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Author Topic : Beginner's Guide To Showing Dogs on SD
 rhondacline
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10/22/2015 12:53:58 PM reply with quote send message to rhondacline Object to Post   

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SHOWDOG.com A Beginner’s Guide to Showing Dogs

I thought I would put together a follow up to the ‘Beginner’s Guide to SD’ - This guide will walk you through SHOWING your dogs.


First, the basics…
When we show our dogs we are working toward a title or some other goal…
The following are the most common goals for Conformation dogs…

CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE (CH) – (From the HELP pages…)
“Your dog becomes a champion by receiving fifteen points and two majors. A major is a win of 3 points or more at one time. The majors are included in the total fifteen points needed. A dog gets points by winning Winner's Dog/Winner's Bitch awards or higher in shows. A dog can receive anywhere from zero to five points. How many points your dog receives depends on how many dogs he or she beats and on the breed schedule of points, which is based on the number of show entries for that breed in the past month.”

GRAND CHAMPION TITLE (GCH)-
A finished champion can continue showing to achieve a Grand Champion title. The Grand Champion title requires 25 Grand Champion points including three majors under three different judges. (A major is 3+ points in one show.) The dog must also beat another Champion in at least three shows.

Grand Champion points are currently awarded to Champions of Record earning Best of Breed or Best of Opposite Sex based on the number of dogs defeated in Breed competition and the breed’s Schedule of Points. (The game does not currently offer Select Dog/Select Bitch placements or points.)

GRAND CHAMPION ACHIEVEMENTS -
A Grand Champion can continue showing to achieve Grand Champion Achievement titles. There are four achievement levels to strive for once you have completed your Grand Championship based on the total number of Grand Champion points earned.

Bronze - Requires 100 GCH Points
Silver - Requires 200 GCH Points (as of October 2015 your dog’s page will incorrectly display Gold)
Gold – Requires 300 GCH Points
Platinum – Requires _______ GCH Points


TOP DOGS – Breed, Group, All Breeds -
Other goals include striving for #1 in Breed or a spot on the current month's Top Dogs Group or All Breed boards.




>>> THE BASICS <<<

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
Goal #1 – Champion title. We need 15 points including two majors.
Championship Points are awarded to the best ‘Class’ dog (Winners Dog - WD) and the best ‘Class’ bitch (Winners Bitch - WB) at BREED level.
The number of points earned depends on the number of dogs of the same sex defeated and your breed’s current Schedule of Points.

You can find the Schedule of Points for your breed on the BREED INFORMATION page – just click on the breed name on your dog’s description page.


The top line – shows the number of points to be awarded – the Dogs and Bitches lines show the number of entries for each sex.

Example:
If there are 5 Class bitch entries (including our entry) and we win Winners Bitch, our girl will earn 4 points.
If we enter a Class dog for a total of 3 Class Dog entries and we win Winners Dog, our boy will earn 2 points.

Best of Winners (BOW) – Either Winners Dog or Winners Bitch will be selected as Best of Winners. Best of Winners will receive the higher of the rewarded Championship points. In our example if Winners Dog is selected as Best of Winners he would receive 4 points, the same as what was rewarded to Winners Bitch.


For Best of Breed you will count ALL other dogs entered. For Best of Opposite you will count all other dogs entered of the SAME sex.
So our example has 3 Class Dogs, 5 Class Bitches – let’s add 2 Dog Specials and 3 Bitch Specials.

If our Winners Dog/Best of Winners dog goes Best of Breed – we will count ALL dogs entered (3+5+2+3=13) – so he will earn 5 points.
If our Winners Bitch goes Best of Opposite – we will count ALL dogs of the SAME sex (5+3=8) – so she will also earn 5 points.


You can also earn points in certain circumstances if your dog wins Best in Group.
If your dog is the only dog entered in your breed – and you win Best in Group – your dog will receive the highest number of points awarded at breed level from the breeds defeated in the group. (Typically this is 5 points.)


GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS -
Grand Championship points are awarded in a similar manner using the same schedule of points. Grand Championship points are awarded to a CHAMPION of record who wins Best of Breed or Best of Opposite Sex. If your Champion wins Best of Breed, count all dogs in the breed to determine points to be awarded based on your Schedule of Points. If your Champion wins Best of Opposite, count all dogs of the SAME sex in the breed to determine points to be awarded based on your Schedule of Points.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Alright, Goal #1 – Champion Title
We know the requirements for the title and how the points are calculated and awarded. We have our Show Quality puppy …..

Are You Ready for the Show Ring?
In the Beginner’s Guide we discussed Sessioning your dog. This guide assumes that you know how to session and that you have been sessioning and correctly feeding your show potential pup for the last 14+ days. The amount of time it takes a puppy to get show ready with daily good food and sessioning is generally a minimum of 14 days. That works out perfectly, as your puppy is not allowed in the show ring until he/she is 14 days old.


Our Show Obedience, Condition, Muscle Tone and Coat Condition should all be at 20. Our example dog is fully trained and ready to be entered. A couple of ‘Notes’ here – in some less competitive breeds you can enter dogs who are ‘almost’ completely sessioned with some success. It’s not unusual for a dog to be entered with sessioned traits of 18-20-20-20, 18-20-19-20, 17-19-18-20. (Your success at the lower levels will depend on how competitive your breed is and the current competition.) If you enter a dog with sessioned traits that are too low, the dog will be DQed.


So, our dog will be 14 days tomorrow and is fully sessioned for the ring. We need to select and enter shows with the goal of earning CHAMPIONSHIP points. On your dog’s page you will see a link on the upper right – ENTER SHOWS – Click that to view the Show Entry page.


Column one shows the SHOW DATE and the AVAILABLE SHOWS
Column two shows the JUDGE
Column three shows whether the show is All Breed, Specialty or Obedience. (You will only see Specialties for your dog’s breed. The little dog symbol indicates an Obedience Trial.)
Column 4 shows the Entry Fee.
Column 5 shows the current total number of entries in the show – ALL BREEDS.
Column 6 shows the current BREED entries.


Clicking on the SHOW NAME will take you to the BREED ENTRIES for that show and clicking on the Judge’s Name will take you to the Judge’s page to view his preferences. (*TIP* I use a Judge’s ‘Cheat Sheet’ that shows judge preferences that I print off each month. I find that easier to use than flipping back and forth between screens.)


Depending on your breed you might see daily entries like this - with multiple entries in multiple shows or you might see only one show with breed entries or you might see a whole column of 0s (no breed entries.)


Let’s take a look at our options. Click on the show name for one of the shows that have Breed entries.


CONSIDERATIONS WHEN SELECTING A SHOW …. FOR POINTS
The #1 thing you are looking for when showing for points (Championship or Grand Championship) is competition. In order to earn points, you need to beat someone.
So, if you only have one show with breed entries… THAT is the show you will choose.

If you have multiple shows to choose from – you will want to look at each show and try to gauge your chance of winning based on the competition, the judge preferences and the available handlers.

You’ve picked the show you want to enter...
STEP 1:
Tic the checkbox for the show on the Entry page and click Submit.
(You can enter a max of 1 all breed show, 1 specialty show and 1 obedience trial per day. – This isn’t recommended for long periods, as it will stress your dog.)
You can of course tic the box for your show selection for multiple days and enter all of the selected shows with one click of the Submit button.

STEP 2:
Choose a Handler


When your entry is submitted you will be forwarded to the dog’s Show Results page.
This page shows all Shows that the dog has been entered in, the Handler for that show, the Placement and Points for completed Shows, the Judge for that show and the Show date.

Find the show that you just entered. IF the Judge PREFERS OWNER/HANDLERS do nothing – that entry is done.
If the Judge prefers a Handler, click the CHOOSE HANDLER link for the show.


This is a partial pic of the Handler Selection page. The Handler ‘Selection’ portion of the page will show all of the available handlers.
(Each handler is allowed to show 1 dog and 1 bitch per breed, per show.) As they are ‘claimed’ they are removed from the available Handlers list.

