I was wondering if any of you show when you're bitch is in season? As i have a 9 month old lab bitch, and dont know whether to enter champ shows when she's around a year old incase she comes in to season, because i dont really want to be spending all that money and have to pull out . If only i could tell her when to come into to season lol :)

Nope we don't show a bitch at all when she is in season.  It's not worth it, the stress to the bitch with hormones, the risk of infection, winding up male dogs (especially stud dogs) at a show and becoming unpopular with other exhibitors....

Is it really worth a piece of card?

Though wouldn't it be great if you could tell them when they can and can't have seasons :-D  Ahhh if only, our bitch came in a month early to miss 1 champshow, two opens shows, adult handling finals....Little madam! :)

No, I'd never take an in-season bitch to a show. My breed club forbids it; it's unfair to the bitch and to the exhibitors of dogs, and gives the bitch's owner a bad reputation.

You cant know when she will come into season though, can you?
I think you should enter her anyway, if she is in season then simply withdraw.
As has been said it's not fair all round to take her if she is, but the chances are she wont be.
Al girls are different and seasons not predicatable really.
Karen ;)

I recently missed out on 3 shows that had been booked, i don't think its fair for the others who have paid their money and their boy is more interested in your girl, altho i have seen people take theirs when in full blown season.

Hard to say when she'll come into season one of mine was 14 months for her first the other was 11 months, i'd book them anyways

No, you should never show a bitch in season. It's unfair on all the males, and dangerous for the bitch as everything is wide open to infection at that time. Unfortunately until you know your girl's cycle you just have to risk wasting the money! :-)

No I never show my bitches when they are in season just for the same reasons others have stated. I think that it should be against the rules like it is in many other countires abroad.

Also, just to add, untill you show a male dog with an in season bitch at the show you will never fully understand how annoying it is...

I have never taken an in season bitch to a show.. but when I was showing one of my boys.. there was an in season bitch in the ring before me.. and he was a nightmare.. a small open show, held outside, so I imagine the bitch owner thought it would be OK.. my boy was standing for the judge, caught wind of the girl, and took off over the ring to get to her.. I was caught off balance, rope burns to my hands holding on.. and thankfully and couple of strong lads were ringside, and held him back.. I had to apologise to the judge and withdraw..

I have to add, that my boy had been mated a couple of times.. was still a novice and thought all girls were his by right.. regardless of how 'in season' they are..

But.. I had paid my entry, and I was entitled to my judges opinion.. I did not get that, because of an inconsiderate bitch owner...

thanks for all the replys, what i'll do is enter the breed club champ shows as their a lot cheaper and leave the all breed champ shows. i guess i'll have to risk wasting the money :)

i can see where you're all coming from , when you mention how annoying it is for the people showing dogs instead of bitches. I dont think i would like it much either, after being pulled across the street with my dog as he saw a bitch in season the other week.

I would certainly not show my bitches in season, but know plenty who do!! :-((

One of my pet hates is those who exercise in season bitches, in the park, offlead!!! My lad caught the scent of one yesterday and was off in hot pursuit. I managed to get him back but he has whined and howled since.

I had my bitch entered for Crufts - season not due until May and she came in 2 weeks before she was meant to go to Crufts.  It was a shame not to take her but I wouldn't dream of taking a bitch in season to any show. 

I know of people who show their bitches in season and its a nightmare trying to get a dog to behave..
There is no excuse and i feel they should be prohibited from entering a show if in season.
There is also a major concern for a bitch to catch an infection, why would you put her through that for a rosette or card??
I am aware of a few bitches who were in season at Crufts.. Made me mad, though not anything i can do about it.

>One of my pet hates is those who exercise in season bitches, in the park, offlead!!!

someone did this with their bitch where my friends walk there dogs.  Afew weeks after there dog had been used at stud he knew exactly what to do and when he came across this bitch, off lead, in season...He was next found tied to the bitch Stupid bitch owners, luckily they where informed about the injection and off the bitch went to the vets.

Don't think they did it again!

