Showing Is A Hobby!!

[JAX]

Well it is to me anyway , why do people take things to heart so ?

We enter under judges to get their opinion of our dogs , wether we agree with them or not is another matter ,

If we dont agree or like their judging we simply dont enter under them next time they judge do we :cheers:

As long as a judge is fair Im happy :wacko:

It seems to me that there is too many politics in the dog world nowadays ..

Why do you show Whippets?

Money ? Fame ?!! or because you love the breed and like being with like minded people ?? :wub:

I know what MY answer is :thumbsup:

Lets just CHILL OUT and enjoy our HOBBY :huggles: :huggles:

 

[LasVegasNo1]

Wow! This showing lark is more interesting than Big Brother! lol (w00t) I always thought Dog showing was very light-hearted but I'm getting a different impression from K9 feedback :wacko:

Edited to say I assume it's just a minority of people who take it dead-seriously? As most show people on here seem to just be in it for the joy they get from showing their dogs?

 

[Mark Roberts]

watching pain dry is more interesting than Big Brother

 

[JAX]

Mark Roberts Posted on Jun 23 2004, 04:07 PM   watching pain dry is more interesting than Big Brother 

Is it a man thing ! Watching PAIN dry !!

I think you meant PAINT :cheers:

I agree Mark )

 

[Mark Roberts]

You see Jax! I think of big brother and write PAIN!.

 

[LasVegasNo1]

O dear shouldn't have said Big Brother

 

[gajo]

My wife started showing before me and to start with I hated it. We'd drive 5 or 6 hr round trips to arrive at 8am- sit around till 11am or so- be in the ring for 30 seconds- then get "dumped"- then drive home. She loved it!

I couldn't see what the fuss was, and all these "doggy people" seemed so strange- half looked like their dogs, some acted liked them, some treated dogs like some superior form of life ie- the coats, grooming tables, ear covers, chalk etc etc etc.

Tried to talk her out of it- but she was hooked. Then took her RR in the ring one day_ was so nervous- no idea why it was just a bloody dog show afterall- and the dog took runner up in group! For some reason I found it fun(though didn't admit this to my much better half at this stage- dogs show were for women and effeminate men of course.

Bit by bit kept showing and now am like one of those "strange doggy people". Think the world of my dogs, fuss over them, love talking dogs all day- and even wore a PINK :wub: shirt to a show recently.

God only knows why this all happened- was it the social part, competition?Fame?- don't know. But I do know that once you have the bug its hard to kick it.

Oh one other thing- still hoping to look like my dog one day!!

 

[Jan Doherty]

Dog showing is a reflection of life in general and life is now highly competative.

Everyone has to aim to be a high achiever or your a loser.

The days of the 'taking part that counts' are long gone.

The worst thing I ever did was to start showing my dogs at KC shows but I have always been competative (I showed Arab horses under saddle as a teenager and got the competative bug)

I had much more fun in the old days at Exemption shows and Lurcher shows hence my decision to buy Tally lurcher recently.

I should have stuck to the racing and coursing but I'm hooked now on the showing although I dont do nearly as many shows now as I did a few years ago.

I had a fantastic couple of years in the show ring a few years back with the IGs winning CCs and getting a group placing but last year and the year before I struggled to win a class. I do get dissappointed with bad and crooked judging and as Jax suggests I dont enter under those judges again.

It is a hobby but it does get under your skin and that can colour your behaviour

 

[Zolan]

Why show dogs when all those who are not doggy people think we are mad? We spend our hard earned cash on our dogs, entering shows, petrol to get there and on cars that are suitable for our dogs. What they don't get is the love and affection we get from our dogs. There is nothing better than watching whippets "strut their stuff" on a weekend and meeting all your doggy friends. The politics will always be there but they can be ignored and there is nothing better than chilling out with half a dozen whippets all trying to sit beside you on the one chair.stealing your nibbles and chewing your feet. Who but a whippet lover would understand? :wub:

 

[janfiers]

It's one of those hobbies that you either love it or hate it and if you love it you are generally addicted to it. Best shown (for me that is) when I went abroad for work and stuff for a few years. For the first few months, I thought this is grand, no more 4am starts, grumbling kids, grouchy dogs and the man we won't even talk about. But then I got quite a miserable old so and so as there was something 'missing' in my life. Returned to the UK on a full time basis and took up where I left off. The first show back and it was just like coming home. Interesting thing was to see who was still around. You then can tell the dedicated folk (never quite made my mind up whether it is actually dedication or lunacy at times) because they're still around. And Yup Jax is definitely one of those.

