Hi all - forgive us for a little 'brag' but we went to our local fun companion show today with the intention of only entering Rufus in for a few classes and ended up putting Dylan our four month old boxer into the 'best puppy age 4 - 6 months' - well, our youngest daughter took him in the ring (she's 12) and out of 15 odd puppies our Dylan came 1st :D  We are soooo proud of both of them as it's a first time for both of them.

Rufus however, wasn't his best today and acted a right clown so no rosettes for him this time - never mind, he is my top dog everyday :)

Thanks for listening, all on top of the world at the moment :D  Tara x

Well done! You'll be hooked now! :D :D

Well done i bet you were thrilled! :D

Well done, brilliant, keep it up!
Dawn.

Well done you and Dylan!

Sarah.

Thanks everyone - deffinately hooked, in fact our daughter enjoyed is so much that she has decided to be a professional handler when she grows up ! :)

They are both snuggled up together on the sofa and dreaming of today no doubt - the rest of us haven't stopped grinning yet :D

Thanks again everyone, hope to meet up with you all at future shows across the land.  Tara x

Well done, you must have been thrilled! Unusual show to have a 4-6 month class though!

Hi Lucy - Thanks, over the moon, they both did very well.  It was just a fun show in aid of charity on the Isle of Wight, never seen a 4-6 month group before so we was surprised to see it ourselves, all good practice though and he really enjoyed it :D

Hi Boxers Mum

Congratulations on your win your daughter must be thrilled? My daughter shows our dog and she is 11 yers old your daughter should go to ring craft and start showing now its a great hobby for children our daughter loves going to shows and so far she has done very well got a first at Bolton last weekend.meant to be going to a companion show today but looking at the weather this morning doesn't look promising!!

John.

well done first of many !

Hi Roni, yep looking forward to many more shows - especially if she can show him as they work so well together.   

Had a look at Doreens site that you sent me - her doggy shampoos sound better than ours :)  Put Rufus (the one with the mad feathers due to his madness after a bath !) into the same fun show yesterday and he played up - put him in the KC run companion show today and he came third in best crossbreed so a much better result than yesterday - however, I'm hoping that after using Doreens / puppyplush products I'll get his coat up to scratch and come away with best longcoat, well i can dream :D

Hi John,  Many thanks for your congrats :)  We have actually started going ringcraft a few weeks ago but she has only been able to have a go at the junior handling part once as she takes it in turn with our other two children.  But after seeing her in action yesterday they have decided to leave the expert to it :) so she now classes herself as Dylan's Handler.  Well done to your daughter for her first at Bolton last week, does she just show in the junior handling class or does she actually show your dog in all relevant classes ?  Just curious to know how many children do show these days as we've heard different views as to whether they should as she really wants to show him in the 'bigger' shows when he is older.

Hi Boxer mum

we have the same problem with our 2 children Alfie shows brilliant for our eldest but just sits there for our youngest and its so hard to let the eldest do all the showing so we have now decided 1 shows at 1 show the other at another show rather then mixing as it confuses the dog as well.our eldest shows in breed and junior handling she got 2nd today at junior handling at a second in puppy and a 3rd in AV terrier at a companion show so we had a good day.As for your daughter showing in bigger shows tell her to go for it i think the earlier they get the experience it will make them better in years to come we where at Bolton last week when I over heard a women standing next to me say dog shows and children dont go I had to bite my lip she moved quiclky on when our eldest got a 1st in a junior class when she realised she was my daughter!!!:)

John.

Hi John, sounds like your daughter is a natural, excellent news on the showing.  I love seeing their faces when they get placed, look of shock mixed with pride :D  And I agree with you, the younger they start showing the more experience they will get, plus they won't be standing there in years to come saying that 'children and showing don't mix!' and it will encourage more children to become involved - kids and animals just go together like strawberries and cream :)

We have heard 'rumours' of other people not liking children in shows in what they class as 'adult' classes !  Some suggest that it's because of these people that some judges find it hard to judge fairly with children and adult mixed classes, as if they place a child then there will be those who say it was only because it was a child and not the dog and so they don't place children which then leads to the accusation that he purposelly (sp!) didn't place the child for fear of the back biting :(  Personally I can't see a problem, apart from the actual handling classes where it's judged on the handler and dog working well together, surely the idea is that other classes are judged just on the dog and that if the handler is doing their job correctly that they should really be insignificant, so it shouldn't matter if it's an adult, child or blooming monkey showing !  Now that would be something :D

What is it the KC say - 'welcome to the joy of showing, a wonderful pastime for all the family'  uh-huh, maybe this should be stamped on every schedule, banner etc :) 

Tara x

Well done brilliant news!!! :D

I judged a young girl in obedience on Monday, because it was at the end of the day & the had been doing YKC classes they were both tired & the young girl a bit upset because they hadn't done too well. She was obvious getting a bit annoyed with her dog, who bless her was doing her best & parts of the heelwork were lovely but she just lost inteest in doing the sendaway & the young handler grabbed the collar of  her dog9not nastily but just not needed)her dad, myself & her steward all tried to get her to lightened up, but she was obviously getting upset. I don't think she realised a lot of adult handlers9including me at this time)would love to be working the A & B classes, for her aged 10 it is brilliant. hopefully she will realise this, but it is hard being a young handler in any dog showing activites

BTW her dog was a sweetie of a Golden retriever, who she had totally trained herself.

I know what is it like being so young in obedence ;) but it was a long time ago

There's a youngster showing a rather nice Cavalier in the Breed rings at the moment, she handles the dog beautifully and they look lovely going round together!