I didnt compete but I went to watch. My nephew was taking his little terrier in the fun shows. I was really shocked with how competative it is! Im a horse rider so know how competative that gets but didnt realise dog shows were the same. I found it funny with people 'standing' the dog and holding their head up. For someone not in the 'dog world' I found it all a bit too much but then again, maybe people think that about horse shows?!? I did feel that some people were maybe taking their dogs to this particular show to add ribbons to their dog (as people do in the horse world) because this was at a fun day in my local town. Does this normally happen? There were some gorgeous dogs though!

I felt a bit sorry for the people who'd brought their pets along for a fun day out to be competing against people who obviously knew what they were doing. Quite glad I didnt take my dad's chocolate lab and jack russell down! My nephew did win the dog with the best party trick (He's been teaching her to roll over all year just for this competition!) and they also won dog with the waggiest tale, 4th in prettiest bitch and 4th in dog who judge would like to take home.

:-)

You will find that a lot of us 'show people' will use these type of shows as training grounds for our youngsters, or for an older one that has been out of the ring for a while. As the wins and rosettes don't count towards any official title they are classed as fun days, but are still taken seriously (to a point) It's not the first time that a good dog is placed down the line at these shows, purely because the judge hasn't a clue about the breed in question Of course, any dog that has won a CC can't enter these shows.

To be honest I think sometimes you get MORE competitive people at the fun shows, than at real dog shows -I've certainly seen it. You do get some people whose dogs can't win anywhere else, and they seem to go to all the companion shows and take great delight in winning everything -often the judges don't really know what is what and therefore a safe bet as the winner is somebody who LOOKS like they know what they are doing. You hardly ever see those people at the proper shows. As you can't enter CC, RCC or JW winners, it instantly rules out a lot of the real showdogs. But yes, they can be a good training ground for new youngsters for instance. And in the novelty classes like waggiest tail, no real show dog will stand a better chance than the mutt from down the road, they're all  equal then. :)

Actually, I went to my first ever dog show yesterday too (and I'm also a horse person, normally competing at dressage). I took my pup in the pedigree class, and yes there were lots of serious competitors there, brushing their dogs at the ringside (I left my brush in the car, oops) but there were also beginners like me, and a very obvious one was the man who was between himself and his very small dog so all the judge could see was the man's legs!

I think the pedigree classes will be more serious and competitive, but I would guess even experienced show dog handlers wouldn't stack their dogs for classes like 'waggiest tail' and 'dog with the most appealing eyes'  - would they?

I really hate horse showing (too much prep, lol! Don't have to be quite as particular for dressage ;-) ) but as I have an 'au naturale' , unstacked breed it was really quite easy and I surprised myself by enjoying it and wanting to do it again!

If there are pedigree classes, 'someone's pet' who is just out for a fun day still shouldn't do well if it's not a good example of it's breed, but the novelty classes are there for everyone, and a Crufts winner wouldn't neccessarily beat a poorly bred pet in 'dog the judge would most like to take home' or 'prettiest bitch' :-)

These shows really do make me laugh...4 years ago i rehomed  an ACS who had come from having a show life and had done very well i believe 15 cc's (whatever that means) anyhow i took her to 3 of these fun day dog shows to see how she'd get on...(being an ex show dog i thought i could enter her)....

...she was unplaced twice at two different shows and placed last out of 5 in the third !

But saying that i don't need anyone to tell me that she's beautiful...i just thought i'd see what happens at these shows.

It was fun though ! :)

most of the fun dog shows are just that, dog the judge would most like to take home etc..
and of course that is personal preference

That sounds like alot of fun though!
Wondering if they have a "dog most likely to bolt and cock his leg against a judge" category, If so I'm there :)

we just had a month off from showing and did three companion shows and got BIS at all three ( one for each dog ).
Best of all was the people we met and the fact that we got much needed trainning / practice and all of 1.00/1.50 per class.
Great fun.

Annee if the dog had won 15 cc's then it shouldn't be entered, if it was KC approved. 

Hi...i understand that but i did it just to see if she was picked out or spotted, it did make me wonder if the judge's new what they were talking about or didn't pick her because they did know. :)

I've been to a few of these and pup into his first one the other weekend to see how he did and what i needed to work on for his open show on sunday just gone. With the pedigree classes i take it seriously in the fact i'm using it as a training took on top of ringcraft and don't wish for my dogs to be messing about.

My adult goes into some when we have a lull in the open and champ shows and i feel he needs to buck up his ideas!!!

> To be honest I think sometimes you get MORE competitive people at the fun shows, than at real dog shows -I've certainly seen it.

See a lot of that.  I look at them as a chance to train socialise, and give money to a charity.

There was one dog which later went in the 'Best rescue' and that was so nervous, I understand that the owner probably took it to the show for experience and to get used to the competition way but she was so nervous! She won 'Most appealing eyes' but I'd already picked her out for that before she even entered the ring. She cowered when the judge came to her and her back legs buckled when he stroked her back. I cant understand how anyone could hurt a gorgeous dog like her. (She was a greyhound).

Wondering if they have a "dog most likely to bolt and cock his leg against a judge" category, If so I'm there 

Oh you must have boy's twin brother then LOL :-D  He's totally in to cocking his leg up judges at the moment.  Actually we took him to a funshow in the village last month & my son was holding him (he's 5) I was standing just outside the ring just in case, but blow me down, he behaved really well for my son!