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Hi Shane,
There are several different types of "showing" activities which you might be interested in. There is "conformation showing" where the dog can earn points towards it's championship. This is really the 'beauty contest' and is suposed to be a way to determine the 'best' dogs to use for breeding. The dogs are judged on their looks as well as structure and movement. Many people would not want to spend the money to show a dog which would not be used for breeding, but that does not mean that it cannot be done. There are no rules about it. Dogs may not be shown in the conformation ring if the are spayed. It may be that training and showing in the obedience or agility rings would be more fun for your dogs and family. Obedience is where the dogs train to do activities such as heeling, come when called, sit, down, stay, etc. and in the more advanced classes jump and retrieve (all things which make for a well-trained dog). It is a lot of work but also fun. Agility is another activity where dogs are trained to do all sorts of things like run through tunnels, over catwalks, teeter-totters etc. I would suggest asking around about classes that you can enter with your dog (your Vet might know of classes). By the way, one of our first dogs was diagnosed with HD. We had her spayed and showed her in obedience. She was a wonderful obedience dog and still enjoyed jumping when she was 9 years old. She never showed any signs of arthritus or stiffness. Charlotte Shane Van wey wrote: Greetings all! New to the list here. My wife and I have 5 children and 2 Pyr's. The Ladies (as we refer to them) are 2 beautiful females (Mariah and Halle). One is 3 and our latest is 15 months. Our 3 year old is the sweetest thing you ever met, very motherly toward the kids. It was a sad moment when her 2 year old tests for HD came back positive. But, she is doing great and the kids really keep both of them quite active. I would really like to learn more about showing the dogs. I would especially like to see about some sort of junior ranks for my 8 year old daughter to get involved with. Unfortunately, we just had to relocate from our home in the mountains of SW Montana to the Jackson, TN area. Like the area and all, just couldn't find a large acreage place like our MT home with a house the size we needed. We do have a 2 acre back yard, so it isn't TOO bad. Would my 3 year old have anything against her having tested positive for HD? It doesn't seem to bother her unless you get her going up and down a lot of obstacles. From what limited exposure I have to dog shows, it seems that the only one's she would not do well at would be the agility type. Would that be the right way of thinking? Her hips do sway some at a normal gait, but I haven't found anything about that one way or the other in the books about breed standards. I guess it could be normal. That's enough for now. We have to get lunch going. I would like to know about any clubs in our area. Thanks again, Shane Van Wey and family |