Wow were we lucky with the weather ! - we held our companion show on the Saturday in glorious sunshine and made over £300 clear profit for the kids at the school I work at.

The judge did a great job - managing to get through 17 classes in 4 hours with some  pretty big entries ( 22 in puppy, 28 in Open etc ) yet I still heard some folk moaning about how long they had to wait for their class - and how the 'proper show people' won most of the prizes - not to mention those who were really cross that they couldn't park round the ring ( reserved for disabled only).

It's a difficult balancing act to run a show that suits both amateur and serious dog exhibitors - this is just a thought - would people support an 'enter on the day' show just for pedigree classes ? -now that the KC allows for more of these - I thought about having :

AV Puppy 6-9 months
AV puppy 9-12 months
AV Junior
AV Pastoral
Av Hound
Av Toy
AV Gundog
AV Utility
AV Terrier
AV working
AV open
AV Veteran

Best Puppy, BIS, Res BIS, Best Veteran

plus a baby puppy walk for  socialising pups that are not old enough to show - this would be my only 'novelty' class

this way I would be catering for show exhibitors only - a kind of level just below an Open show

what do you think ? - would you suppport this kind of alternative Companion show ?

Yvonne

yep.......i would definitely..............bet you wont be close enough for me though!
Pauline

Most of our Companion shows are like this.  I thought it was the norm!

I would love one of those! We usually have AV Puppy, AV Sporting, Av non-Sporting, AV Open and AV Veteran (if we're lucky) Then we have the best 6 legs, prettiest bitch, most handsome dog, most ugliest, best rescue, etc......

Yes I'd go to one like that, spesh if there was a bit of obedience on the side. Must admit I do like the Waggiest Tail and Best Sausage Catcher type of classes too. :-)

Definitely.  Wish the ones held near me offered more pedigree classes.  We usually get stuck with the minimum 4 and the class sizes are unbelievable - 30+ in a class seems to be the norm.   However, I must admit that I hate the ones where there's no ringside parking.

However, I must admit that I hate the ones where there's no ringside parking

...but why would people expect this at a Companion show  but are quite prepared to walk fairly hefty distances from the car parks at  a Champ or Open show ?( the NEC for instance LOL !!! )

I got several phone calls asking for ringside parking - but it's pretty rare to be able to get a venue which will offer this facility as well as wet weather accomodation/cafe/good toilets/decent size rings etc etc....and I am amazed at the number of people that insist on parking in the area reserved for disabled exhibitors despite clear notices asking them not to - and the car park was in the field just next to the ring so literally a minutes walk away !.

I will definitely give this classifaction a go at the next show I organise - my feeling is that people enter classes such as handsome dog etc simply because there are no other pedigree classes available to them - we've all been in those HUGE 'sporting' or 'non sporting' classes with a youngster just out of puppy or been asked to " move round the ring" whilst trying to adapt a GSD or Border Collie to the pace of the Peke shuffling along in front ! -( and thats another question WHY are table dogs always seen first and at the front of the class ?????)

I think there is definitly a gap in the market for an 'enter on the day show' catering  for serious exhibitors ...watch this space !

Yvonne

It does seem odd to have the little dogs first yes! As it happens my table dogs are very fast movers and I often find I am stuck behind slower small dogs, so it must be very frustrating for the big dogs! A sensible judge will move the big and small dogs separately, but sometimes you go to these shows and they have Staffies in Non Sporting, table and floor dogs mixed up together, all sorts of stuff going on! :-)

In response to Trevor.  Well at a Companion show I will have more dogs with me.  I'm new to showing so most of my dogs are just pets, only the younger couple are 'show' dogs.  I don't bother with trolley, grooming table etc and just take a couple of cages to put up beside the car.  If the weather is not kind then it's nice to be able to sit in the car and watch what's going on in the ring.  Otherwise, if you have some dogs left at the car, you end up running backwards and forwards trying to keep an eye on the classes so as not to miss yours.  Around here almost all companion shows have ringside parking (if you get there early enough that is) and the few that don't are not very popular.

>WHY are table dogs always seen first and at the front of the class ?????

not always, not when I'm judging!  I normally ask my steward at companion shows and in handling classes to put small dogs to the back! :D  Although normally companion shows it's just how you come into the ring I have noticed.