All Breed vs. Specialty Show - Questions

[LabsLand]

I hope not to become annoying but I would like some opinions on differences between AllBreed shows vs. Specialties.

(I had posted this as a continuation of my postings about training for Conformation Shows but I thought it would be better to start a new post).

Thank you!!I entered Henna to a couple of All Breed shows and I have a couple of questions about her presentation and maybe some of the experienced folks here can give me some last minute hints?

Here we go:

1. She loves to swim and I was wondering if I should stop taking her to the lake so her coat doesn't look "too" clean/dry?
When I take her to the lake I just dry her with 3 or 4 towels before getting back in the car but I don't brush her. When we get home her coat is all "wild" (I kinda like it), so I was wondering if I need to make sure her coat is all perfectly brushed down or if some wild hair in her hips, neck and tail is OK to be a bit wild.

2. I understand all-breed shows expect you to hand-stack your dog while in specialties they are more free (bait) stacked. Is that true? She looks much happier and excited as the puppy she is when we try the free stacking....

3. I am planning to use a chrome choke collar and a nylon lead. Is the metallic collar OK in this type of shows?

4. I have also seen that in all-breed shows handlers tend to pull up the lead to keep the dogs head up but sometimes it looks to me like the dog is being hung.... Dobermans and Pointers look great that way, but I am not sure about Labs being showed that way. Any advice?

5. One or two of the judges, I understand, are Lab breeders. Should I present Henna in a different way to these judges as opposed to how I am expected to show her to the other judges??

Thanks for any advice. It is clear to me that it is about learning and having fun together and watching other dogs and learning by watching and not pushing her hard so she keeps enjoying shows and classes.

[nwlabs]

Will you be at Springfield this weekend? I will be there on Sunday just showing a puppy bitch who turns 6 months on Saturday.

Show the dog the way you and she is most comfortable. I mostly free bait my gang and do fine at the all breed shows.

[LabsLand]

Thank you Peggy!!

It will be very nice to see you again. You will have fun watching me trying to handle Henna, but as you said, I will try to do what makes us more comfortable. I will be showing her tomorrow, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. This will be a great practice for both of us. I just hope I will find the ring and that I stay inside the ring while showing her :embarrass:

I will see you and your puppy on Sunday. By then I will be "an expert"

Thanks for replying and for your advice!!

Nestor & Henna

[yellwlab]

Hi Nestor!!

I just checked in here - sorry if I'm late.

You'll see me (and my whole family!) on Saturday and Sunday. We'll be up on Saturday late morning-noonish, so if you're around the grounds, look for me. Breezy's entered on Sunday morning.

I think you should probably brush down Henna's coat while it's damp; washing her in the lake is IMO fine (and you'll recall that my dogs are bathed in LI Sound for the most part) but I don't think she should look all rumpled and bedhead for the shows.

Good luck! You'll do GREAT! I can't wait to see it!

[nwlabs]

How did you and Henna do today?

[LabsLand]

You'll see me (and my whole family!) on Saturday and Sunday.

Hi Liz,
Thanks for your advice. I look forward to seeing you guys on the weekend.

How did you and Henna do today?

Peggy I will see you and Flirt on Sundat!!!

Well... Let's say that some of my nightmares came true :ugly:

She walked fine and stood hand stacked and free stack fine, BUT when it got to the moment to show her teeth.... she backed up and the clueless handler lost the grip and she freed herself from the chain

Fortunately the judge was extremely friendly and nice and we trytried to keep what was left of my composture... and walked around the link ring once again....

Se got the second place and she lost to a beautiful yellow girl the same age as she who ended up as the best bitch (she competed against all the other bitches in other classes.. (is it BOW?).

I was just watching the rest of the show and suddenly they called me again.. I had never seen that before.... since Henna's class winner got the BOW, I understand Henna had another chance to compete for Reserve??

The owner of the winner was very nice during the whole thing and she even explained to me what was going on

Anyway, it was fun, we got home, both very tired but I had to work the rest of the day and I am leaving right now... more details to come later tonight.

The winner is Holly Farm's Pay the Piper, owner: Deborah Brunell.

Congratulations to both of them!!

Thanks for asking !!

Edited for mispelling

[ZRL]

I don't show, but I -think- that if the yellow won best bitch, she was Winners Bitch and then you were competing for Reserve Winners Bitch? For the Yellow to be BOW, she would have had to beat the Winners Dog as well as all the other bitches.

[nwlabs]

The winner is Holly Farm's Pay the Piper, owner: Deborah Brunell.

Oh Deb is a peach! Very nice lady. That is a pretty pup she has too. What happens is when the first place dog/bitch in a class competes in Winners and wins, then the 2nd place dog/bitch comes in and competes for Reserve Winners. What class are you in? Flirt is entered in 6-9 mos puppy bitch.

Good luck today!

[LabsLand]

I don't show, but I -think- that if the yellow won best bitch, she was Winners Bitch and then you were competing for Reserve Winners Bitch? For the Yellow to be BOW, she would have had to beat the Winners Dog as well as all the other bitches.

ZRL:
Yes. You are right. Ms. Brunell's puppy was Winners Bitch and not Best of Winners.
Thanks for clarifying this! I will get it some day soon!

The winner is Holly Farm's Pay the Piper, owner: Deborah Brunell.

Oh Deb is a peach! Very nice lady. That is a pretty pup she has too. What happens is when the first place dog/bitch in a class competes in Winners and wins, then the 2nd place dog/bitch comes in and competes for Reserve Winners. What class are you in? Flirt is entered in 6-9 mos puppy bitch.

Good luck today!

Thanks again Peggy!
Henna is in the 6-9 months puppy bitches, so we will be in the ring on Sunday with Liz's puppy. There are 7 puppies entered for Sunday.
Another yellow puppy won today. It was Woodlands Summer Sunset (Tamara Smith, NY).
Henna did better with the teeth exam today, but once again I made mistakes. When you come back from the diagonal path, instead of stacking Henna facing the judge , I stacked her for the judge to see her side (again ), then after we ran the last time around the ring, I moved ahead passing where the judge were :ugly:

Oh well.... this is being a learning experience and I needed that. I have met a couple of very nice people, like the lady who asked me today before I went in the ring if she could remove the price tag hanging from the back of my pants , or another Canadian lady who came to tell me that I looked very happy showing Henna :embarrass:; even some of the many professional handlers have been nice to me. Of course there were some, let's say not so friendly, but I guess that's part of being competitive... but overall it is being a terrific experience.

Another good thing is that Henna doesn't seem to get overwhelmed with the experience and my errors, and since I am not letting her feel my frustration since I actually feel very proud of my grown puppy, I think we will be ok.
All I know is that when I see her in the back sit of my car when we start our trip back home all I see is the most beautiful puppy, and I am the best judge, or at least the only one she really cares about

We will relax tomorrow. We went to a dog park in Southbury and she swam nonstop and played with some Jack Russels and other dogs and has been sleeping like the baby she still is.

Thanks again for all the patient support. I was reading my old postings and I was very repetitive... sorry...


<Edited for better grammar >

[Canyon Labradors]

sounds like you had a good time and that's all you can hope for just starting out. I've got 2 months before my boy are old enough to start showing. That should be very interesting.