I do think though that some people take it far too seriously. Yes of course we would all like to win, but at the end of the day, we all take the best ones home, OURS. Whilst I like good healthy debate I do get concerned when people make unkind comments about what a judge did or didn't do, or possibly is expected to do. If we were sure of the results before hand then we needn't bother entering and then we would have no fun at all. As long as the judge is honest and has confidence in their choices that's fine by me. But before anyone tells me I'm too righteous, I am as guilty as the next person, thinking some judges "couldn't judge my pit boots" but thereafter they don't get an entry from me again.

-_- Soap box over!

Jan Fiers

 

[whipowill]

Bit by bit kept showing and now am like one of those "strange doggy people". Think the world of my dogs, fuss over them, love talking dogs all day- and even wore a PINK  :wub: shirt to a show recently.
God only knows why this all happened- was it the social part, competition?Fame?- don't know. But I do know that once you have the bug its hard to kick it.

Oh one other thing- still hoping to look like my dog one day!! 

He did wear a pink shirt :blink: I saw it!!!! :unsure:

I really enjoy the social side of showing and yes I also hope to look like my dog one day. At around the waistline...... :- "

Was that what you meant Gajo?

 

[whipowill]

I do think though that some people take it far too seriously.  Yes of course we would all like to win, but at the end of the day, we all take the best ones home, OURS.  Whilst I like good healthy debate I do get concerned when people make unkind comments about what a judge did or didn't do, or possibly is expected to do.  If we were sure of the results before hand then we needn't bother entering and then we would have no fun at all. As long as the judge is honest and has confidence in their choices that's fine by me.  But before anyone tells me I'm too righteous, I am as guilty as the next person, thinking some judges "couldn't judge my pit boots"  but thereafter they don't get an entry from me again.
-_- Soap box over!

Jan Fiers

Interestingly I don't get upset with what judges do in whippets (still on that steep learning curve). But in my "other breed from the gundog group" I hate to admit it used to get me going!

I had a think about why this happened and came to the conclusion that I know much more about this breed than most of the people who are judging it. It is very hard to respect a judges opinion in this case. But while I may not respect their opinion I do not critise them for their choices. Many are doing the best they can.

A lot of the judges in Australia come through a generalised training system. Many have no idea what is required of this breed in the field. Having owned dogs in the early part of my dog career who were very faulty & who hunted on heart but paid the price physically my opinion is coloured by my experience.

I often watch the judging of my other breed, shake my head & walk away knowing that I know infinitely more than the judge does about my breed.

But that is all I do.

Because that is the nature of dog shows!!!!!!!

 

[Jan Doherty]

Its strange you saying that you get more uptight about the Gundog side of things. I dont show whippets anymore but when I first did I was highly competative then I got the IGs and at first I just enjoyed showing them but as time went on and I got to know the breed more the competative side came out in them but I couldnt care less what happened when I showed the whippets. At this stage I have learnt far more about IGs as a breed, have bred 4 litters and have my eye in to my type of IG whereas in Whippets I only had males and never actually felt a part of the whippet scene although I have made some good friends and acquaintences through it.

Numerically IGs are far fewer in the ring but that doesnt necessarily mean you will win classes when you should as the politics is even worse than in whippets and the judging pool even smaller so once you start to strike judgesoff your list you end up going to fewer and fewer shows each year.

Showing is a habit as well as a hobby and it is certainly a way of life you only have to look in the Caravan parks at shows to see that. Havent quite gone down that route yet although I would love another caravan sometime :wub:

 

[whipowill]

Its strange you saying that you get more uptight about the Gundog side of things. I dont show whippets anymore but when I first did I was highly competative then I got the IGs and at first I just enjoyed showing them but as time went on and I got to know the breed more the competative side came out in them but I couldnt care less what happened when I showed the whippets. At this stage I have learnt far more about IGs as a breed, have bred 4 litters and have my eye in to my type of IG whereas in Whippets I only had males and never actually felt a part of the whippet scene although I have made some good friends and acquaintences through it.Numerically IGs are far fewer in the ring but that doesnt necessarily mean you will win classes when you should as the politics is even worse than in whippets and the judging pool even smaller so once you start to strike judgesoff your list you end up going to fewer and fewer shows each year.

Showing is a habit as well as a hobby and it is certainly a way of life you only have to look in the Caravan parks at shows to see that. Havent quite gone down that route yet although I would love another caravan sometime :wub:

In whippets I'm a nobody. But........

without blowing my own trumpet.... :- "

In my other breed, I hate to say this but I was considered a face. I was used to winning and winning well past breed level. In fact I exhibited a dog who went for all of 1991 and was never beaten at breed level.

