Can someone define what a show home is?
We have always been what I would consider a "companion dog" type of family. With failing to completely rehabilitate Amy, we've come to the conclusion that perhaps a puppy would be a better choice for our family at this stage. So now I have some questions. What constitutes a show home versus a companion home? With that, how do I define my own home? All three kids are in, or will be in, 4-H with dogs. We firmly believe in, and pursue, extensive training as a way to keep dogs (and kids) out of trouble.  Some of the kids and I want to pursue dog sports in addition to 4-H. We haven't ever participated in dog stuff in the past, but I can see us wholeheartedly doing it now that the kids are coming to an age where we can do these things together. I ask this because I've seen some breeder websites that will allow show prospects go to homes like ours, but I get the feeling that some breeders are pickier. |
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| I believe a "show home" simply means the dog will be going to someone who will do conformation with the dog. One big difference is that typically pet homes will have the dog spayed or neutered, whereas a dog for conformation will not be spayed or neutered. If you are looking for a dog for conformation, you would be looking for a breeder who would be selecting, out of a litter, a dog that shows the most promise for conformation. This only deals with conformation, and not applicable for dog sports and other dog activities . I don't believe you are interested in conformation so it's not applicable in your case. Yes there are likely some breeders out there who are complete snots about "companion homes"  |
| A show home can be a couple things. First, it's a home for a puppy that is a show prospect. If a puppy is sold as a pet to a pet home, it didn't make the cut for one reason or another to be considered show quality. A show home will usually be one of two scenarios. The home will raise the puppy and show the puppy themselves. They will grow coat, do some or all of the show prep (totally dependent on experience - in the beginning all a new show home would do is grow coat and bring the pup to shows in a brushed out, mat-free condition) If the home has an experienced person, they may be doing all the work from bath to being ready for the ring. And then showing the dog too. The other option is a home that has no desire to actually show the dog, but they are someone the breeder trusts to grow and maintain coat. They would go to the breeder periodically for grooming/trimming, maybe some training, and they also would go with the breeder when they were showing. We were in the 1st group with Chewie. I had grown up showing, but not OES. We had Brittanys, and myself and my sisters all competed with the dogs. I have pictures of me at about age 9-10 winning my class in our MN specialty show with my dog. But with OES, there is lots of difference in coat prep! So for that part, I was a newbie. Initially we met his breeder for shows, and all we did was bring him clean and mat free. It was a mentorship. In a year or so, I was trusted to do the whole process, with some periodic trimming adjustments made by others. There is a definite learning curve with this breed for the show ring, as far as coat prep. I have a friend who I go to shows with, and her dogs are polar opposites - Toy Fox Terriers - little and smooth coats. But, after years of going to shows with me and hairy boys, she does admit that it is relaxing, and can see that I find it relaxing, and the whole process is kind of cool to watch. |
| Thank you! I can see Becky wanting to go all the way in dog stuff, but I'll be selfish and say that I'm not ready to yet. There are plenty of sports to participate in to start with. If she wants to go on to show in conformation, I think she could do that when she was older with a dog of her own. |
| Lots of breeders in most any breed are pretty receptive to taking a junior handler under their wing and helping them learn. Instead of going right into ownership, consider helping out a breeder with their dogs and learning from the ground up. I know lots of young people in the show world who started out that way. |
| Where would I find more information on doing that? |
| Talk to someone who shows, and with a breed she would be interested in. Most breeders are very conscious that they need new blood - the next generation - to continue on in this sport. Also, shows and all the prep are a lot of work, so young and willing bodies are very helpful! It becomes really mutually beneficial - all the specific knowledge a person has about there breed is immense, and not something money can buy. And it is pretty neccessary in most breeds to have an established person as a mentor. I would ask around at places you train, get referrals from people you know, or even just ask around at a show, etc. Maybe talk to a vet (they know who shows and also the character of the people). My friend with I go to shows with who has TFT's has a junior (who has her own dog), but started out as a learning helper. She goes to shows with us, and her parents meet us with her for driving to shows. We share motel rooms or take the RV. The current one is her 2nd junior. Now Sam got her drivers license, so she could start driving herself. And the young sister of her 1st junior is almost ready to start traveling with us. |
