions made over years or decades by knowledgeable and careful breeders. And each one is the offspring of all the 1st picks from previous litters. Each dog in the ring represents the top 0.01% of Golden Retrievers. My point in saying all this is that if we don't learn to appreciate each and every dog in the ring for the wonderful products they are, then we are missing out on the experience of witnessing the love, and caring, and careful breeding, and untold thousands of dollars invested over uncounted years that went into producing each of those dogs for us to admire. We are missing out on appreciating our part of the story of the Golden Retriever. We can look inward and be bitter and angry when our desires go unfulfilled, or we can look outward and revel that we get to be a small part of the 150-year old history of this wonderful animal.
> 
> I choose to look outward. I choose to find joy and appreciation in Golden Retrievers. I choose to cheer for the winners and encourage the losers. And I choose to know that my dogs will get their chances too, and that they are not harmed or disparaged because a judge liked another dog on a particular day.
> 
> It's just a dog show. There will be another one tomorrow or next week.


 
Wow, so well said. It is so good to hear that good sportmanship and a sense of worth still matters. It is so good to know that there are still people like you and Megora in the world. Best to you both. :wave:


----------



## Ljilly28

DanaRuns said:


> In response to your behavior post on 9/1/14:
> 
> I believe that almost every dog I see in the ring here in California is deserving of winning a championship. Every one of them is the product of a careful breeding program, of loving decisions made over years or decades by knowledgeable and careful breeders. And each one is the offspring of all the 1st picks from previous litters. Each dog in the ring represents the top 0.01% of Golden Retrievers.


I absolutely love this post, and agree with it. I cannot think of many goldens out competing in the northeast regularly who are not show quality dogs exactly as you describe- product of a thoughtful breeding, chosen as a good puppy by several experts eyes and hands. That doesnt mean I don't see their faults, like their style particularly, or want the dogs eating in my kitchen and sleeping in my bed, but I almost always understand why the breeder believes in him/her. 

At the group level, it is even crazier. The competition is so intense, and you have the breeder of the #1 WonderDog in the country saying that the Number # 2 Christmashound in the country is a piece of garbage and other kind things like that- as you say myopic. At that point, everyone needs to take a deep breath and remember no one is bleeding, no one needs oxygen or an ambulance. . .


----------



## Megora

Well said, Dana. 

Have to admit.... I have seen dogs physically or in pictures that I didn't really like. That's probably very separate from how I'd approach or behave around their handlers or owners openly. I absolutely love gossiping privately with people about other dogs and what's going on out there - But no matter what I think of some dogs out there, it's not professional or respectable (meaning deserving of respect) to snipe at other dogs at ringside or similarly openly somewhere.  

The thing that set me off was reading about somebody who lost to another dog.... and gave the judge an earful about it.


----------



## Megora

UKC CH. 

Thought we were going to get blown away as the 95 degree temps dropped all the way down low 70's and we had all kinds of stuff blowing around and torrential rains during the show.  Was really happy to see Bertie is absolutely not affected by rain, blowing stuff, banging sounds, people yelling and running around, constant lightning, and rolling thunder. 

We got beat both times by a friend's champion dog in breed - and I didn't actually mind (she's nice + I only needed 5 points and was already walking away with 50 points + Bertie was hairy around the ears, neck, and feet because I decided to let all that go until next week). 

Sat in the middle of Samoyed ladies and holy crud. Absorbed a lot of AKC and UKC gossip but I decided I really did not want to get on these ladies bad side.


----------



## Megora

Something I was smiling about today... 

Well, OK first - Bertie didn't place at the first show because he was a monkey on speed or something. It dropped into the 30's overnight and was still really cold this morning at the dog show. Cold means dog weather. Which probably with a more experienced handler than me, would have been OK. With ME? OMG. Flying around the ring during the gaiting and jumping on the judge and going "whoo-hooo" around her. Didn't pee - but wouldn't show her that serious soft expression either. LOL. We didn't place.

Second show - specialty - we only got 4th place, because we still had some ZOOMIES WANTING TO BREAK at different points, but especially our first run around the ring when I had the judge come up and tell me to slow down out there. #me sinking into the ground. Was a lot better and closer to what I expect out of him, despite him being full of it. I took it as a huge compliment that he still beat out another dog who was more experienced and behaved beautifully out there. 

