Does anyone else get fed up with showing their dogs?  I've been doing it for nearly 9 years now, in a breed that requires a lot of grooming and that is very cliquey.
Both of my dogs are at an age now where the youngest will be in veteran.

We've been plodding along (with moderate success) for the whole time but I'm getting to the point where I will probably stop showing altogether which I have mixed feelings about.  We seem to get left behind in a class - over the course of just a few months there will be big names who have brought a puppy right through the classes and passed us by, yet I still plod on thinking we'll get somewhere one day.  We do get placed most of the time, but classes are relatively small nowadays.

I am not a breeder, so have no puppies to bring out, I don't want another dog just yet so it seems that my hobby will have to stop.  Even when I am at a show I don't always enjoy it, if I'm honest.  I know some people in the breed but most of the others are offhand, some downright rude.  An elderly lady made a couple of very rude comments recently, I should have said something but it's only afterwards that you think of the witty reposte.

As for the judging, I am astonished that it can sometimes be so blatant - not always, but sometimes. 

I enjoy the day out with my dog(s) but I'm also quite happy when I know I haven't got any shows coming up.

I'm just having a whinge I suppose and sad that the hobby I used to enjoy is coming to an end.

If I were you I would seek out one of the best breeders, someone who sells dogs to others that gets made up and book a pup, even if you have to wait a while so that you're fairly high up on the list and then ask their advice in choosing a show quality pup. We spend a lot of money going to shows, you might as well have the best possible dog to show

I made up my very first show dog, when others who had been showing for years complained that it was cliquey and newcomers would never do anything. I spent a couple of years first going to shows, watching them and deciding what I liked and trying to work out why certain dogs were placed above others. I then decided on a dog that I thought was gorgeous, was very successful and his progeny were too, then I looked for a litter planned to him, a line bred litter. I was pretty low down on the list to choose though, actually I got the runt of the litter - but that well bred 'runt' won 5 tickets and a champ show group with a complete newbie to showing at the end of his lead.

Now I have a different breed, that are pretty rare in the UK with only 54 dogs here. Because I desperately wanted a silken, and was delighted with my first pup I showed her a bit though she has some very obvious faults, didn't do anything much with her. I got the chance of another silken, again I adore him but he's not really a show dog, he's had a few good seconds in open though. My star is a dog that I imported, I booked 2 years before he was born and was lucky enough to get pick of litter - that dog has just turned 2 and already has a reserve winners and a winners dog and a specialty best in show from the 5 shows he has attended (with 5x1sts). So I guess the moral is if you want to win you have to find the very best dog that you can to show.

Often people see 'big breeders' do well with their puppies and assume it's a face thing, more often than not though it's that they are very good at breeding and choosing the best pup, as well as being very good at preparing and showing them.

Hi Chaumsong
I agree with everything you say.  I know that it's not always the big breeders that do well, but for a novice (and by that I mean 5 years + showing experience) even with a good dog to do well in this breed is really hard.  They either do it in a flash - 3 CC in a row or not at all.

I am not ready to put my name down for another dog yet, we have always said we would only have 2 dogs, and I'm not ready to lose one of those any time soon. In any case I am very much interested in another breed.  When the time comes, I will be doing all of the things that you have mentioned.  In fact, I already speak to some of the owners of this breed when they are on the same day as us at shows.

I suppose I just feel a little sad that the enjoyment has gone from my hobby and soon my hobby will have gone too.

Apart from what the previous poster said it is a good idea to go for a breed with a long show life like my own where dogs remain competitive to at least 10 years and often longer (especially males).

I have won CC's with 10 year olds.  Our breed record holding male is 12 and still winning.

Thanks Brainless,
Unfortunately in my breed it seems that you need to progress your dog through the classes as soon as possible.  By the time they get to Limit, most of them are under 3 years old.