Im very pleased to say that i have booked Lottie in for her first ring craft class in may :D!

i have to buy a show lead for her but no idea what im looking at, she is a chihuahua and so has a very little neck and have seen dozens of different show leads and to be quite honest i have no idea what im looking at!
Any help would be grand!

something like a nylon ancol showlead would suffice for ringcraft(available on ebay)as they are very light and inexpensive.

My chins are a similar size to your little dog and I use these leads for ringcraft and save the leather or beaded ones for showing.

Hope you enjoy your lesssons

Agree, I use a nylon ancol one for ringcraft and save my Jubilee Leather one for shows! Jubilee Leather also do ones with padding so good for tiny necks like a Chi.

Just curious, as I don't go to Ringcraft and only started Companion shows last year...

When I was training my rescue girl a nice 'Stand' in the garden I used my show lead [posh Essenjay jobbie, not necessary for Companion shows I know!]. She started very quickly to associate that lead coming out with what I'd taught her to do (and actually got quite excited about her new 'job').

....so, I am wondering if using one lead for ringcraft and a different one for shows could be counter-productive?

In response to Ms Temeraire,

I can see where you are coming from as when I used to train hearing dog pups they definitely knew the difference between their walking leads and working leads and so did my own dogs because when I picked up the yellow working lead then my lot would go and lie in their beds as if to say,"oh well she's not taking us out"".

However I have never had a problem with the show leads causing confusion but then my lot never wear collars in the house and all are walked on harnesses.

I do have quite a few show leads and can't see that my dogs have a preference for any but myself I prefer the lighter ones for the chins as some of the fancy beaded type can be heavy around their necks and so they don't hold heads as high when moving

> I can see where you are coming from as when I used to train hearing dog pups they definitely knew the difference between their walking leads and working leads

Thanks for that - it's known that dogs don't easily generalise, so I do think a certain lead is a visual signal, (and a scent signal as they smell more than they see). It made me wonder if using a different lead for ringcraft and another for a show could unsettle some dogs. Personally, I feel if I had a dog I was training for show via ringcraft, I would be very inclined to use the same lead all the time whether at home, club or at a show.

What are other peoples' experiences of this?

All mine have rolled leather for normal walking collars and show leads from Essenjay. There is little difference between their normal collars and show leads as the latter is a half check and slightly thinner than the walking collar - they're even the same colour! However, they definitely can tell the difference, and know when it's time to run crazy in the grass or when it's time to 'work', I feel having different collars is  beneficial. I also use the same collar for ring craft that they will use at the show, or if show work is being practiced at home -  just to make sure they get in their strutting mode :-)

> I also use the same collar for ring craft that they will use at the show, or if show work is being practiced at home - just to make sure they get in their strutting mode :-)

That's exactly what I was trying to get at :)
Might seem nit-picky to us humans but dogs do notice the difference.

My girl only wears a slip lead when training, and never wears a collar lead as I walk her on harness, so I think this helps. I use the leather lead for Match nights too, so she does get some experience with it. So far I've found that the noise of the chain doesn't bother her as it did!