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Show etiquette and some other questions

4K views 33 replies 6 participants last post by  Datura 
#1 ·
Hello,
Me again lol

So I was wondering what is some show etiquette? Some things you wish you knew when you were starting out? I don't want to make more mistakes than I have to lol

Also I was wondering what is your favorite bait to use? Are there some things that are a no no in the ring for bait? Like overly smelly treats or anything?

What are your must haves for shows? I am trying to make a list I can print off and maybe laminate and check off before each show so I don't forget anything.

Thank you <3
 
#2 ·
My handler uses chicken breast for bait. She generally buys a bag of frozen (unbreaded) chicken strips, and thaws that out. Scarlet loves it! The only thing you need to be aware of is dropping bait on the ground. PICK IT UP!

I make a check list before each show. If it’s an out of town show, then I have a LONG list. If it’s a local show, I don’t need to drag as much stuff with me. We groom at the show too, so there’s all that equipment.

At the grooming site I have a crate, clip on bucket for water, and a crate pad. Usually a sheet to throw over the crate to keep the dog quiet.

Grooming involves a grooming table with an arm and noose. Blow dryer, extension cord. Shampoo, if you haven’t bathed your dog the night before. Whatever products you need (bodifier, etc). A comb. Towel.

Show collar and lead.

If you spend the night, then you need to bring food, bowls etc.

I found some random photos of our grooming setups.







 
#3 ·
Of course you’ll probably need bandaids, ibuprofen, and general first aid stuff for yourself, because invariably you’ll need it, lol.

Oh and POOP BAGS!! keep one in your pocket.
 
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#4 ·
Thank you <3

We only have one local show, The rest will be around 4 or more hours away, so I just plan on them all being at least over nights lol Thankfully Dean does great on car rides lol

I've heard a few people throw a sheet over the crate. Does it work with super nosy dogs, or do they just get upset they can't see anything? Dean is a nosy and vocal fella, and I would hate to ham him throw a temper-tantrum and bother people. Does that bother people?

Does she cook the chicken breast? I tried to make some dehydrated fish snacks to try those out, and they can super smelly, so I wasn't sure if that would bother other dogs, and get the other handlers mad at me lol

I have also been let in on the secret of keeping bait in the cheeks to keep a dogs focus. I honestly just thought it was because fancy show clothes didn't have pockets lol

Thank you again dogfaries for all the help you have been giving me <3
 
#5 ·
The chicken she uses is already cooked, so it’s pretty easy. As far as covering the crate with a sheet, well, a lot of GSDs will bark at dogs walking by the crate. Barrier frustration, I guess. So that sheet comes in handy!
 
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#9 ·
I wonder if a sheet would work at home lol Dean likes to chase the cats, and gets really frustrated when they are playing and he is in his crate at night. He can hear them running around and starts throwing a temper tantrum lol
Maybe I will try my hand at sewing a crate cover. It will give me something to do during this blizzard we are having lol
 
#8 ·
As an aside, for those that think American show line sables are always light colored, take a look at that big ol’ dark sable in the background of the first photo.
 
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#14 ·
If you’re on FB, go to Stillwaters German Shepherds (It’s a public group). They are friends of mine that breed and show, and have a lot of photos of sables.
 
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#15 ·
Dark sables are now my favorite color. Yes lots of asl have lots of sables along with bicolors and blacks. Max’s dam a bicolor really dark and his sire a patterned sable. Max has a sable granddam . Max is a asl and is beautiful dark sable. I often have to lighten photos to see his dark face and eyes.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#17 ·
Dark sables are now my favorite color. Yes lots of asl have lots of sables along with bicolors and blacks. Max’s dam a bicolor really dark and his sire a patterned sable. Max has a sable granddam . Max is a asl and is beautiful dark sable. I often have to lighten photos to see his dark face and eyes.







Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
So beautiful <3 <3 <3
 
#19 ·
Me again. [emoji4]

For Carly and Sage we used Chris Christensen Spectrum 0ne shampoo, and then I used their Thick n Thicker Volume Response Foaming Protein. Wash the dog, then rub the Thick n Thicker in. Let sit 5 minutes, then rinse.

Scarlet doesn’t need a volumizer, so I use the Cowboy Magic Rosewater shampoo. Love it!
 
