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Tough Hides And The Show Ring


-Megz-
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the "sport" of showing dogs will die out if it doesn't change dramatically because younger people will not want to be around this sort of behaviour

Well JB, in that case all forms of competition will die out because wherever there is competition there will always be rudeness and bitchiness, cats, horses, ballroom dancing, whatever, I think someone even mentioned chess in a previous post. Let's face it most people compete to win and there are certain personality types who can't handle losing, instead of looking at themselves and asking 'how can I improve my performance?', they blame anything and everything except themselves and vent their disappointment and frustration on others. In a sport like dog showing where there are a large number of competitors and comparatively few awards, losers will always greatly outnumber winners and obviously there will be instances of bad sportsmanship.

I find your question quite difficult to answer Megz, probably because I've been involved for a very long time and I'm completely at home in a dog showing environment. To be honest I don't notice much rudeness at dog shows, but if I do see some disenchanted exhibitor having a whinge I just treat it as part of the entertainment offered on the day :wave:. It's usually the same people, most of the other exhibitors know who they are and their rantings are largely ignored except by their cronies who are just as bad as they are, really they're a bit of a joke.

My advice to newbies would be to go to the show, take your dogs in the ring and enjoy your day out win or lose. Mix with people you like and ignore the rest and if someone makes a nasty comment laugh it off, don't take it seriously. However I do agree with a previous poster who commented that some people just aren't cut out for it, if you're hypersensitive, take things to heart and are easily upset, competitive sport is best avoided.

Edited by Miranda
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Agree with those who say that people with multiple interests including dog showing tend to be happier in it and ignore the rubbish. Sports psychology is a great thing to look into as well - b1tching and the cr@p goes on in the background of all sport.

I don't really like to provide advice like toughen up or anything like that - I'm pretty new to showing myself but if I find someone wavering, I always try to make sure I introduce them to all the people I know in different groups etc so that they realise that showing isn't just about running your dog around the ring but it's a fun social occasion as well. I think what this highlights to them is the fun side of it and they can see that all the idiots who make the snide comments are usually huddled by themself under their gazebo or everyone trickles away when they move into a group.

It can be hard when people don't like the snide comments or how to deal with them. I've never had a problem with it - I have a big mouth and usually tell someone being a snide smartarse to stop being so bloody childish......

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the "sport" of showing dogs will die out if it doesn't change dramatically because younger people will not want to be around this sort of behaviour

Well JB, in that case all forms of competition will die out because wherever there is competition there will always be rudeness and bitchiness, cats, horses, ballroom dancing, whatever, I think someone even mentioned chess in a previous post. Let's face it most people compete to win and there are certain personality types who can't handle losing, instead of looking at themselves and asking 'how can I improve my performance?', they blame anything and everything except themselves and vent their disappointment and frustration on others. In a sport like dog showing where there are a large number of competitors and comparatively few awards, losers will always greatly outnumber winners and obviously there will be instances of bad sportsmanship.

I find your question quite difficult to answer Megz, probably because I've been involved for a very long time and I'm completely at home in a dog showing environment. To be honest I don't notice much rudeness at dog shows, but if I do see some disenchanted exhibitor having a whinge I just treat it as part of the entertainment offered on the day :wave:. It's usually the same people, most of the other exhibitors know who they are and their rantings are largely ignored except by their cronies who are just as bad as they are, really they're a bit of a joke.

My advice to newbies would be to go to the show, take your dogs in the ring and enjoy your day out win or lose. Mix with people you like and ignore the rest and if someone makes a nasty comment laugh it off, don't take it seriously. However I do agree with a previous poster who commented that some people just aren't cut out for it, if you're hypersensitive, take things to heart and are easily upset, competitive sport is best avoided.

other sports won't die out because cheats are penalised, something which does not appears to happen in the show world.

Edited by Jaxx'sBuddy
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other sports won't die out because cheats are penalised, something which does not appears to happen in the show world.

What sort of cheating are you referring to JB? How many instances of cheating have you personally seen or experienced at a dog show?

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I think at the end of the day we need to remember that it usually is one persons opinion of your dog. Being truly honest we all pick apart other dogs in our own breeds but we keep it to ourselves or choose not to use their bloodlines etc. Just enjoy the social side of new freinds and just like high school ignore all the others.

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other sports won't die out because cheats are penalised, something which does not appears to happen in the show world.