On the right you will see the Judge’s List. These are the Judge’s favorite handlers. The Handler with the LOWEST number is your #1 choice. If that handler is taken, proceed through the list to the next smallest number until you find an available handler. (As an example, I marked this sheet with the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th choices.)

Tic the radio button for your Handler, Click Submit and you are done with that show’s entry. You will, of course, need to repeat the handler selection process for each show. (Watch out for the Owner/Handler judges, as you do NOT want a handler in those shows.)


Our dog is fully sessioned, we entered the show and selected the handler – now the show has run.
Let’s take a look at the results


Looking at the results we see….
Northern Dumbledore was Winners Dog and there were 4 Class Dog entries.
He was also Best of Opposite Sex, so we can infer that he was also Best of Winners.
Since he was Best of Opposite, we will include the 2 male Champions in our calculations for points. (So 4 Class Dogs + 2 Specials = 6 Male Entries)
For this breed’s Schedule of Points that equals a 5 point major.
Because there was only 1 Class Bitch; she was automatically Winners Bitch, but no points were awarded.
The bitch Special, took Best of Breed, so we count ALL dogs (8) – the Schedule of Points awards a 5 point major. Since she is already a Champion, she receive Grand Champion points (5 GCh) towards her Grand Champion title.
** You will also notice… 3rd in Breed and 4th in Breed … these placements are generated during judging. (You can infer that the Best of Opposite Class dog was 2nd in Breed.) These placements do not receive any points and are for informational purposes only, although there is player interest in using these placements to determine Select Dog/Select Bitch for additional Grand Championship points when the placements are earned by Champions.

Now, you just need to repeat the process until your dog meets the requirements for his/her Championship title.
Depending upon the quality of the dog you might continue on to earn a Grand Championship title.

CAMPAIGNING FOR TOP “GROUP” DOG and TOP ALL BREED DOG Placements

If you have an exceptional dog, you might like to try for a Group board placement or an All-Breed board placement. The show entry process is the same, but the show selection process is a bit different.

You should note that your success is partially determined by your breed and the breed’s current level of development in the game AND the Judges that are available for the month. When you look at the Top 10 Dogs All-Breeds you will typically see breeds that have higher SOPs. So if your breed is still in the low 90s SOP-wise – you might make the Top 50, but chances are you won’t make it to the Top 10.

Generally, at this level you will be working with a Champion or Grand Champion. We will be looking for shows that give us our best chance at a Group Placement. You will need to compile a list of Judges that rank your breed’s important traits Very High and/or High. If Gait and Coat are tops for your breed, you want to look for judges who rank Coat and Gait as Very High or High. These are the judges that you will want to show under. They will give you the best opportunity for Group Placement. There are of course other factors at play…. your breed’s current quality, your dog’s quality, what other preferences the judge has, the size of the show, the entries for that day, etc.

Achieving and maintain a Top Group or Top All Breed boards placement can be quite a rewarding challenge.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hopefully, you have found this guide helpful. If you have questions, please post them as a reply here or on the Beginner's Forum - one of our helpful players will be happy to assist.




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Last edited by rhondacline on 10/22/2015 12:55:23 PM
 rhondacline
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10/22/2015 12:56:13 PM reply with quote send message to rhondacline Object to Post

this post has been edited 1 time(s)

deleting double post...

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Last edited by rhondacline on 10/22/2015 12:57:51 PM
 mournebrake
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10/22/2015 4:46:55 PM reply with quote send message to mournebrake Object to Post

Another brilliant post - such hard work, very informative. Thank you.
 HighCountry
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12/4/2015 8:16:06 PM reply with quote send message to HighCountry Object to Post

Very informative ty. I do have a question I didn't see in the guide. Can you only show once per day?
 XiZang
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12/4/2015 9:01:05 PM reply with quote send message to XiZang Object to Post

This is great. You put a lot of time and thought into it. Wish I had had this when I started in 2007.

