Ring craft

Mickjameslenehan

When we bought our puppy we intended to show him he is now 7mths and has his first dedicated BT show this Saturday.

He is such a sweet natured dog and loves other dogs and people. This appear to be his downfall in the ring as he spends the whole time pulling to say hello to other dogs or turning into a wriggly mess when the judges approach.

He is the only bully at ring craft and they have not had one there before for a number of years. Most of the dogs there look the part but are unfriendly towards other dogs and even growl when being examined.

For some reason this evening I was picked out and told I was not in control of my dog as I did not have the lead looped around my hand her exact words been "I have a machine on the end of my lead" not one to keep my mouth shut I told her I disagreed.

When my wife took over the second judge examined him and when he went into a wriggly message he took it upon himself to try and dominate my dog grabbing him around the mouth, scuffing him and shouting at him, by the end my dog was terrified and refused to walk at all so achieved nothing.

I'm hoping we have experienced two bad judges I've observed a few BT shows in the past and never seen the judges behave in this way. If not then the showing business is not for us and probably explains why popularity has dropped over the years.

BulliesofNC

There's a lot to like and dislike about showing a dog at a conformation event. You'd have been a lot more frustrated if there was other Bull Terriers at the show that you were competing with and witnessed different treatment by the judge to the other dogs. The inconsistency on the part of the judge can make or break a dog's performance.
I've been to shows where the judges were very familiar with the Bull Terrier breed and almost expected to see the clownish behavior in the show ring. I've also witnessed some poor behavior from some Bull Terriers that had mysteriously already earned their CH.
I would suggest that the next show you attend is one that shows a prior history of Bull Terriers attending last years show. It may be good practice to attend a show when there are no other BT's in attendance but if your trying to earn points it's useless and gets very costly.
In my area it is very hard to majors due to lack of attendance within the Bull Terrier breed. Normally when there is a major it's due to a club deciding to attend a certain show and that click may not always welcome individual participants with open arms that are not a part of their club.

Mickjameslenehan

Ring craft is not a show event as such is dog training for showing. My wife posted our experience on another forum which is for beginners to dog showing and the feedback is that we experienced two bad judges. Some people had experienced similar issues at the same place and others had even witnessed the event and were not going to take their dogs back there.

He is our pet first and foremost and we only intend to show for fun and be part of the bully community. It's ashame that individuals like these discourage people from showing their dogs considering its a hobby which struggles to get numbers.

We have had some positive messages of support from other bully owners he has his first bully show on Saturday and you never know may be posting a pic of our first rosette.

BulliesofNC

Awesome. Well good luck on Saturday. Take a couple photos.

JParanee

I was envolved in showing decades ago when I bought a female Rot from the at the time owner of Westminster winner Hubba Bubba

It was a big ticket dog and I was so turned off on how the breeder wanted me to pay for a handler the handlers meals ,travel lodging e^c to sit my dog in a crate I finally told the breeder that I had lawyers I was paying anyway to piss off or bring a suite

I was willing to show the dog just not on the level she wanted

Turned me off

My current bullies were purchased with idea for my middle daughter to show the female on a gun level but as all kids she is to bust with sports and being a kid

Maybe I can get her to show a bit locally for fun but knowing me if someone did what they did to your dog I’d adjust their tie

Have fun and love your dog

corey90260

Maybe I can get her to show a bit locally for fun but knowing me if someone did what they did to your dog I’d adjust their tie YUP that would be me as well

Mickjameslenehan

Haha adjust their tie I love it.

We are just showing locally the are open shows may consider championship shows in the future if he does well. The main reason I'm doing it is that you don't see too many in the UK so it's one of the few opportunities to meet other bullies and their owners.

Will let you know how I get on and try and take a few pics

JParanee

Please do