Caro
Moderator
I dunno - its pretty nice having beauty and brains, heck that's sheltie in a nutshell!
Why I don't do conformation shows...
- Thread starter labgirl
- Start date
labgirl
Forums Sage
Lol, no denying that!
Justicemom
Forums Celebrity
I don't know why can't you do both if that is what you want. Showing is such a small part of the dogs life if you want to do conformation and performance why not seek out the best conformationally correct dog you can with proper temperment and you can do both. I personally think a breed born to work shoud have titles on both end. CH and performance titles. If that can't be done it should atleast be worked for. Because of my goals, I will forgive a less that perfect head faster than a straight front or a poor rear. Others will forgive the opposite. I think the problem occurs when you focus on only one thing. A performance dog can not perform for long if it has shoudler so straight they act like steel rods hitting the ground everytime they land after jumping. Poor temperment and socializaton benefits nothing.
Temperment, structure and health is the triad of good breeding without one of those elements the breed falls apart. If you had a pet dog it may not matter to you if you want a dog to breed it better.
Diva does Conformation(I have someone else handle), obedience, rally, and agility at the moment. She will do tracking and herding and I believe will do well. I hope her future puppies will do better than her in the breed ring and be just as good as her in the preformance arenas. It is all up to the focus of the breeder.
Temperment, structure and health is the triad of good breeding without one of those elements the breed falls apart. If you had a pet dog it may not matter to you if you want a dog to breed it better.
Diva does Conformation(I have someone else handle), obedience, rally, and agility at the moment. She will do tracking and herding and I believe will do well. I hope her future puppies will do better than her in the breed ring and be just as good as her in the preformance arenas. It is all up to the focus of the breeder.
SheltieChe
Forums Sage
Smudge, it is not about good or bad breeders. Breeding and showing dogs is a business and sentiments don't do well in business world. Most breeders won't sell good show dog to a mere nobody, because they want that dog to be shown and have been burned before selling good show prospect to people who promised to show only to never see that dog again. It is pretty hard to just call a breeder and ask to buy their best show prospect. Usually to get a good show dog you need to apprentice for some time under good breeder and as tofupup mentioned get an "eye" for the show prospect and then maybe invest $$$ into buying your own dog for show. It is not unheard of spending 10 K before you have your first Champion title.
Breeders usually breed their dogs to improve their lines and get their next champion so they leave one or 2 promising hopefuls from each litter if they lucky and in the end how many dogs one could have? Even if you have acres of farmlands most of counties still have laws how many dogs you can have and now all those stupid laws HSUS trying to push making it even worse. So inevitably some dogs will be placed /sold because even most conformationally correct dog won't have many wins if they do not enjoy being in the ring, do not have their ears up and do not trot like they own the ring. There is also only so much time one has to spend on a dog so if person has too many dogs some will be left behind. It is just a business and I am glad to be just a pet owner.
Breeders usually breed their dogs to improve their lines and get their next champion so they leave one or 2 promising hopefuls from each litter if they lucky and in the end how many dogs one could have? Even if you have acres of farmlands most of counties still have laws how many dogs you can have and now all those stupid laws HSUS trying to push making it even worse. So inevitably some dogs will be placed /sold because even most conformationally correct dog won't have many wins if they do not enjoy being in the ring, do not have their ears up and do not trot like they own the ring. There is also only so much time one has to spend on a dog so if person has too many dogs some will be left behind. It is just a business and I am glad to be just a pet owner.
tofu pup
Moderator
Business? What business? If breeding and showing Shelties is a business, then my poor mother doesn't have much business sense - we've been running our "big breeding business" in the red for 20+ years now!
Look, I can't speak for everyone who shows dogs. But I really take issue with the broad, sweeping statements that you're making - you are making assumptions about how my mom and I relate to our dogs, and I think that's entirely unfair. It is not "just a business" for us.
We have seven dogs right now. Of them, one is a we-gave-up ex-show dog and another is a gorgeous male who just doesn't like to show. Both are fixed. Both are living out their lives with us, because we love them and we feel that that's what's best for them.
Yes, we place a lot of ten-week-old puppies who are not destined to be show dogs. (Ron and Jan have one, and can attest that he has a pretty good life.) Yes, we place adult dogs who just aren't destined to be show dogs, either - but we love these dogs too, and when it happens, we work very hard to make sure that they have loving homes for the rest of their lives. You're right that we can't keep every dog - but you are dead wrong that we are without sentiment or love for our dogs. They are our companions first, and show dogs second. I would invite you to come out to our place and watch my mother with the dogs in the morning - how she walks among them in the yard and greets them and goes over them and relates to each one as an individual. They are her job in life. Her primary (almost her sole) occupation is their care, from the moment they are born until their last breaths. Yes, we have seven, but those seven receive, I would wager, more loving, attentive, and educated care than most pet dogs in this country do.
