[gemy]

I concur with the above post about setting up her own website. Also about the difficulties in breeding. But back to the original point of the article and post.

I have been involved in the show world for 5 years - one year of which - I helped groom, found out about ringside, judging schedules, etc, etc. I had no dogs to show. I think that articles that are informative and succinct are best for the absolute novice.

I also would like to highlight the point that we need to attract not only new blood to the sport of showing - but to do our best to make the show environment a fun one for the newbie. After all you are in the ring only for a couple of minutes - but the preparation for showing takes a very long time. the junior handlers competition is a great idea and when I can and there is one at a show I attend - I go over as a spectator and cheer the young ones on.

Finding a good mentor is so important - but not always so easy - particularly one in your breed. I'm thinking about all those folks who live in far away places. There is one woman I know that lives in Thunder Bay who travels down to Toronto and London for her mentoring. This is breed specific mentoring. In between - she communicates via email and pictures with us (our breed club) have great exchanges of information. She is a member of her local kennel club and takes handling classes there as well as obedience classes.

I also like the idea of a journal/blog - my experiences as a newbie showing. Links on her website to AKC and other authoratative articles about showing.