Just curious to know the answer to this one......why is it that toy dog exhibitors feel the need to cart them around on trolleys and in boxes/crates ? . Why can't they walk them into/around the shows like those with bigger breeds ?........and why has it always been the tradition that toy breeds are provided with crates at benched shows but larger breeds are not ?. It must surely be more difficult to walk 3 large Mastiffs/Danes/Afghans etc and all their paraphanalia than the same number of Poms or Paps ....it does seem a ridiculous way to carry on and I wondered what the justification was ...?

Yvonne

First of all they're lower to the ground, so where your dogs might get their feet dirty walking into a show a toy dog gets it's whole legs and tummy filthy. Also people are more likely to stand on them and mainly just because they can carry them in boxes they do. Having taken over the showing of my Mums chinese cresteds when she fell ill I have to say it was much easier pulling a trolley than walking with 3 of the little ankle biters trying to trip you up, attacking everything bigger than them, and generally trying to get as filthy as possible :D

The cages on benches I've often thought should apply to all breeds as I think they're safer and more secure. I'm not sure what the justification is for just supplying them for the tiddlers - but can you imagine a chihuahua sitting on a bench with a chain attached?

I carry or put my Cavalier in a crate because his coat is to the floor and if walked he would end up mucky, as soon as he has been shown he walks everywhere and will normally go for a run that evening and will get extremely mucky but we don't care then

well, from what I have seen at Crufts they cart the toy poodles in using crates, then spend hours washing and fluffing them up and trimming them! :rolleyes: :D

>then spend hours washing and fluffing them up and trimming them

Really where did they wash  & dry them ? in the 30 + years I've been showing dogs never seen a poodle exhibitor bath a dog at a UK show

They may not be immersing them into a bath but they are certainly spraying something all over them :D.......................I assume it is water ;)

I assume it is water

Can you buy water in hair lacquer cans??????????????  ;)

ROTFWL 

Well they are beauty shows you know & if I walked my blenheim cavaliers into the show they would decidedly filthy(especially if it is damp)by the time we got to the benches. Now carting beardies into & out of a show in a crate is a new venture & BTW it isn't just toy breed exhibitors that use trolleys to move their dogs, lots of terrier people do it & those with smaller(& not so smal too) breeds in other groups too

It is not very pleasant to have to handle dirty dogs

The worst thing i this trolleying of dogs seems to be spreading to big ons.  I sometimes wonder if they can walk.

for the small dogs you could get the dog under your arm, and the few bits needed for it in a small bag.

LOLOL Barbara a bit difficult if you have two dogs & use a walking stick ! Many Cavalier people have more than two dogs !

Just reminded me of a situation when I was given a lift to a champ show by a toy exhibitor of a dark coloured short coated breed.

My girls sat on the floor of the car ehind th seats.

They were showing just the one dog, yet had a trolley and more equipment than you would want for a weeks camping.

Took ages to get te wheels on trolley cage attached just to put one little dog in.

Would have been so easy just to walk or carry said dog.

BecauseI rely on the kindness of others to get to shows I take the minimum, dogs and a bag.  If an open show and they have room then a light crate.  It is why I like benching, as then a crate isn't needed.

Yes Barbara I agree if you only have one, but at times I have taken 4 so not so easy then

There's a big enough uproar in the red and white setters about those all in one dog coats that keep the feet clean...god knows what would happen if someone trollyed  setter into  show! :D laughing stock maybe?

At the most if the coat gets dirty a towel and some show off works wonders, most likly the dog will get dirty when toileting or in the ring anyway as most champshows are outside.

I can however see the worry with small dogs getting steped on or even they never seem as well behaved.  When I go to a show with my firend and her terriers she normally takes 4 and whilst walking they rarely walk forward in a stiaght line!

Th thing I noticed this year (we often are on the same day as Toys) is the taking over of ringsides by people wit caged dogs, and then they don't leave whn it is our turn to use the ring.

At Windsor we had to shelter by the best in show ring and couldn't get near the shaded side of our ring, and only had one short side in full sun to keep an eye on the progress of judging and couldn't hear the steward from where we had to sit.

At South Walkes a neighbouring breed (hound) camped out in our Wet weather ring and we had to wait ages for them to vacate, the first breed due in our ring had been able to be judged outside, but it then tipped down, the neigbouring breed was numerically strong and made camp in our ring from the start of judging, as they had opted to say under cover.

Well I'm one of these people who always shout that toy dogs should be treated like DOGS with the same obedience training etc etc, BUT I have to admit with my Papillon (3 kgs) when we go to training every Wednesday I always carry him in to the hall if the weather is wet. He gets absolutely filthy in no time otherwise with the long white fur, and also I find it scary -so many big dogs about and so many people and a little dog is more likely to be trodden on by accident so I feel more secure carrying him. I'm paranoid since a lady on a list I am on had her Papillon killed by a Rottweiler whilst out for a walk -the Pap was on a lead and all it took was a split second.  I actually find with mine at club that many people AND dogs don't watch where they step and he gets trodden on so easily and I even moved him up to the higher class before he was really ready as it had less dogs in it and better behaved dogs.

