SkySoaringMagpie

As poocow says, you'll definitely get another note from someone if you use staples. When I was entering a dog in a different name I just put him on the back of the SAE, ie , "IW 3" which gives the envelope stuffer some help to find the right envelope for the stray Irish Wolfhound Puppy. Edited to explain what the 3 meant.

I think part of the problem is that you can't really write an honest guide for newbies without being accused of being negative about the sport. It's the same for all sports tho', anywhere you have competition, you won't necessarily find your best friends. It's not just show world. Re friendships, agree with Tris and the others. It's not unheard of to find a nice exhibitor in the same breed with a willingness to support a newbie who doesn't have a dog of their breeding. Even so, it's likely to be a different sort of relationship to the sitting around sharing picnics and chatting sort of friendships among equals and the newbie should not be naive about that. That's why the suggestion upthread to hang out with other newbies is a really good idea. I am pretty sure that if a newbie posts here and says "hi, I'm new and I'm going to X show, is anyone going to be there" people will reply and say to look out for them and say hi. I like the "bring chatty Dad" strategy too dognerd! I don't think the newbie should go into it relying on the breed fancy to do it. FWIW, I do chat to new people in my breed at shows no matter what prefix they are showing, but it's usually only while waiting to go in and I know perfectly well, knowing who the breeders of their dogs are, that any friendship across certain breeding factions has no real future, at least not now. That doesn't make all show people evil, it just means that people's programs come first and most people are not astute, personable and diplomatic enough to win universal friendship and admiration while winning the game in their breed. Some appear to be, but exceptions don't disprove the general rule. I am going to be polite and friendly but I am also going to keep a certain distance and be careful what I say to a bright eyed newbie who has a dog from someone who can't stand the person who bred my dogs. Do I wish everyone was more wise and mature, particularly some of our elders? Yes, but they're usually not and that's human nature, not dog showing. An ability to breed great dogs doesn't always come with top personal skills and that's OK. The general level of snottiness varies according to location. In my experience, it can be a lot snottier in the capital cities than it is at the rural shows. Nek, if you go with LOTG or another DOLer you're automatically in a snot free zone :D As a show sec, there is a happy medium when it comes to dealing with entries and a snotty note is almost never the right way to deal with it. Yes we're volunteers, but the club's image depends on us being professional. Judge's training nights, open shows, setting up critiques etc are often fraught. There is an art to organising them which I don't claim to have acquired after a baptism of fire earlier this year. It is sad for those people who showed up and were ignored, I do think experienced show people need to think carefully about involving new people in it unless they have the time and energy to protect and guide them through putting the whole process in context. So rather than a general call for dogs, perhaps people should be targetting the dogs they want there - and yes, I know that's fraught too, "i wasn't invited, it's a conspiracy etc ".

Having just seen the latest NSW Gazette and ACT Schedules I've got another reason for you - recycling. I don't think there is any excuse for contracting a judge that has judged 2 shows judging the same groups in the last 6 months in the same area. Even if they are a fantastic, honest, personable, professional judge. I guess someone might say it's cheap, or they are known not to charge - I don't know. I do know that 5 or 6 extra entries would easily cover any basic $50 judging fee and a decent, interesting judge, usually from a bit further afield, covers other costs in my experience because you get more income through entries. Do the same old, same old by contracting people in our own backyards over and over again and I can't understand why anyone would be surprised when entries are flat at best and awful at worst. Are committees just not asking judges what they've done in the last 12 months before offering appointments? Please note, I've made no comment about face judging in this context, but if you have that as well, obviously it compounds the problem.

Just to add to what Lowenhart has said, it can depend a bit on the judge too. Some older school judges don't want to see Afghan tails held up on the stack, but it's expected by most judges so you'll usually see it. They are supposed to have them up on the move.