One of his breeders was there coaching me before, during, after and she suggested I start road working him now that I have his clearances. And I have to start jogging him outside at shows 10 minutes before showing to get some of that excess energy worked out before showing him. 

Now the thing I'm smiling about?

Actually 2.

1. She felt his sides and back and told me he needs to gain weight. I told her about him being 68lbs, and she felt that for his size he should be more like 72-74. And especially if I start road working him - I'll need to start putting extra food in his bowl to make sure he doesn't lose weight. 

^ Considering almost every dog we've owned has been at their limit or overweight, it's actually nice for once to have a dog who needs to put on a pound or two.  I should add here, I think I do not want him to really get bulked up. But I am concerned about him getting too thin if I start road working with him. 

2. She came armed and ready with shears - I guess she heard from the other breeder I had a lesson from last week that he was not groomed last week (at the lesson) and she might need to clean up the ears. 

Considering I had groomed him myself the last 2 shows, it was satisfying that she looked at the ears and tail and commented that they looked great. And just had to touch up on the feet (just a couple feet) where I left 1 or 2 stragglers by nails. 

Was really a boost to my confidence as far as being able to groom himself myself and have it look good. *phew*


----------



## Megora

Had a lot of fun down in Indiana this past week.

Wednesday - we won breed and got to run around the Sporting Group for the first time in AKC. 

Thursday - just won Open. 

Friday - Won Open again and got Reserve. 

Probably benefited from a lot of people being down in North Carolina, but the same time we beat some nice dogs shown by pro handlers all three days... and with judges that are said to be political. Judge on Friday was the same judge I showed to very early in the year - like maybe my 2nd or 3rd ever show, so it was gratifying to show well to him.

I had a huge grin on my face in the Open ring on Wednesday when I looked over and saw the pro next to me maneuvering the golden he had so he was blocking the judge's view of me and Bertie. I took that as a huge compliment since I know this pro handler and he generally successfully handles all kinds of dogs. I'm sure the judge saw that grin when he came out to center to watch us go around together and I waited an extra few seconds to show my dog stacked for him. 

Judge on Wednesday - 2nd time I've shown to him... and I kinda think he's one of my favorite judges to show to... again, very nice with the dogs (like he really likes them) and came trotting to the photographer directly after the Sporting Group to do pictures and when I apologized for being terrible about setting up my dog on a raised platform as opposed to down on the floor, he was really nice and helped me out with the stacking.  

Will share my win pic in a separate thread when that comes... but yah. Was a good weekend. Glad I went. 

Without even trying, I managed to setup with other golden people + friends I have in other breeds (aussies and chows and terriers). So it was a lot of fun going to show every day. 

Other thing I really appreciated was going into the group ring for the first time - I was nervously babbling to a pointer lady and she basically helped me out a ton telling me where to go in and what to do and so on out there.  



















And shared for Laura's benefit.... this was one of our neighbors. There's a chocolate (liver?) colored one curled up sleeping who was 2 years old. Blondie was a year old. Both dogs amazingly calm despite their age - they got all excited about my sister who was fussing over them and giving treats to my Jacks, but even that was calm compared to a golden the same age! Both dogs were offleash and perched on a bed on top of another dog's crate the entire time the owner was there.


----------



## MaureenM

Congratulations on your wins, sounds like a great couple of days!!!


----------



## hotel4dogs

congrats on a great weekend!


----------



## TheZ's

Congratulations . . . Bertie's looking so handsome!


----------



## tikiandme

Congratulations! Bertie is a very nice boy. You're doing a great job with him!


----------



## Megora

I had a friend save me a spot for a show tomorrow (people had to go in to claim spots yesterday as there likely wouldn't be anything left over today), but since I won't get there until late morning tomorrow, I really didn't want to have to carry a lot of stuff through a tight grooming section. So I dropped the crate and table off this morning and made sure I was plugged in (though I might not still be tomorrow - as people might unplug cords if they can get away with it) and all I have to carry in tomorrow from unloading is my tool box and dryer. But meanwhile since I didn't find bathing tubs when I was there this morning, I have to give a bath here at home tomorrow morning and then again Sunday morning before heading out. 

