Dog show update

[bunn]

So, there I was in Exeter surrounded by people with special dog crates on wheels with Crufts stickers on. It felt a bit odd, to be honest - all those dangly dog-testicles and teats and people talking about the next dog they were going to buy.  I'm not used to dog people that don't neuter or spay, and it was all terribly serious - there were no 'fun' classes like Waggiest tail, no flyball or obedience or anything like that, just a huge beauty pageant - well OK'conformation' pageant...   The whippets were one thing  - whippets practically never come into rescue, so I can't complain too much about those - but the Staffies...  (Staffies are about the most over-produced dog there is in the UK apart from greyhounds). Az was most certainly the only dog of mixed origins in the place. 

I had to take Az and Mollydog, as Mark had decided to go out that day, but I think now it might have been better for Az at least to be left alone for the day.  He definitely found it very stressful (dogs, people, cars, etc) even though I made up a bed for him under my table thing sheltered by the tablecloth: it was about 3 hours before he calmed down enough to sit down and stop shaking, and I can tell he's still stressed today.   I felt bad about taking him: really hadn't realised he'd find it so worrying, though I am pleased that he did trust me enough to lie down and have a nap in the end.

I did chainmailmaiden 's treasure hunt idea, and that went down really well and earned almost £50, which was good going.  It was really quite popular, so I'm thinking we might do it next week at the Wag & Bone show too.  I also sold about 15 cards and got some donations - £70 in the end.  Not much for a long day, (and considering the monetary value of the dogs present!)  but I was manning  the only rescue stand there and talked to a lot of people, so I felt I'd done the education thing quite well.  I got a few decent home enquiries too.   I wished I'd had some stickers as helflaed suggested: they would have come in handy several times, but I've made sure we've got some for next week.

A brat came and talked to me at some length about her parents deerhound showing and how they were buying her a Pharoah hound from a very good breeder (well, she talked, I didn't actually tell her to bog off) .  I am afraid that when she changed her mind about her decision to spend 50p on the OC treasure hunt (after I had asked 'are you sure' as it was her last 50p)  and asked if she could have it back to buy a drink, I said NO! very firmly.  If her parents are buying her 500 quidsworth of Pharoah hound, they can spare 50p towards an old dog's vet bills. Also she won a prize (a ball) and had already been bouncing it for 5 minutes by that point! She must have been at least 10, and I had spelled out the 'raising money for dogs in need' thing quite clearly by then so I thought that was a bit off.

Brat Girl was made up for by a very polite young lad who kept coming over to buy another square every so often, and kept failing to win anything.  Even Az liked him, which is amazing as Az is scared of strange blokes and of children!  In the end I fiddled the draw so he won something, just as a reward for not being Brat Girl.

Comments

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

This really puzzles me. Why can neutered cats be shown but not neutered dogs? I've never understood the logic there. At the few cat shows I've been to there have been loads of neuters (partly because they are easier to show and won't suddenly go into season on you halfway through the show or get really randy because of all the nice smelling queens)

I'm glad that it went well. I'm also glad that the nice boy ahem "got lucky" in the end.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I believe that neutered dogs can be shown, but that there is a feeling that they will not do so well. And of course if you showed your neutered dog you'd be doing it just for fun, whereas I rather got the impression that some of these scarily intense folk would consider it pointless to show a dog that could not pass its prize-winning genes to the next generation.

There were certainly dogs there that I would wanted the bollocks lopped off... The male Afghan that kept attacking another Afghan in the show ring, for example, and the two GSDs that kept launching themselves at other dogs.

There were quite a lot of dogs there with docked tails too: again, dogs with proper tails can be shown, but there seems to be a feeling that they won't do as well.

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

Any cat which displayed that kind of behaviour would be out from what I've seen- stewards and judges don't particularly want to be on the receiving end of flailing claws and teeth!

The "neutered don't do as well" questions is easily sorted by having separate classes for entire and neuter. I've shown a couple of times but decided not to continue as I didn't really enjoy it. Mikka just sat in his pen looking bored, then went to sleep.

Goodness knows the cat showing world is perfect- you only have to look at Persians to see what is wrong (especially with the way that feet were dragged over the whole polycystic kidney disease thing) but at least they can be neutered and no-one is going to chop their tails off. If anything the judges are more lenient with neuters and will overlook minor faults that they would jump on in an entire cat. (metaphorically of course)

I suppose that the dogshowing world just doesn't want to change, or that neutering cats has been acceptable for longer.

It just seems like a strange attitude in this day and age.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I could be wrong, but my impression is that pedigree cats are still quite a small subsection of all cats, and that cat shows are relatively small-scale by comparison with dog-shows? Smaller scale things often seem to avoid the more ludicrous excesses...

Whereas there seem to be far too many dogs that are more or less being factory farmed, even by supposedly 'reputable' breeders. I think there are probably more dogs that enjoy being showed than cats but there were still a lot of very bored and unhappy-looking dogs there. I can't imagine doing that every weekend!

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

The cat shows I've been to have been the usual relatively modest sized ones- usually held in a fairly large sports hall. I don't know how cat and dog shows would compare in terms of numbers of animals shown though. You're right about the pedigrees being in a minority as far as cats as a whole go.

The competition does get rather fierce, even on a small scale and there is plenty of room for clashes of personality. There are various tales floating around of various ahem practices- such as not registering kittens so that the society does not find out that the cat has had more than three litters in two years etc.

Unfortunately as breeds get "developed" I am sure that things get worse- remember how attractive persians and siamese used to be?Now persians have breathing difficulties and siamese have real problems birthing kittens because their hips are too small.

I have a nasty feeling that in ten years time maine coons and norwegian forest cats are going to start to have problems because they are just getting bigger and bigger. Even now my six and seven year old toms are starting to look small.They are both showand breeding quality(in fact they are both ex-stud boys)which only goes to show how quickly things are changing.

Both breeds are becoming popular as an alternativeto persians- notonly are they more attractive and have nice natures but they have much easier coats to handle(exceptduring the great spring moult)

I really worry about how the breed will develop.

[the-marquis.livejournal.com]

How typical of the rich buggers not to spare a few here and there. Odds are good if you were to keep track of events and donations you'd find a correlation or two. Sadly educational stands always seem to attract a few people who want information you don't personally have or to show off what they know so you were lucky getting away with just the brat, and anyway the other lad made up for her.

You might want to have a shufty at VistaPrint, while their delivery times are crap they do odd stuff that may be of use to you for promo events (fridge magnets) and since ordering some TS business/promo cards they keep telling me about various sales or offers where there's not to pay but postage.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I'm feeling slightly less grouchy about the money now, because John was doing a Bullies in Need* funday over in Lincs the same day, and he only managed to scrape together £30, though he got a lot more interest in volunteering than I did.

*bullies as in bull-terriers, not, like, actual bullies. Cos that would be a bit odd.

[chainmailmaiden]

Glad to hear the treasure hunt went well, it was always popular at school fairs when I was a kid. Shame people weren't prepared to donate more, but at least you've raised the profile of the Oldies Club.