If you've never been to a dog show, you're in for an exciting, and perhaps, confusing time. At an All-Breed Show (where every breed accepted in a registry is allowed to show), you'll find a huge variety of breeds, and even varieties within a breed.
For instance, in the Cocker Spaniels, they have Any Solid Color Other Than Black (ASCOB) which includes the well known "blond" variety, the Black Cocker, and the Parti-colored. The Black Cockers can have some tan on them, but must be less than 10% of the total coloring. The Parti-Colored are the ones with white and another color in splotches or spots. Each variety is shown, then, the Best of Variety goes into the Group Ring, just as a Best of Breed would.
The Collies, too, come in varieties. There is the Rough, which reminds you of Lassie, and the Smooth. The Smooth is build like the Rough, but with substantially less coat. It can be rather amazing to see what lies beneath all that beautiful coat.
Chihuahuas are long- and short-coated, the Welsh Corgi comes with (Cardigan) and without (Pembroke) a tail, the German Shorthair Pointers come in smooth and wire-coats, and there doesn't appear to be a lot of difference between the Curly-coated and the Flat-Coated Retrievers (except the coat, of course), although they are shown as different breeds.
Chinese Crested dogs come in the standard variety with almost no coat and in the "powder-puff" variety with a total coat. Beagles come in two sizes--13" and 15" and Daschunds come in three coat varieties, as well as Standard and Miniature sizes.
Underneath all these variations, though, there are basic characteristics that each breed must adhere to. These are called the "Breed Standard." Most Breed Standards will describe the "ideal" dog and any disqualifications that would keep a particular dog from being shown, such as too much white on the Cockers (except the parti-coloreds).
Once you find the breed(s) you want to observe in the ring, you'll find that all breeds show the dogs (males) first. From 6-9 Month puppies up to the Open dogs. The winner of each of those classes will come back into the ring for Winner's Dog. Then, the bitches (females) are shown the same way and go for Winner's Bitch. Next, you'll see the Best of Breed competition which the Winner's Dog and Bitch will be entered in. Other than those two, all the entries in Best of Breed are Champions. From these, the judge selects the dog or bitch that best exempflies the Breed and a Best of Opposite Sex. If neither of those is the Winner's Dog or Bitch, one of those will be selected as Best of Winners.
The way a dog or bitch becomes a champion in the AKC is to garner "points" from wins. Fifteen points are required for a championship with two "majors" needed. A major is when a set number of animals are entered in a competition. The numbers vary from area to area so it is difficult to tell you the exact numbers required. You can find that information on the AKC website (www.akc.org). Points are awarded according to the number of entries "defeated" in the classes.
Once all the Best of Breeds have been determined, it's time to go to the Group Ring. Here, the Best of Breed for each type of dog in a specific Group (i.e., Sporting, Non-Sporting, Hounds, Herding, Terriers, Toys, and Working) will be judged. They will be placed 1-4 and the number one winner will go on to the Best In Show competition.
In the Best In Show ring, there will be only seven entries. These are considered the cream of the crop for that show and only one will be selected out of them. Winning Best In Show is a huge honor and competition can be fierce throughout the climb to that exalted pinnacle.
If it all sounds a bit confusing, well, yes, it can be for the neophyte. If you attend several shows, though, it slowly becomes more clear and the fun part is, you can pick your own choices and see how you did compared to how the judges place the entries.
As you get to know the ins and outs of showing and familiarize yourself with Breed Standards for any breed you're interested in, attending dog shows will become even more fun and you'll get caught up in the air of excitement and competition there.
If you wish to learn more about a breed, it is best to talk to the competitors after they show and, please, always ask to pet a dog before you do. For some of the breeds, there is a lot of work that goes into grooming for the show, and they will not thank you for messing that up.
Go, watch and enjoy a few dog shows. It's a great way to spend a day.
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This week's training tip stems from the requirements for the Canine Good Citizen test. Any dog can get a CGC title, even mixed-breeds. This is about the first of ten tests the dog must pass to get the title.
"Accepting a Friendly Stranger
The evaluator approaches and shakes hands with the handler. Does not touch dog."
What they are looking for here is a dog that allows strangers to approach in a friendly manner and interact with the handler. Generally, the dog is expected to sit quietly although some sniffing of the newcomer is allowed. Dogs that show aggression or fear (barking, growling, hiding behind the owner) will not pass.
This is where good socialization is important. If you take your dog out and introduce him/her to different people and situations, you could pass this one easily.
Next week, we'll look at test two--Sitting Politely for Petting.
That's it for this week. Don't forget to keep an eye out on Animal Planet (if you have cable) next month for the Crufts Dog Show.
Please remember to patronize our sponsors on the website as they help bring you this information and the site.
See ya at the shows,
Christi
Dog Potentials
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2 comments:
Hi Chris,
Got any tips on how to keep the neighbours dogs from using my garden as their playpen and Toilet?.
These are two, what I think are Old English Sheepdogs and they were having a little difficulty with the briars in my hedge. Imagine my shock a couple of days ago to see two strange looking animals which turned out to have been the aforementioned dogs after a major sheep-shearing style haircut.
They are so skinny now that they could get through a mouse hole I think.
I have done some temporary hedge blocking with an old rusty wheel barrow and some concrete blocks but I need a permanent solution.Buckets of water have so far proved innefective since I can't throw the water quickly enough and they are a bit like a pair of Greyhounds with an ICBM up their rear end! All communications welcomed.
Robin
Okay, first, what are the laws about loose dogs? Are you on speaking terms with these neighbors? If yes, tell them you'd appreciate if they kept the dogs in their yard. If not, introduce yourself and nicely tell them that you'd appreciate if they kept the dogs in their yard. If they don't want to play nice about it, the solutions include fencing your garden area, bringing legal action, and/or, having the dogs picked up as nuisances.
I don't think the Old English is on the dangerous dog law books there, but you might want to check.
Ah, gee, if they'd stay out of your hedge, they wouldn't need to be clipped, now, would they?!! Yep, about freaked out when Mother first got our Samoyed sheared! Would have sworn there was more dog under there. Do you have any fencing fabric that resembles what we call chicken wire--has roundish holes about 1" diameter? Maybe you could put up some of that. Would be an awful surprise to the dogs! Hmmm, maybe down one side (is it YOUR hedge, or a joint hedge?) and put up climbing roses along it??
Anyway, the first course of action is to talk to the owners and ask them to contain their dogs. In America, there are leash laws in about every community (not that everyone obeys them, mind you), so it may be the same there.
If they choose not to comply, you could move on to legal relief, putting up a fence, or finding some chemical method of scaring the dogs away. OR, sending them to the Animal Control facility.
Now, one inexpensive thing you might try is stringing some tin cans across the most frequent access and put some pebbles or marbles in them (put some holes in the bottoms so if it rains, your cans don't get full and break the wire). Then, when the dogs run into them, the noise might drive them away. It would be similar to the "shake can" method of training. In a roundabout way.
Let me know what you get to work and how things progress. If none of these actions work, maybe someone will have more ideas.
Regards,
Christi
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