Hi,

I expect this topic has been done before and apologies if it has. 

What's the best Companion Show you have been to and why. Also your least favourite & why.  I am picking all your brains for when I run one later in the year so I have an idea of the do's and don'ts (or rather the likes and dislikes), although I know of course you can't please everyone. 

I like the ones with obedience as my girl dabbles in that. It can be hard, but pick a judge who knows her breeds - I once picked an acquaintance of mine who had been in showing for quite a few years, assuming she was fairly knowledgable, and also assuming she would not have said yes if she was not up to the job, only to discover on the day that she didn't know ANYTHING about any dog other than her own breed. Asking if Labs were table dogs, asking our chairman if his Curly Coats were Bedlingtons, and my mind has blocked out the rest of it thank goodness!

Yes I'm  with Lucy here. Nothing quite as annoying as when neither the judge nor the organisers know even basics, so you see crossbreed classes with obvious pedigree dogs in (such as a clipped Shih Tzu for instance), mongrels in the pedigree classes, and best veteran won only on which dog happen to be the oldest on the day, regardless of the condition it is in. Best condition won by the fattest dog there, junior handling won by the smallest and cutest kid etc. Best Puppy won by an 8 week old that shouldn't even be there. You get the picture. :) I like the more unusual novelty classes like Irish Brace, Best biscuit catcher and similar -a bit of fun for everyone.

Oh yes - I'm still miffed about losing Best Fancy Dress because the KID was wearing a costume - the dog just had a t-shirt on! (sad, I know!)

My least favourite is a rescue centre one near me, they make you know that they are very anti-pedigree dogs being there, especially if you have a rare breed.  Went for 2 years and vowed never to go again after comments I heard them sayng to each other and anyone else who would listen.

I o along with the previous poters views on choice of judge but would add that if necessary point out to them that ALL classes to be judged with the same care, went to show with GSD and xbreed, 2 pedigree classes, sporting & non-sport, 20ish in each took just over 1.5 hrs, next 2 - xbreed dog, xbreed bitch, 20ish in each, took a whole 12 minutes and rescue with 30 odd took 7 minutes
A LARGE number of xbreed entrant complained long and loud :-D
that and the show with the chair of the local WI who judged by wandering round greeting friends and saying to them yes go into the middle befor she had seen all the dogs are the 2 worst that come to mind.
Chris

Worst one - Judges who call people out by their name!!!!!!!!
Best one - more ped classes not just sporting non-sporting if possible. Small gift for junior handlers, my 16 year old breed hander "kid" still likes her bag of lollies for handling classes.

I recently quizzed people on a rescue forum and was told that they wanted a good balance, between pedigree, crossbreed and fun classes. They also wanted crossbreeds to stand a chance for BIS, so to this end we are running ours on something of a Group System, with Best Pedigree, Best Crossbreed & Best All Dogs competing for BIS. 

People also wanted something to do whilst waiting, so we chose the most frequently requests and are running a fun gundog scurry, temptation alley (where dogs have to be recalled past lots of temptations), a simple obedience class, have-a-go agility, together with a few sidestalls such as "find a flea" and guess the weight of the rescue dog.

I did go to a show where they had organised everything really well and they were let down by the novelty judge who had been showing for many years and had started in junior handling herself.  She wasn't asking any of the dogs to move and after complaints to the organiser about this was asked if she could move the dogs in certain classes.  She hadn't moved any in crossbreed or the Junior Handling, she moved them in veteran but didn't go over them which again caused complaints.  When it came to the rescue which was a massive class of about 50 said out loud "oh for f**k's sake how many more are coming in".  It was such a shame as the prizes were amazing and you could tell the hard work that had been put into it.  Every Junior Handler had a goody bag & a toy which they could choose themselves, the dogs weren't left out either.  In the veteran every dog had a cooked sausage, there was also a prize for all crossbreeds (just a small bag of treats but it was nice to receive something for not coming anywhere).  I did go back the next year and it was just as well organised with a good novelty judge and i was glad that the previous year did not seem to affect their entry.

I agree with Dyllan I also went to a show where a dog had been sitting in the organisers tent all morning, came out and won the sporting then went best in show.  Judge called her & her dog by their names!!!

There is a Companion show held here twice a year organised by everyone's favourite national non-government-funded "charity" (*cough*)!

It does not have pedigree classes, just large open classes for all, and after going to three of its shows I gave up in disgust, as on all three occasions the winners and BIS were pedigrees, and actually all 3 were active show dogs...

I have nothing against show dogs (or why would I be on this forum!) but considering 90% of the dogs entered were either crossbreeds or non-reg pets with a correspondingly high proportion of rescues - a huge percentage from the charity's own local shelter!! - not only was it unfair but very dispiriting. It's not like I really went to support the 'charity' anyway, just for the chance to show my non-ped, non-show dog.

It's not like this area is short of Open shows & ringcraft matches for pedigrees.... but these two shows a year are the ONLY companion shows catering for rescues & crossbreeds in a 10 mile radius, and the pet-owning public do not travel to go to shows.

