I would say you done right thing, there is nothing so annoying than having your dog playing up for a in-season bitch after all everyone is hoping for a place at show's and to be hindered for a inconsiderate owner is a right royal pain the bleep, good job Gill xx

I'm not in the UK and as we are also full members of FCI now, if it is not allowed in Germany perhaps it is on the way for here too. Good thing if that happens, IMO.
I also know of bitches in whelp being shown, no names obviously, but if you look at dates of litters born and which bitches were at which shows, it's not hard to work out. Over the weekend I was in a similar condition to Diva, believe me I was less than enthusiastic about running around a ring, quite apart from the issues mentioned, perhaps she would have felt the same!

Why is there a greater risk of infection when one visits a showground?

I can understand people entering bitches in season when it's a speciality show or a show they particularly want to attend... If that show occurs at the same time each year, it's likely the bitch will never get to participate if her seasons are regular.

The bitches womb is open to infection and on a showground there will be loads of infection as there will be in your local park which is another reason for not taking your bitch there when in season.

I'd say what you did was plain sensible Deccy!

I don't show, but know how distracting an in season bitch can be to male dogs!

We had a couple of people who persisted in bringing their in-season bitches to training class
Can you imagine? 15 dogs in an enclosed space, some entire males, some dogs with problems etc and some plonker brings their bitch in to train.... of course, by the time anyone realised; she had walked a full circuit of the hall in heelwork. None of the male dogs were paying attention to their owners, a couple of them were getting downright ugly with other dogs...

The bitches owner couldn't see what the problem was

To my mind, it is the sheer concentration of dogs in one place including those belonging to members of the public which may not be vaccinated. Away from shows we come across very few dogs.
I can also understand why people choose to, but I choose not to. In my breed they are rarely bang on six months with seasons, many go 8-10 months, also we have more Championship shows in Ireland than the UK does so there are plenty more to go to (I know it's slightly different in Australia) both national and international. I don't chase judges either, all our Green Stars must be under different judges to count towards Champion status which again is not the same situation as some other Countries.

Contrary to some people’s beliefs it also distracts the bitches to have an in season bitch amongst them and of course the younger dogs go off their heads.

if think it should be illegal to show a bitch in season over here as well.
Its not fair on the dogs and its ok saying the classes are split at a champ show often theres another breed in the ring after.
We once went to a local open show and there was a bitch in av's in full season the dogs were trying to kill each other and none of them walked right we were dragging them round the ring.

I have been on the other side of it myself. When Deccy was small (ok he's not the biggest spotty dog in the world now but this was when he was in Junior) we had mixed sex classes for the lower classes due to small entries. At a certain show we had visitors from Britain over including a well-known exhibitor who brought two bitches, one of which was in full season and in Deccy's class. Being asked to move sensibly behind this outrageous temptation a couple of feet in front of his nose was too much for the poor boy and he went ballistic and finished in last place. A complete waste of time and money for me. I lost my cool with the exhibitor afterwards; the reason for bringing the in season bitch? They were entered in Brace so she had to bring them both!
Still, what goes around comes around. On their next visit, Deccy beat her.