Consider Sammy. Sammy is an unregistered Afghan Hound. His breeding is known, and his parents have great temperaments as does Sammy. He gets on well with people, dogs and puppies. Unfortunately he missed out on appropriate early socialisation and training so he needs work on his self discipline but he has a ton of energy and good spirits. And yes, he's an Afghan Hound. If you have an open mind, some decent training experience of the problem solving kind, and the willingness to go on a great big adventure, Sammy might just be the dog for you. Physically he is very sound, so with the right trainer, he could be a fun agility dog. Sammy is listed in the DOL breed rescue area here: http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/rescue/afghan-hound.asp Grooming advice available if Sammy is homed in Southern NSW/Canberra and you wish to maintain the coat. Not suitable for people with cats and you need decent fencing.

If it was me, and if I wasn't going to visit during Quarantine, I would pick Byford in Perth over Eastern Creek.

Agree with this. Also, it really depends *which* bitch. My dogs are fine about other bitches at shows and I don't care if there are bitches in season around as a result, they pretty much consider anything other than a sighthound bitch beneath them anyway. If it's "their" bitch tho', it's a different story. My boys entertained a few people at a show recently because they were too busy worrying where "their" bitch was. One did an out and back like a drunk spider in an effort to keep an eye on her. Even the steward picked up that they were having "girl" issues. Next day she started bleeding and so she stayed in the trailer - and one of them went RUIG. I think keeping bitches in season away levels the playing field for everyone - I am not going to have a hissy if there is a bitch in season around, I can manage my situation but overall I'd rather people be as courteous as possible about entire animals.

There is a hotel in Holbrook that is happy for you to have the dogs inside as long as you are with them. Think it's the Jolly Swagman? They also do nice meals there.

One point I haven't seen raised - how clean is your yard and your neighbours yard? Do you have rodents and if so are you aggressively pursuing measures to get rid of them? Is the grass cut short, all rubbish taken away etc etc? Our place does look a bit like a golf course, we have no shrubs or ground cover and around the house is a larger house paddock with grass mown down short. I won't say we're completely snake free, we have seen the odd brown. However, over the years we've been there most have preferred to stay out and I suspect it's because crossing 5 metres of open ground on the highish side of a hill doesn't appeal to them, especially as there is a lot more friendly habitat for them to choose (next door's huge dam, the river a couple of kilometres away, etc). With snakes I think there is no one magic bullet (so to speak). More a series of lines of defences which involve a lot of observation and maintenance. One thing I'd be interested about snake catcher is how high you think mouse mesh needs to go up a dog run - people have said to me not to bother because snakes can get over 1.6 metres. What do you think? Also, is there any size gap that is snake proof or do you need to completely seal gaps?

Something that we're never going to agree on, we have one of these threads about every 6 months. I think it comes down to good manners and caring about your bitch. I will show at either end of a season IF the show is important enough - if I do that I toilet the bitch well away from the rings and warn the judge and anyone lining up behind me. I have a speciality coming up and one bitch will be on day 15 on the day of the speciality. I'm really disappointed, but I am not going to take her a long trip in the trailer with my males, and then into a show ring in what will be standing season. That would be unfair on her, the males, some of the females, the judge, and the exhibitors. I think the talent some bitches have for coming into season right on specialities, important trials, when your prospective stud dog's owner is away, etc etc should be the subject of a scientific study

That was a killer baby line up - so many cuties.

A good dog club will do this too, tho' I think in NSW we are more slack on this score than in other states. We should be doing it not just to avoid perceptions of conflict of interest but to also to protect the judge from pests before and after the show. Edited because I can't rite gud

I'm not necessarily suggesting reporting. I know that I've seen stuff and decided not to formally report it because I could see it would be a waste of money and time. You have to see something yourself to know it really happened tho'. I have recently had three people who saw and were involved in a specific incident recount the incident to me, and each had a different view about what happened. I wasn't there, so I won't repeat the story because frankly, I have no way of knowing what is true. If half of it was true though, it was reportable against 2 breaches of the regulations. As a show sec, if there is something iffy going on at a show I am running I want to know about it, even if it can't stand up to a report. And just maybe, one exhibitor's bit of info is the final bit of the puzzle I need to sort out a problem. Got more to say on this but gotta run. Might start a new thread later :D

Did you see and hear this yourself, and if so, did you tell the committee or the show rep?

