Question for the show folks

Thanks for the input guys!

Attila: I thought my guys would be OK w/ being touched, as I gave them rub downs quite often while practicing stacking. I would open the mouth, look at the teeth, grab the jewels & they were totally cool w/ it - as long as it's me. But if it's someone else, they react totally differently. No aggression, the male just jumps a mile high & scares the judge half to death. The female meanwhile just sits down. Either way, as a result, we usually don't place well b/c the judges want a dog that stands stock still during examination.

As for what club I was at, it was a CKC show. Yes, I know ... I know ... a lot of you think CKC is a stone's throw away from being the spawn of the devil. But we do not have an AADR club anywhere near us & we only just recently got an ADBA club & they have yet to hold a show. However we have been having CKC shows in our area for several years. I enjoy shows & go to any show in my area - ADBA, AADR or CKC. None of my current dogs are UKC.

Sadly, the CKC format is like the UKC one, save for the dress code. You don't have to dress to the 9s, but you can expects a FULL hands-on exam from the judge on your dog.

 

Do they allow you bait in the ring? Have you tried standing by his head, holding firmly and holding a piece of food inside your fist right in front of his nose? Do you think that would sufficiently distract him? (I didn't read any of the replies, so I don't know if this has been suggested already.)

 

Yes, they allow bait in the ring. I tired it w/ no success. He is perfectly fine until the judge gets to his privates. Maybe I will cut back on dinner the night before & breakfast the morning of next time we go out to make sure he is good & hungry. Perhaps that will help him focus. lol.

 

Maybe the judges hands were cold. lol That would make me jump. That and the fact some one was putting their hands on my nads.

 

LMAO!!!! That was the same thing Jeff said!!

Maybe I should stand back there so he thinks it's me??? lol.

 

anyone out there have tight bred bolio dogs that have resessed testicles? bolio was monorchid only 1 nut dropped and yes you are correct the ressesed testicle/ testicles do allow for a higher risk of cancer developing. Cryporchidism/mon is often cause but very tight breedings there are crypt dogs horses etc. etc. Is it something frowened upon i guess it all depends on the breeder and if they feel it effects performance.

 

if you don't mind i will post here my silly question


i have ukc petbulls, to be honest i hate conformation shows

bonnie is my firs adba dog, and i don't want to boss her arround nor giving lot's of order's, still im interested in participating in adba conformation shows here in europe. it's it compatible to train dog for conformation show and still keep dogs drive? (do i make myself understandable?)
do you have any advises you could give me?
thanks alot

 

In ADBA shows, the handling is much looser. You aren't required to keep your dog in a stacked position, and yes, they can show drive. Some judges look specifically for it. I've seen dogs stand at a perfect stack the whole time, and I've seen dogs that were in a constant half-circle motion, swinging around the handler to get at the other dogs. The rest of the dogs competing are probably somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. They will bark, or take a swipe at a dog that gets too close, and they aren't generally penalized for it. You should know, though, that the better your dogs are at stacking and gaiting, the easier it will be for the judge to look them over. If I have a dog that is similar in quality to the dog right next to her in the ring, but my dog is acting like a lunatic while the other is standing patiently, the other dog will have the edge just because it is easier for the judge to evaluate.

 

Bahamutt: I have run into the same situation. I once was at a show where there was an absolutely stunning male competeting against my dog. The other male was lunging & jumping while I had trained my dog to stand for examination. My boy was giving the other dog the stink-eye, but he didn't move out of the stand position. While the other male was a superb dog, we ended up winning out b/c the other dog just couldn't evaluated well b/c it was simply jumping around so much.

rhumble: As for your dog, I would say you most definitely need to "boss" your dog around. Dogs are pack animals & they need a structured social order. If there is no leader (boss) in your household, the dog will assume the position of leader & you're going to have big problems out of your dog down the road. You need to re-enforce your standing as "boss" using daily use of obedience commands as well as the NILIF program. It will not deminish their drive, but it will bring the dog under your control & both of you will have a happier life together.

 

thanks a lot for your inputs

 

"You should know, though, that the better your dogs are at stacking and gaiting, the easier it will be for the judge to look them over. If I have a dog that is similar in quality to the dog right next to her in the ring, but my dog is acting like a lunatic while the other is standing patiently, the other dog will have the edge just because it is easier for the judge to evaluate." (Bahammutt)

I disagree, most judges will view a dog with the pretty stack and patient behavior as a pure show dog and the other that hasnt been obviously trained to behave or stack, the athlete. The judges are used to high driven dogs and can evaluate them just as thorough as the well behaved ones. The well behaved ones will lose most the time if eqaul in standard to the ones showing natural drive that have to be held in a stack by their handlers.

 

We'll just have to agree to disagree then. I've had success with my well-trained show dogs, and so have many others. A relative of my dogs is a dual Grand, and she's one of the better-behaved ones. (I've seen her bark and pull, but she's not acting like a flat-out idiot.) Loki's aunt is a UKC Grand who is also now an ADBA CH. I watched her win over a large class of dogs, and she stands still in the ring and just looks at the competition with an air of "I aint scared of you." If a judge can't see your dog's structure, they can't evaluate it. And if the judge is picking on drive alone, then they're not a judge I'd want to show under. They're there to evaluate the whole package. Many of them simply don't.