[Liesje]

Yes, you can handle your own dog. I handle Nikon (but I do have my husband or a close friend who he likes "call" him for me if I need it). If you are handling without a double handler then your dog needs to be trained to move WAY out ahead of you and move fast.

A dog can compete as few or as many times as you want. You don't need to earn points or majors or wins; the dog earns a rating and critique every time. One reason a dog can V once and then SG is because judges have bias and/or are willing to overlook things. Like if a dog is obviously too large, one judge may still give it a V rating but another might be a stickler for size. One judge might be "working line friendly" and V rate a nice WL but another judge might be a jerk that only likes WGSL. Getting an SG rating after a V rating does not mitigate the V rating.