Hi,

I'm guessing this will be a no but is it acceptable to enter a show under the owner of your dogs sire?

It's not a CC show

There is absolutely no rule that you can't.

Are you close friends with the stud dog owner?

There's no rule that you shouldn't, but it could cause 'whispers' about favouritism, whether justified or not. If the judge knows you and knows that your dog is by his/hers then it could put him/her in a slightly awkward position. If, however, the judge has never met you and your dog is from one of several litters that the dog has sired, then you're still 'Mrs Anonymous' and it should be fine.

In some breeds, not entering under the stud dog owner would lead to a much depleted entry.

I can imagine that in numerically small breeds, or in more numerous breeds in times of 'popular sire syndrome' that would indeed be the case.

At one time, if all the progeny of a certain stud in a HPR breed didnt attend..the entry would have been very small indeed.

Thanks - we are a breed with low numbers (an entry of 50 is considered a good entry at a champ show).

We do know the stud dog owner and did go to her directly when using her dog.  I think you're right this could lead to a low turnout as he's sired a few litters recently.  The stud dog owner has been very good in giving us advice etc. on starting showing so whilst I am sure she would be fair regardless I wouldn't want to put her in a position where people said things about her placings if we were placed.

I also wouldn't want people thinking that we have just gone under her to get a placing..... the politics of all of this can be quite confusing to a newbee as its one of the only 3 shows for us within a 3 hour drive with classes etc. 

Its so difficult in small breeds when you consider pretty much all the breed specilaists to be friends and all your pedigrees are so intertwined.

Thank you for your advice

In my breed we would have very few dogs at some shows if we didn't show under the stud dog owner. The only person you CAN'T show under is the breeder(s) of your dog.

I find it funny (weird not haha) that if you win under the stud dog owner then it's favouritism, but if someone else wins under the stud dog owner then they are so happy cos the judge obviously likes their dog! Nowt so funny as dog show folk.

>I find it funny (weird not haha) that if you win under the stud dog owner then it's favouritism

It's quite simple; there's a possible conflict of interests; if the stud dog is in the running for stud dog of the year, for example, and his owner (the judge) gets him more points by putting up one of his offspring ...

Just go and enjoy the day, Im sure you wont be alone in having a dog sired by the judges dog.

Go, and then go to as many more shows as you can, then you and everyone else can see if the placings were consistent etc and then next time the same judge is judging you may have a different perspective on it all :-)

If this person has judged several times before look at what they did on those occasions.  If they have a dog or dogs that have produced for a number of years and the offspring came under them that can give a clue if they favour their own stock or not.  We have a couple of judges who would put up a 3 legged dog of their own line rather than a beautiful example of the breed from someone else's kennel.  Needless to say their entries reflect this though every dog entered under one of them the last time was either by or out of something they bred / owned.

On another forum there is a debate going on about this and most feel now that as a stud dog owner you have as much responsibility as the bitch owner for the litter and therefore SHOULD be classed as a breeder when judging and in that case most agree - no your stud dog's progeny must not be shown under you.

If you are fairly confident the judge won't be swayed if they know your dog is by their boy, then I don't see why you shouldn't. If you do well, people are bound to nudge and say 'oh yes, well it's by her dog, of course she gave it the class' and so on, but as well as you are easy in your mind that that is not the case and that it was just that you liked your dog, which of course is not a given, your dog might have come out looking quite different from his sire, and if you are thick skinned enough to ignore the whispers, there are no rules against it.

goes on in my breed all the time... as long as the judge hasnt gone over the dog since it started show career or seen to be giving said dog a lot of attention then I see no problem.

I never have because I usually become pretty friendly with them as they take a close interest in my dogs successes.

If, however, I hadnt had much contact, become friendly and seen them socially I would.

As another has said, if you have a long run of consistent results it would just be sour grapes if the stud dog owners opinion was roughly in line.
If your dog isnt a high flyer and wins out of its league under the SD owner, then both you and them can expect some critisism. 

everybody else does it so why not!

You have gone to a particual  stud dog, as you like his type and what he is producing. Normally you hope that he passes these traits on to his progeny, If you are sucessful with your litter and you get what you wanted, you have undoubtably imported some of  the Stud dogs owners look. Given that their look is what they like, I would therefore expect them to like their dogs offspring..

No rule to disallow you from competing. We are presuming that the judge is honest and has credaibility, otherwise, why would you want to go under them?

> No rule to disallow you from competing. We are presuming that the judge is honest and has credaibility, otherwise, why would you want to go under them

The problem is that many judges are not honest / credible.  I see no conflict of interest at an open show if the judge owns the sire of your dog but for tickets / breed club CH shows / Crufts some judges see this as a time to "promote" their influence on what is before them.  Regardless of quality.  Stud dog owners can be just as kennel blind as the bitch owner, and (I think this was discussed elsewhere) some see the stud dog owner just as responsible for that progeny as the registered breeder.  And rightly so but sadly many stud dog owners seem to think once their dog has covered the bitch their responsibility ends there for the offspring, except of course to boost their wins in order for bragging rights as sire owner, and therefore promoting they hope more request for future use of own offspring in the ring highly unethical. 

Some judges I know abroad openly request people do not enter anything under them sired by one of their males, particularly when CH awards / national specialties are on the cards.  I think this is ethical to avoid any whiff of favouritism.  When I judged a national specialty I did not get any exhibits by one of my males even though he had sired two litters in that country, and people told me they would not even think of entering under me as it was a no no at shows there to enter under the stud dog owner.