On a lighter note, my dog did win a Fancy Dress-type class at one, and was second in the same class at another, but it cheesed me off a bit to see none of the BIS represented the majority of the entry.

> It does not have pedigree classes, just large open classes for all, and after going to three of its shows I gave up in disgust, as on all three occasions the winners and BIS were pedigrees, and actually all 3 were active show dogs...

I can see that must be frustrating, but surely it has to depend on what the class is meant to be?  If it was a "show" type class, then how do you judge a crossbreed without having a breed standard to go by?  I understand crosses shoudl certianly be able to compete on equal terms in classes such as best condition etc, but is a judge has a pedigree breed of reasonable standard in front of them competing wiht a cross, what are they meant ot jduge the cross against?  So they porbably go for the option they can justify and understand and pick the pedigree.  Think the porblem at that show is the classification.

We ran a companion show a few years back, and so that everyone had a crack at a top prize we did the usual BIS from the pedigree classes, but then had a points scheme for the novelties, so that a Best Novelty was awarded on accrued points (an incentive ot enter lots of classes too, so keeping our charity takings up :) ) with a big Rosette and trophy.

Went to one at a local country show a couple of years back where the judge was a vet, and the Child Handlers had to make dogs do a trick too, completely flumoxed my nephew who had only just started Junior Handling and had been practising triangles, Ts etc.  However, he duly taught the dog a trick for last years show.

Used to run a show for about 10 years and what suited us was

pedigree pup, sport, non-sport & open ran off for big Best Pedigree rosette.
Best xbreed dog & best xbreed bitch and sometimes xbreed puppy if we had the class (some years we did xbreed under 18" and over 18") ran off for big Best Crossbreed rosette
all novelty classes - excluding previous 6 classes -ran off for big Best Novelty rosette

so we had 3 Best rosettes without actually having BIS, had lot of good comments from owners, pedigree as well as xbreed, that they felt it was preferable to 'all 1st places' when in majority of shows it was always a dog from class 1-4 that got BIS.
Chris

Its funny how experiences differ because the majority  that I've been to over the years the pedigrees don't get a look in and quite often aren't even looked at. 

I would love to attend the one with agility, gundog events etc. though sounds really good.

here's a thought - how many of you would support an kind of cross between an open show and a companion show - an enter on the day type of event with only pedigree clasees subdivided into minor puppy, puppy   then the groups and veteran  - is there a 'gap in the market' for this type of show aimed at the pedigree show folk ? - I'm thinking of running my annual companion show this year on these lines but would be interested in your thoughts ?

ta

Yvonne

I would love to attend the one with agility, gundog events etc. though sounds really good.

PM me if you want the details, as it is your neck of the woods. It would be nice if you could come along as I have seen you at shows but never plucked up the courage to come and say Hi.

here's a thought - how many of you would support an kind of cross between an open show and a companion show - an enter on the day type of event with only pedigree clasees subdivided into minor puppy, puppy   then the groups and veteran  - is there a 'gap in the market' for this type of show aimed at the pedigree show folk ?

We have these in Sweden, known as Drive-in shows, and I always enjoyed them. When I came to the UK I expected exemption shows to be the same thing so was rather surprised to say the least!

Oh and another thought, a local company has donated £100 for us to use as prize money, so far when people have seen this, the feedback has been really positive. It will be interesting to see if it does have an impact on entries.

> only pedigree clasees subdivided into minor puppy, puppy   then the groups and veteran

i think you would need to check with KC if they allow anything like this and if it would be covered by a companion show license, as regards the agility show...........

Agility and/or obstacle courses. Agility and/ or obstacle courses may not be held as part of a Companion Dog Show. However, an Agility Show may be held in conjunction with such an event provided it is organised by a registered society in accordance with Kennel Club Regulations for Agility Shows, and a separate licence is issue

off the KC site, think you are allowed to do a 'fun run type thing

obedience is different again........Obedience Classes. Obedience classes may be scheduled at Companion Dog Shows provided the tests and titles of the classes differ from those laid down in Kennel Club Rules and Regulations.
gets a bit complicated if you try putting them all into one   :-D

Agility and/or obstacle courses. Agility and/ or obstacle courses may not be held as part of a Companion Dog Show. However, an Agility Show may be held in conjunction with such an event provided it is organised by a registered society in accordance with Kennel Club Regulations for Agility Shows, and a separate licence is issue

Eek, will have to look into this. We have done it for the last three years and never had a problem. We have our Rescue stall at a Companion SHow tomorrow and they are running Have-a-Go Agility. I will speak to our breed club show secretary and put it in her capable hands. Thanks for pointing it out.

Don't panic! I am fairly sure you are ok to do a 'fun run' or 'have a go' type run just not a proper agility competition.

Yes, I've encountered quite a few 'have a go' agilities over the years, but never a competition. We are starting to get rally competitions at some companion shows now too, which is great news!