Totally disgusted twice

Well I took my two babes to an obedience show that is run my a breed club & that has single breed classes as well.

Not to compete as Rjj is too young for obedience(& not KC reg yet as I am still waiting for the ISDS cert) & JD isn't even formally obedience trained yet. just for the day out.

Firstly i got told off as JD(who is a 15 lb Cavalier)was "terrifying" two of the breed dogs !!!!!{who are are between 22" & 26" tall)because he was wagging his tail at them :smt101 :smt101

Then he got bowled over by one of the breed dogs waiting to go in the breed ring wearing a muzzle & weighing at least 5 times as much as JD

JD was obviously on lead all the time & did not go up to any of the breed dogs

The obedience dogs were all lovely with him & quite a few even flirted with him & wanted to play with him.

I opted not to take Rjj need the breed dogs he's had a couple of dogs have a go at him & he doesn't need upsetting again. Luckily JD doesn't take any notice of nasty dogs with ot without muzzles !

What on earth are people doing showing dogs frightened of a very small dog wagging his tail & having to wear a muzzle when the breed standard is very explicit on temperament(the muzzled dog was placed second or third in quite a big class too!). The nervous dogs' owner was sporting two first rosettes as well !

what an experiance God I will be entering the world of dog showing shortly, I only hope it's not to scary (I'm a whimp). My breeder will help me out, but I love dogs and I don't want to get involved in anything that will upset my dog!! I hope you have better luck next time.. Keep your chin up and tell your dog just how smart and beautiful they are

Hugs Sally-ann xx

That is NOT how it should be and I am sorry on behalf of all decent show exhibitors that you have been exposed to this undesirable element. The KC is clear on it's position over dogs of uncertain temperament and it states in the schedule that aggressive dogs must not be entered or brought onto the show ground.
If you feel that there is an aggressive dog at a show and you have the evidence and the necessary deposit to make a formal complaint to the Kennel Club you are entitled to do so by approaching the show secretary on the day and the dog can be banned from future events.

That's terrible, but sadly I'm not surprised. Some people just have no sense, or manners.

As for the muzzle, that'll be a lovely trait passed down into the lines. Just what you want for your breed.

This is slightly off topic but it annoyed me today so I'll air it.

Went to the ESS breed club show today, saw some lovely dogs (even one with a tail got placed! ) and was speaking to a breeder about the whole judging/showing thing. Now I know that you have to pick your judge as they all have their preferences, but I just couldn't believe it when she told me a lot of them were biased against B/Ws??? I mean what's that all about, both colours have been in the standard from the get go. Surely you should pick the best dog/bitch there, not based on colour bias???

Sorry just had to get that out of my system, don't want to make this into another breed standard debate.

It was a good job I'm not a novice exhibitor(been showing for over 40 years ) & that my Cavalier is bomb proof

I couldn't complain to the KC as non of the rules allow me to(I'm a show secretary BTW) I wasn't in the same class as the nasty dog & as it was shown on a very tight fine choker under it's ears it had no chance to be aggressive in the ring

Sadly with the type of dog of this breed that was being shown at the show nervousness is almost the norm ! which means the breeders totally disregard the character & temperament part of the breed standard.

I know what you mean about colour in judging I used to show a beautiful all black GSD bitch who should have been made up but because of her colour she was knocked(a now deceased belgian judge actually said the SV(the German GSD ruling body)were going to made black a disqualifying colour along with white, they weren't but he useed as an excuse to place her down the line). The same applies to tri colours & the dilutes blue & fawn in Beardies there are actually very few real blue & fawn beardies around most of the supposed blues are pale slates as they have black noses instead of the grey noses real blues have. I doubt most judges even know there are tri colours in Beardies !

How utterly terrifying for a dog to be wagged at by a happy Cavalier!
Dawn.

Well he is a bit overwhelming as his tail goes at 90 mph

Guess dog with muzzle was there to be socialized, as I don't think any judge would accept a muzzle in the ring, or was this obedience? What ever I would try a different club as this one does not seem to control it’s members in an actable fashion.

This was a breed show with open obedience. The dog with the muzzle was shown in the ring on a very fine choker up under it's ears & won it's class(quite a big one BTW) & was not being socialized but competing in the breed classes. The handler kept the lead very tight in the ring/ I presume the muzzle was whipped off just before it went into the ring

It was not an obedience dog but a "breed"dog

The obedience dogs of the breed were the ones wanting to play with JD