Basically long story short, I was sitting here and vaguely thinking about telling family to buy me a cheap but functional secondary grooming table for Christmas.

Early on - I had the idea in my head that I really wanted to make sure I spent $$$ on a good permanent grooming table right from the start. Nobody told me I'd want to have TWO grooming tables so I'd have one at home and away.


----------



## LJack

Good luck!


----------



## Megora

We got 2nd place today, but felt like first. Finished right behind Bertie's brother handled by their breeder. Littermates went 1-2. And all the better, we beat some really nice handlers to finish second. Very proud of my boy for behaving himself today. All his breeders (including the one in the ring) were there and were beyond tickled for him. And he got to dance around with his "grandma". And this kinda felt like a huge confidence booster.  

It's one of those things where I got to the show and looked around counting heads as far as people I know who usually win these things. And looking at the catalog I basically felt it was possible we wouldn't place at all. <- And that might still happen tomorrow when we go back and do the same thing all over again.


----------



## Ljilly28

Megora said:


> But meanwhile since I didn't find bathing tubs when I was there this morning, I have to give a bath here at home tomorrow morning and then again Sunday morning before heading out.
> .


I have done this a few times- given baths, given in and let the dogs swim after the show, and turned around and bathed them all again. I showed Mystic myself this summer a bit, and bathed him daily. It is usually some awful hour like 3:45 am, and I get so mad at myself. I am a quitter before the dogs are really dry, so I know I need to go 30 minutes longer than I think I want to. 

Any chance you will do the Hamburg NY shows in January?


----------



## Megora

Ljilly28 said:


> I have done this a few times- given baths, given in and let the dogs swim after the show, and turned around and bathed them all again. I showed Mystic myself this summer a bit, and bathed him daily. It is usually some awful hour like 3:45 am, and I get so mad at myself. I am a quitter before the dogs are really dry, so I know I need to go 30 minutes longer than I think I want to.


My one mentor... she and I have a running joke about me letting Bertie make a mess of himself. I've sent her pictures of him covered in mud or burrs or told her about the times that Bertie flopped in his own poop while trying to get a burr out of his trousers. She's fairly big on keeping the dogs on leash between the bath and show time. It's tough when these dogs are used to running free though in their own yards. 

For dog shows - I've been told to bathe the day of the show, every day of a cluster, etc. I'm just probably not going to do it tomorrow because there won't be enough time to do it at home and even with me wandering around the show today - I still didn't find that one tub. 

At shows - I need at least a solid hour to get him completely dry. His sides and back are easy. His feet are a PAIN at show sites. It's because all the moisture goes down to the feet and forget about getting them puffed up..... 

I'm sticking close to Michigan/Indiana/OH next year. There's a bunch of shows that I think we can reasonably expect to do a lot better in now I'm more experienced. Fingers crossed and knock on wood. 

January will likely just be the Novi, MI shows.


----------



## Eowyn

Kate, are you doing the Crown Cluster show in Cleveland/Lorain, December 12-14ish (I know it's that weekend, but I don't remember exact dates)? I am debating being there on Saturday.


----------



## Megora

I thought of it (Cleveland) - but I really don't want to be away from home in December. There's just so much at-home stuff to do. Once you get into mid-December, things really get crazy busy balancing work, baking, and Christmas shopping.  


Just a couple funny things that occurred to me today. It falls under the "you never know people" category.


First one is that people are coming up to say "hi" or saying "hi" at shows or you even have people I really am in awe of coming up to chit chat with me. It's.... well, it's nice. I've no idea if that's because I've stuck around this long or the effect of shared friends. 

Other one is something that just about had me falling over!!!!!! There is somebody I don't.... appreciate... online. I've seen stuff she says on various subjects from politics to actual golden retriever related politics and stuff - and she's abrasive and rude.

I didn't realize it last night, but I set up right next to her and her daughter. At first I was like "holy crud no!" But omygoodness - they are nice people.


----------



## Eowyn

Megora said:


> Other one is something that just about had me falling over!!!!!! There is somebody I don't.... appreciate... online. I've seen stuff she says on various subjects from politics to actual golden retriever related politics and stuff - and she's abrasive and rude.
> 
> I didn't realize it last night, but I set up right next to her and her daughter. At first I was like "holy crud no!" But omygoodness - they are nice people.


