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I have a dog who is doing very well at shows and as I do not have time to show the dog the  breeder who is a friend shows for me.

We drop her off the day before then pick up the day after,at home  the dog is a family pet sleeps on settee etc..

At the breeders she is caged or kennelled,the last time I have take the dog to drop off  she  is reluctant to get out of the car, and it takes some days to get back to normal she is very quiet,she does like showing but I am torn between making her up (there is good chance) and her happiness.

Thoughts please?

Personally as much as I love showing....
My dogs happiness & health will always come first.
The rosettes if won are just a bonus.

I dont show, but is there any way you can fgo to shows????
Take your dog, hand them over when it is their class warch them in the ring and see how they react and take them home??? some dogs just dont like showing.
You will see what happens when you are around????
(Admin I know this is not you)
Lea :)

Personally if my dogs showed any sign of reluctance I wouldnt leave them not for the sake of showing
.
One of my girls dislikes it immensely which is quite obvious to me I would not force her, I want her to be happy .
I would either take her myself on the day and be present if you want the other person to handle her/him this way you will find out if it is staying in a strange place she /he dislikes or showing .

Roni

I agree.  I love showing, but after a couple of shall we say "frights" in the ring, my boy became more and more unhappy showing, so I stopped.  His happiness has to come first.  They should always be pets first, showing should always be second.

Sarah.

I'm having some difficulty in finding the right way to answer this question, because I handle my own dogs. It's more than half the pleasure of showing for me I can't see the point of having a handler.

However, my answer is stop showing her, her wellbeing is more important than making her up.

Dawn R.

Dear Poster

Follow your instinct :  you wouldn't have written in with your query if you were completely happy with the situation as it is.

Firstly, is there any reason why you are showing her?   Did the breeder say that you must?   

Let's ask the question the other way round - why are you not showing her?   You say its because of pressure of work - but there must be some shows that you could go to if you really wanted to!   Please do not misunderstand me here - I am not saying that you should go to shows - it is something people either become completely addicted to, or can only enjoy at a certain level - rarely!

How is your girl doing?   Is she winning?   Is she coming home with loads of rosettes/places?   If she isn't very happy in the ring, then I doubt very much whether she will be winning much - however good her conformation is, if she doesn't "sparkle" then she won't be doing very well!   Talk to the friend who takes her to the shows - has she noticed a reluctance in her behaviour?   

In my mind, showing is wonderful - if both the dog and the owner enjoy it - if one or other doesn't - then it's a waste of a weekend!

JMO

Margot

I agree with all the others. If she is reluctant to stay with her breeder then find another way. She can't be showing well if she is unhappy, and she will become more reluctant. I had to retire a bitch because she hated showing. If she was having a good day we came home with best of breed, but as she hated showing she very rarely was happy. It's just not worth seeing a happy bitch turning sad. It breaks your heart in the end.

I agree with the others too, if she seems unhappy then it's not worthy making her up.  Like others have said if you can why don't you take her to the shows and let the breeder handle her if necessary.

I have to admit that I am another who prefers to handle my own dogs, I just don't feel happy about a win if I'm not handling my dog myself.

I hate handling and am rubbish at it and only ever do it if I must (i.e. if we have to take two bitches back in the ring for best bitch) but all that means is my husband handles, he enjoys it, does it well. I could never imagine NOT being AT the show..... It's just going into the ring I don't do, I do everything else. It would seem totally pointless to me to enter shows otherwise. It's all about taking part.

COuld you find another handler who could possibly do the same thing but keep the dog in the house environment?  I know there are very few people like this and they will charge you boarding, travel and handling fees aswell as extra fees if they win.  This is the way the states and europe work with professional handlers.

Thought To be honest if we can't get to a show we don't go.

It's difficult, because it's so nice for your dog to do well.

However, I have a girl who I showed a number of times as a youngster and she hated it.  It ended up as a choice between her happiness or showing and her happiness naturally came first.

Is there no possible way that you could pick and choose shows and go to the occasional one where the judge suits your dog? (In my breed it's few and far between.....so not many shows per year really)  Maybe your dog would be happier with you there?

Overall, the happiness of the dog has to come first, and if there is no way the dog can be happy, my advice would be to stop showing her in the way that is being done at the moment :)

Lindsay
x

If it is staying at her breeders she doesn't like rather than the showing (if she is doing well I rather think she is OK at shows) can you not just arrange to drop her off before they leave for the show and pick her up as soon as they get back.

It could be there is another dog that bosses or intimidates her at the breeder.

I would want to go to at least one or two shows with them to See how she is there.  Mien adore going to shows even the ones who are hit and miss with sparkling in the ring :D  After all they get to be queen or queens for the day. :D  They do get very tired though, totally wrung out as if they had walked miles rather than a couple of circuits around a ring, and a walk around a show ground.

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Thank you for all your thoughts and suggestions. It has helped :)