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Showing A Lurcher


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Hi All

 

I'm thinking about showing my BullX bitch for a bit of fun this summer at a show or two if I get the chance.

 

What I want to know is can you show dogs that have scars, lumps and bumps etc? My girl is full of them but I still think she's a stunner.

 

Will judges frown upon those 'imperfections' or do they judge more on physique etc?

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If the scars don't interfere with her movement and condition then they shouldn't count against her. A lurcher should be judged on make and shape (conformation), condition and movement.

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Scars can't be helped but as skycat says; conformation and condition are all important. Put the time in to clean the dog's ears and teeth and cut its nails,make it shine .

 

Some folk pull a dog out of a kennel and when it gets snubbed , whinge about the Judge "Not knowing a proper working dog when he sees one."

Yet go to a horsey event or livestock show and every competitor from the from those with no real chance of a rosette to the regular winners will have their animals and tack all agleam.

Get your head round the word "show". scars or not, its your chance to walk the dog out before a crowd looking its damned bestest.

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I don't show my dogs any more, but another tip I learned is that to show a dog to the best in a small ring where it can only trot, is to move the dog at the correct speed for its size. Only a dog in good muscled condition will be able to trot in a manner that suggests contained power, but if you allow it to slop along like a camel, doing the 'economy' roll where it moves both legs on each side together like a camel, it won't attract the right sort of attention from the judge. Personally I don't like to see dogs strung up by their heads so that their necks are stretched upwards and the head forced unnaturally high. Some show goers string their dogs up so much that their front feet can barely skim the ground: looks ridiculous. Far better to train the dog to trot well beside you on a loose lead, and only hold its head high when you stand it four square for inspection by the judge. Little things, but the make a difference in the show ring where appearance counts for everything. Forget whether or not the dog actually works: the dogs that win the most, beauty aside, are the ones with owners who understand how to show their animals off to the best advantage.

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Just take it along to a show an find out you'll soon learn the way it works

It will usually cost you the full sum of a quid to quickly realise that the show organisers cannot be arsed to source competent judges that know a working lurcher from a pseudo terrier.For a quid and a little ribald banter does it really matter?,i hate spending brass.

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Just take it along to a show an find out you'll soon learn the way it works

It will usually cost you the full sum of a quid to quickly realise that the show organisers cannot be arsed to source competent judges that know a working lurcher from a pseudo terrier.For a quid and a little ribald banter does it really matter?,i hate spending brass.

 

For some reason I was persuaded to be a judge at a show. I have no qualifications for such a post; my dogs have never been of the sort one associates with rosettes and I wasn't even flattered to be asked. In fact I was horrified! I can only assume they were desperate.

I bummed-up on Ted Walsh's guidelines for judging lurchers and added a bit of home-spun wisdom to my madness;would I like the dog ,does it look like it could catch things?

Funnily enough ,once I got into it I started taking thing quite seriously and had mild hints from the organisers about being a bit too thorough and lengthy in my examinations.I also conveniently forgot to adhere to instructions about not marking up certain types of dog because the organisers had rather "conservative" views on what a proper lurcher was.

My outlook was that the owners had paid their quid and deserved equal amounts of my time. Had someone entered a three-legged poodle it would have received the same ear-poking ,foot fiddling and chance to strut its stuff as the finest hound in the world.

Strangely ,and despite my ignorance,I ended up placing dogs by owners who-unbeknown to me , were well known for sweeping the board in the show ring.

There were mutterings but them dogs looked like they could catch and had been groomed like show-ponies. It really was no contest .

Given the chance to take one of them home though I would have said "Not my thing" and looked lustfully towards one of the rescued collie blooded dogs or the fearsome Alsation cross that had been under my hands earlier in proceedings.

I have never been asked to judge a lurcher show since. Thank goodness:)

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