I have done that! There was someone I really didn't like over the internet for a good year (she was just really insensitive to peoples feelings) and I ran into her at a dog show, I couldn't believe how sweet and thoughtful she was in person! She couldn't have been nicer! I was shocked! (hint, it wasn't you Kate : lol)


----------



## Megora

I see a stacking error with the front legs (he was leaning back and I don't like how it made his front feet look) and I'm also going to talk to somebody about whether I should thin out that ruff a little more or put something on it to make it stay flat instead of puffing out like that... but darn he's cute.


----------



## K9-Design

Nice picture! YES you need to thin out the fur right under his neck ---- big time. I would have at it with a Coat King. Also get the collar higher up under his chin -- it's a bit too low and bunching up his skin. Try stacking with front feet closer together. When you stack him, stack the front, then the rear, then move both front feet back an inch for good measure. Looking good!!!!


----------



## Megora

I had somebody else groom for me and was thinking a little that his neck was too stuffy but let it go.... 

I have a couple months before the next show so will probably strip out the neck to see if I can get it right. It's tough because I don't want to do the sculpted look that everyone complains about and want the ruff to look natural. But makes his neck look short. 

This pic is slightly better because I had smoothed it down a bit - but there it too much fur there still. I think his front feet were not as bad (hard to tell from this angle) but still could have been a smidge more under him. I was glad to see I was reaching back to fix his back feet too as opposed to letting that go...


----------



## CarolinaCasey

He's maturing nicely. Agree with Anney, strip under his neck and also at the shoulder blades a little.


----------



## Bentman2

Megora said:


> I see a stacking error with the front legs (he was leaning back and I don't like how it made his front feet look) and I'm also going to talk to somebody about whether I should thin out that ruff a little more or put something on it to make it stay flat instead of puffing out like that... but darn he's cute.


*Bertie* looks awesome here. He is one of the nicer looking boys on the forum. I was looking at Bertie's feathers on his front leg:wavey:s and noticed that his feathers are full all the way to the floor. My Bentley has most of his feathers at the top of his legs and was wondering, do feathers develop further into the age of the dog (2 years and older) ? In other words, will my Bentley's feathers grow out further down on the legs as he approaches 2 years, or is he basically done?


----------



## Megora

Bentman2 said:


> My Bentley has most of his feathers at the top of his legs and was wondering, do feathers develop further into the age of the dog (2 years and older) ? In other words, will my Bentley's feathers grow out further down on the legs as he approaches 2 years, or is he basically done?


It really differs from one dog to the next.... I'd hesitate to say one way or the other....? Jacks was a slow maturing boy and had more coat at 3-4 than he did at age 2. He comes from show lines mostly, including some dogs from Bertie's breeder behind him.... but slow maturing. 

Bertie had feathering as a puppy. The feathering you see there too has been trimmed to the back of his big pad on his feet. If he's standing correctly, this is better visible. The feathering on his back feet (hocks/patellas) is also trimmed up quite a bit. It was really based on the lines behind him. Very specific show lines bred to have hair. 

@Melissa - when you say at the shoulder blade, are you talking about above or below the shoulder (I think he needs both).


----------



## CAROLINA MOM

Bertie's beautiful, good luck with his shows.


----------



## K9-Design

With boys I find you have to do a lot of constant thinning around the neck, throat, and shoulders -- WAY before you go to a show. Every time you give him a bath/blow dry, spend time thinning these areas at least with a Coat King if not the thinning shears too. If you keep on top of it, it won't ever looked chopped before a show. Don't worry about the "sculpting" issue. You're miles away from approaching that. Do what you need to do to groom your dog to his best advantage. It is, after all, a dog SHOW


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## Ljilly28

Bertie is really beautiful, and looking great. I agree you are so far from the intense scissoring done by some, and you just want his nice features to be seen. I have fun with getting them to stand over themselves by pretending I am a dobie handler and putting food on a target plate in front. Once I can get them to lean forward and wait for the release word, I just label it with the "command" - just same sound as getting a horse to go forward- click click. Mine will hear the sound, and stop leaning back now. I didnt want to pick a word bc I didnt want to bother the judge or be noticable so I went with the horse sound. 
I would trim his hocks just a little more. He is gorgeous, and will definitely finish.


