To the Showline People - Page 1

Can you Guys who show dogs for a hobby tell me this, On April 17th i am entering young Gina for a Show grade, on the show day she will be one day over 13 months old. I know little or nothing about the Showing side of dogs only having entered Izzy in a similar show to get her grade in which she got a G rating.
What is the lowest scoring grade i can get and what is the highest scoring grade i may hopefully get at her age group, She will be entered in the females 12 to 18 month old group
At this time she has only run round the ring twice one more time next monday before the show, She went okay so will take her chance although i know more practise would be of benifit
Steve1

You could have entered her several ways. 12 to18 months, amature owner handler, or open bitch.  I have used all three but that ususally depends on how many bitch's are being shown that I know of.  Usually after a year though I enter them in the open class unless a first place ribbon is important.  But you will only get that if you win in your class or are the only one.  Now if you go into the show figureing your going to win you will probably be disappointed as in most cases an adult male will usually go best of breed.  With that said the best you can hope for would be Best Opposite.  That could either be one point or it could be a major with 4 or 5 points depending on the number of bitches entered.  You could also go winners bitch to best opposite which might also give you some points.  But since your girl is not ring trained yet just have fun and not expect anything.  She will be in the ring most likely with other bitches that have been being shown since they were 6 months old and probably some adults as well.  My advice though would be to find a show class somewhere and do the training and then you will have a much better shot of winning. Steve

My first show was with my bitch years ago at the same age group of which she barely made it into at NASS. The others were much more mature than her. That age group seemed much more seriously competetive than I was led to believe it would be. My advice is just to take it as it comes. My bitch was ok she got SG which is the highest rating however she was last of the sgs in the class. I was not upset about her placement as I did not know if I should expect anything for her and was doing it more for fun. I was howver upset that a bitch upon the shot ran up and over her handler breaking free and fleeing the ring. She was brought back and allowed to stand next to a kennel mate with her leashed held against her running away again for another chance at the shot. She was lovely looking but IMO she should not have placed at the front after her lack of courage and temperament as is not the whole philosophy the total package? There were a couple with lesser rating and some that were given nothing. I never regretted doing it and it taught me a lot.

If it's a typical German style show, she will be in a youth class.  The possible ratings are: Very good (SG), Good (G), Sufficient (A) and Insufficient (M).

Thanks for the replies. No' i will not be expecting her to win the class just to know which are the lowest and highest grades she could pick up.
She is not a Showline but an out and out Working Line German Shepherd, and there will only be 3 or 4  Working lines in that class,  most will be Showlines and i do not expect her to beat them at there own game so to speak.
I have to get a Show Grade with her before she can be Korclassed when she gets her ScH1 etc so will have a go whist she is young
steve1

Steve,
By looking at the pic in your avatar....the female pictured should receive the highest show rating possible for the 12-18mo class * just conformational speaking*...the SG rating.
This should be completely possible provided that she is trained for the ring (by moving & stacking properly)...and the judge doesn't have his head stuck in his own rear end, when it comes to the WL's.....
She is a nice and proper looking female....congrats!
JMO
Robin

Robin
The Female in the avatar is or was my Izzy, she got a G rating, again i did not do a very good job stacking her and the amount of practise running round the ring was not really fair on the dog Plus knowing how to do it correctly,
The same is going to happen with Gina i do not have a proper stacked Pic of her or a recent pic now she is 12 months old only one at 6 months old which i will put on here , but then she has grown somewhat now and looks a different dog
Of course i want to get as high a grade as possible for a working line, But i also know that i have not been able to put the work into the training, and that is not the fault of the Dog or Judge but mine.

So' Keith we are trying to get the highest grade SG,
I will add this bit, My brother is her normal handler her but he cannot yet run the ring with her as his new knee replacement will take a few months yet to repair properly.
Last Monday he asked a Girl at the show club if she would take Gina on the Show test and she kindly agreed. She took her round the ring and told my brother that she was not bad but needed a bit more practise but she would do okay on the day, She is taking her round the ring again next Monday. In the mean time she told my brother to look at her teeth every day so she is used to it more than she is now.
She said her Stacking was good for an inexperinced young Dog and that will be no trouble, In fact she stays stacked after wards she does not move at all
Steve1

Here is Gina at about 6 months of age beingstacked by friend Rinus, what do you guys think of her at that age
Steve1

This is Gina a week or so  ago on her Social Test with my Brother she was 12 months old and grown a bit from the Pic above
Steve1

Hi Steve!
Why the hell do you want to show a not trained working line in this class?
You are right - she needs a show result for Koerung - right now she could achieve an SG - but that´s difficult for a working line in this age.

My suggestion:
Title her at least with SchH1
Train her
Search for a judge who likes sable working lines
and THEN show her.

A not trained and titled working line is a good excuse for a judge to give a G instead of an SG.
Don´t forget - all the black and red showlines are well trained - they know how to move - your dog will look worse than nessassary.

You can even show her in the adult class ( 2 years and older/titled ), doesn´t matter - but first of all train her!

Kind regards
Susie