Aw that's lovely!

Wow! This has got VERY heated since i last posted! Im not going to get into the argument about whether showing is good or right and whether all show people are snobs (personally i dont think they are, just the very small minority ) but i do have to comment on something someone said earlier about show dogs not being allowed to be like 'normal' dogs and play and run through fields and mud etc.

My 'show dogs' (i use the term very loosely as we've yet to see if they're good enough!lol) are pets more than anything. They get walked twice a day like im sure most other dogs do. They play in the garden all day every day, usually chasing the chickens or the horse or the cats and they are allowed to be puppies. We wouldn't dream of not allowing them to run through muddy fields and roll in whatever they want to roll in! They're dogs, not objects that we can force to do what we want them to. If either of my dogs looked as though they weren't enjoying showing i'd stop doing it with them but they DO love it, at whatever level. Ok, so the champ shows are a bit scarier for the people handling the dogs, but the dogs themselves dont know the difference between a champ show and a fun show!

And if either of our puppies, or any future puppies we decide to show, didn't make it as show dogs they'd always have a home with us as pets. I dont know enough about 'show people' to know if thats whats normally done but from what i've seen on here most people who show their dogs really do care about them like anyone else. I admit to having had bad experiences with big breeders after visiting some puppy farms (unknowingly) when looking for a lab puppy and these were people who showed their dogs, and they had literally hundreds of puppies in big barns and it was awful. But a lot of the show people i see (maybe not all of my breed admittedly) seem to really care about their dogs..

Finally.. Im assuming that labs were one of the breeds in which the breeders/handlers were considered snobby? As we're often stuck as far away from the other dogs as possible! I'd have to say that from what i've seen lab classes are often MUCH bigger than any others (there were 30 in the minor puppy bitch class last week i think!!) and i guess more competition could explain why some people feel the need to be so rude. I dont agree with it, and actually find it quite unpleasant and has put me off showing at the top level, at least for the moment, but i have spoken to some VERY nice people who show labs, so they do exists, i have just yet to meet them at a champ show I think at my next champ show in a couple of weeks i'll have a walk around the other rings a bit more and see what the atmosphere is like there, as it sounds much friendlier

I haven't had a chance to read this thread but have this to say about showing:

Whether you choose to show or not is an individual choice, and thats fine what ever you choose. However, either way, I think it is important to acknowlede we actually have a lot to thank the show world for.

Where do you think all the best specimens of our breeds come from? How do you think they are judged? Why do you think they are improved on? Why do you think breeders aim to breed better?

How do you think 'new' breeds are 'moulded'?

Of course, they don't get it right all he time, however different factors play a part in such things and it's unfair to tar the whole show world with the same brush. Without the show world the standards would drop, there are no doubts in my mind about that. Whether you agree with showing or not I think it is foolish to forget the immense good that comes with it.

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There are many different areas in the dog world, and Dogweb is a place where people from all can come, and enjoy. So please don't 'have a go' at people who are from a different part of the dog scene to yourself, I'm sure you wouldn't like it if the tables were turned, and it's not nice for onlookers to see people get heated over such things.