EARLY TRAINING & EQUIPMENT
Ideally of course, if your intentions were to show right from the start when you decided to buy a dog or let's say you have breeding in mind in the future, then you should actually should have done your homework and instead of buying a puppy, you should have a young adult. A dog of this quality then should be show-trained by the time you acquire it and you should just fine tune in and build a bond with the dog if you are going to handle the dog yourself. That justifies the added cost than buying a pup that hasn't been trained and more risk is to how it's going to turn out. It saves you the trouble of seeing the puppy through the horrible awkward stage and more or less, if you paid for quality ... quality is what you're going to get. 'You cannot go wrong any more if you buy a young adult than a puppy between 2 to 3 months of age. A lot of things can go wrong with a prospective show pup at a very young age. With a show-trained young adult, the breeder will just have to give you tips and handle over the dog to you as in break you in.
NOTE: Although it is not false but it is not also entirely true that acquiring a puppy is much better than an older dog because of the "bonding for life" adage. The only benefit actually is that you would experience all the stages that the puppy will go through like teething ... which will most likely make you experience the joys of chewed slippers. Yes, there's the fever, upset stomachs, loss of appetite and listlessness after every booster shot or during the very awkward months starting roughly between 3 to sometimes until 8 to a year and half old depending on the breed. Don't you wonder why a lot of people sell their puppies at 6 to 8 weeks? It's the time that they discover the world, the book says ... but what they don't normally tell you is that it is also the time when the puppies are cutest and hard to resist. Most of the time when they pass that age, breeders have a hard time selling them once they go awkward where everything seems to be out of proportion. We've had many a dog coming to Cob at different ages. We never had any problem with regards to not bonding ... all our dogs our bonded to us for life. So there you go ... as a matter of fact, even the dogs we place are still bonded with us! Now going back ...
So you have decided to join the club.
First things first, there's a big difference between a choke collar, a show collar, a training lead and a show lead. One easy way to spot a novice in the ring is the type of lead they have on their dog. It's a dead-give-away. In the conformation ring, you want the least obtrusive but would give you enough control. That is why it is essential that the dog is show-trained and practiced before in such a manner as dress rehearsals. Remember, it's show time! And you want the judge and the people watching to take notice of your dog, its performance. Imagine a 6-foot-leash about 1-inch in width on your dog. It's kinda awkward! And with designer paws to boot. It'll just take off the attention off you dog and into the bright colored lead. Sure it catches the attention but the focus will be on the lead and not on your dog!
That goes the same with what you wear! If you have a Maltese, for goodness' sake ... do not wear white pants or white shirt to match. When the dog is in front of you or at your side gaiting, it'll just drown in the background. Now if you want attention, go ahead and wear something flamboyant. Stand out but make sure that whatever you are wearing does not overpower your dog. It is a dog show, you know.
Well other things you should have ... it actually depends on the breed you have. Of course if your breed needs a lot of grooming like the Cocker Spaniel or the Toy Poodle or the Shih Tzu ... You will need a lot of grooming essentials even way before the show itself. You start working on major preparations early as a week before. Of course, breeders of these breeds don't outright tell you that when you're just about to buy. They tell you after or worse, they don't and it's only after awhile that you realize what it takes to show them long-haired ones. So, essentials ... your grooming box or what is referred to as the tack box should at least have a spray bottle, a hand towel, a steel comb, a pin-brush or whatever brush that may be required and you can actually put a lot of other things depending on your budget. But the Spray-bottle is a must. Helps cooling down the dog when it gets really hot. And you have to have treats to bait your dog too! You can either throw in the tack box or together with your lunchbox.
For you, depending on how much of a muncher you are, you either bring lots of food or money so that when you get hungry or thirsty, you can always fill your stomach. Normally, old-timers have coolers with lots of ice so just in case there's a dog that might just get too hot ... lots of water for you and your dog cause for one, the more you win, the longer you wait! You may want to have a tent if it's outdoors, a couple of foldable chairs. The vari-kennels work well as tables and grooming tables but you can also have a grooming table if you like. Electric fans and long outlet cords. Camera whatever kind. A ballpen, maybe for marking catalogues. So thinking of all these stuff, maybe you might also think of how useful a van is because a large kennel is very hard to fit on a compact Japanese car, if you know what I mean.
So all these stuff, the unmentionables ... they are added costs to breeders who show their dogs as compared to your ordinary backyard breeders and puppy-millers. But remember, not all breeders who show are serious. Some BYB's or more so the puyppy-millers do show as part of their scheme. So be careful now!
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