Dog Showing.

If you are interested in a hobby where you meet other people with similar tastes to your own, a good hobby is 'dog showing'.

Before you begin to show yourself, you could gain knowledge by attending a few shows, before you finally made up your mind.

Every dog owner thinks that their dog is the best dog, as long as you remember that  all owners feel the same, you will never be upset when someone else wins and your dog is not even placed.  The judge, on the day, chooses the dog that they think is closest to the breed standard.  A different judge will have different ideas.  There is a widely held opinion that there is favouritism, where a dog is chosen because they belong to a certain person, but if all judges did this there would be no competition. The best judges, judge the dog on the day.  Sometimes a really good dog will not be placed because they are out of sorts on the show day, this does not mean that the dog is not a good representative of the breed.

Showing a dog to it's best advantage is a skill that is taught a local ringcraft classes. To find out where the dog shows are you would need to buy a newspaper called 'Dog's World' or 'Our Dogs'.  Both of these newspapers list forthcoming shows, giving the address and telephone number of the Secretary or organiser who will send out a Schedule showing classes and who is judging. They will also tell you where the ringcraft classes are held.

The things that you will learn to do are easily learnt

1) Walk your dog on your left hand side on a loose lead.
   (A dog on a tight lead can not walk properly.)

2) Persuade your dog to stand still looking up at you, wagging his/her tail.
    (A treat that he/she likes helps)
                                                                
3) To stand on a table and allow the judge to examine his/her teeth.


There are classes for puppies, novices, junior, post graduate and open.
 
Puppies speaks for itself, a dog/bitch between the age of 6months to 1 year.

Novice is for dogs that have not won a certain amount of first places.

Junior is for dogs up to 18 months of age.

Post Graduate and Open are for dogs that have won a certain amount of first places.


Cavaliers are very popular dogs and a great many people show their dogs, but it is still good fun.  When it isn't fun is when winning is more important than any thing else. Then it is time to stop showing as it is no longer a hobby.

There are several types of Dog Show. 

Exemption Shows are for fun and nothing more. They are a nice day out with lots of dogs and there are classes for pedigree dogs and non-pedigree. There are classes for the dog who looks most like their owner (or should that be for the owner who looks most like their dog). Classes for the dog with the waggiest tail, for the best 6 legs and so on.

Open Shows are more serious. At an Open show you are competing for the Best Of Breed  From there you can enter for The Best Toy Dog, and then it is for Best in Show.

Championship Shows are the most serious and the most expensive to enter.  If you win the best dog/bitch at a Championship show you will receive a Challenge Certificate also know as a CC.  Three CC's under three different judges will make your dog/bitch a Champion. A Champion dog/bitch is the aim of most people who show seriously but it is still supposed to be fun.  It is when it stops being fun that some people can become very single minded and the only thing that matters to them is winning, even if the dog/bitch is not happy showing they will still continue.  That is not how it is supposed to be. A good show dog enjoys being shown and it is obvious that they do enjoy it.