My puppy (6 months) is due in the show ring at a champ show this weekend for the first time however she has recently undergone a small op on her eye about 3/4 weeks ago.  The surgery was required after some eye problems and she had some skin removed under the eye.  As a result of this she has some dissolvable stitches under her eye and some fur was shaved.  She is definately back to herself and has almost recovered fully but there are still some tell tale signs of the surgery.

I know a judge will mark her down for this and would not expect to be placed as a result but I planned to show her anyway for practice as we really need it.  I believe she has a bright show future so I was advised by a committee member of my ringcraft club/CC awarding judge not to show her until her eye heals completely.  His reasoning for this was that she may be remembered as the puppy that had the eye issues and this may affect her being placed in future.

Any comments or advice on this are welcome......to show or not to show?

Depends if the surgery was for a congenital problem or not. If it was then you would need a letter from Kennel club as your Vet should have reported the surgery to them. A scar for just a repair to the eye should not be penalised by the judge but it just might have them wondering especially if it is a breed prone to eye problems.

It is a fellow flattie.

It was not a congenital problem as it stemmed from a scratch in the eye from my cat.

Should be OK then, I've seen dogs shown with pretty obvious surgery shavings and indeed there is a one eyed dog being successfully shown in the breed just now.
Is it Lanark you are going to? See you there.

I think it's still worth getting permission to show from the KC just to be on the safe side.

Can't see that there would be any problems getting permission but at least you'd have the letter if it was queried at any point.

Any operation which 'alters the natural conformation of the dog' needs to be reported and if skin was removed then that would probably be included.

Any surgery for whatever reason that could alter the looks of the dog should be reported to the KC with a vet's letter (the exception being neutering where you don't need to ask permission, just need the vet to fill in a form to the KC), and you then cannot enter/take part in any show until you have received permission to show. Of course, plenty of people don't bother with minor things, but you never know when somebody will decide to report you out of spite -it does happen quite a lot unfortunately. So to play safe you need to send the letter off and then don't enter anywhere else until the permission has been received.

Would you need to get a letter for something like a fatty lump removed from underneath? Not visible, so doesn't really alter the look of the dog. Just curious, I never thought about it before, specially if it was an older dog?

I have always reported just to be on the safe side.

Hi there, I would get a letter from the vet and send it to the appropriate KC department to get a Permission to Show letter. Keep it in your show bag. From reading posts on here they rarely, if ever, ask to see it.

Yep I have carried four over the years (broken tooth removal, loss of end of tail, tooth removed due to abscess, and eyelid wart removal), two of the dogs are dead now.

I put it into a poly pocket seal at the top, and fold it in my bumbag, to produce in the ring if needed.

By the way, has anyone else noticed it now states on the new KC website that after neutering a dog or bitch you now must get a permission to show letter. Before it just said you had to inform them. It's been just over 2 weeks since I had my bitch with pyometra being spayed and I sent the form off right away, but haven't had the letter back yet so I'm playing safe and not taking her anywhere she is entered until I have it, even though she has made an excellent recovery.
http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/forms/neutered-dog/