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#26 ·
How do you know if your dog needs volumizer or not?

In my personal experience, yeah you need a table and a blow dryer. There is some grooming required at the show. At the very least, some bodifier, or coat dressing rubbed in and then the blow dryer used to fluff the dog up. You wouldn’t think a GSD would get their coat all flattened (think “bed hair”) but they do. If it’s a local show and you can bathe the night before, that’s a good plan. My dogs have had plenty of baths at the shows though, and unfortunately some of the bathing facilities are kind of sketchy.
I believe it lol I plopped Dean in front of the fan once after a bath and brushed his coat all up so he was fluffy when he dried, and then after a few hours he was not as flat, but flatter, and then the next day it was all de fluffed lol

The only time I haven’t groomed my dog at a show was a UKC show. The show site was literally 10 minutes from our grooming shop. I groomed her up (NO products at UKC) stuffed her in the car, and went to the show. I borrowed a comb from a friend there, so I could fluff up her butt, lol.
I plan on starting at UKC shows, since I've heard they are more laid back than AKC shows, and Dean is a West German Show line, and not an American Show line. So will I still need to floof the coat?

Seriously though, there’s no reason to invest in a table and blow dryer if you are just wanting to see if showing is something you’d be interested in. Though that blow dryer is always a good thing to have anyway.

You could certainly take your dog to have it groomed. Any loose undercoat needs to be blown out. Make sure it’s a groomer that isn’t going to let your dog air dry. You need it blown dry. And nails need to be reasonably short. That’s it. If there is a bunch of long hair in the pads, then trim that down. That’s it.
How short is short for the nails? Dean's outer nails on his front feet are not cooperating on going short short lol I am going to start doing his nails a little bit every other day, but I am still curious on how short they need to be.
 
#27 ·
Hello. Do you have to have a grooming table/booth and groom/bath at the show or can I, who knows completely nothing about showing have a groomer do the work at home and then I can do the brush up at the show? I will have to be self-taught. Thank you
If you don't want to go out and buy a grooming table, I have seen where people put a solid surface on top of their crate, and use something ike bungee cords to secure it and use that as a grooming table.
 
#21 ·
In my personal experience, yeah you need a table and a blow dryer. There is some grooming required at the show. At the very least, some bodifier, or coat dressing rubbed in and then the blow dryer used to fluff the dog up. You wouldn’t think a GSD would get their coat all flattened (think “bed hair”) but they do. If it’s a local show and you can bathe the night before, that’s a good plan. My dogs have had plenty of baths at the shows though, and unfortunately some of the bathing facilities are kind of sketchy.
 
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#22 ·
The only time I haven’t groomed my dog at a show was a UKC show. The show site was literally 10 minutes from our grooming shop. I groomed her up (NO products at UKC) stuffed her in the car, and went to the show. I borrowed a comb from a friend there, so I could fluff up her butt, lol.
 
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#24 ·
Seriously though, there’s no reason to invest in a table and blow dryer if you are just wanting to see if showing is something you’d be interested in. Though that blow dryer is always a good thing to have anyway.

You could certainly take your dog to have it groomed. Any loose undercoat needs to be blown out. Make sure it’s a groomer that isn’t going to let your dog air dry. You need it blown dry. And nails need to be reasonably short. That’s it. If there is a bunch of long hair in the pads, then trim that down. That’s it.
 
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#29 ·
If you zoom in on that first photo (the one with the dark sable in the background), you may be able to see Scarlet's feet.
 
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#30 ·
This has been an interesting read to me (who has zero clue about the going ons of showing) and I have to ask.. I’ve always read that unless your dog is Black and Tan, you have about a next to zero chance of placing, yet it appears despite this people are competing with their sables! I have a sable boy but always wrote conformation out of my mind due to his color. I don’t know that his conformation is ideal for the sport either, and I’d do it mostly for fun but if you go into it -knowing- you aren’t going to win no matter what then the fun aspect is gone.
 
#31 ·
Sables win all the time. All my friends that breed have multiple sable champions. Black dogs win. Bi-colors win. Color really doesn’t matter.
 
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#33 ·
Not ignorance! You would have no way of knowing, if you don’t go to AKC shows.
 
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