I was planning to go down to Crick this Sunday for the Great Dane Show but my baby has come into season for the first time :(

Bless her.

Question, how long is it normal to stay away from shows for?

Thanks

I would say 4 weeks, you need to make sure your bitch really has finished her season.

There is no rule to prevent you showing an in season bitch,a nd in some breeds it is done quite openly, and in others covertly, but it is not unusual to have in season bitches at most shows.

Now whether you would wish to have the hassle is another matter and possibly the disapproval of some of the other exhibitors is another matter.

I certainly would not stop going to shows for as long as four weeks.  Most people would still show in the first day or so (especially with a first season which is usually less exciting), and as soon as the bitch looks to have finished.

I would never and have never in over 20 years of showing shown an in season bitch.  Sorry but 4 weeks is nothing to keep your dog out of the show ring.  One of my boys can smell an in season bitch at a show from a mile away and it was so much hard work keeping his brain on showing rather than finding an in season bitch.

>I would never and have never in over 20 years of showing shown an in season bitch.

Nor would I - in fact it's specifically mentioned in my breed club's Code of Conduct that in-season bitches should not be taken to shows.

"There are some who should not be at a show at all, most particularly bitches in whelp or those in season."

Just pointing out to the poster that it is not against KC rules and that it is very much done in soem breeds, frowned on in others and done on the sly in yet others.

As for 4 weeks not beign a lot of tiem, if yoru after a particular judges opinion, or a special show (especially if yoru breed doesn't have many, or any nearby), stretching a point of taking a bitch just in or just out may be an issue.

For example in my breed there are only 4 CC shows in Scotland.  One in April, One May and One June then nothing until October.

>

tottally agree
its unfair to others and their dogs
nothing is worst than trying to show a male whose mind is on other things

my kooikerhondje just came in for teh second time,
first time seasons are usually the heaviest and longest.

i would say once she has stopped bleeding you are safe a day or to after, if its not a mixed sex class.

im lucky with my girl because i am having a brake this mounth.

first time seasons are usually the heaviest and longest.
Not my experience at all.  All breeds must be different.

i would say once she has stopped bleeding you are safe a day or to after, if its not a mixed sex class.
Once she stops bleeding is exactly when she is most interesting to males and so should be kept safely away for at least the next 14 days. :(

what am i saying yes you are right!! i have know idea forget what i said last time WestCoast your right!

As you now agree and as Westcoast says the time when your bitch stops bleeding is usually the time when she is ready to be mated so the worst time anyone can take a dog.  Not having a go at you but just in case someone is reading this and doesn't realise.

well i hope they read my other coment. its stupid really i stopped my bitch showing for a good 2 months nearly because she was driving my little yorkiepoo round teh bend(he is done by teh way so he cant do anything, i dont know why he wants to get with every girl he sees)

> (he is done by teh way so he cant do anything, i dont know why he wants to get with every girl he sees)

Any castrated dog can mate & tie with an in season bitch & depending on when he was castrated & his innate behaviour, he could still be showing juvenile behaviour. Castration only stops them, eventually, being fertile, it doesn't stop the dog the instinctive behaviour of some dogs.

At a breed show a couple of weeks ago I walked my male around and suddenly his head went up and he sniffed the air so I asked him to "find it".
He tracked me right to a cage with 3 bitches in - lifted the cover up as if to say "It's them Mum".
He actually showed very well and won his class...very much on his toes and dancing but in a static pose -type breed it would have been a nightmare. Thankfully the bitches hadn't been on the ground yet or it would have been curtains :-(
The owner said the bitches were due in soon but later her friend told me they were on days 7,10 and 14. Charming!!!!