What sort of cheating are you referring to JB? How many instances of cheating have you personally seen or experienced at a dog show?

i have seen dogs that were dyed which is not allowed and dogs which were powdered again not allowed and i have friends who show and i read this forum so whether i see it personally or not it happens.

good grief there was even a thread about neutered bitches being shown in non-neutered classes.

this cheating either happens or there are a lot of liars around

eta the people at the shows were really nice BUT the young people i took would not partake because of the cheating

Edited by Jaxx'sBuddy
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I would sugeest you be honest & tell them the good & bad .

I grew up playing many sports 1 at state level,our coaches never sugar coated what we would encounter because "that was the truth".

We didn't want to hear all nice & flowery & realize what a load of rubbish that was when we competed .

Obviously it can be done with some tact but don't beat around the bush,they have experienced one group of bad apples so take them to the good ones.

I travel east & have never had issues with people sure some are full of there own self importance & like what they like but i feel comfy around those people because there honest

We all bitch & whinge so everyone is guilty some just do it with more punch.

Infact i have been hurt more by new exhibitors who expected the world revolved around them & nothing you did was good enough or are full of opinions with out knowing what there talking about .

Personally though when i read things that go on on DOL i actually sometimes wonder what is fact/fiction(yes flame suit on )

Because i have shown for many years at a very competitive level,yes i have seen a small amount of stupid behaviour but all in all coming from a competitive person who competes to win & most likely has an arrow on my head i haven't encountered anything that i don't deem reasonable in a competitive world & in fact deal with worse beahviour from clients .

I have shown in 4 states of Australia at the biggest shows around & yes did some fine winning over well known camps & yes i now those people where disappointed to lose because we all feel that but i was always treated with the uptmost respect .

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other sports won't die out because cheats are penalised, something which does not appears to happen in the show world

What sort of cheating are you referring to JB? How many instances of cheating have you personally seen or experienced at a dog show?

i have seen dogs that were dyed which is not allowed and dogs which were powdered again not allowed and i have friends who show and i read this forum so whether i see it personally or not it happens.

good grief there was even a thread about neutered bitches being shown in non-neutered classes.

this cheating either happens or there are a lot of liars around

eta the people at the shows were really nice BUT the young people i took would not partake because of the cheating

So because it was written on a forum it is the truth .Sorry ever heard of chinese whispers which are just as dangerous .

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So because it was written on a forum it is the truth .Sorry ever heard of chinese whispers which are just as dangerous .

well maybe people need to be more careful with what the write. if it is a lie then best they don't post. otherwise what else is anyone to think apart from it being truthful.

in any event there are more than a few people commenting on cheating so one may assume it happens and it is not stopped.

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other sports won't die out because cheats are penalised, something which does not appears to happen in the show world.

What sort of cheating are you referring to JB? How many instances of cheating have you personally seen or experienced at a dog show?

i have seen dogs that were dyed which is not allowed and dogs which were powdered again not allowed and i have friends who show and i read this forum so whether i see it personally or not it happens.

good grief there was even a thread about neutered bitches being shown in non-neutered classes.

this cheating either happens or there are a lot of liars around

eta the people at the shows were really nice BUT the young people i took would not partake because of the cheating

Please be careful with your statements, some breeds like mine (Westies) are dry cleaned using powder, you are not suppose to wash them too often, there for we 'dry' clean them using powder. so therefore we are not cheating, it is our method of cleaning our dogs.

However I make sure this is done at home, and generally 90-95% out of the coat before arriving at the show... and when I am taking out the rest make sure it is out of the way of other exhibitors.

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other sports won't die out because cheats are penalised, something which does not appears to happen in the show world.

What sort of cheating are you referring to JB? How many instances of cheating have you personally seen or experienced at a dog show?

i have seen dogs that were dyed which is not allowed and dogs which were powdered again not allowed and i have friends who show and i read this forum so whether i see it personally or not it happens.

good grief there was even a thread about neutered bitches being shown in non-neutered classes.

this cheating either happens or there are a lot of liars around

eta the people at the shows were really nice BUT the young people i took would not partake because of the cheating

Please be careful with your statements, some breeds like mine (Westies) are dry cleaned using powder, you are not suppose to wash them too often, there for we 'dry' clean them using powder. so therefore we are not cheating, it is our method of cleaning our dogs.

However I make sure this is done at home, and generally 90-95% out of the coat before arriving at the show... and when I am taking out the rest make sure it is out of the way of other exhibitors.

no problems, i will be clearer in future and say that what i saw was not a westie. i am being very careful not to name breeds as i do not want to contribute to the problem but i am astounded that people in this thread are intimating that cheating does not happen.

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other sports won't die out because cheats are penalised, something which does not appears to happen in the show world.

