Are there any rules on showing a bitch in season?  If  not has anyone actually done it and what affect did it have on the other dogs?  Just wondering whether to give the show a miss this weekend or if it really is  not too much of a problem, any advice would be welcome.

There was an in season bitch at a show I went to in July, needless to say they weren't very popular as nearly all the males were going nuts! I suppose they thought that seeing as the venue was outdoors they could get away with it, but you can't hide it from other dogs! I don't think theres a written rule that says you can't take her but be warned you won't be very popular with dog owners.

If it is at the very beginning or the very end, usually it won't cause TOO many problems. (She says, ignoring the time I took a bitch on day ONE and was jumped on MYSELF by an amorous large male dog because I smelled of my girl, LOL.) If you take her in the middle of the season, apart from how disturbing it would be to all dog owners (imagine trying to keep the head up of a dog in the ring if there are blood spots on the floor! ) I would never trust a male dog NOT jumping a bitch and mating her should there be any chance. It could happen so easily -show leads are usually thin and flimsy and it wouldn't take an awful lot for a determined dog (or one of the dreaded spectator dogs!!!) to pull his owner away in a moment of less concentration and just jump on the bitch.

There is no rule for shows and in season bitches (only to say they cannot be mated wthin the precinct of the show), but there is for obedience, there they are not allowed.

I never take an in season dog to shows, but that's my opinion.

I wouldn't due to the fact that I show my male - he would be utterly distracted and whinge non stop!  I also would not take a bitch due to the risk involved, I do not walk my bitch any where public when she is in season either - just on my farmers field which only me and my 'farmer' neighbour have permission to walk on :D

A lot of shows I think request that you don't take a bitch in season, but basically it's just that it's really unfair to all the dogs there! :-)

I take mine and have seen a puppy which was dripping blood win best puppy.  If you are new to showing you are more likely to get the dirty looks but if you are a oldie then it tends to be more okay.  I would never take mine when they are on heat and another tip be very careful if you go anywhere near any males.  If it was a open I would avoid it just in case but a champ show I would.  If you have a short haired breed the swollen bum is going to show up more and some judges will knock you for it.

This thread covers both sides of the question quite well.

http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/cgi-bin/board/topic_show.pl?tid=69833

Well, consider how you would feel, if having spent around £20 to £30 on an entry, then another £30 getting there...for your dog to go ballistic, ignores all the training in ringcraft you have done...and well, there you have the answer...it's just not damn well fair is it??? LOL :D All the best, Dawn.

I personally only take a bitch on first couple days max and last couple days max but never past or before that time and then they are kept away from males! I also refuse to handle bitches in season when I'm handling for other people.  I have male dogs aswell and know how hard it is to have a male dog with a bitch in season at a show!

With my boy it's hard enough having bitches at the show full stop, never mind in season!! :-D

I've shown both dogs and bitches & have taken bitches in season (not when they are anywhere near ready obviously) to championship shows. I've seen people complaining bitterly about their dog not behaving because of bitches in season, ironically they are usually the handlers whose dogs never listen to a word they say anyway. The only time my dogs have reacted is when there's a bitch in full season wafting her bum at them from the ringside
Newfiedreams Consider how you would feel, if having spent around £20 to £30 on an entry, then your bitch comes in season
Until show societies start refunding entries for bitches in season, you will always get bitches in season at shows.
Sorry boys.

Anwen I have boys that will listen to my every word unless they sent a bitch.  At EOE this year I'm sure (although cannot prove) an in season bitch was at the show, it had done a wee on the grass back of the benching.  On day two with my setter he found this smell and it took alot for me to get his concentration again.  Then the next day I stupidly forgot and walked over the same patch of grass only for my aussie to do the same!  The worst thing is when people say "oh but it's split dogs and bitches so I'll take my bitch as it won't distract the dogs in the ring...It will however distract the dogs in the ring the next day or even later that day if breeds are to follow!

For me personlly that £20 with a bitch is a gamble, I also want to limit the chances of my bitches gaining an infection :(

As well as any adverse effects it may have on other people's dogs, have you thought about the fact that your bitch may be out of sorts while she's in season aswell?  My bitches do show slight signs of discomfort when in season (both mentally and physically) and I'd be very vary of making them show when they're not on top form.  It's only a show - and I know it may be an important one (right judge etc) but there'll always be another time.  Personally (having shown both dogs and bitches) it's something I've never and would never do.

Debs

It certainly seems quite common and openly done in some breeds and very taboo in others, but the fact is at any Championship show especially there are bound to be any number of in season bitches at the show, if not in your own breed then in others.

There is also the problem of bitches that have not long finished (as was the case with my youngster this year, and ehr Mum who came in the day after the show, which was ignored by every dog we met, yet the out of season one was considered really hot by several).

