Showing

[Katie Rogers]

Okay could you gals that have experience showing kinda give a walk through of a typical show?  I have no knowledge of dog shows whatsoever so please give me the run through as if you were teaching a kindergartner.  Are the two days in a weekend the same show or different shows?  Do you have to show both days?  I'm sure I will have lots of other questions.  I'm looking at show schedules and trying to figure out where I can show GiGi without having to spend the night over somewhere.  Not going to have a whole lots of options at least not for practice before Oconomowac if I can convince the hubby to let me go ;)

[Pam Gale]

Hi Katie,

I will try to summarize the shows...here goes. Every day of a show is independent of each other. In otherwords, if a show is Sat and Sun it is too different shows. So you can win one day and come in last place the next day (which I have done I might add! lol). Most shows are anywhere from 2 days to 5 days long. When you hear people talk about show "clusters" it is when multiple kennel clubs have gotten together and combined their shows - usually 4 day shows. This is done so that people don't have to travel as much and can hit more shows.

There are all-breed shows and specialty shows. All-breed shows are where EVERY breed is shown and judged. Specialty shows are where specialty clubs (single breed clubs) will host shows for their breed only. For example, the Irish Setter Club of Colorado has two specialty shows in August just for irish setters. Often, the specialty clubs will combine their shows with all breed shows so again, there are more shows clustered together. Our specialty shows are on a Thursday and Friday, and the all-breed shows are Sat and Sun.

Each region of the country has what is called a superintendent. I think there are 5 different dog show superintendents -if you google dog show superintendent it will list them all. The show superintendents are the "host" of the shows - they collect the entries, they put together the shows, and make the schedules, hire the judges, etc. The superintendent around my area is Jack Onofrio and the website is www.onofrio.com. MB Moss is another one. If you go to the website www.infodog.com you can actually enter ANY show from that site.

All dog show entries close 2.5 weeks before the show - on Wednesday by noon. So, all entries must be made 2.5 weeks ahead of time and there is NO exception. If you enter at 12:01 pm you will not make it. They are very unforgiving and there are NO exceptions so make sure you enter early. All of us, at one time or another, have "missed" entries because we forgot to enter on time. You can also enter via mail but most of us do it on the internet. Each day is one entry fee - usually around $25.00 per day. Puppies get a slight price break - puppies are considered from 6-12 months.

A week to 10 days before the show the superintendent will complete the judging schedule. This will tell you what time each breed shows and what ring you will be in. It is smart to plan to be to your ring at least 15 minutes before you show to give the dog time to calm down and for you to be able to watch the ring and learn the judge's "etiquette" - what pattern he will move the dog on, etc. Basically, just watch and see how he/she does things.

There are 7 classes that you can enter and they are:

puppy 6-9 months
puppy 9-12 months
12-18 month
Bred-by (this class is can only be used if the person bred and owns the dog)
Novice (this class can only be used if the dog has not yet won 3 first place class ribbons)
American-bred (this class can be used by anyone - usually used for dogs that may not be old enough be to in open or I use it if I have more than 3 dogs of the same sex entered)
Open - this is usually the class for the oldest and most mature and competitive dogs.

And, actually, there is a new class called owner-amatuer that is for people who are NOT professional handlers. This class is new and hasn't really been used a lot lately.

At a show, dogs (or otherwise known as males) are shown first. They start with the youngest class first, and progress through. Open is always the last class. After all of the male classes are done, they will do "Winners Dog" - this is where the winner of all 8 classes comes back in to compete for the Winner's Dog. Only the Winners Dog gets points. After Winner's Dog (usually abbreviated as WD) is selected, they will select Reserve Winners Dog (RWD). No points go with RWD but it is still a nice way for the judge to say he liked your dog. We always joke that RWD is "Best of the losers". lol AFter all of the males (dogs) are judged, then they judge bitches the same way. After Winner's Bitch (WB) is selected, the judge will then do Best of Breed (BOB). At that point, all of the dogs that have completed their championship (we call them "Specials") go in to the ring to compete for Best of Breed. At the end of the line, they will have WD and WB also. The judge will select the Best of Breed - this dog will accumate 1 breed point for every dog that it beat. So, if the entry is 35 dogs - the BOB dog accumulates 34 "breed" points. These are different that the championship points that WD and WB get. The breed points are what helps a dog to get "ranked". After BOB is selected, the judge will pick the Best of Opposite Sex (BOS). This is the dog or bitch that the judge thinks is "next best" to best of breed. It always HAS to be the opposite sex of the BOB - so if the BOB breed winner is a dog (male) then BOS will be a bitch, and vice versa. Does this make any sense??? Then, after BOS is chosen, the judge will determine which of the two class winners (WD & WB) he likes better and will award that dog "Best of Winners". This is very important because of points - I will explain this in the next paragraph.

