dog show and match!!

[12weimgirl]

ok.. first of all I went to a match this morning and entered breed and jr showmanship and I got 2nd in both of them!?!?!?! and the reason i am upset about the juniors is because the girl who won had a PBGV and to stack it all she did was lift up his tail!!! and she didnt gait him right. and I stacked Belle gaited her right and every thing!!! all she did was back away from the judge when he went over her. the PBGV didnt move.... the judge ended up going over her in the end and the breed I got in 2nd. I'm not mad over that. and I think the reason why Belle backed away from the judge was that the girl with a shar-pei behind me let her gog sniff my dogs butt!! and thats all i got to say about that! and there are shows in march I am going to enter in. i am going to enter in jrs and breed.

Lauren

[PawNclaws]

Well, maybe you'll have better luck next time. Jrs is based on the handler and not the dog and some people will "cheat" to try and mess another handler up. I disagree with that and it shows very poor sportsmanship on their behalf. I say, keep up the good work and show because you love it, not for the glory(as some jrs do). It's about the love of doing what your doing after all , right ?
Better luck next time, I'm sure you and Belle will do wonderfully !!

[Rivsky]

I hope you do better next time and agree with Paws' comments above

[12weimgirl]

Thanks you guys... I asked the judge after wards and asked what i did wrong (so i can improve) and he said I did perfect i just needed a dog with more training!?!?!?!? I felt like asking well isnt it about judgeing the handler not the DOG!!!!!!!

Lauren

[Winjammin]

Lauren,

Just hang in there. It sounds like you're doing great and are coming along just fine in your handling development. I've found out from my own experiences that nothing happens overnight in this sport. You're making strides and that's all you can ask for. Just keep working hard and pick one thing at a time to work with Belle on until she gets it perfect every time. It's a slow process, and it does get frustrating, but it will show rewards down the road. One of these days, it'll just click for you AND her, and you'll be surprised at how well you do.

I've never been in juniors, but I've only been showing dogs for three years, so I'm experiencing a lot of the same "growing pains" you are. I've found that working with a young dog is an uphill battle, no matter what class you're in. In my case, Phantom finished his CH at 9 months, and started specialing at 10 months, with the encouragement of his breeder. He's still learning to show (at 18 months of age now) and how to handle himself in the ring. I still have problems stacking him, freebating, keeping his tail down (Cardis are supposed to have level tails and ears up, and his tail is almost always in the "happy" position), and keeping his ears up. He's a bigtime mover, so he LOVES to get out and move. Well, when you're not in the front of the line, he tends to run over everyone in front of him, unless I keep him in check, which I try to do all the time, but that brings up other problems, etc. He has shied away from the judge on the table, and it's our job as a handler to correct this and try to make the dog enjoy their time (ok, or at least tolerate it) in front of the judge. I'm sure you already know all the little tricks to work with Belle on as far as checking the bite goes, so I won't go into that, but let me tell you about a thing that happened to me last fall that kind of relates to what you were saying about showing the dog perfect and still losing:

I was head to head with the #7 dog in the country who was on a hot streak that included several Group 1's. I was NOT a happy camper about facing him, as I knew the dog was incredibly hard to beat. We knew the dog very well, have shown against him countless times (always lost), and he and his owners are now close friends, so we knew what Sulley could do. Well, Phantom and I got in the ring and we happened to be behind Sulley for the first time all year (usually we were first in line). We saw Sulley get evaluated and saw that he was in top form on this day. He had everything going for him and he looked like a million bucks! Then it was our turn. The judge was very non-comittal with any comments, but as you know very well, this doesn't mean a thing one way or another. But, it turned out that Phantom had brought his "A game" as well, and wasn't about to let Sulley get the best of him again. He moved well, and showed like a dream. After the Winners classes had been evaluated for Best of Winners, the judge made both of the specials (Sulley and Phantom) go around the ring together. She stood in the middle of the ring, pursed her lips, tapped her chin with a finger, and said, "Again please", and around we went again.....and again.....and again. I swear, we were LITERALLY out there for 10 minutes, just the two specials, going head to head, trying to outdo each other. FINALLY, she pointed to Sulley for the win. I was pretty upset about it, because I truly thought that Phantom had outshowed Sulley. So, being the curious type, I went up to the judge and asked if there was anything that stood out in her mind about why she didn't put up Phantom, and she said the dogs were EQUAL in her mind, I had shown him perfectly, and she loved his movement and attitude. However, what did it was that on the last time around the ring, Phantom had one back foot that slipped on the slick concrete floor, and it messed up his gait just a smidge. She said, "I hated to base it on just that, but I had to make a decision, and so I just waited until someone screwed up." She then told me to apply some Coke to the bottoms of his feet, to prevent that slippage in the future. (freebie tip for indoor rings, if you already didn't know that one )

We were happy with what the judge had said, and we vowed to take it to Sulley again the next day. You know what happened? Phantom won breed over Sulley (for his first breed win over a special), and then got put into the top 6 in the Herding Group. The REALLY scary thing was that Sulley showed better the second day than the first, but so did Phantom. We had off duty judges and professional handlers and breeders, who watched both days of the competition, tell both of us later on that that was one of the most enjoyable competitions that they had seen in a real long time, and applauded both of us for our efforts.

Moral of the story (if there is one); Just keep at it and work as hard as you can every time you're in the ring. You can show perfect and still lose, BUT there will always be another day, and you never know when you're going to pull the upset.

Good luck with the March shows!! We'll be waiting to hear how you do. We have one show in Feb, and then we're gone all but one weekend in March, same in April and May.

Let us know if you need some advice or any help. We'd be more than happy to help.

Show with confidence, but not arrogance, and remember....It's all about attitude!!!

[misdemeanorsmom]

Congratulations, 12weimgirl!! I think its pretty spectacular to score over a dog with that kind of record and experience. Speaks really well for both of you. And as long as the both of you enjoy it, that's what really matters. And it is SOOOOO subjective, isn't it? You've got to wonder if they're looking at the same dogs you are, sometimes. But, don't ever let it get you down. Sure, it's about the ribbons and the record, etc., but primarily, it should be because the 2 of you love doing it together!! It must be a fabulous experience.

[12weimgirl]

Thanks you all i was only mad at the jrs results because she didnt stack her dog at all and she didnt gait him right!!!!