In all the years we've been showing (over 20) we've never shown a bitch when she's been in season and never would.  We had the puppy and her dad entered for Crufts this year, puppy came in season so everyone stayed at home. 

A friend in a completely different breed from me shows her bitches in season...but then everyone else in their breed does too! Just seems they have their own set of rules!
but pity the poor breed that follows them in that ring at a champ show. Or the breeds the following day! I personally wouldn't show, as mine is such a sensitive breed and wouldn't be in the mood to show themselves off to advantage.

my girl came into season,she is booked for a show next weekend she won't be going.
I have taken a bitch to a champshow just as she was finishing day 19, but would never take in full or at the start of her season.
Season are just the risk you take when entering a show with a bitch, as they can come in early or late.
thats why i prefer to show a male.

I think it is the done thing in my breed tend to show bitches in season. Alf tends to throw himself on the floor and screams if he smells one !!

I would never show a bitch in season and the number of times I have paid my entry fee only to find that one of the girls is in season.Only once have I had her season delayed by injection,but this was due to personel reasons not showing.With my breed they are also well known for blowing their coats the week before an important show.Me thinks the Woos have an inbuilt sense and do it on purpose!!! :-)

I would never show a bitch in season . having a stud dog I fully understand how annoying it can be . We had one dog a few years ago showing and there was bitch in season at the same show and the dog would neever show again as it was always looking for in season bitches , no place or show is worth upsetting the dogs , its not fair. If I have already entered then I would just not go, we are waiting for our pup to come in to season now , shes 10 months .. no sign yet .. however she is entered for a few shows but if she came into season now , we just wouldnt take her .

I would never show a bitch in season neither, but with our breed too they blow their coat big style before a season anyway, annoying when you are looking forward to a big show, but it cant be helped, i've just entered a few champ shows and whats bet she blows her coat beforehand

Agree with all the replies, but jsut imagine how your bitch feels,  sometimes they are grumpy, they proberly wont move at their best, they are open to infection.  All in all a miserable day for everyone.

no i wouldn't dream of it , having had my first trip to Crufts with my male ,spoilt by the  bitch on the next bench to me being in full season.There's always another show.

In season at Crufts??? No way! Seriously?  What spoilsports.  They didn't have to try and ruin other people's Crufts just because their's most likely was.

yep and openly sprayyed anti mate on her while i was eating me sarnies!!

i would have thought there would have been rules about in season bitches not been shown at crufts, people come from all over the world to show.

My dogs are all boys and my oldest knows the minute hes out of the car if there is a bitch in season anywhere near.
So no please dont take your bitch to a show in season.

i totally agree newf3, OMG a bitch in season at crufts, scandalous, some people are so selfish

a mate of mine didnt know her bitch was in season until my boy told her!!!!!

Do I dare reply??????????

OMG, she could have had an unplanned litter

no she counlnt as my boy is neuted thank god.Tumer on the bag ( big C ).
But he was always a stud dog ( in his heart ). Never bred from mores the pity as hes fab.

> i would have thought there would have been rules about in season bitches not been shown at crufts, people come from all over the world to show.

No, like every other show there is no rule against it.  I suppose on the other side of things if people are coming from all over the world, have bought flights and hotel rooms, they are even more likely to want to exhibit as planned.

> no i wouldn't dream of it , having had my first trip to Crufts with my male ,spoilt by the  bitch on the next bench to me being in full season.There's always another show.

Some people think it's ok when the classes are split sex BUT forget the possibility of being benched by Males. I am firmly against it, having shown/had both sexes.

> No, like every other show there is no rule against it.  I suppose on the other side of things if people are coming from all over the world, have bought flights and hotel rooms, they are even more likely to want to exhibit as planned.

In relation to this, someone previously mentioned about other countries ban in season bitches. Again if we or people from other countries have booked flights, acm etc do they just not go either, or travel and not attend the show itself with their bitch? or other alternatives.
Just wondered as the same problem would occur in other places too.

