Hi all,

My partner and myself are very new to this so apologies if im asking a silly question...

We've just taken on a beautiful, 8 month old pedigree tibetan terrier.  He's got a Crufts Best in Show winner in his bloodline (Fabulous Willy), his dad is a champion and i think he'd do brilliantly in the showring.

The problem we have is that his previous owners (by the sounds of it, he was originally sold to some not-great owners) had him neutered.  Would this hinder us greatly in the showing world? 

As i understand it, we'll need to inform the KC that he's been done but it shouldnt be a bar; I'd like to have realistic expectations of our boy before we start off though :-).

Any advice greatly appreciated!

Thanks :-)

You can show a neutered dog with KC permission but honestly it isn't worth doing and it will hinder your placings. If you want to test the water as it were, get permission and try small local shows.

Unfortunately "2 normally descended testicles" is one of the things a judge will be checking for and, although you can show neutered dogs , as a newbie to showing I wouldn't recommend him as your first serious show dog as it will always go against him, regardless of how good he is.

What a shame. Maybe you can try some local fun shows and then if you like showing, consider buying a pup for showing? In my experience it would be very rare for a judge to give any award to a neutered dog, and when you inform the KC that your dog has been neutered, you need to tell them the date it was done and give the details of the vet who did it (in fact it should be the vet who fills in the form) so sounds like this might be a problem as well.

In coated dogs like the TT, neutering can often change the look and texture of the coat. Attend some shows and see how yours matches up before you spend out.

Thanks for the advice guys. Weve already done a couple of novelty shows locally and we both enjoyed it (hence wondering if we could take it further). Looks like that might be his glass ceiling though unfortunately.

With that said, we didnt get him specifically to show, so its not the end of the world :-).

Thanks again!

I'd keep going with the companion shows, take him to ringcraft and learn how to do show handling, and why not try him at a few local open shows! Yes he is unlikely to do a huge amount of winning over the entire dogs - but it's no bad thing to have a dog who isn't going to a be a top winner for your first show dog, to make all your handling errors on. Then if you're bitten by the bug - and it is very addictive! - you can look around for a show potential puppy next time. My first ever dog has been my best so far, and he'd have done a lot better particularly in the first few years if I had had a clue what I was doing! :-D

Nice post LucyDogs.

totally agree lucy. take him out there , join a ringcraft club and have some fun. the fact that he wont get to crufts shouldn't deter you from a great hobby

Thanks again folks. We're going to do exactly as LucyDogs suggests :-). He really is a beautiful dog and he seems to really enjoy being in the ring, so win or lose it'll be great for him.