| I just saw that the local AKC club has a show next week. Perhaps we'll go watch and get a feel for things. I'll also give our training center a call next week to see if they can direct us further. Maybe the 4-H leaders have some ideas too. Becky has 4 breeds picked out that she is researching. So far she's prioritized them as OES, Rough Collie, Shetland Sheepdog, and Miniature American Shepherd/Miniature Australian Shepherd. If she were to find a local mentor, I think she's limited to the Sheltie or Mini Aussie. I have my reservations about both breeds. I wouldn't mind another collie, but I'd really like an OES. Yet, I hesitate to research breeders when we live so far from most of them. After seeing the challenging side of the breed, I want to be very careful in what we bring home. I know Amy's problems weren't breeding related, but her issues were enough that I want to be careful. Its why I'm more willing to think about a puppy versus an older dog even though I've always said I'm not a big puppy person. |
| Dawn did a good job in describing the show homes. When we place a dog in a show home, the owner agrees to bring the dog to us for weekly grooming, keep it intact until the AKC championship is finished & pay for the show entries. We do all the training, grooming, trimming, bathing (all before the shows) & handling of the dog at shows. This is done free of charge to the owners until the dog is finished. Every now & then we run across a home that can maintain the coat or where the person is interested in learning to handle the dog themselves but they are far & few between. Some of the owners like to come to the shows & see their dog in the ring. Others have no interest in that. One thing they really DO like is that their dog is kept in tip top show coat condition by us with little to no effort on their part during the time. One thing to remember is you have to be flexible & trust the breeder. The dogs we place in show home generally come to me once a week for grooming, trimming etc. When a show is coming up I have them come say on a Thursday night. I groom them out so I can bathe their whites on Friday after work. Then we are off to the shows Saturday & Sunday. The dogs are brushed out Sunday before going home to the owner. At first most owners are a bit worried about it but once they see their dog rushing from their vehicle to greet me, how happy they are to run around the dog run with my other dogs & especially if they see them in the show ring loving what they are doing....they are very comfortable. One owner told me her friend asked her if she was worried about sending her dog with me. Her answer was "At 1st yes. But then when I saw how excited Buttons got when she saw Marilyn's van & how excited she was to get out of my vehicle into her van I knew everything was OK. Buttons was so excited because she knew she was going to the show". We don't do shows EVERY weekend either. Most times it's 2 times a months. Sometimes it's 3 times a month. Depends on the locations, the judges etc. Each breeder does things differently when it comes to show homes & most are pretty flexible about stuff. So you can always ask them how they like to handle things & see if things can be tweaked a bit if necessary. One thing to remember tho' is that if you are planning on doing any aspect of this yourself you really do need to have a breeder/mentor that lives within reasonable distance of you. If not, you will become overwhelmed. Good luck & I hope you & your children enjoy the sport. We are always looking for newer, younger blood for the sport!  |
For what it's worth, my OES breeder and mentors live a 6+ hour drive away. We made it work though.  Thank goodness for emails and cell phones! Lots of photos and questions got swapped back and forth. |
got sheep wrote: For what it's worth, my OES breeder and mentors live a 6+ hour drive away. We made it work though. Thank goodness for emails and cell phones! Lots of photos and questions got swapped back and forth. This is true Dawn. But one thing to note was you were experienced at shows (not necessarily with OES) from the time you were a child. I got the feeling from the original post that this family is not experienced in conformation shows & what goes into it with OES. My experience with shows started at the age of 45. I had OES experience for 11+ years previously but not show & show grooming experience. My breeder/mentor is 3 hours away. I had to make time to spend weekends there at 1st learning what to do properly. And you & I are the kind of people who when we take on a project, we see it as a learning experience & see it thru to completion.  I have watched others buy show prospects from breeders who live too far away to do hands on teaching & help. Unfortunately, most of them became disillusioned over time.  That's why I always suggest the reasonable distance thing. It can be father than the hours you & I mentioned as long as they are willing to travel for hands on learning. |
