Once I Was a "Newbie"

So, what’s it like to show your dog? Well, I can’t speak for everyone except in the most general way, but I can tell you about my experience showing my dog, Maddie, my Italian Spinone, “GCH Quietwood Maddelena Our Heart’s Desire.” Today, Maddie is an AKC Grand Champion, and not a “newbie” anymore. Neither am I, but I still have butterflies before we enter the ring. I always cross my fingers hoping that my anxiety won’t go down Maddie’s lead and that she won’t “pace.”  

A Few Dog Show Basics

AKC (American Kennel Club) conformation events are dog shows intended to evaluate breeding stock. Like the dogs who enter them, these shows come in all shapes and sizes. Some conformation shows have fewer entrants. AKC Specialty Shows for example, are shows restricted to dogs of a specific breed. Some dog shows are huge and are often shown on television. In AKC All-Breed Shows, over 175 breeds compete in seven designated groups from:  Sporting Dogs (i.e. Retrievers); to Hound Dogs (i.e.Beagles; to Working Dogs (i.e. Boxers); to Terriers (i.e. Scottish Terriers); to Toy (i.e. Chihualhua); to Non-Sporting (i.e.Poodle); and, to Herding Dogs (i.e. German Shepard). The mother of all dog shows in the United States is the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, an All-breed show held every year in New York City.

Dog shows have performance standards. Before entering a dog show ring, most dogs, learn what’s expected of them. They learn to “stack,” or to be put into a position that best shows its structure and head for the judge’s evaluation. They learn to “gait,” where at the direction of the judge, the dog moves around the ring, paying attention to where it’s going, where it's handler is, and how fast the handler is moving. They learn that “pacing” is a “no, no,” and how to prevent it in the ring, or to prevent a dog’s front and back leg on the same side from moving forward at the same time.

A “handler,” often a dog’s owner at least at the beginning of a show dog’s career, takes the dog in the show ring. A “professional handler” does it for a fee. Grooming, the dog show lead, ring etiquette, and how to address the judge are skills learned often by colleagues or veteran dog show competitors. 

And So It Began

We’ve all been “newbies.” And this is also true for dog shows. There’s a first time for everybody. We’ve all felt uncertainty, panic, excitement, frustration, incompetence, fear, surprise, sadness, regret, and yes, maybe even anger, the first time we’ve tried something new, or in Maddie and my case a dog show.

But what about our second time in the show ring, or our third or our fourth? Were we still “newbies?” Were we “newbies,” after a month, two months, three months or more on the dog show circuit.” The AKC recognized us as “newbies” at the outset in “Puppy Class, 6-9 months old.” But what about when we moved up to its “12- 18 Month Class and Open Class? After all, each class was new to us. Were we “newbies” nonetheless? I guess the answer is “it depends.” I still felt like a “newbie!” I’m not sure about Maddie.

We entered our first dog show when Maddie was nine months old, “Puppy Class, 6 to 9 months old.” We were “newbies,” no question about it. As “newbies” we went to a few conformation classes to get Maddie ready for the ring. We also learned the how’s of Spinone grooming, or the art of hand stripping, an art I still struggle with today.

I had had second thoughts about the whole thing, fear and panic getting the best of me, but I had made a commitment to Maddie’s breeder to join them at the next dog show. It was an all-breed show. She had talked me into entering late one night and I was half asleep when I accepted. The next morning, I had major regrets.

I also had the jitters when we first walked into conformation class. Most of the dogs in attendance were veterans some champions, some grand champions. They looked great “strutting” around the room. Maddie and I muddled through. I felt like I had two left feet,” and my hands wouldn’t stop shaking. And we weren’t even in the ring yet.

At conformation class, Maddie and I learned “stacking” and “gaiting.”

We struggled with “pacing,” something Maddie and I still work on before every show. Oh, and that other skill, the other important one, putting Maddie’s show lead on properly? Ha, I still ask fellow entrants if I’ve done it right before we go into the ring, and the night before every show I have nightmares of putting it on wrong and causing her a boat load of distress once she’s in the ring.

Somehow Maddie and I made it through her first show. I was terrified, so much so, that I ran into the judge when I was supposed to stop in front of him and “stack” Maddie. The crowd laughed, the judge smiled and I tried my best to seem invisible. I was beyond embarrassed. But despite my major hiccup, Maddie won her first blue ribbon, Puppy-Girl First Place.

Was it a fluke? I couldn’t help but wonder. Beginner’s Luck? Maybe so.

Yet, the excitement at the time was overwhelming. We even had our pictures taken with the judge, something usually reserved for Best of Breed or Best of Opposite. But I was so proud of Maddie and me, so why not show it, another “newbie” move, but I didn’t care. We stood gleefully on the winner’s box while the photographer snapped away.

Alas, my strutting didn’t last long. At the next two dog shows, Maddie didn’t place, no love from the judges there. We lost. No ribbons this time. I was crushed. I hated losing. I liked winning. But we had only been at this for a couple of months, and you can’t win them all, especially at the beginning. We couldn’t expect perfection, at least not yet. That would be presumptuous and far from humble. I left the dog show with no jump in my step, and sadness in my eyes.

But we were still “newbies” weren’t we? We had to get back in the ring, we had to keep going, being a “newbie” was no excuse. So, I entered Maddie in the next dog show, one of the biggest all-breed shows in Texas, without giving it another thought!

A few days before the show, an unexpected curve ball was thrown at us. Maddie went into heat. It didn’t seem fair, and I was a bit angry. We had worked so hard. Now nature was offering its two cents. I worried all way to Navasota where the dog show was being held. I had no idea what to expect. “Newbie” or not, it would be our first time in the show ring with her in heat.

My strategy the first day was to go in the ring laughing and having a good time. Sort of a “what will be will be attitude.” I thought the cards were stacked against us, and we didn’t have anything to lose. I smiled and sung all around the ring and managed to have a good time, Maddie did too. Apparently, it was winning strategy, Maddie won a five point major that day, a very big deal on the dog show circuit especially for a “newbie.” Now if we could only do it again.

But, the second day of the show, the wheels fell off and after winning a five point major the day before, not a common occurrence.  Maddie and I were excused from the ring. Maddie wasn’t having it that day, she wasn’t interested in being in the ring. She wouldn’t let the judge evaluate her. She backed away from the judge showing her displeasure. I brought her around twice, but nothing worked. The judge looked our way, pointed her finger toward the exit, and dismissed us. She was fed up with Maddie and me.

My heart was broken. I left the ring ashamed, my head down and my eyes filling with tears. A professional handler, who handles champion and grand champion dogs, standing outside the ring asked what happened. I told her that we had been excused. She told me not to worry. Everyone she said, professional handlers too, had been excused from the ring at least once, including her. I appreciated her support and have never forgotten her kindness.

Although devastated, my spirit wasn’t broken, well if I’m being honest,  maybe it was a little bit. I took some time off from the ring to get my head on straight and hired a professional handler to show Maddie until I was ready to dive in again.

I watched Maddie with her handler ringside. I studied every movement and watched the symbiosis between the two of them. I paid particular attention to their interaction with the judge. When I was  finally ready, and my confidence restored a bit, I took Maddie back into the ring. It was anxiety making but I knew I had to get over it if I was to continue as her handler. I owed it to her and to me. After all, Maddie and I were a team.

The truth is, we all start showing our dogs as “newbies.” We all know how scary the first time is, and the second, the third and beyond, whether we want to admit it or not. We all want our dogs to do well. On that we should all agree. Yet, the bottom line should be what’s best for our dogs. They give so much and expect so little in return.

Owner/Handler Best of Breed