Tina,

I was so spoiled in Texas with air conditioned show sites, although there are a few that have the grooming area in the barn areas.....But, the weather in California isn't as hot.....so, most show sites are outside.

Yeah! I know there are several that drive to NY, but the cost of parking sometimes exceeds the cost of your hotel room.....

I also bring an emergency first aid kit. Small cooler filled with ice and a cold pack, and of course water.

I have two pairs of shoes, one I show in and one for all the other time.

Extra show collar/lead, in case one breaks, or goes MIA

I've now started to use those Sham Wow's instead of paper towels, much more economincal, and they seem to dry overnight.

Now a question; is it really hard to show Yorkies in outdoor shows? I've never shown Razz in an outdoor show but am considering it. What do you do about the wind/breeze that often comes up out of nowhere? I know for those that have RV's they could groom inside - but don't have one of those - just the van.

Gemy,

I have a container that fits in my grooming bag, it has two sides in it One side I keep several leads on the other bows.

Yes, you have to deal with the sudden breeze that comes up....you just deal with it. What is the most difficult thing I had to do was to get the dogs use to showing on grass....

Thanks Mary. Did you practice first in a park on the show lead with your dogs?. Razz goes for walks n hikes as you know - so he is used to feel of the grass. But I've not tried to show him on the grass... Umm think I will try 2morrow. It's finally getting sunny and warm here! yipee

Last wkend even though an indoor show the breeze was blowing through and I found it very difficult to iron coat and in particular to put in the topknot. So I begged a spot out of the breeze and then things improved. I'm going to see if there is someway I could set up in my van if worse comes to worse, breeze wise.

We do have that problem with the BRT's too - how-ever I've learned to do the show cut off site... then if God is good and gives me no wind I can touch up the topline a bit prior to show. Even though lots of problems with outdoor shows, there is nothing to beat them on a grand sunny temperate day!.

Thanks again

Yes, we practiced in the grass. However, not all show sites will have their lawns mowed prior to shows.....so the grass tickles their tummy, causing them to tuck their croup, making them appear roach backed.

Oh joy... hope the grass gets cut then..

Walking in grass is hard for any yorkie, let alone wet grass. We had one show that was outside and had been raining. It let up just in time for our class. Sweet. We went on. What is that saying, through sleet or rain we shall show, show, show!! LOL
I have shown in 17 degree F weather -well I think it warmed up to about 25 by the time we went in. And has hot as 95 in a building with open doors and no AC. That was hard. I would rather have the cold. Reason you need warmers and fans, just to be prepared.

If it is windy - just remember everyone is going through the same as you. And wishing maybe just a tad we had a short hair breed at that moment. LOL Not!;)

Living in Texas...show sites are indoors so one becomes very spoiled. The only time I complained about airconditioning was the Shrevport LA show site. The airconditioning was so cold...I had to put towels around the dogs to keep them warm....I think I had icicles on my eyelashes.

And hope it gets RAKED. We have actually raked rings prior to showing.

Also for those who show outside...walmart sells a battery operated two speed fans which attached to x pens or will free stand. They are wonderful and the batteries last a long time.

Thanks I'll take a look for them next time I'm at walmart

I've purchased some fans that have an ability to attach a frozen item to add coolness to it. These fans can be attached to crates with no fear of causing harm to the dogs. I do have other fans that I take along. But, if you are at a show site, such as Ft. Worth Exhibition Center or the Denton Fair Grounds where grooming is in the horse barn, and the temp is 98-100 degrees, with 90% humidity, nothing helps.

After you groom your dog in a place that hot, you probably need a little grooming yourself. ;) It can get pretty hot here as well, but at least there is no humidity.

Audrey

I;ve not seen those. Are they at wallmart too? I do have an electric mist fan - which is most often useless here - as our norm is if we have heat,we have lots of humidity!

I have two huge black fans, bought at Canadian Tire they are the best for our Blackies, range of blower speeds, and boy they can keep their long beard dry and the rest of them cool on a hot day. Of course we need electric for them, and that is why we had to purchase a generator as some show sites either don't have electrtic, or it costs an arm and a leg to rent!.

I remember in Missouri, when we had our 2nd US National specialty the temp was 90 in the shade all weekend. We set up under some trees, started up the generator, put up the sunscreens, etc, this poor woman came in the afternoon to show a herding dog, he was just panting from the heat. She asked if she could set up by us, we said yes of course. I could tell she was so worried about the heat and her boy, I said look come closer, we can angle the fans so your dog gets cooled down. Also we had ice cubes that we used, and gave to her dog too!.

It's great when exhibitors all work together. We stayed together all weekend, and we traded off looking after our equipment, water etc, so our dogs, were never left unattended.

Those fans that you can attach to their crates, can be purchased through PetEdge, they run on batteries.

I love when there is comraderie amongst exhibitors.....in makes for such a pleasant time. I don't understand when people are so cut throat and aren't helpful.