I breed & show dogs : AMA

[LandSharksAnonymous]

Two very different worlds - but I do both. 20 years experience in breeding, 10 in showing. My mum did both for 30+ years. Anything anyone would like to know?

It was a lovely example of its breed!

That being said Tibetan Mastiff should never have been runner up - a dog that people can’t approach (as Claire Balding couldn’t during the backstage moment - she even commented she couldn’t get close and needed to give it ‘space’) and the judge only does the briefest of physical checks over (because it was clearly wasn’t happy being touched) should never be in the final. TBH if I am frank, it should never have won best of breed let alone best in group! Yes, the breed is notorious for being…tetchy, but if you are showing a dog it should be able to have a physical check without being a risk to the judge or those in the same room!

Such a shame as I love dog showing but this years crufts was such a disappointment (don’t even get me started on the best in breed GSD - it’s legs were even worse up close).

I agree, it was lovely to see the whippet with it’s handler.

the breeder of my dog shows at crufts. She’s retired more than one dog from show for the simple reason the dog didn’t enjoy it and she thought it didn’t have the right temperament for showing. Including one that was winning every puppy class it went in.

The commentator mentioned that the cocker spaniel looked a bit overwhelmed but the I agree that the runner up was on a different level.

I really liked the Jack Russell. The whippet was very cute but looked a lot like whippets I see all the time. The JRT was really special.

I realise, by the way, that 'cuteness' is not necessarily upmost in the judge's mind!

“Retrievers are the perfect dog IMO! I hope you find a pup!😀there’s nothing better than a big, slobbery, furry cuddle after a bad day at work-“

@LandSharksAnonymous thank you, I hope so. Edging toward Staffords, not sure I’m doing the right thing. I don’t know if another retriever would be too painful. Going to get away, have a holiday and go from there.

Just realised I never replied 😁

@Glitchymn1 - remember that even if they look the same, all dogs are complete individuals. Even if you wanted to compare them, within a few weeks you'd struggle to because they really are so different. As I mentioned upthread, my sister has the sister of my boy - and honestly I've never known two dogs so dissimilar. It's like chalk and cheese!

@Lovemyassistancedog I think cuteness (or at least attractiveness in terms of breed standard) should 100% be on the judges mind! The JR was absolutely lovely - even by breed standards. It moved very nicely as well!

On a very unrelated topic...all going well, and fingers crossed, in 3 months I will have a house full of Goldie puppies (insemination due to take place in less than two weeks)! Then, in five and a bit months it'll be five Goldies, me and my two DD)😊

That sounds wonderful. Good luck!

@LandSharksAnonymous That is very true.

Good luck with your goldies, whoever gets one is very lucky.

I have a question please

would you let one of your pups live in a house where the lounge was on the middle floor?

I only ask because of all the extra trips up and down the stairs - as I live in this type of home I would be worried to have a bigger dog for their joints. I would never want the style of my home to be a detriment to my dogs health

@destructivedan - I’d have no concerns!

The main thing is to minimise trips up the stairs/jumping off furniture when they’re very young. As they get older, it’s fine.

So in a three story townhouse, assuming access to the garden is via the ground floor but ‘living quarters’ are on the first floor, I’d assume that pup primarily lives on the first floor with the family and was carried up/down every time they had to go out other than once a day (otherwise you might end up with a dog who gets so used to be carried they won’t ever walk down themselves) whilst they’re very young! Once they’re older (about eight months to a year), it’s less of an issue but I’d still be cautious about stairs until they hit maturity - that’s not to say no stairs at all, rathe just being careful they’re not flying down themselves etc. The bigger the dog, the slower their growth plates are to close. But it’s eminently doable if you are sensible!

FWIW my pups will go upstairs with me at night, and I let them take themselves up and down in the morning. Doing that once or twice a day never damaged a young dog.

My red line is having them on furniture when they’re young. People worry a lot about stairs, or over-exercising young puppies but actually the worst thing is high impact things like ball chasing and jumping off furniture (particularly onto slippery floors). As long as you’re sensible and get a dog with good hip/elbow scores (because that will help minimise risk of wider joint issues), then it should be fine!

Not sure if anyone is still watching this, but just to update - 11 healthy, happy puppies born last week. And mum is doing wonderfully. Very happy to still take any questions people still have on breeding/showing/raising landsharks!

Congratulations!!

A random question popped in to my head-when you know which owner is getting which pup do you start to use their chosen name for their pup?

I don't have a Golden Retriever but know a few from dog walks and honestly can say one of them is the one of the loveliest dog I have ever know (hope my own darling dog not reading this-although she loves her too)

@MrsMitford3 I don't use chosen names for the puppies if only because I would end up shortening the name anyway and chances are i'd shorten it to something they wouldn't use.

One of my girls is Henrietta but I call her Hen. I think most people would probably call her Henry or Hennie or Rita or something else!

Thank you for the update; there can never be too much focus on puppies - you've brought the purest form of joy into the world. ❤Best of luck to all of you.

How do you get started with showing? I have quite a rare breed who meets breed standards perfectly but just don't know enough about it. He's adolescent so haven't started agility training yet, we've been told to wait until he's at least 2.5 and finished growing.

We've wondered over to a few local "dog shows" but they seem to just be a bit of a gathering in a park or church hall - not really what I'd think of as a dog show.

Is it worth getting a trainer that specializes in showing?

@hungryduck so sorry I've only just seen this!

I would start by contacting your local breed club - they should be able to point you in the right direction 😊 Even if he's a rare breed, there should still be a UK-wide club, I hope!

I got into it slightly differently as DMum did it before me, so I was always 'involved' if you see what I mean! And I definitely don't think it's worth getting a trainer, I don't have one and my dogs have done excellently without it.

I'll chip in also, if I may @LandSharksAnonymous

Look for Ringcraft classes locally @hungryduck
The one we found for our Pyreneans was excellent. They brought in a guest judge every few weeks and ran a mock show, with the dogs being gone over individually and then placed, just as they would at a proper show.
Ringcraft is vastly different from training classes and we found it very beneficial for our pups. It suited us much better.
It might be advisable to go to a session without your dog initially, just to watch how things are being done and ask questions.

At this time of year some of the local and regional Agricultural Shows have quite good dog shows as part of the events also. We've done a few of those in the past. You can win little rosettes and occasionally a small bag of food.

This page on The Kennel Club website may be helpful to get you started.
https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/events-and-activities/dog-showing/

Good luck and have fun!