Again, I think it's rather inappropriate for you to make these assumptions about how we think about our dogs. I understand that conformation isn't for you (it isn't for everyone), but you're basically saying that we're cold-hearted profiteers who callously throw away the dogs we don't want, and nothing could be farther from the truth.
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Business? What business? If breeding and showing Shelties is a business, then my poor mother doesn't have much business sense - we've been running our "big breeding business" in the red for 20+ years now!
Look, I can't speak for everyone who shows dogs. But I really take issue with the broad, sweeping statements that you're making - you are making assumptions about how my mom and I relate to our dogs, and I think that's entirely unfair. It is not "just a business" for us.
We have seven dogs right now. Of them, one is a we-gave-up ex-show dog and another is a gorgeous male who just doesn't like to show. Both are fixed. Both are living out their lives with us, because we love them and we feel that that's what's best for them.
Yes, we place a lot of ten-week-old puppies who are not destined to be show dogs. (Ron and Jan have one, and can attest that he has a pretty good life.) Yes, we place adult dogs who just aren't destined to be show dogs, either - but we love these dogs too, and when it happens, we work very hard to make sure that they have loving homes for the rest of their lives. You're right that we can't keep every dog - but you are dead wrong that we are without sentiment or love for our dogs. They are our companions first, and show dogs second. I would invite you to come out to our place and watch my mother with the dogs in the morning - how she walks among them in the yard and greets them and goes over them and relates to each one as an individual. They are her job in life. Her primary (almost her sole) occupation is their care, from the moment they are born until their last breaths. Yes, we have seven, but those seven receive, I would wager, more loving, attentive, and educated care than most pet dogs in this country do.
Again, I think it's rather inappropriate for you to make these assumptions about how we think about our dogs. I understand that conformation isn't for you (it isn't for everyone), but you're basically saying that we're cold-hearted profiteers who callously throw away the dogs we don't want, and nothing could be farther from the truth.
Exactly...If this is a "business" for us (my mom and myself) than we are HORRIBLE at it!! LOL our expenditures are way more than our profits. Our dogs are companions first and foremost. They spend a mere fraction of their life showing, and the rest of the time they are among us in our living room on the sofa!! They all get one on one time every day and several times during the day! No matter what we do thoughout the day there is usually one dog with us.
When we do need to place dogs it is a heart wrenching decision. Its not a careless well we're done with this one lets move on. We wait until we can find that right situation for the dog and their best interst at heart. Some adult "retired" show dogs may stay for a year or more until they are found that right home where the transition is seemless for them and they will be happy and healthy. And if that situation is not found than they stay right here to live out their life.
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Toffee's Mom
Forums Sage
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I can attest to the care and the beautiful home missjenneygirl and tofupup provide for their dogs. When missjenneygirl goes out in the yard with the dogs, they gather around her. You can see the love and dedication reflected in every single dog. I can also attest to the ongoing care I receive from both mother and daughter in regards to my McKinley. They care about the home that he is in, his health, his development and his happiness. When we left missjenneygirl's home the day we were taking MMM home, she said as we left, "Welcome to the family." and she meant it. This is NOT a business
Thank the good Lord above that missjenneygirl has puppies available for companions. What a wonderful, well balanced, loving character of a pure breed AND beautiful puppy I have. He is the delight of our days.
Let me take this a step further and say, that missjenneygirl is such a lover of our shelties, she responds about the loss of my Cleveland, which was NOT a part of her sheltie family.
And then there are the extensions of that family. Lightplum and I have become fast friends because she has McKinley's littermate, Noah. Ann (also of the forum) is the dearest of friends because she helped me connect with this family of shelties and she also has MMM's mother, Checkers.
You can't lump ALL BREEDERS in the same kennel. This is a family brought together by the love of the sheltie breed.
Thank the good Lord above that missjenneygirl has puppies available for companions. What a wonderful, well balanced, loving character of a pure breed AND beautiful puppy I have. He is the delight of our days.
Let me take this a step further and say, that missjenneygirl is such a lover of our shelties, she responds about the loss of my Cleveland, which was NOT a part of her sheltie family.
And then there are the extensions of that family. Lightplum and I have become fast friends because she has McKinley's littermate, Noah. Ann (also of the forum) is the dearest of friends because she helped me connect with this family of shelties and she also has MMM's mother, Checkers.
You can't lump ALL BREEDERS in the same kennel. This is a family brought together by the love of the sheltie breed.
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That's basically what I was trying to say, but everytime I try and make that point somebody tries to start the good breeder bad breeder arguement with me, because they know it gets me riled up. Not working this time.
missjenneygirl
Forums Enthusiast
The joy of having the dogs is three-fold. The first part is, they are comical, intuitive, and loving companions. The second part is, showing them was a wonderful hobby to do with my daughter when she was growing up. Now, the breeding program...the familial look, that says it is a Rabbit Run dog, is something we can share, and both be proud of. And the last part is all the wonderful, wonderful friends we have met over the years. They truly are like family, we can count on them, and they can count on us. How lucky we are!
Thank you all.
Thank you all.