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## Megora

I do the toss forward and have him focus forward and wait for the release to the treat. 

Same thing when doing a down and back at home - I always toss a treat forward to get him perked up and looking. 

Works great at home at least...


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## Megora

Work in progress.... 

Cleaned up a bunch of the thicker stuff... but won't do any more until he gets a bath tomorrow (he needs to be groomed too so don't look at ears and feet!).


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## Megora

Thought I'd share something that had me smiling and it happened at the right time actually.... matters because a lot of people get really intimidated by the busy and cliquitty clique stuff that they see at dog shows... and you do hear about how terrible dog show people are....

Went to a dog show site a day early to unload my stuff and get set up... my table, crate, and chair... and when I went back to my trunk to get a extension cord to save a plug for tomorrow, I got a shock when I realized it was at home stuffed in the box I store the dryer I take to shows. I was planning to bathe him tonight (now planning on tomorrow morning before heading out) so kept the dryer and grooming stuff out as opposed to packed up in the car at least. 

Went back inside and had somebody asking me to move my stuff because they needed to save everything the same area/row (I didn't mind the request because there was plenty of open spots). So moved over a little bit and making eye-contact with somebody who was setting up next to me - asked them if they could spare an extra cord just until the morning. The lady was absolutely eager to help and rummaged until she found something I could use. I was just bouncing over the moon happy - because I didn't really see anyone I knew that I would have otherwise asked. I felt weird asking somebody I didn't know to lend me a cord, but glad I did. Otherwise getting ready tomorrow would have been a lot more stressful for me.... 

Then found out she lived about 3 miles from me too... so small world and there was some hometown-dog-people bonding going on. LOL.


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## Bentman2

Thanks for sharing your story. Goes to show you that you never know what people are thinking or what their disposition is. Everyone feels good when they help someone. Hope Bertie and Jacks are doing well.


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## Megora

No win pic yet, but we just notched another single point towards Bertie's CH. Was a good day winning with his breeders and friends rooting for us. We're baby stepping along here.... LOL.  

Sharing the "just bathed and mid-groom" pic from the night before (I think Bertie's face says "_This_ again?".


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## solinvictus

Congratulations Kate and Bertie! Every step on this journey needs to be celebrated. He is a very handsome young man and you will get there.


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## Megora

I definitely am enjoying every step of the way. It is a big confidence booster having a nice dog who is ready to win and does everything right out there. Bertie is just wonderful - he stacks and moves like a dream. Grooming him too is pretty effortless since his coat is no fuss. If I get my handling skills together, it's a for sure thing that he will be a CH. 

Stuff I was grinning about today was the little things like - I did most of the grooming myself. People were coming up and asking me where he's out of (which always confuses me, because golden people who ask this question generally are asking who his parents were, but other people are asking about the breeder), people coming up and giving him love while we were hanging outside the ring before showing, his breeder bustling around and giving me tips and drilling me on my weak areas in handling, and all the afterward stuff - like me sitting down to wait for the sporting group to finish up so we'd get our judge in the pictures and having fun chatting about registration names with Gordon setter people who were also waiting. Also met up and chatted with a lot of friends (obedience people + former neighbors who were there showing). Also while I think we are moving too slowly here to contribute ourselves, Bertie's mom is very close to becoming an OD which is cool.  

I just couldn't believe I spent 8 hours at the show at the end though!


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## Megora

Random thing I was scratching my head about last night. Friend of mine with golden about 5 mos younger than Bertie chose to pull her dog from conf for now and send him out for field training. Not for titles necessarily, but to build muscle in her dog who is lacking that conditioning. Said because she doesn't jog. I don't jog either but my guys have ton of muscle. Maybe it's the swimming, but...?


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## Megora

Am buying this right now - really happy to see how grown up the kiddo looks!


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## Ljilly28

He is looking beautiful & mature- such a nice boy!


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## LJack

He is looking great! Congratulations on your well deserved win.


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## tikiandme

Congratulations on your win. Bertie looks great. So grown up!


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## Christen113

He looks great!


