Hi
yes, Gundogs have a day all to themselves! its Fri 7th March [ i will be there showing Jazz [ the dog in my avatar].my advice to you would be to pre purchase your tickets on line, its cheaper and you wont have to que for hours to get in! Crufts bear in mind car parking is also expensive £8 per day........budget what you can afford to spend, drawout that anount of money, then leave your cards/cheque book at home!.....you can spend HUNDREDS really easily....oh and take a picnic lunch, food although not horendously expensive, means queing for ages to get, drinks, no problem lots of coffee /tea stalls, plus bars in almost all the halls [ of which there are 6] if you have never been to a BIG dog show before, this will blow your mind!.............there is another show this weekend at the NEC the next biggest to Crufts we will be there on Sat which is hound and gundog day
hope this info helps? any more questions just ask
Pauline

Thanks Pauline!!! I've just spend sometime on Crufts website....ohhh....

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Pauline you got any tips for helping keep a border collies tail down , we are off to crufts in march and would like to give her a good chance

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http://www.weynoakeshowdogs.co.uk/

Hiya...................quite a controversial subject this one!.............at one time you would hear lots of shouts of "TAIL" from the collie rings until some bright person alerted the exhibitors that all they were doing was drawing the judges eye to them trying to get their dog to drop an atherwise "gay" tail!
the tecnique is still used but using another word.[any will do but shouting "BANNANA"IN THE RING MAY CAUSE PROCEEDINDS TO STOP AND MEN IN WHITE COATS TAKING YOU AWAY!.....LOL
Some use a small tin with coins or pebbles in that they drop next to the dog when gaiting if the tail. goes up......ok for some dogs but scares the feathering off some and totally defeats the object as the dogs are always looking 'round for the next untimely noise...............others use a ling swishy stick [ like willow] or a long riding crop........this is used to touch the tip of the tail when its not in the correct position, now before you all get up in arms i'm not advocating "hitting" the tail or the dog just touching the tip is enough,but you do have to be consistant and do it on all your out of ring walks, it takes ages but it has worked with me and mini dachshunds before now....you can go for the double whammy and "touch" the tail AND use your selected "word" you may then just be able to use the "word" and the tail will drop............pretty safe words are "good"........"nice".......or even good old "shhhhhh".....have fun!
Pauline.......lets know how you do?

Yes i have heard about tapping the tail with a riding crop,but have never tried it but will give it a ago , cant walk her at the moment as she is in season and there are far to many dogs round here to risk taking her out

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http://www.weynoakeshowdogs.co.uk/

Hi Pauline

I have an Irish Setter who is 2 yrs old. I've been showing him for over a year now and he has finally caught on as to what I want him to do; although he still wants to turn his head when the judge is feeling down his body!

Anyway I have hurt my back and find "standing" Danny rather difficult at the moment but I still want him to be shown, do you know how I can find a dog handler who will show him for me; I tried to "Google" this to no sucess.

Sallysima

Hiya................unfortunately its not like the USA where they advertise everywhere...............the best help usually comes from someone in your breed, can you stand him and just need someone to run him?......can you gethim to the shows?...............i find the really BEST people to ask are the winning junior handlers....they always need new dods to work with and are usually delighted to be asked and do really well as the winners always seem to have that special empathy with the dogs in their charge...............plus they are free!........the times i have used them though i have always had a box of chocs with me for after the class and on the odd occasion if the manage BOB or best puppy i give them a fiver!.....if you approach them at a show they could practice with Danny there and see what you think.........there may be someone at your ringcraft class that would be happy to do it for you....there are those options to explore before you go down the professional handler route which is REALLY expensive, especially if they have to pick upyour dog and deliver it back home............i dont know what they charge here but i had a dog live with the handler in the USA and each show she attended cost me the equivilent of £85, if she won i paid more!
i hope this help in your search
good luck and i hope your back is on the mend soon
regards
Pauline

can back up all you say there, my daughters are both junior handlers and will always take on a young dog and help out and have done from a very young age there is nothing they will not handle now!! Just stand and watch the juniors some are more experienced than others and some are more approachable than others, will have a word with my girls and see if they have any friends in your area.

And yes when we were in the States handling last year the charges are unbelievable and we were 'helping' out one of the more reasonable professional handlers

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i agree about the juniors i have leart a lot by watching them and they also have very good manners, not always found in the adults i'm sorry to say.
Heres one for you - I have a puppy, the head, use of ear's and front end is fine on the stand (its a free standing breed) but the back legs are a bit under her body and she is a bit crouched. At ringcraft (which i dont go to any more) the treainer said to throw the bait to get her to stand back from me but i think this is where its come from as she looks ready to spring. Will she get over it or is there a way to get her to stand relaxed with her back legs natural? I keep stacking her at home with the word I use and shes still very young i might need to be more pateint?

I don't agree with the trainer as you said it just makes her crouch more by getting ready to spring Tich's german spitz used to do the same thing as her and she has actually taught him the word stretch and if he is not standing right now she just says stretch and he moves his back feet back it is awkward with free-standing dogs the way they teach them in the states is fab, until I actually saw it in use I thought it was un-natural - they have blocks with a magnetic base which they place at the correct distance on a magnetic board (for want of a better word) the dogs are then 'put' on the blocks and this how they teach the stance. The blocks of wood are only about 2" high but they make them think!!! they are called 'happy legs'
Happy Legs

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