just wondering whether it is ok to show a bitch at a champ show when she is in season?

NO NO NO NO NO!

You cannot take a bicth in season to anyshow what so ever!!!!!

The reasons for this are: there are many dogs around at the shows who will be very interested and if she is at the "right time" then you might end up having a mating at the show, and a bitch in season will put all males on edge and start a punch up (this is not garented but....)

It also risks the bitch of an infection which you will not want

Also you will get yourself a bad reputation for taking a bicth in season to a show.

Rox

There are no rules for breed classes that forbid a bitch in season being shown itis only in the activities rules that you cannot take a bitch ion season(obedience/WT etc)

Having said that it is usually not the done thing,but my Champion Beardie was on day two of her deason when she won her first CC & BOB against a very experienced stud dog who never gave her a second glance & neither did any other dogs at the show she was not traised around the show & was taked to the bench, into the ring & back onto the beanch, She never weed away from home so their was no chance of a dog picking up on where she had weed. Must add she was sprayed heavily with TCP before & during the show.

Don't think I would do it today tho & wouldn't have done if she had come into season earlier

I think that is the usual scenario Moonmaiden, I have seen in season bitches at shows before the dogs were hardly reacting at all, but the people!!!......thats the sort of hassle I could not be bothered with :)  I suppose if you were planning a mating that season the risk of picking up an infection from that number of dogs would be a serious consideration but otherwise I don't see its any more of a risk that normal.

If the question is can you then the answer is yes, the rules do not forbid it.  Whether you should is a different question - I wouldn't personally I could not be bothered with the hassle.

Isabel I thought there was a rule on bitches in season at shows.  I know there is at companion shows.  Could someone please enlighten me on this issue?

Rox

NO! NO! NO! Not at all! An in-season bitch does not go to any shows (unless you want to be the most unpopular person in the world).

the rule is NO MATING AT SHOW ROUNDS,

would you be so desperate for a placing as to take an in season girly in ??

YOU WOULD BE IF TO ONLY GOT ONE  OR TWO PIONTS TO GO FOR YOUT JW AWARD.OR THE 3RD TICKET

THINK ABOUT THAT I BET A FEW HAVE DONE IT FOR THAT REASON.

I didn't take her for starters as I was in hospital & she come into season on the way to the show

She was not a girlie she was a mature bitch(pre dominance of potterdale days) with a good chance of the CC which she won & got BOB as well.

We are not talking of a bitch being ready or willing to mate but maybe less than 12 hours into a season.

As I said no dog paid her any attention & as it was a one day Championship show(no many will remember those I bet)she would not had upset any other dog, in fact she travelled on a coach with a stud dog of a different breed who also paid her no attention. She was in Open bitch & always spent her time sleeping at shows except when she was in the ring. She was not a modern out of control beardie usually seen at shows nowadays but a very laid back dog who did as much as she had to

PS Please Briedog can you take off your caps lock I for one object to block capitals being used incorrectly & i do not need shouting at

Sorry, but as the experienced owner that you are, would it not be better for you to say nothing rather than to encourage others to take their in-season bitches to shows, etc?

Whether some one takes an inseaon bith to a show is a personal decision & as long as the rules allow it exhibitors will take them if they want to

As for picking up diseases etc, Strange no one picked up on the fact that a  Crufts BIS winners had puppies  9 weeks after winning Crufts which means that the bitch was in season at Crufts & had been mated. Some prizes are just too big for people to pass up it seems

Hi moonmaiden,
My bitch was at the end of her season last year at the first champ show we entered her in.  We were naturally disappointed that we couldn't go until someone suggested using Bac to Nature bitch spray.  We used this on her and took her to the show and she got no attention from the male dogs whatsoever.  Although we wouldn't bench her when she's in season, we would take her in the future, unless she was right in the middle of the season.   I've been to breed open shows recently and seen obvious in season bitches in the ring - with no trouble.  As far as I'm aware there are no rules saying that you can't show bitches in season, unlike in agility competitions.  I can see that owners of male dogs could get annoyed if the bitches were putting their dogs off, but I haven't seen this happen in my breed, as yet.

to moonmaiden
sorry for the use of block capitals.but as i not in the feild of work of writing,i was not shouting at you  in person it was a mistake and who are you to tell me about my mistakes,so get off your high horse,

we or make mistakes.