What sort of cheating are you referring to JB? How many instances of cheating have you personally seen or experienced at a dog show?

i have seen dogs that were dyed which is not allowed and dogs which were powdered again not allowed and i have friends who show and i read this forum so whether i see it personally or not it happens.

So apart from seeing a couple a dogs that may have been dyed and another couple with powder in their coats you have no actual experience of cheating at all and all the authoritative posts you make regarding breeders and showing are gleaned from a few visits to dog shows, gossip from your 'friends that show' and reading posts on this forum.

Actually JB you would probably fit in at a dog show very well because repeating gossip and putting forward opinions based on nothing more than anecdotal evidence is another occupation frequently enjoyed by the sorts of people I mentioned in my previous post.

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other sports won't die out because cheats are penalised, something which does not appears to happen in the show world.

What sort of cheating are you referring to JB? How many instances of cheating have you personally seen or experienced at a dog show?

i have seen dogs that were dyed which is not allowed and dogs which were powdered again not allowed and i have friends who show and i read this forum so whether i see it personally or not it happens.

So apart from seeing a couple a dogs that may have been dyed and another couple with powder in their coats you have no actual experience of cheating at all and all the authoritative posts you make regarding breeders and showing are gleaned from a few visits to dog shows, gossip from your 'friends that show' and reading posts on this forum.

Actually JB you would probably fit in at a dog show very well because repeating gossip and putting forward opinions based on nothing more than anecdotal evidence is another occupation frequently enjoyed by the sorts of people I mentioned in my previous post.

come on, read the show ring sub forum here. are you telling us all that there is no cheating happening in the show ring?

i don't need to have crashed my car to know it hurts.

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i am astounded that people in this thread are intimating that cheating does not happen.

No one is intimating that cheating doesn't occur, but it certainly isn't as common as a lot of people like to think and for someone like yourself who doesn't even participate to make sweeping comments about a sport (or 'sport' as you like to refer to it) based on what you read on an internet forum and hear from friends is pretty poor form.

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What a shame that kind of behaviour is seen as "acceptable" at any event and people need to be told "it's all part of it".

There is no excuse for that type of rudeness, and the only reason people get away with it is because it's tolerated as being part of showing dogs.

I agree with this statement. It would be great if the decent majority to tell the apparent few where to go...

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What a shame that kind of behaviour is seen as "acceptable" at any event and people need to be told "it's all part of it".

There is no excuse for that type of rudeness, and the only reason people get away with it is because it's tolerated as being part of showing dogs.

I agree with this statement. It would be great if the decent majority to tell the apparent few where to go...

I can and will tell people where to go if they attack me personally, I just didn't want to say so on DOL, might spoil my image :wave:

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i am astounded that people in this thread are intimating that cheating does not happen.

No one is intimating that cheating doesn't occur, but it certainly isn't as common as a lot of people like to think and for someone like yourself who doesn't even participate to make sweeping comments about a sport (or 'sport' as you like to refer to it) based on what you read on an internet forum and hear from friends is pretty poor form.

what is poor form is not acknowledging that a problem exists and therefore not enabling the issue to be fixed.

the reason people may choose not to become involved with this sport may have nothing to do with rude people. in fact i have found people showing their dogs at shows to be very pleasant.

i am suggesting there may be another reason apart from the people and that is the cheating that occurs, regardless how common or not this may be.

it is especially difficult when the altered dogs win and young people see that the sport may not have a level playing field.

Edited by Jaxx'sBuddy
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I would sugeest you be honest & tell them the good & bad .

I grew up playing many sports 1 at state level,our coaches never sugar coated what we would encounter because "that was the truth".

We didn't want to hear all nice & flowery & realize what a load of rubbish that was when we competed .

Obviously it can be done with some tact but don't beat around the bush,they have experienced one group of bad apples so take them to the good ones.

I travel east & have never had issues with people sure some are full of there own self importance & like what they like but i feel comfy around those people because there honest

We all bitch & whinge so everyone is guilty some just do it with more punch.

Infact i have been hurt more by new exhibitors who expected the world revolved around them & nothing you did was good enough or are full of opinions with out knowing what there talking about .

Personally though when i read things that go on on DOL i actually sometimes wonder what is fact/fiction(yes flame suit on )

Because i have shown for many years at a very competitive level,yes i have seen a small amount of stupid behaviour but all in all coming from a competitive person who competes to win & most likely has an arrow on my head i haven't encountered anything that i don't deem reasonable in a competitive world & in fact deal with worse beahviour from clients .

I have shown in 4 states of Australia at the biggest shows around & yes did some fine winning over well known camps & yes i now those people where disappointed to lose because we all feel that but i was always treated with the uptmost respect .

:wave::eek: :D

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