The Unwritten
Rules of Dog Showing
1.After trying forever to obtain
that elusive second major, you have no problem getting the third major
the next day.
2. The novice people that enter every
show and always show up even if the breed judging is at 8 am and the show
is a six hour drive will not show up when the count is exactly a major.
Or if they do, the dog that finished yesterday will be moved up and
break the major anyway.
3. If you attempt to build a major,
one of the extras will win, never the dog the major was worked around.
4. The day you don't take an
umbrella or raincoat to the show because the weather is beautiful at your
house, is the day it is raining (or snowing) at the outdoor show site.
5. Although all dog shows have
lots of vendors, the day you forget the tack box is the day there are NO
vendors on the premises selling show leads.
6. If you go to the trouble
of checking out of the hotel before leaving for the show, you will not
win the breed.
7. If you don't check out, you will
win the breed, and there will be no time to do so before groups.
8. Your national will always be scheduled
so that you are forced to move your immature puppy up, by just a few days.
9. Your dog will decide to completely
blow coat just after entries close for the national, which you have already
committed major bucks to attend.
10. If you are showing dogs in two
different breeds that have the same judge, it is inevitable that one breed
will be the first one in at 8:00 am, and the other will be the last one
of the day at 2:30 p.m.
11. The day you say, "If Rover doesn't
win today, this will be his last show and I'm putting him in a pet
home" will be the day he wins a four point major. (After which, of
course, the waiting list of pet homes
disappears and he never gets another
point.)
12. And of course we all know about
the puppy we sold as a pet with a spay/neuter contract. And his littermate
that we kept as a show prospect.
13. If your dog does better behind
other dogs, you will draw the first place number and the judge will insist
on catalog order.
14. If your dog does better at the
front of the line, the judge will allow you to line up in any order
and someone will beat you to the first spot.
15. If the judge is requiring the
dogs to be shown in catalog order, your male special will be sandwiched
in between two bitches in full standing season. If you are showing a bitch
special in season, she will be the only girl in a ring full of attractive
males. (And if you decide to leave
your special home because he or
she has gone boy/girl crazy, none of the other specials entered will show
up.)
16. The judge you didn't enter under
because he/she hates your dog will draw an overload and your breed will
be given to a judge who loves your dog.
17. Whenever a premium list includes
a group judge that loves your special, the breed judge will be the one
who told you to neuter it and put it in a pet home. (But if you don't
enter, remember that rule 16 applies).
18. A particular judge will
ALWAYS put the Winners Dog up for Best of Winners, unless YOUR dog goes
WD and there is only a major in bitches.
19. If you enter a small show where
there are normally no specials or only one, three of the top ten dogs will
be flown in from all over the country.
20. If you do win an easy breed at
a small show in Podunk Nowhere, you will then learn that a dozen top dogs
and professional handlers have flown in from the farthest corners of the
country, and every one of them will show up in YOUR group.
21. If you win the group, you will
discover that the BIS judge's favorite dog, who is the all time top winning
dog in its breed, has just won it's group, and the BIS judge
has recently given it a BISS. |