Being a nobody is fun sometimes. You don't have to keep watching your back all the time. o

 

[Cartman]

WOW!!!!!

How does one enter a topic like this?????????????

I think that everytime I have a litter, I kiss good bye to AU$1,000 . We get very poor prices here for pets, & I seldom sell show quallity pups. I seem to give them to good show homes instead. I do this because years ago some of the "old guard" helped me into the breed. I was showing a whippet of shall we say "a good one to find faults with."

These gentlemen helped me to learn about the breed & we have been friends now for over 30 years. What they did for me, I hope to pass that onto others. I was asked for a bitch from a referal by a familly friend. So, I sell (pet price) a bitch & try to make sure they go in the right direction. To do this I also them a dog to mate her to , & imported another dog for them to make up & use.

I have been burnt several times. Letting dogs go & seeing them resold for "money" & to homes that I would of rather not sent to . That happens.

A hobby?? YES. it is. anyone trying to make money or be upthem selves I wont have. I just want to see the breed move ahead, & the only way to that is to trust eachother, & hope like hell you have others to watch out for to too.

What I think the breed needs at the moment is not to see the "oldies" move on, but for them to reconise that they are not the only ones showing. It is a hobby, & not a cheap one. So we all should make the most of it.

Best of luck to all.....................

 

[whipowill]

Actually Cartman I do know exactly what your talking about.

One of the reasons that I haven't bred a litter (of my other breed) since 1998is that I've been burned by too many problem owners. They are a very active breed and definately not for everyone. I might add that Kandi's breeder who is a long time friend offered to give her to me. I didn't think that was right. So I paid full price.

Even though Kandi is a bitch, at this stage I have no plans to become a whippet breeder. To put it simply "I've had a gut full" of that side of the dog world.

Sorry to hear that you've been "ripped off" also.

So I go to dog shows and enjoy a day out. No agro allowed around my campsite!!!! :- "

 

[Karen]

Quite right Jax, far too much moaning, about judging especially!

I love to go to a show to see friends catch up on the gos and see whos got a new puppy out and see some winners that I havnt seen before.

I ignore all comments that pick out ONE fault in a good dog that are repeated parrot fashion by unknowledgable people that probably havnt even looked properly :angry:

If my dogs show themselves well that is all I ask of them, sometimes they b****r it up, sometimes I b****r it up (w00t) but I still take the best dogs in the world home.

The minute one show is over I just think about getting ready for the next, I never dwell on the judging or feel sorry for myself if I got chucked. I think you can get very wound up about it all if you think you should be winning and your not.

Its an expensive hobby though and can be dissapointing. You see some people, they spend every single penny they have just to show the dogs. Its almost like a compulsion.

 

[aslan]

Showing dogs is the thing I love to do most! Handling dogs is the one thing that I am prepared to say that I am GOOD at. It is the one thing that I know that I can do well and that I am confident in my ability.

This is the main reason that I love dog shows. Winning is always nice - but I don't HAVE to win - I used to have a car sticker that said "A bad day at a dog show is better than a good day at work". That's pretty much my motto.

As well as my own dogs - I love to handle dogs for other people - any breed - and to handle others' dogs successfully, especially if the owner has been struggling with the dog, is a great feeling. To hear the words "You had him looking beautiful" or "She works best for you" is music to my ears - and winning with that dog is an even greater thrill because the thanks/gratitude from the owner is a wonderful thing. I love to see the joy on their faces when their dog has had a win. I also like helping newcomers learn how to show their dogs better. Then watching them go on to win themselves - it's a fantastic warm fuzzy feeling.

Breeding a dog that you are proud of is also a wonderful thing. To see someone else win with a dog you bred is excellent!

Wins are thrilling things - but they are the icing on the cake. OF course I would love to have that ultimate winner - the big winner that everyone is jealous of and therefore says horrible things about :teehee: but I'm not going to drop out of showing because I haven't had that yet. As my signature quote says "Life's a journey not a destination" - so is dog showing. The journey is what makes it great.

 

[janfiers]

I agree with Jan Doherty that in a numerically small breed, politics constantly rears its ugly head. As you all know I too have Italians and I can confirm what Jan says. Perhaps it's just not noticed quite so much in numerically strong breeds.

It's just a shame when people are so quick to stick the knife in.

:- " Anyway I shouldn't even be on K9 as I'm supposed to be revising for a law exam tomorrow!

JanF

 

[dessie]

:- " Anyway I shouldn't even be on K9 as I'm supposed to be revising for a law exam tomorrow!
JanF

Best of luck then!!!