Great article - fabulous dog :)

http://www.agilitynet.co.uk/features/chance_biscrufts2006.html

It is interesting reading....I read up on Chance after Westminster...beautiful dog and I was very pleased to see he was a fully fledged  Aussie in other areas of training as well as in beauty. But  it seems to me this is very much a professional dog being trained and handled by paid professionals..? ... I just wondered is that normal...?  Most show dogs I know are pets and trained gromed and so on by their owners or even owner/breeders...it seems a very different approach to what I've seen. Which way is most normal...?

In the US it is very normal for dogs to be professionally handled. 

Sometimes they live with their owners and are collected and taken to shows by the handler, in huge vans, with all the other dogs the handler will be showing that day (different breeds).

Sometimes their owners will take them to the show and deliver them ringside to the handler.

Sometimes they will live with the handler, in kennels usually, and be trained in ringcraft there and then taken by the handler to the shows - and only return home for holidays or when retired.

Very true.  A friend of mine who has a top Shar-pei, owns the dog basically in name only... i almost never see him with the dog.

I have to say that I just wouldn't have the satisfaction of the win if I had to pay someone else to get it for me!!  I was offered for two of my Pomeranian's tobe handled by top breeders years ago and I just said if I can't get them to the top I don't want anybody else to do it.

I agree that if you own a good show dog then what would be the point of not showing it yourself . BUT if you have bred that dog your credit is more for the breeding and your kennels and not that you can show the dog to its full potential, So many breeders who are busy with duties at home may want to place good dogs in handlers hands so their breeding is seen...You say "get it for me" ! As if this is a bit of a cheat but its only like selling show quality pups that end up doing well with their owners, some breeders just don't have the time to show themselves.

The dog was beautiful so does it really matter who was showing it ?

In my eyes yes, because I don't want the UK to go the American way where it seems that Professional Handlers handle the dogs at shows more than their owners.  I enjoy going to the shows and handling my dogs etc.  I also enjoy people taking dogs that I've bred to shows also.
I just feel in my eyes that it takes all the fun out of it and it's a different matter if someone you sold a dog to shows than a Professional Handler doing it, but that's my opinion and we all have different feelings :d

You also have to remember the distances involved in campaigning a dog in the USA.  Most people could not up sticks and set off four a four day trip to a show then back again - they have other dogs/family at home so they let someone else do it instead :)  It's not like going from one end of the UK to the other (which I still whinge about at times LOL)  It's a career in itself.
Debs

That's right , and even in the UK if your a breeder and have dogs at home to care for and maybe a litter or more of pups how can you do it all? Keeping the quality up in the ring is what its all about, what does it matter who shows what. Isn't it about judging the dog after all !

The problem with that concept is that it look to me its more about running a marketing buisness rather than delighting in your dogs.

This is what I suspected Crufts and dog shows was all about and is why the newer concept of 'good breeders'  who breed only from 'proven lines' isn't being swallowed by the public.  We really don't need to embrace this concept in the UK... it will not be respected by the public and they will find it difficult to see the difference beween a show bred dog and a puppy farm....  because it is based around money and not the dogs.

The distances are excuses... lol... just because the shows are there don't mean you have to go to them all! In the UK you are limited because there are not so many championshiop shows anyway...  Like many UK breeders there are many US breeders who do show and train and live with and love their dogs and they are great dogs...

My dogs would be great in shows or in obediance or agility...but they can only be as good as their trainer and handler... and as I'm new to this and learn through my mistakes my dogs can not be showed off to their full extent... and to the great credit of their breeders who valued loving home before advertising! 

and even in the UK if your a breeder and have dogs at home to care for and maybe a litter or more of pups how can you do it all?
All the the breders I know do not go show even at Crufts when they have a litter of pups  to care for...  for them it is all about their love for their dogs and not all about Keeping the quality up in the ring. That comes very much as a second priority.

Also meeting owners and breeders at Crufts it is clear to see this showing is a personal joy and an excuse for delighting in showing off their dogs .

THis is not a response to the winning dog...this is irrelevant to him...it't just brought up the question ....he's a great dog and obviously well loved and basically lucky enought to be owned in heart by several people all at the same time!  ...and okay if its just an American way... but my reply is more just to the concept described here I can only see as canvesing and advertising .....which really is a very strange idea and is certainly not something that would draw me into the idea of showing my dogs! Is that really all that showing and shows like crufts is about?

Quirky, what's the name of the shar-pei your friend owns? Just curious being a pei owner myself.

One of the "problems" with an Aussie is how fast it runs to look its best - and as Rox will tell you, you have to keep pace with your dog on a loose lead.   Now I do have problems with Vinnie - she looks best running fast - and I do means fast!   My problem is - that I don't!

Much as I would love to show her myself - she shows better for our step-granddaughter who can run that fast!  

I didn't see Chance in action to know whether this also happens with him - I do know that his owner was at Crufts on the final day, fussing all the Aussies at the Discover Dogs stand.

Margot

Hi Margot!
  Well, I'm afraid I didn't handle my Aussie myself at Crufts either!  It's the first time we've ever been, and I wanted him to show himself as good as possible - and with me handling, he tends to run very close to my leg, touching, because he's very clingy with me.  So ... many thanks to Roxanne - she handled him beautifully and he went perfectly - and he loves her!!  And he got 3rd in the GC Dog class, so we were chuffed to come home with a Crufts rosette!!
  Hilda

Yes it is very normal in the USA.  People in the USA I know who ahve visited our shows wish their shows were more like ours where it is primarily breeders and owners handling for the enjoyment.

They also wish that judges had to do critiques as these are simply never done, so a judge never has to justify their decision.  The vast majority of judging is done by non specialists, which may account for why the top winners in all breeds have more in common with each other and a generic showdog than necesarily their breed type.

There are lots of good dogs of all breeds, but many of the top dogs are very exagerated, or presented in an exagerated fashion to win.

Maybe that would account for why the presenter at Crufts Wayne Cavanaugh has twice needed to comment on the Group winning Elkhounds not being a glamorous breed, I should hope not, neither is a Labrador or any number of breeds.  Surely dog shows are about finding the exhibit that most closely meets it's breed standard and all the breed traits, and not the most glamorous dog.

Certainly in my own breed they consider a dog of the desired height too small for Groups, prefering an oversized overangulated overdone in head flashy animal.