Nice job.
 Silk N Denim Terriers
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12/4/2015 9:10:21 PM reply with quote send message to Silk N Denim Terriers Object to Post

Each dog can enter 1 all breed show, 1 specialty show, and one obedience show each day.
 Quileute Legends
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12/4/2015 10:00:20 PM reply with quote send message to Quileute Legends Object to Post

Rhondacline,

I want to applaud you for your outstanding efforts in creating such a useful tool for beginners!

Your hard work, creativity and dedication to the game and it's community is greatly appreciated!

laugh :D laugh :D laugh :D
 Dalkeith
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4/4/2016 7:37:31 PM reply with quote send message to Dalkeith Object to Post


BUMP
 XiZang
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6/19/2016 6:43:46 PM reply with quote send message to XiZang Object to Post

The only thing I would add is that the 2 majors have to be under different judges (at least in RL and I think it's the case here as well).
 Tarot
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6/20/2016 11:48:40 AM reply with quote send message to Tarot Object to Post

It's funny. As I was reading this, I thought about how extremely complicated it all is. To me it's as simple as breathing, because I've been involved in showing RL dogs for decades. But when you look at it as someone who might not have any idea about what is going on in the show ring, it makes me realize just how very confusing it is.

This is an excellent guide, well done!
 Eris_Discord
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10/13/2016 9:34:20 AM reply with quote send message to Eris_Discord Object to Post

quote
posted by Tarot
It's funny. As I was reading this, I thought about how extremely complicated it all is. To me it's as simple as breathing, because I've been involved in showing RL dogs for decades. But when you look at it as someone who might not have any idea about what is going on in the show ring, it makes me realize just how very confusing it is.

This is an excellent guide, well done!

I have no idea what's going on in the show ring and I have to agree. I have no idea what I just read. www.showdog.com/forum/images/pb_smiley_razz.gif
 Lace Dreams
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10/13/2016 11:18:14 AM reply with quote send message to Lace Dreams Object to Post

quote
posted by Tarot
It's funny. As I was reading this, I thought about how extremely complicated it all is. To me it's as simple as breathing, because I've been involved in showing RL dogs for decades. But when you look at it as someone who might not have any idea about what is going on in the show ring, it makes me
I've never showed a dog IRL, but I've been on SD for so long I've "gotten" it. At least I can champion and sometimes GCH dogs but sometimes I do pick a "dud" despite him or her being a good SOP lol.

This guide is great tho! It would've been so nice when I started lol...might have saved me a little grief.

Alexandria
 Artistri
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11/8/2016 8:19:51 PM reply with quote send message to Artistri Object to Post

Bump
 Studio Dogs
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11/13/2016 8:31:48 AM reply with quote send message to Studio Dogs Object to Post

Nice post, but you left out how to choose a judge. Screen shot of breed preferences vs standard

This will help players who are the only ones in the breed as well as under your heading of winning at group level.

Now if only there was a "sticky post" option!
 Star Shiine
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12/13/2016 4:19:56 PM reply with quote send message to Star Shiine Object to Post

Bumping this up
 Flush
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2/1/2017 1:13:08 AM reply with quote send message to Flush Object to Post

Bump
 Lap of Luxury
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4/27/2017 5:07:42 PM reply with quote send message to Lap of Luxury Object to Post

Bump
 Dalkeith
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1/2/2018 1:43:56 AM reply with quote send message to Dalkeith Object to Post

BUMP
 WonderPaw
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5/11/2018 9:23:27 AM reply with quote send message to WonderPaw Object to Post

Bump!
Amazing post! I actually understood most of it now...before I was blindly feeling my way in the darkness.
 Linton Farms
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5/11/2018 5:03:11 PM reply with quote send message to Linton Farms Object to Post

Brilliant post thank you!
 rhondacline
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8/26/2018 10:55:13 AM reply with quote send message to rhondacline Object to Post

Bump

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Did you know?
The figure 8 exercise requires the team to heel in a figure 8 pattern either on or off leash. Generally two of the ring stewards will assist the judge with this exercise by acting as "posts", standing 8 feet apart, that the team walks around to form the loops of the figure 8.