I have a 3 year old boy who does not do too well in the ring, mainly because he flies his tail. Our second boy is now a year old and doing brilliantly, getting alot of really good results. I have been told to stop showing my older boy as he is giving me a bad name!! Is this true???
I was told that people look at all of your dogs and can decide if a dog is good based on all of your dogs

I only have two dogs and only want two dogs, I am not a breeder and show only as a hobby so I can't see why my older dog not doing well can mean that my younger boy does not reach his potential. To me having a dog that is not perfect makes me more approachable and more human than those that only show perfection ;-D.

I would appreciate your input as I am confused
GG

To be perfectly honest...I wouldn't show a dog that people could assess as being less than desirable...however, that doesn't mean to say you SHOULD stop showing him! I see lots of Newfies that are fat, have short tails and terrible mouths or movement, but obviously their owners show them, but I wouldn't!!! I have a lovely little Yorkie boy who is the correct size, yet looks tiny in the ring because all the others are oversize! He also throws out his topline 'cos he gets ssssoooo excited! I do show his brother, same breeding, but a year younger, who is a bit chunkier, but a very nice dog who doesn't throw out his topline...but I stopped showing the wee one. I want people to remember me for having good dogs and having the knowledge to be able to assess my own stock! I Judge, so I suppose I want people to recognise the fact that I know a good 'un from a poor specimen...but you have the  choice, I suppose it depends on where you are heading, whether for a Show/Judging career of sorts or just as a hobby. I suppose if Showing is just a hobby and your boy enjoys a day out with you and your already taking the other and don't mind spending the extra entry fee, well it's all down to what YOU want to do! Just enjoy!!! :D

Depending on the breed you might be as well to leave your older boy at home or a bit if he hasn finished maturing. My breed dont normally mature until they are 4 or 5 years old and my older boy was only shown lightly last year as he was all over the place.  If his only major fault is his tail, could you teach him to hold it down? 

Jill

Yes he does need to mature a bit more. I have trained him to keep his tail down and he is perfect outside the ring but when around other dogs it is straight up in the air
I don't have the option of leaving him at home, they are never left for longer than a few hours so he must come with us.

I can understand judges or breeders not showing a poor dog but is it a problem for somebod with two pet dogs?? I want my puppy to do well but I am unsure if this will men that I should not show my older dog. If you as a person leave poor dogs behind when showing do you view other in a poor light if they do not do the same??

GG

No, I don't think it's a problem if they are pets you enjoy showing...so go ahead, like you said if it's only the flagging of his tail it's hardly crime of the century is it!? Go and ENJOY!!! :D

Shouldn't make any difference, as otherwise none of us would have ever won with our younger dogs whilst showing the older ones.

I still show my RCC winning bitch even though I am showing her champion daughter and granddaughter, as she likes being shown, and I like showing her.

To be hones you could just point her at the ring and she would show on her own.

Tend to enter Veteran classes with her, and she is a great Junior handlers dog.

Her Mother never won much at championship shows, but woudl always place in quite good classes, and ehr mother managed to win her stud book number.

Generally your younger dogs are in the lower classes to begin with, so the judge won't ahve seen your other dog to affect their opinion, and to be honest they shouldn't be looking at the handler.

A gay tail?  is that all?  We have cahmpions in our breed who have gay tails!  Infact you will find at champ shows where dogs are all together they will fly their tails (male dominance thing!)

Keep showing your beloved pets :) and both of them if you want.  A judge will judge the dog placed infront of them (well they should anyway :) )

It shouldn't have any effect at all, specially as your less good dog is the older one. It's just possible that a careless judge, having seen one person with say 3 awful dogs, might not look as closely at a 4th one assuming it would be the same quality, but with 2 dogs, one of which has nothing worse than a slightly excitable tail, shouldn't be a problem. Like others have said, they should judge each dog on its own merits. :-)

For years I showed 2 bitches. The older one wasn't as good as the younger one, but she enjoyed it. I learned an awful lot from showing her. I looked at the other dogs and asked myself why they were always beating her :( After a while I knew why :) Her younger sister was a really nice looking bitch and when she wanted to show (which wasn't very often I must admit :D ) she usually won her class. But she was a pain to show. Possibly 2 weeks out of 52 I could expect her to show :D

Show both your dogs. Enjoy and learn from handling 2 different dogs. You'll be the winner in the end :D Every dog, and every judge is different.