I dont show but my two smallest are only 1 and 1/2 kilos each and people have big feet!

i dont show but i can see why people use trollys people simply dont notice a toy dogs until they tread on them, every week my chi is nearly trodden on at obedience training by people with bigger dogs :rolleyes: and i definatly carry her if its wet cuz she gets messy really quickly - that said she is treated like a dog (and not spoilt to death as im sure most people assume toy dogs are)

My 2 Cavaliers (and my Yankee) are treated like real dogs 98% of the time, walk around in wet mud and go for walks up fells in the rain. But for that one day that we are at the show, yes I do wheel them in in a crate, with all my usually unnecessary junk on top, and I feel it is necessary to do that. When Henry was a puppy I didn't yet have a crate and trolley, and once walked him into a show where he arrived wet and black all down his legs and tummy!! Now he has a full coat reaching down to the floor in several places, it would be impossible to take more than a few steps before he would be filthy!

Hmmmm..... loads of coated big dogs seem to manage, cannnot toy exhibitors put them in those waterproof coats like the Afghan/Beardie etc people do ? Bassetts are pretty low to the ground yet are expected to walk into the show, even the coated varieties ( PBGV and GBGV's). There is so much space taken up by these trolleys and boxes especially at the indoor open shows where space is at a premium. It just seeems to me that the smaller the breed the more STUFF the owners seem to cart around with them ;)

Yvonne

I still say the main reason is SAFETY. :)

>Hmmmm..... loads of coated big dogs seem to manage, cannnot toy exhibitors put them in those waterproof coats like the Afghan/Beardie etc people do

In the middle of a hot summer ?

Lots of those long coated breeds like Beardies have masses of chalk(sorry cleansing powder)put into their coats in the benching tents, I used to show Beardies & it is a lot easier to keep a harsh coated dog like a Beardie clean(or clean it up) that a soft coated breed with lots of foot feathering like a Cavalier(hence the trend in the top kennels for "thinning"the slippers of Cavaliers(against the breed standard BTW)
I don't go to open shows & if I go to a Limit show my Cavaliers are carried in(as the car is usually much closer to the hall than it is @ any Champ show)  & (as at all the shows they go to)walked out
I cannot leave one of my dogs on a bench & have the other in the ring @ champ shows it wouldn't be safe(Cavaliers are very stealable)& having my dog crate near the ring means I can keep an eye on it whilst I am in the ring

As has been said before one of the reasons is safety.  People/other dogs/trolley/etc all seem to make a beeline for toy dogs on the floor!  An Afghan or Beardie walking in can be clearly seen (by both other people AND their owners).  If a PBGV or GBGV get wet or muddy you can just brush the dirt out.  Most coated toy breeds have very soft coats and this isn't possible.
I used to show Hounds and Toys and always took the toys into the show in a trolley but walked the hounds in.  To be honest I don't know what all the fuss is about.  Most toy exhibitors with a trolley take up the same space as someone with a big dog and crate.  I think it's a case of 'you don't know how hard it is and the difficulties involved unless you've done it'.

Debs

Fair point, but the cmping ringside is a bit much, but rather a different point :D

My pugs get treated just like my labs, and probably think that they are labs!!  They are walked through fields, go swimming, everything our labs do.  BUT, when we're showing them, if its wet and muddy they will be carried just because they ALWAYS end up filthy otherwise!!  Also they're small, short legs!!  Its sometimes a pretty long walk into the champ shows and especially if its a puppy you dont want them to be walking too far!  If it was up to my dogs though, they'd walk into the ring covered in mud :rolleyes:

I am trying to imagine how on earth I could manage to get 3 pugs, plus my handbag, plus the dog's bag (with essentials like cage, show leads, water bottle and bowls, cage fans and cooling coasts in the summer, plus possibly a sun shade too) without using a trolly, and cant see it would be a wholelot easier putting the stuff on the trolley and walking the dogs - much easier to put it all on the trolley.  I don't consider any of the things I take excessive - just essentials to keep the dogs comfy while showing.  Withe our American Cockers, it would be impossible in alsmost all weather conditions to get a bunch of Yankees into a show and keep the coats in ring condition.  What on earth would be the point on spending the amount of time needed to keep a coated, glamorous breed inn full show coat to let it get completely messed up actually on the show ground?  And, yes, with lots of coated breeds (regardless of size) you need a fair amount of equipment to ensure the dogs enter the ring "ring-ready", brushes, combs, slickers, scissors, battery clippers, water sprays, wet wipes - the list goes on and on!  IT woudl not be practical to enter several dogs, and have to carry each one in, individually, and then the equipment, the trolley is essential.  As someone said above, show is a beauty contest, and presentation is very important.
One of my  pet hates is someone with a couple of a large "utilitarian" breed, who appears to take pleaser in the low maintenance aspect of the dog!  being near them at an indoor show, especially if it is raining outside, is not pleasant!  Damp, dirty dog pong can become overpowering in bulk!  Also have a problem with the large breed folk who plant themselves ringside, often with deck chairs, and take no notice of the dogs sprawling out stopping people getting past.    So I suppose we all feel the need to have a bit of a go and breed people with very different modes of operation to our own.

bye
Gwen

I agree with the camping ringside - I hate it when I want to watch the judging for a bit, but have to either move people's coats, beg for a temporary seat, or stand behind a row of empty chairs. It's worst at Crufts, but you get it everywhere. I don't think you should be allowed to 'bags' chairs like that. :-(