Now a couple of us have mentioned about knowing bitches being in season at Crufts. That is such a shame. We are in such confined areas that the smell of one bitch in season can cause huge issues for a dog let alone more than one. Maybe just maybe that is why my boy was messing about, and a large number of other dogs in our breed in the ring, who knows..

I wondered why it was that our lad was completely deaf to the whistle last week. I had to go back and get him in the end, something I've never ever had to do. When he came down the hill in hot pursuit of a husky (not on a lead) the problem was immediately apparent to everyone except the bitch's owner, who asked me "whether they know something we don't...". That's one way of putting it--the other is "How desperate are you for a crossbred WSS and husky litter?"

>I suppose on the other side of things if people are coming from all over the world, have bought flights and hotel rooms, they are even more likely to want to exhibit as planned.

It's against the rules to take a dog to a show if it's been in contact with infectious disease in the 21 days prior to the show so it'd not take much to extend that being in season. At least that'd be easier to police than the illness bit!

One of my bitches missed Crufts 2 years running as she was in season :-( I will not take a bitch in season to a show, any show, though I do know of several in my breed that have done. Mind you, I'd have to travel with at least one male (my own ;-) ) in the car, sometimes 2 or 3 :-D so it wouldn't be a good trip :-D

>Do I dare reply?????????? 

go on Christine ..... dont forget your tin hat ;)

Is it not against the rules to take a bitch in season to obedience or agility shows?  (possibly trials too?)  the KC have put it in the rules there I wonder why not in conformation?  Does it go back to when show dogs where also seen in a way as breeding dogs as it used to be that you couldn't show a netured dog unless it had produced pups, then you just need KC permission....

Just my mind thinking!

I suspect it has more to do with breeders in the past having far larger kennels and likely to be bringing a dog away from all the in season bitches at home :-)

> though I do know of several in my breed that have done.

Yes Linda and it was well documented elsewhere that I did.  I have to say it was the Large Munsterlander Club championship show a few years ago and up until Limit B, Mia was kept in my car and exercised when everyone else was showing.  She wasn't allowed near any males and as they were judged first, some had gone home by lunchtime.   And it certainly didn't affect her as she won the RCC & RBIS under a very well respected judge! One breed only, no other breeds shown afterwards.

To be truthful, I think there's far worse things than showing a bitch in season.    Kennel cough for example, its always doing the rounds (So people obviously breach KC rules) and can cause death in very young or older dogs, being near an in season bitch, can't!

thanks for all you're replys and i suppose that there are worse things than showing an in season bitch but i dont think id do it. its less hassle to leave her at home even though that money will go to waste

the thing with obedience and agility shows is dogs are off lead so are more likely to lose concentration and go off looking for the bitch. 

I personally dont have an issue with bitches in season being at shows (as a dog owner) as long as the sexes are split and the bitch owners are respectful and dont waft their bitches in front of the dogs. 

Well I don't think it should be done, not etiquette. I have 'lost' lots of money on entries for champ shows when sisters came in together!!
Even a breed could be in the ring after yours or the next day. It should be a KC ruling in my opinion.

I think when the daggers were out for me before when I showed Mia, people forgot I have an entire male dog too so I can see both sides of the argument.  But as I say, worse things at sea.   I could start a very big list.............

At the end of the day Christine you didn't break any rules, i don't take my bitches in season to shows but thats my choice, same as people take bitches in whelp for te first few weeks, I don't again. 

Also I think a club show is different  to an all breeds show in some respects, at least you can safely keep the bitch out the way of males, unlike some people....

My bad experience was at an all breed open show.. small ring (outside) and dogs and bitches in same class/rings..

I do have people in my breed (I think we all have) who have/will taken a girl in season (just coming in/out.. not full blown) to championship shows.. keep the girls well away from everyone, enter class and return girl to car.. also in our breed.. dogs are judged before bitches..

Like Christine, I too can see both sides of the argument.. having entire males.. and entire girls..

But.. at open shows.. I would say its a definate NO... not the done thing to do..