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## Megora

Only reserve today (just 1 show this weekend). I almost missed the opportunity to show for reserve as I had obedience trial on my brain (big names in obedience had shown up today) and grabbed my stuff and was on my way back to the obedience trial when somebody hollered at me to get back to the ring.  

I did not mind landing 2nd, because the girl who won 1st had a really nice dog + the handler is really sweet. She had tossed a toy while working attention with her dog and it landed just next to Bertie when the judge was looking. Bertie was twirling to check out the toy and the girl was just apologizing all over. I did not think for a minute she did it on purpose. 

Now there was something going on out there.... there was somebody (I don't know the handler) kept bringing her dog out so she was blocking the judge's view of Bertie and the dog who won WD. And she kept re-adjusting her dog to block us off. Fortunately, the judge saw our dogs just fine. 

Bertles also has his BN title (obedience), but we'll keep showing in BN until I feel confident jumping into novice. I want him to do good where it really matters.

Other notes - I realized a little too late that I could have groomed Bertie outside under the tents near the show rings. This when I really was stressing out for a short while trying to get a spot today (third day of a cluster). Grooming area was jam packed. Fortunately, I found a spot where most people don't like to set up (near a door) and was a happy camper. This show is one of those that is really cutthroat and obnoxious when it comes to the grooming area. Lady who shared space with me today was telling me about how some people not only told her to move from a spot a friend saved for her, but when she was moving - they shoved her stuff out of the space they were claiming from her - knocking her dog's crate over (with the dog inside it) in the process and leaving it like that with the dog crammed sideways in her crate. I can't even imagine.


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## SheetsSM

And these were golden people that shoved the crate over?


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## Megora

I don't think so - most golden people did not show up early AM (I was one of the few there because I had obedience). This was an all breed show... it was a cocker spaniel in the crate knocked over.


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## AmberSunrise

@Kate - that is wrong on so many levels! I hope the lady whose dog was knocked over while in her crate reported it to the show committee! And took pictures to file an official AKC complaint or at least post on Facebook, Twitter etc


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## Chritty

That is horrible!! Poor puppy


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## Megora

Sunrise said:


> @Kate - that is wrong on so many levels! I hope the lady whose dog was knocked over while in her crate reported it to the show committee! And took pictures to file an official AKC complaint or at least post on Facebook, Twitter etc


I don't know how far she's going with official complaints, but she did get the show committee involved. 

I was thinking that this is one of the reasons why Bertie (and Jacks if I brought him with too) sit in the car until all my stuff is set up. And I do not leave my dogs crated somewhere unless I have somebody I trust who is right there to keep an eye on things.


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## Megora

:gotme::bricks1::nopity:

I'm smacking my own head for getting ahead of myself. 

Probably funny thing is I went to this show thinking that all the big names would be out of state at bigger shows this weekend, so went to a small show (with only 7 boys), thinking it was a sure bet. 

That was going through my brain driving 1.5 hours south to OH this morning. 

There were no bathing options at the show that I could tell (no tubs or even just hoses) + I was cutting it really short as far as how much grooming time I had since I did obedience first. Wound up doing a very quick job of grooming in about 15-20 minutes instead of the usual 45-50 minutes. But again, thought he looked perfect - Bertie's in "great coat" right now. The other goldens I saw around him were all blowing coat and or were dealing with odds and ends (flips, etc). So again I was smirking to myself while speeding up the grooming process.

A friend walked up to say "hi" and we chatted a little. She was freaking out about a big female pro handler being at the show. I didn't SAY it (lol), but it went through my head that I've beat this female handler a few times by now. And I knew my dog is better than the Open dog that this female handler is showing right now. That's not just my opinion. 

So went to the ringside and even looking at the other dogs who would be in the class with me - I was just feeling fairly confident that we had it. Because there were only three of us in the Open ring, and I've beaten both of the other ladies a number of times - even when Bertie was not as mature as he is now. 

Out in the ring, Bertie was stacking like a little pro. And effortlessly gaiting on a loose lead. No silliness. No lagging (because of the heat - that could happen). 

But the judge picked the other dogs over Bertie. 

Reminded me not to take those wins for granted and work harder for them. Because just having a great dog who is looking great on his own is no guarantee.


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