Could be any number of things or combinations of things (money and time are big issues I agree). However, it is swings and roundabouts and it depends on the area of Australia you're talking about. Used to be there were no IWs being shown in Canberra, now they are regulars around the rings. Why don't we ever ask why that is and see if we can emulate what they are doing right? Also, while most groups are under pressure, the toy rings I'm seeing are still pulling high numbers compared to other groups. As they are well represented in noise complaint issues, it can't be dog regulation alone that influences that, but perhaps modern life and the cost of housing and petrol are an issue. Moving onto acreage and commuting into town are outside many people's budgets. I'm getting a bit tired of hearing about face judging. Face judging exists, and it is a problem, but it is one symptom of a wider problem of a lack of professionalism across the whole sport - including exhibitors, committees, councils, show officials and judges. Everyone who participates in showing is an ambassador for the sport and poor sportsmanship and whinging is dragging the sport down as well as the cronyism and the corruption. Here's some food for thought: http://my.opera.com/troels/blog/show.dml/683817

Not usually, but there have been a few lately.

We had this problem after getting our old boy desexed. Give us a call if he doesn't settle now.

Nothing yet. Was just going to ask the same question myself. Hoping the weather is going to be kind to us. After Bathurst I've upgraded footwear Just checked the forecast, showers and high 20's. Hope the judges like the "frizzy pompom" look in Afghans

It bugs me that this has drifted into a discussion about the worth of science, because most of the sighthound owners I know value the contributions science has made to their life and to their breed. Now not only will our dogs be timid, but we'll be flat earthers who are anti-science. Neither is true. Corvus is a long standing member of this forum who regularly initiates and participates in casual discussions about dog behaviour, often offering anecdata about her dogs' behaviour. When she jumps to her scientific work there's no badging of her movement from pet owner to behavioural scientist and to be frank, it's a bit hard to follow where one starts and the other ends and I've long since given up trying. That doesn't make me anti-science, quite the contrary. I'm also not convinced the behaviour of adopted greyhounds will say anything significant about the other sighthound breeds.

Huh, that's interesting. The breeder of my dogs has told me this before, and said to use a specific brand (Anchor) because other brands don't work. I confess being a bit of a skeptic I've never tried it and I just assumed it was an old wives tale.

Has anyone got numbers yet?

I'm seeing aggravation but I'm not seeing paranoia. I'm seeing both. If people are worried about what happens if this ends up in the wrong hands, then that is paranoia. It's certainly justifiable to worry about that sort of thing (it can happen), but this time? Seems implausible to me and I've outlined my reasoning. I understand that, from way back at your Oprah comment, but it's a push button issue for many. Just ask Afghan people about Stanley Coren. Present things in a way that appeals to humans (doggie rankings yay! my dog is the smartest!) and it becomes the accepted wisdom awfully quickly. And it becomes a drag on the breed that doesn't go away. Perhaps rather than paranoid, I'd say people are protective of their breeds.

I'm seeing aggravation but I'm not seeing paranoia. People are passionate about their breeds and there is a lot of bullshit out there about correct temperament in many breeds. I'm a big believer in good science, but bullshit dressed up as faux science is everywhere in dog world, and it makes people's work and lives with dogs harder in the long run.

He's always been a complete pussycat with me and very biddable. However; I boarded him once and only the kennel owner could get into the run with him and my bitch - he wouldn't let any of the staff in and they weren't going to try it. I had no idea he'd be like that otherwise I wouldn't have boarded him. Live and learn. I disagree with Keshwar :D I think the Zac, our IW, would be the one to watch, not Faxon. A guy came up to the gate a little while ago, said he was lost. Zac just appeared out of the shadows and started walking deliberately to the gate. No carrying on, but holy crap if it was me on the other side of the gate I wouldn't come in. They have a very deliberate, "don't f*** with me" vibe and the guy visibly blanched when he saw him.