It's my experience that bitches in my breed look absolutely at their best just before & at the beginning of their season, their coats are at their best & they are alert & showing their socks off! As Brainless says, there will always be bitches coming into & having just finished their seasons (my dogs know 6 wks before that an event is about to happen :D)

My breed is the same.  the dog I have chosen for my Lexi was paying her attention at the end of September (ignored the other girls) when they both went to have their eyes tested, yet she still hasn't come in, but is hovering on the brink, totally mucking up my show plans :(

This is what I was thinking while this discussion has been going on, and is my thought when I see an in season bitch at a show. Both our girls are done now but I know when they were in season they quite often just wanted to sit in their bed and clean themselves. I know not all bitches  are the same but you must consider how the bitch feel about being taken to a show when all that might happen is she'll have dogs wanting to leap on her all day! JMO!

Must be a breed thing then - my bitches would be delighted at the prospect :D (obviously, they are all shameless hussies :D)
Seriously though, they'd be far more upset if say, a month before they are in season, they started getting unwanted attention from the boys but, obviously, you wouldn't let that happen.

It only ever happened to me once when my Beardie came into season 2 months early on the way to the show & we only knew about it when she left one spot on her vetbet on her bench as I took her off to exercise just before her class(& we were on a coach with males(including two stud dogs)on the way there) She won the ticket & got BOB & the dog she beat never looked at her, we were going to withdraw from the group but our judge told me to go in but tell the group ring steward so I could keep her away from any dogs in the group. As it happened the majority of the BOBs were bitches & one a Pem Corgi was in full season. It was before the groups had 4 places & we were short listed in the last 5.

She was entered at no more shows for 4 weeks so she was then out of season by then. She got made up the next year & then had to be spayed & the rules changed to allow neutered bitches without registered puppies to still be shown & when we did have a litter from another bitch & kept a puppy bitch she was spayed after her first season so it never happened afterwards as I only kept dogs after that

I've never had a problem with dogs & bitches in season, even when the bitch has been at her peak & I was showing my stud dogs. Probably because I had the help of a very experienced stud dog owner in training my stud dogs in stud work. & they were not too young when first used.

I personally would not deliberately show a bitch in season as I don't think their minds are on showing & some as others have said don't feel 100% & would prefer to stay at home

I personally would nto take a bitch in season to a show as it is not fairn on the males.  There are people that take bitches in full season to an open show and get away with it because people 'dare not' say anything because of who they are.  The mind boggles.....

>because people 'dare not' say anything because of who they are

It it not a question of 'dare not' say anything, and certainly not because of who they are, it is more a case of can not say anything as there is no rule against it.  It is not something I would choose to knowingly do but I recognise that it is no business of mine to say another cannot do as they wish within the rules. 
If people think it is unacceptable all they can do is lobby the KC to change the rules but they do not have any right to insist others comply to rules that are not there.

I find it amazing that all the discussion has been about Bitches in season :rolleyes: when dogs are in season all year round!!  I have lost count of the number of times that a dog has made a nuisance of himself with my bitch, only for the owner to say knowledgeably "Ahh she's in season/coming into season/going out of season"  er well no actually! she's smack bang in between and he's just a pain! 

What about those showing bitches who have an in season bitch at home ?  Do they keep all their bitches away fom the shows until such time as none are in season?

I have shown a bitch in season (not after the first week or before the last week and never at an open ;) ) and have taken proper precautions, double-dose bitch tablets from day one, and extra care to ensure all show kit is washed with bio, also wet wipes with a little TCP on to keep the bitch clean.  She got less attention than when she wasn't in season :D :D :D and boy did she show!!

I admit I have shown my bitch a couple of times when she was in season but either at the start or the end.   A funny thing happened in my breed at the hound show this year.   Males and bitches were being shown at the same time in adjacent rings and there was a presentation about to be done half way through the judging meaning the males would join the bitches in their ring.   The owners of the bitches turned to the male handlers and said 'do you mind not getting too close there are a lot of in-season bitches in here' and were most disgruntled!  

This argument will go on and on, but WHY should the bitches have further disadvantages so the dogs can gain more advantages than they have already? Dogs always in the ring first, dont have time to "go off" stuck on the benches for hours, have a nice rest before the BOB challenge, (generally) have smaller classes anyway! Are the bitches really so much better quality than the dogs that they have to have even more restrictions to favour the boys? :( Bitches have enough time out due to motherhood, and their coats often go off after seasons and whelping, so arent entered then. Seems the boys owners just want it all their own way. And, yes I have bitches, but have a boy too.

I'm sorry but my males know when a bitch is in season no matter what products are used and from day 1, (well they know before day one) !!  I've been able to advise a number of people that their bitches will be in in the next 3 weeks and they've come back to me later and told me that I was right.  Of course I wasn't but my males were :d

In over 20 years I've never shown an in season bitch and have not allowed my friends to take theirs either if they are coming with me :d :d

Maybe because I'm in a minority breed and can't even compete in BIS it doesn't bother me if I miss a few shows, but even when I showed a breed with CC's I still didn't then.

Yes even though so often the depth of quality is in the bitches the dogs get BOB more often. A brood bitch in her reproducing (they year she has pups, not while she is enire) years may be lucky to get shown for 4 months of the year.