It was a request as posts in caps are very difficult to read & are treated as shouting on the net

i think you are taking one mistake to far.

There are no rules that say you can't show and in season bitch, but it is unfair, not only to exhibitors of dogs but it unsettles the bitches too. I have a dog that can't be benched because at a Champshow early in his showing career someone benched a bitch in her 3rd week next to him and he pulled the metal divider down onto himself. Now it may have been the people who erected the bench that were at fault and not the bitch owner but it means I either cannot show the dog or he has to stay off the bench. Well that in itself cause trouble because people do not like you to have your dog off bench when the conditions are crowded.

So if you really have to show your bitch when in season leave her in the car until the dog classes are finished, if you have to stay with her then ask someone to let you know when the dog limit goes in, use a mobile phone, and only bring the bitch into the showground when the dog classes are over, take her into her class and the back to the car unless you need to wait for the challenge.

Well I only have entire dogs now so I will never again have to worry about my dogs being in season & my dogs love bitches in or out of season ;)

I put a lot of time & effort into their training so they give me 100% attention when in the ring & when working

But when they are crated & waiting to to go in it's a different ball game talk about the boys who watch the girls LOL, especially if the girls are Border Terriers :D

Moonmaiden, do you really mean you can train your dogs to ignore drips from an in season bitch when they are on the bench or in the ring, if so let us know how, PLEASE.

I have taken Ella to a show three weeks after her season finished (and I allow a good 28 days from first showing i.e. this was 7 weeks from first sign of blood) having bathed her back legs, tail etc. a number of times and one dog was still interested in her.  I wouldn't dream of taking her when she was actually in season, it really isn't fair to other people or to your own dog who may have to put up with being 'pestered'.

The joys of having a bitch.   Several weeks before a season, they start behaving strangely, then they have a season, then it takes weeks to get back to normal.  And don't they give off a scent quite some time before as well?   I think I'll have a dog next!

Simple I don't bench my dogs at all ever as the cages are not safe & being raiesd up to 3/4 feet in the air I would hate for my boys to have an accident like the one at SKC one year when a Cavalier got out of the faulty cage & fell onto the floor, being saved from injury by the owners grooming bag. If there are no cages I will not leave my cavaliers on a bench on beanching chains & I refuse to buy a cage just to fit(or not as the case maybe if the bencg sizes are wrong as the often are)a show bench

My boys are not allowed to sniff the ground etc when on leads & have been taught a head up command meaning leave it. Even when i had active stud dogs who had bitches brought to them(GSD & BC's)the boys were trained not to look at the bitch until told to, an unready bitch can inflict a lot of damage on a dog One breeder was amazed when my boy sat & waited off lead until the bitch indicated that she was ready to him & he described his dog like a bull in china shop when presented with an inseason bitch. It probably comes from having a background in working dogs & teaching them from an early age what they are & are not allowed to do

I used to show male beardies too & never had a problem with in season bitches even though they were never used at stud.

I am sure i read somewhere that it was not advisable to take a bitch in season to a show but you could if she had injections to prevent her season.  Couldn't you ask your vet to give her an injection to prevent her season therefore you would not be the most unpopular person around?

As most people have said, it is not against the rules to show a bitch in season. It is against the rules to compete in Obedience. Owning & showing both dogs & bitches for many years, I have to say I find those who complain loudest & longest are those who
i) have no control over their dogs anyway - but a bitch in season is a good excuse for their dog's lack of training.
ii) Those who didn't win on the day (probably they were never going to win anyway.)

With a bit of consideration from the bitch owner it is perfectly possible to show a bitch in season without upsetting everyone - providing she's not actually ready for mating of course!!
It's all a matter of common sense.
As for giving an injection, well I would far rather miss a show than subject my bitch to an injection purely for my convenience.

I personally would not take an in season bitch to a show out of courtesy. I would feel very bad if it caused any kind of problem with other dogs or bitches. If I were to miss a show because of a season i would be prepared to chalk it up to bad luck....just as if i were ill, or the bitch was ill and we couldnt go. There are worse things happen in life than missing a dog show.