I show Marius my Rottie and he loves going to shows. If he didn't like it I wouldn't show him (and he wouldn't do well if he looked miserable in the ring ) Anybody who saw him at a show would confirm this - he gets absolutely hyper with excitement at seeing all his buddies and greeting their owners. It took me months of ringcraft to stop him from licking the judge as they went over him!!

He is our pet first and foremost and showing is just a hobby.

I have to agree that I have seen some dogs at shows who I believe are not treated as well as they should be sadly. To some, it is the winning that is the most important thing and not the dog. However, they are in the minority I believe.

Actually the best hunters were found to be the ridged dogs in their country of origin ergo non ridged dogs were/are less fit for purpose than ridged dogs. few people actually cull non ridged dogs & they are sold as pets

I show my two Borzoi Boys and they just love the attention at shows ,as a couple of folks on here who have met up with them at shows can confirm


They are my pets first and foremost and win or lose I still bring the best two dogs home.

They have their runs and get muddy and yes it is a lot of work to keep them clean and well d for shows, t well worth all the effort, when you see them strut their stuff in the ring.

I have a mixture of pet and show dogs and i like to think they6 all have a happy life.

Riley, my labrador, had a very promising career in the show ring as a pup, he did very well and looked really nice, but he did not enjoy showing at all, some dogs just dont like it. So he is now pampered pet, resident guard dog (though he sleeps through the doorbell and telephone lol) and obedience champion (I wish!!! ).

Gracie on the other hand, my pug, had a couple of months off showing recently and hated it. She just LOVES to show. If you'd seen her at the show last weekend, her first since her break, you wouldn't believe a dog could be that excited about showing. She really does love to do it, its amazing really. I think she'd get bored if she wasn't showing

Now, i have to admit, i would be very wary of selling a puppy into a show home. Whilst mine are all exercised and kept fit and live a normal doggy life, a minority of show people do keep them in a way i personally do not agree with. Pugs sometimes are kept crated all day every day to avoid them injuring themselves. Or some are kept in kennels which is just not suitable for a pug IMO, they are family dogs and need to be with their people. Some people insist on piling the weight on their 10 week old labrador puppies to make sure they look well rounded in the ring at 6 months, which inevitably damages them in the future, thyough they disappear from the ring at 3-4 years so you never hear about it!!

Im not saying by any means that that is common practice, but it happens enough to make me be very wary about any show enquiries we have and enough to put the majority of pups into strictly pet-only homes. But, the vast majority of people keep their show dogs as pets also as well as show dogs and thats how it should be. I have mine in bed with me every night and i think the pugs would be horrified if i asked them to even spend 5 mins in a kennel

Why would you assume that?
When I have people coming that I dot not know, I crate my dogs - does not mean they live in there.
For terriers to do well at shows I would expect them to be muscled and fit so assume they were exercised ...

About hunters and their big dog packs...The hunter does not have great relationship with them all...The hunters don't take them with them in towns or when they go on holidays, they take them out for hunting where yes, they have to obey the horn or the masters voice but they are not very attached to the hunter. try separating those hunting dogs from their packs - they are lost without other dogs because they are not really attached to the master as they can't be. They obey the pack and the main thing is for top dogs to obey the master and others will follow...

