Showing in Conformation

Author

This is a DRAFT VERSION and is a work in progress.

Revision notes:

Originally part of the AKC faq; split out and made more general Sept/Oct '95.

Preface

Before you do anything else, you should head out to your library and read up as much as you can on your breed and attend several shows as a spectator before attempting to make contacts. You will present a much more favorable impression if it is clear that you've done some reading and are serious when you come up to ask questions. Be aware that if you're serious about getting into show and possibly breeding, you will be investing literally years of your time. People in the dog fancy routinely see many who come up, are briefly interested, and then fade away again. So the more prepared you are, the more likely they will feel that you will possibly remain interested.

Getting into the show world

You will need to meet and get to know other people in the show arena. This generally involves attending dog shows and talking to the owners (at appropriate times, of course). Joining up with your breed's club also gives you more contacts to learn from. Expect an "apprentice" period as the experienced folks scope you out and decide just how serious you are. This takes patience, but is well rewarded later when you have resources for the questions that will inevitably come up.

You might get the opportunity to help out someone who is showing their dogs. This gives you a closeup view of what is involved with your breed and showing.

Some good books about showing include:

Alston and Vanacore. The Winning Edge. Howell Books.
Forsyth, Robert and Jane. Guide to Successful Dog Showing. Howell Books.
Hall, Lynn. Dog Showing for Beginners. 1994, Howell Books.
Nicholas, Anna Katherine. The Nicholas Guide to Dog Judging. Howell Books.
Seranne, Ann. The Joy of Breeding Your Own Show Dog. Howell Books.
Tietjen, Sari B. The Dog Judge's Handbook. Howell Books.
Vanacore, Connie. Dog Showing: an owner's guide. Howell Books.
Coile, Caroline D. Show Me! Barron's Books.

Some online resources include two mailing lists: Breed-Ring and ShowDogs-L. The former is hosted by Stacy Pober (obedreq@trumpkin.ou.edu) and you subscribe by sending email to listproc@trumpkin.ou.edu with SUBSCRIBE BREED-RING Firstname Lastname in the body of the message. Mary Seigel (mseigel@ionet.net) owns the second list, and you subscribe by sending email to listserv@mail.eworld.com with SUBSCRIBE SHOWDOGS-L Firstname Lastname in the body of the message.

Professional Handlers

Getting your Dog Ready for the Ring

Some dogs require little preparation before going into the ring, others need bathing, brushing, clipping, shaving, neatening, etc. You need to learn the appropriate preparation techniques for your breed.

Learning to Handle your Dog

Getting a Good Prospect

How do I go about convincing a breeder that I'm a serious prospect for getting a puppy for show and possible breeding?

This can be difficult -- responsible breeders often form a unintentional "club": they are very concerned about their puppies and prefer to sell to people they know or are highly recommended. Also, really good breeders often have long waiting lists for all their puppies that can be years long. This is where your previous leg work in making contacts among the show and breeder in your breed helps out. IT WILL TAKE PATIENCE. The payoff for waiting is much better, although very frustrating.
You might "apprentice" yourself to a breeder and go over with the breeder on the next few breedings: why the pair were chosen, what the breeder was hoping to accomplish, etc. And then helping out with the new litter: evaluating it, helping care for them, seeing all this stuff first hand gives you a lot of feedback on whether you have the will to do this yourself.
You may find it worth your while to go into co-ownership with a breeder who is willing to be your mentor and coach you through your first steps. Other contracts usually stipulate that you will get the CH and/or CD, etc on your puppy before breeding it.

Why are many breeders so difficult about "admitting" new people into their ranks or even just helping them out?

Do understand that there are people who renege on their contracts (and start breeding willy-nilly) and so there are breeders who are leery of even sincere people. This is why you should work very hard to make yourself known as someone who is really willing to do this right. It is sometimes difficult to understand just how hard being a responsible breeder is. Usually the new and upcoming breeder gets digruntled with how hard it really is and gets the female spayed anyway, but sometimes they just chuck it all and start breeding without thinking about it.
You just have to get your toe in the door. Once you do, watch out for "information overload". Then you will understand why breeders are so cautious. Then when you get really successful, they want you to do your part and help everyone else that wants to give it a shot, or they want help to really nail those people who goof it up for everyone else.

How about Co-Ownerships?

Responsible breeding

As one of the main focuses (rightly or wrongly) of showing a dog in conformation is because the dog is of breeding stock, questions about breeding the dog come up frequently. Technically, just because a dog has its championsihp does not automatically make it a good breeding prospect. Conformation is but one of many aspects of the dog that must be evaluated. Other equally important points to consider are the health, temperament, and where applicable, the working ability of the dog.

What if I just get a puppy and start breeding her?

Attempting to short-circuit this process by acquiring a petstore puppy to breed will not work in the sense that no reputable breeder will breed to your dog. You will not get good quality puppies via this route. Most puppy-mill dogs are instantly spottable by their looks and if not, the pedigree will always warn off prospective breeders.

Do breeding-quality dogs have to have their CH?

Well, yes and no. Of course, opinion is divided on this, even among the reputable breeders.
Some good dogs never finish their CH's because of other accidents or constraints. As a breeder, you should know if your dog is finishable. You should know its faults better than any judge that will ever see the dog. It is up to the breeder to understand the standard and to honestly evaluate their own dogs. If you are not qualified to do this, then you need a mentor who can help you out.
On the other hand, as a demonstration of good faith and to be sure you understand the work involved, many breeders who sell you such a puppy will want you to have a go at getting a CH. That way you not only get a bit of notice in the area, but you also see what others of that breed look like and how your dogs compare to them in general. It also exposes you to some of the worst ways to complete a dog's title as well as some very nice dogs that just haven't been shown much. This way when you do go to breed, you'll have a better idea of what you are breeding for.

What are the responsibilities involved in breeding?

It takes quite a lot of time to learn what dog makes a good match for which bitch. Two dogs that are both outstanding individuals may not produce any outstanding puppies. The individual dogs and their pedigrees need to be carefully studied to verify that weaknesses on one side will be complemented by strengths on the other side in the same area. Both dogs need to undergo a battery of health tests to make sure you will not wind up with a litter of puppies with health problems.
You should consider that thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of puppies in each of the more-well-known breeds are registered with the AKC each year. Average or run-of-the-mill litters are simply not needed; more than enough exist. Breeding only the truly outstanding dogs within these popular breeds would still produce more than enough puppies to meet demand.
Breeders usually breed for a specific purpose and with each litter they are looking for a puppy with a particular set of characteristics. Some good litters are very uniform, but more often than not, there is only one or two such puppies. As a result, they end up with quite a number of puppies that need to be placed in "pet" homes. Competent breeders either work or show their dogs. If they are not tested in any way, there is no external confirmation of the dog's worth. Even if the breed in question is simply a companion-type dog (e.g., not a sporting, hunting, or other working breed), there should be temperament testing and showing to make sure the dogs are in line with the breed standards.
While many breeds of dogs can make good companion dogs, they often do so not because they were directly bred as "companions" but because the traits they have been selected for are also compatible with what is needed for a companion dog. For example, steadiness and trainability are needed for most of the working breeds, but these are also desireable traits for companion dogs. In other words, they make good companion dogs because of the years of breeding for working character and sound structure. Keep in mind these characteristics can be greatly diminished in just a few generations, so each generation needs to be evaluated to make sure that those qualities that come together to produce a good specimen of the breed are still present.

Conformation FAQ
Cindy Moore, rpd-info@netcom.com Hosted by