| Marilyn, are you talking about me above? |
| Marilyn, I totally agree about the proximity thing. But sometimes a show mentor does not live close by. The closest person to me is over an hour and a half away. She did not have any puppies when I was looking and still has not had a litter. But she is the nicest person and helped me by doing a pre-trim on Harry when I took him into Veterans at the Specialty in Wisconsin. I was willing to meet Amy this year to start Bert but fortunately she wants to wait on him and his sister (Amy has his sister Katie) until they are in adult coat. I was glad of the reprieve because it gave me a little more time to focus on Harry's competitions. In the meantime Dawn was kind enough to give me a tutorial by cutting Bert when she was in town for Sheepiepalooza. Cindy was also there helping me. I intend to practice on Harry in the next few weeks. Then hopefully I will be able to maintain some of what Dawn did on Bert. I am a bad example because of my already busy schedule with Harry. I have an agility trial or obedience trial almost every weekend. But I also thought that anytime I see anyone who shows in confomation that I can get a refresher. Also, Amy is great about sending photos showing me what to do when I have a question about Bert. Then I send back a photo of my efforts. I guess where there is a will there is a way. Thank goodness for all of you out there who jump into to help people like me who don't have a clue.  |
Vance wrote: Marilyn, are you talking about me above? Nope I don't think you are disillusioned. At least not yet I hope! talking in general about new people to the show world. I have seen it in all breeds. |
| Not disillusioned. Just disappointed in what I found. |
Vance wrote: Not disillusioned. Just disappointed in what I found. That pretty much sums up being disillusioned doesn't it, Vance?  I think it would be really hard to have a young family and be a show home and even more so to show a dog yourself. I always joke that my dogs are a full-time job, showing or not. Regardless of whether you groom a dog yourself for showing, your breeder will greatly appreciate keeping the coat in clean, mat-free condition. If you are interested in showing a dog yourself some day or be involved in cheering your dog on at the shows, you'd still end up traveling frequently and sometimes over great distances to find shows. You may consider getting a companion puppy from a show breeder now and as the kids get older your breeder may get you more interested in a show puppy. The kids could still show a companion dog at a 4H or other show, sometimes companion pups turn out to be very competitive show dogs. The one thing you don't want to do is bite off more than you can chew before you know the ins and outs of the shows. Like Vance implied, it's easy to become disappointed and the people are not always nice and the judging doesn't always seem fair. Good luck in whatever you decide. Just get into it knowing what to expect and grow some really thick skin. Showing isn't for everyone. |
We only made it to a small portion of this week's dog show as we were called out of town, but we did get a chance to see Swagger in the ring. That didn't help the family in considering the other breeds.  Becky tracked down one of the local club members to ask about Jr. Showmanship and the AKC club here in our area. I've come to the conclusion that I don't mind the commitment of keeping a coat, since we worked daily with a dog that had to be taught to even accept grooming. I don't think that we need a show dog in order to practice those skills... Rebekah particularly enjoyed the tasks involved in grooming a sheepie, so she'll be happy no matter what we choose. I think that since we live in southern Idaho, that we are limited by proximity, so we probably aren't show home material. |
| having a mentor close by is great. but not a 'must'. i didn't have a mentor when i started..........i brought my 2 first from the UK. I was on my own, learning on my own. I would go to shows and watch others, ask questions and ask for help. Eventually I added into my own line and found someone to help me with breeding. Again, she was over 10 1/2 hours away. But that is what phones are for. And for traveling to their home or meeting at shows for help. This is how i have done with all of my puppy people as well. 1st and formost my homes must be a good PET HOME FIRST...............THEN, if they want to show that is a plus to me. I don't care about how many WINS or Best In Shows, or whatever else there is. I just want to breed healthy, great temperment well adjusted puppies for wonderful companions. And I have been very blessed in this fact too. I have wonderful puppy owners and past owners who still call me to this day for questions. I don't care if it is 2 am and you need me, i am here. THAT is what a true breeder for this breed will do............... |
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