And yes, yorkies were bred to have very long coats but the fact is that if you don't wrap the hair up in little paper balls it gets damaged - shorter. I don't think those dog are happy...Imagine all those papers pulling your hair all the time...And I would imagine that those dogs can't even communicate with other dogs properly...Any playing with other dogs - well, how?
You gave an example of a chinese crested - but they don't even have hair...They can lead a normal life, can run with other dogs as perfectly as any other dog can. But I don't think dogs with hundreds of paper balls can run normally...
i believe there are no dog showing people in this forum that fit in the category which I was talking about in previous post. Because you all consider dogs to be pets first, not a source of income...
By the way, i am not saying that seeing dogs as a source of income is any more wrong than raising and selling farm animals. It is just that I couldn't do it, because I want to have a relationship with my dogs...But than again I wouldn't even want to have cattle or pigs because I have a tendency to get attached to them, but probably you don't get too attached when you have a lot of them...
And what is distrubing for me is when you see people who show their dogs and they leave them anattended. I have seen this on many dog shows - dogs tied to the post and no owner around or even worse - dogs left in the cars....And there have been several deaths at dog shows because the dogs were left in cars...But I know that dogs die in cars every day and it is not because of showing but because of irresponsible owners (even children die in cars)...It is just that you expect more from people who are showing or are involved in any such dog activity...They should know better!
Again, as I have said before, I love dog shows and I hope I will be able to go to crufts this year as I have never been to crufts before...I love shows because you get the oportunity to see some wonderful dogs and meet some nice people...

Im sorry, but i dont find the argument "they should know better" particularly effective.

Surely the people who leave their dogs in cars while they go shopping SHOULD KNOW BETTER? Or who leave them "just for five minutes" SHOULD KNOW BETTER? This happens ALL the time and it is stupidity on the part of the individuals that causes deaths, it is not fair to blame dog showing for it. Infact, on all schedules these days it warns you not to leave dogs in cars and that if they are found in hot cars the car will be broken into to remove the dog. Tannoy announcements are often heard warning people to remove any dogs they may have left in cars, and there are people who patrol the car parks to ensure there aren't any in them. I'd say they were doing a pretty good job myself.

At shows people leave the dogs on the benches. I have never EVER seen any left tied up around the show ground myself I see nothing wrong with leaving dogs on the benches, it is no different than leaving them in a crate while you are out of the house?? If you have indeed been to a show, you will notice that the large majority of dogs left in crates (or tied) on the benches are fast asleep and dead to the world!! They are far from stressed!!! It is often a long day so how is it wrong to leave the dogs in a nice cool tent/hall to sleep until they're due in the ring?? I'd say it was more cruel to drag them around the show ground on a hot day!!

I used to show Kali, in his more youthful years, in the local agricultural shows, and he LOVED it (certainly if/when he won something!). I retired him at age 10, when he didn't win anything

He was apparently very distressed at having no ribbon that time, so I bought him a burger, which he seemed to appreciate.

He may have been born of working stock (on a farm), but he was "adopted" as a pet, and he has enjoyed the life of a well-loved slob ever since. He has a small collection of rosettes which form part of the household decoration!

Snorri

Dogs die in cars through irresponsible ownership, it is not unique to the showing world, in fact it would be very rare..

And I have yet to see any dog tied up to any post at any dog show...???

Most are either asleep by their owners feet, benched , walking with their owners, or in the ring.

I did say that one can't blame dog shows for dogs being left in cars...Read my post again, please!

And yes, I have seen a lot of dogs tied on the fence surrounding the place where dog show was being held (In USA, in SLO in Austria, but it is true I have never been on a UK dog show...
I don't like to see dogs being left on their own on a lead because, believe it or not, there are also some jerks that will try to provoke those dogs and some dogs on dog shows are dog aggressive. I would leave my dog in a crate for a while maybe, but never just tied. if i went to a dog show with my dog than I would be focused on him/her and not on other dogs so I don't think I would walk around that much...

Still don't see the point in comparing chinese crested with yorkie. Ok, I know there is also a powder puff variety and that dogs have to be cleaned and...but they don't have to have their hair rolled in balls, or do they?
No, they don't communicate with hair, rather hair prevents them giving off signals...

Well, i don't know, maybe it is just hunters here than...I never said hunting dogs don't have a happy life tho, they just aren't pets! When they are older and can't run anymore hunters do what? I know what hunters here do...And again - it is just that they are not pets. And i know some people have dogs to bark and have them put down when they are no use any longer. They just don't consider them as pets.

Oh, boy, but I never said i am against dog shows and sorry if I used the term dog instead of hound - in out language we have the same expression for both and they are Canis familiaris, so dog...