Researching what wins breed shows

Is not a fun task...


My brain hurts, and I just started.



Hoping this will get easier once I get a mentor lol

Lots of things win breed shows. What breed are you interested in?

Labs, at the moment. Seeing what type of dog wins in the local rings, taking notes, making a list of lines that seem to be dominating the rings, that sort of thing. Also, comparing how these winning dogs conformation and drive differs (or doesn't differ) from what I see as an ideal Lab.

Next on my list is Beezers, but I have a feeling that will be a bit easier, as they aren't as common around here

OK. Why those breeds? There is so much to know about showing each individual breed I would start with one figure it out WELL and then go on to the 2nd. I wouldn't do more than two that's for sure if you have 2 breed you own and are showing.

Also don't just look at the types winning at the moment. Look at the judges. That's more important. Not sure how judge selection works in the AKC (Im CKC) and we can have judges at shows from anywhere in the world. Its always in the premium list. So for ex Judge A might be more willing to put up a dilute (dobe) or lemon beagle than judge B so I will show under judge A not B if I have a dilute or lemon. Look at were the dog is from too. In dobes (since I know the breed much much better than your two) if I got a judge from Europe I would bring out a larger more substantial dog to show than a bitch with less bone as they are more likely going to pick the more substantial dog. That being said if I had a really doggy bitch to finish I would seek out the FCI type judges to show to.

Now there is a exception to every rule but this is the way it works 95% of the time.

This comes into play more when campaigning a dog vs finishing it, but it is still relevant esp in the highly competitive breeds.

If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

Thanks! These two are breeds I am interested in showing later on down the road. I really would like to show beezers first, but the DW doesn't want to own one. Labs are my heart breed, I know more about them and the DW actually wants to own one lol so that will probably be my starting point, if I can successfully find a local breeder who breeds dual purpose labs.

Be carefull with a dual purpose litter. You MAY get lucky and get a good one, but I find that they are generaly lacking in the conformation department, esp if that is your focus. If you are willing to look around alot and open to shipping you should be able to find one.

If you're looking at showing labs to win... it's not uncommon for there to be 30-80 labs entered at a single show here in WA. It gets to a point where the judge has 10 or so dogs that are really really good and pretty much equal in all ways. When that happens, they're basically judging based on performance in the ring, handling, coat condition (whether they happen to be in or out of coat), judge's personal preference for phenotype, etc.

As a beginner, it would be phenomenally difficult to get your hands on a show lab that will be competitive with what's out there.

There are some really good beezer breeders with hunt/conformation bred lines in this state, and they love to mentor people.

ETA: Not sure which side of the mountains you're on, but it'd be a really good idea to hit the Nisqually Kennel Club shows, they happen twice a year at the Puyallup fairgrounds. They're all breed shows, and people really make a big effort to go to those in particular.

I have actually found one breeder last night doing research who is everything I've been looking for (labs), they health test and have very few litters, their dogs are great hunters and they win in the conformation ring as well (and local!!! yay! ). I sent them an email and I guess we will go from there

A beezer is in the works, eventually. I actually have a local breeder who has agreed to co own a female with me and mentor me, when I'm ready to take that step. But the wife is really against a Beezer atm. Not entirely sure why, we haven't talked about it all that much.

I'm in Centralia, so I will look into the shows at the Puyallup fairgrounds


Thanks everyone for all the advice! All this conformation ring stuff is very new to me. I know basic stuff but not to where I'm totally comfortable with it yet

If you're in Centralia I can guess who your beezer breeder of choice is. Wirecoated beezers, right?

Has your wife met any in person yet? A lot of people are against living with a sight hound until they spend time with one in person, and realize they don't actually look like concentration camp survivors, they're not fragile, and that they're really laid back and easy to get along with.

ETA: and good luck with your lab prospects! There are some great dogs out there. I just wouldn't pin all your hopes on getting the best of the best show prospect, and then winning all over the place as a novice handler. The ring is pretty saturated.

Yes! Its Alfheim I ADORE her dogs, specifically Dragonfly. No, she has never really been around any dogs, other then little dogs. And definitely not anyone as dog crazy as I am

I don't plan on anything really at first... If I can make it through my first 10 shows or so without having a breakdown, then I'll be happy! lol

To be honest my husband wasn't super crazy about beezers and we have one now. It's taken him some time to get used to our boy, but he is coming around. He just had never really been around sighthounds much and they are way different than what he is used to.

To be honest, I think she will come around if I can get her to some dog shows to meet some of them. I think part of it is the sighthound look, as she likes blocky headed dogs. We will see what happens, I'm thinking I can wear her down a bit so that she will consider it, but I will still probably show Labs first just because I know the breed WAAAAAY better then I know beezers and more competition will be a good thing for me to learn from.

Since you guys don't live very far from Alfheim, you should talk to them about coming down to visit and meet the dogs. They're super friendly and open people. Plus they have a litter of puppies on the ground right now, and if a beezer puppy doesn't win her over, nothing will. Their ears haven't popped up yet though. You might want to arrange it for when they get their huge bat ears.

Dragonfly is wonderful. I'm really partial to Dudley as well. They all have fantastic temperaments. Once I buy a place... it'll be hard not to end up with one. lol

One of my friends has a dog from them, and when he was 9 weeks old he played with my infant son and he was PERFECT with him. He was crawling and "chewing" and wrestling, but so gently that he never left even a microscopic red mark on Sam's sensitive baby skin. Plus when my son crawled around, her puppy would commando crawl after him and hi-five the soles of his feet as they went along. Cutest. Thing. Ever.

ETA: Plus beezer puppies are roly poly and proportioned more like "normal" dogs. <3

Aww Maybe we can get out there, but she is very hesitant to go anywhere involving animals with me for fear that we will come home with them, and our apartment has met its absolute limit with 2 adults, a teen, a toddler and Olive (our double dapple mini doxie) Also, she is very new to serious dog ownership, so I'm trying to ease her into things. She doesn't understand the difference in feeding Purina vs feeding an expensive, high quality kibble. She doesn't get that good breeders are so expensive for a reason, and is sort of "why pay $1500 for a puppy when you can get the same breed for $100" mindset