Here is the point system. Each dog/bitch needs 15 points to get an AKC championship. Points are based on the number of dogs entered and there is a point schedule for different areas of the country. The more dogs entered, the more points you can win. The most points you can win in any one show is 5. Of the 15 points you have to have 2 majors - majors are 3, 4, or 5 points. In other words, you have to win at least 2 big shows to get your championship. This is done so that people can't get a championship by attending all little shows with hardly any competition. Majors are not easy to find or easy to get so you will hear people "hunting for majors" all of the time. I have two bitches right now that only need their majors to finish their championship. You will also hear the term "finished" - that just means the dog has acheived its championship.

Does this help or just confuse you more???

Pam

[Katie Rogers]

Definitely helped a TON!! I will have to re-read it several times to get it to all sink in but definitely very helpful.

Katie

[kim kleinschmidt]

Katie - where do you live? My memory is so bad LOL!
I will let Pam walk you thru the show -
But a couple of answers to your questions - there are anywhere from 1-5 shows in a weekend - you can pick and choose which ones you would like to show at - I usually look at the judges - and Pam can help you there :)
You do NOT have to show at all shows.

[Katie Rogers]

Kim-

I am in Arkansas. I'm hoping to get to a couple shows around here. Although there are two Specialties in May, one in Kansas and one in Tulsa. Both are only about 4-5 1/2 hours away so we'll see if I can get away and get to either of them. GiGi's doing great with training, just working with her about 10-15 minutes a day at night. It's her favorite time of the day after the kids go to bed and she gets me all to herself ;) Then she gets to stay out for about 4 hours with me rather than 1-2 hours to play and then 1-2 hours in the crate so I can get something done. I must say when I have her out with us I'm pretty useless! But her crate is in the middle of the house and she can watch what we are all doing while she's in there and she doesn't mind one bit. Probably good training for shows so she knows just because there's stuff going on doesn't mean she has to be a part of it. She's such a great dog. I just love her to pieces. Looking into some true puppy classes for us to attend. Although she's doing well with everything they will be teaching in a puppy class already it will be good for her to have that experience.

[kim kleinschmidt]

Hi Katie
the Kansas shows are wonderful! I have never been to Tulsa - but think I am going this year as I might be making the trophies for the show.
Sounds like you are preparing Gigi beautifully!
The puppy socialization you get in puppy classes are great.
We are going to Kibby's first confirmation classes tonight - last weeks got cancelled due to the extreme cold
so I am really looking forward to that ;) I really value this trainers opinion of our dogs (she is also an AKC judge and newfie breeder) - she has been right on everyone of them - She loved Kirby so I can't wait to see what she thinks of Kibby.
Hope to get some pictures. I think Tim will show him in March.

[Katie Rogers]

If you go to Tulsa you will have to let me know! That's only about 4 hours away for me and one that I'm definitely looking at seriously. I would love to meet you in person and your red heads. I drooled over your site as well as Pam's when I was waiting for the go ahead from my husband to seriously start looking for a puppy. My husband thinks I'm a lunatic but I'm soooo excited to get back in the ring even if it's a little different with dogs than horses. I've so missed that competition and preparing and the fun of competing with your animal. There's just something about it that is addictive and can not be explained or fulfilled in any other way!

Katie

[Pam Gale]

I so agree - this really is addicting. But what a fun addiction!! I will probably go to the Kansas specialties so maybe we could meet up there. Kim - will you being going to the Kansas Specialties??

Pam

[kim kleinschmidt]

I am planning on it right now - but it also depends where Amy is going - I know she is taking the big pups to Georgia in April or May - so I have to look at the timing of everything