Presentation means a lot to me, in fact a poorly presented dog is awful I think. Be prepared to put in a bit of effort and present your dog to its best ability, as a handler, its your job!

Its the same with the welsh I prefer the older presentations where they could actually move without tripping over there skirt.
I went under a "friend" with Ross and got 3 out of 3 when I asked why I was told he was lacking coat.....he was an eight month all pup!!!! I had to point out our breed standard says "lightly feathered" its ridiculous should go on movement and confirmation not how much coat a dog has.

Just recently I've been checking the show results and critiques for English Springers and have come across some judges complaining about the poor of presentation of some dogs. One judge going so far as to say that had the presentation been better on some exhibits, then they would've got better placings.

Now, I know presentation is important - entering isn't cheap, so you want the dog and yourself to look your best. That said, is it right to put so much emphasis on appearance. Surely health, conformation and breed type is more important?

For me, if I was judging and found I had two dogs that were very similar but one wasn't as nicely presented I wouldn't automatically go for the one that was better presented. I'd look at the faults on each dog and mark them accordingly. Surely half the reason the show type Springer has become so hairy, for want of a better word, and over coiffured is because of peoples obsession with presentation?

Opinions please.

Nb: Oh and please try and avoid being overly disrespectful to those of us who show. I love to show my dogs, but don't necessarily agree with everything that goes on, however this thread isn't about calling dog shows/show'ers names etc.

I don't doubt presentation is important, I've already stated as much, that's not what the thread is about. The problem I have is when it's taken out of proportion or when it changes a breed to make it more flashy. Which picture do you prefer Dawn, just out of interest? If you had two dogs like the two in the pictures I posted, both with little to separate them conformation wise, would you pick the bottom flashy dog that didn't have a hair out of place, or the first one that is less immaculate but correctly fits the "moderately feathered" description in the breed standard?

To say a dog is placed lower purely because it's coat is not as well presented is wrong to me, because I honestly don't believe that with the difference in type and quality of exhibits that you could split hairs in such a fashion.

I'm not really 'in' on the showing scene since my pup isn't a recognised breed...but personally I feel that if two dogs had the same conformation and there was nothing between them health and standard wise. Then I would expect the judge to make a decision on presentation based on the breed standard, not their own personal preference. If the standard says "moderately feathered" then a dog with /excessive/ feathers should be placed lower perhaps than a dog with moderate feathering. But then the meaning of words can be taken in different ways depending on what a judge would consider 'moderate' to be. Now if it said "feathers of 2-3 inches in length" then there would be no question.

Its a dog show Rips, presentation being poor is like saying Miss world doesnt need to brush her hair because she is pretty enough to win without doing so. Presentation is part and parcel of dog showing, if you dont want to present your dog to its best advantage, dont show.