Show Prospect or Show Quality

[musiccitymom]

This is a great thread, thank you all for contributing! Patience has never been a virtue of mine but Wolfie is certainly teaching me that : ) I honestly never realized how much goes into taking care of the coat much less the time training. Hopefully he will continue to turn out well enough for me to keep getting out there and absorbing as much as I can. Again, thank you for such valuable insight.

[Brooklynn]

Originally Posted by Woogie Man

I think that varies greatly by area. I've mentioned to you before the exhibitor friend I have. Though our relationship is not quite one of mentor/understudy, I have learned a lot from her. Honestly, though, I only know of one other accomplished exhibitor in my area and she is now retired from both showing and breeding. You and some others here do offer some wonderful advice, though, and it's sort of like 'virtual mentoring' .



Hey, Donna....you could start a blog here on YT. I bet it would get a lot of views. As it is, yours and others posts are very educational.

Naww not interested in blogging LOL...I'm afraid my thoughts and fingers would get me into trouble LOL

[yorkielady06]

That is kind of what I am getting at though. How would a newbie or lets say a newbie with a mentor find the lines they have researched and love? If you cannot get it from the source then you get it from a line search and others who have it.
The girl I have that is 6 months old is from some of the lines I happen to prefer. She has been to conformation classes and from there I found my mentor. I have asked her honest opinion of my girl and honest she has been. My girl has a very sweet personality but is "soft" and will be difficult in a show ring. She has a dead level topline, great ear set, bite, stop. However, she does not have much neck and leg. Her lines include Durrer , Pastoral, Fireacres,and Stringers...all in 4 generation pedigree. So with that said, I looked for something with those lines that I prefer and found a boy that has leg and neck and moves like a dream from a reputable YTCA in another state to eventually breed this bitch to if he champions. By knowing how to read pedigrees, knowing lines you like and looking for them, a newbie still is not able to obtain those lines. So you find the next best thing and work from there. That was what I was doing until I found a mentor. Without taking my little bitch to conformation, I may never have had the opportunity to mentor like I have.
So what constructive advice do you have for a newbie in finding a good mentor? Mind you finding a mentor is not easy to do sometimes. I have to drive an hour and a half to my mentor. I could have mentored under a lady right in the town next to me, but thankfully I knew of her reputation after the sale of a puppy, and I have steered clear of of her.
How about a good show potential puppy?

My goal is not just to show someone elses dog to a championship. My goal is to have my own homebred champion, and even more so, my own homebred grandchampion someday.

[Mardelin]

Originally Posted by Brooklynn

OH gosh I remember you telling me that! What I would have given to be with you traveling with them! Those 3 together what a wealth of knowledge! I am thankful that I have come to know one of them and what a lovely woman she is! Now to get to know the other one that was in the car

Donna

Those 3 together are a kick in the pants.......all fun loving when they get together. They take everything in stride and when they are conversing it's so non-chalant.

[Mardelin]

Originally Posted by yorkielady06

That is kind of what I am getting at though. How would a newbie or lets say a newbie with a mentor find the lines they have researched and love? If you cannot get it from the source then you get it from a line search and others who have it.
The girl I have that is 6 months old is from some of the lines I happen to prefer. She has been to conformation classes and from there I found my mentor. I have asked her honest opinion of my girl and honest she has been. My girl has a very sweet personality but is "soft" and will be difficult in a show ring. She has a dead level topline, great ear set, bite, stop. However, she does not have much neck and leg. Her lines include Durrer , Pastoral, Fireacres,and Stringers...all in 4 generation pedigree. So with that said, I looked for something with those lines that I prefer and found a boy that has leg and neck and moves like a dream from a reputable YTCA in another state to eventually breed this bitch to if he champions. By knowing how to read pedigrees, knowing lines you like and looking for them, a newbie still is not able to obtain those lines. So you find the next best thing and work from there. That was what I was doing until I found a mentor. Without taking my little bitch to conformation, I may never have had the opportunity to mentor like I have.
So what constructive advice do you have for a newbie in finding a good mentor? Mind you finding a mentor is not easy to do sometimes. I have to drive an hour and a half to my mentor. I could have mentored under a lady right in the town next to me, but thankfully I knew of her reputation after the sale of a puppy, and I have steered clear of of her.
How about a good show potential puppy?

My goal is not just to show someone elses dog to a championship. My goal is to have my own homebred champion, and even more so, my own homebred grandchampion someday.

I think both Donna and I have stated, though she started a bit differently than I did. Along with studying lines, you must attend dog shows, get to know people, pitch in and be a gopher. Breeders/exhibitors need to get to know you, before they will relinquish a show/potential.

I studied lines and was lucky enough to find the lines I wanted locally. My mentor is my breeder.

[Mardelin]

Originally Posted by Woogie Man

Mary, when you say 4 bitches, are you meaning 4 bitches from completely different lines and, if not, is there an ideal as to how much the pedigrees should intersect? Sisters, half-sisters, Aunts, any relationship?

Also, I agree with your last statement above. It's just that, in my mind, a newbie wouldn't be one who could really study breeders and pedigrees with a good understanding, so that prompts my 'leap of faith' comment. I guess that begs the question, "what is a newbie" as pertains to this subject.

Not from completely different lines. In order for one to set type one must line breed. There is a couple of documents on line breeding, I'll hunt them up for you so that you can keep them for your files. Line breeding is done with distant relatives with a commonality in their lineage. And by no means am I speaking about inbreeding. Yes, on occassion you may box yourself in and have to outcross, and with outcrossing you are taking the chance of brining in something you don't want.

[Brooklynn]

Originally Posted by yorkielady06

That is kind of what I am getting at though. How would a newbie or lets say a newbie with a mentor find the lines they have researched and love? Continue to study under this mentor and trust me doors will open if you continue to do the right thing in the show world.
If you cannot get it from the source then you get it from a line search and others who have it. Getting something you want will take time and patience and the one who's lines you want trust you. I've waited and been patient for almost 3 years to get what I want this time around.
The girl I have that is 6 months old is from some of the lines I happen to prefer. She has been to conformation classes and from there I found my mentor. Great start and it's good you found your mentor! Nothing better than having a mentor that you trust!
I have asked her honest opinion of my girl and honest she has been. My girl has a very sweet personality but is "soft" and will be difficult in a show ring. She has a dead level topline, great ear set, bite, stop. However, she does not have much neck and leg. I showed a bitch with a soft personality and pulled her out of it
Her lines include Durrer , Pastoral, Fireacres,and Stringers...all in 4 generation pedigree. So with that said, I looked for something with those lines that I prefer and found a boy that has leg and neck and moves like a dream from a reputable YTCA in another state to eventually breed this bitch to if he champions. By knowing how to read pedigrees, knowing lines you like and looking for them, a newbie still is not able to obtain those lines. So you find the next best thing and work from there. That was what I was doing until I found a mentor. Without taking my little bitch to conformation, I may never have had the opportunity to mentor like I have.
So what constructive advice do you have for a newbie in finding a good mentor? Attending dog shows is a great way to find mentors and study unter them.
Mind you finding a mentor is not easy to do sometimes. I have to drive an hour and a half to my mentor. I could have mentored under a lady right in the town next to me, but thankfully I knew of her reputation after the sale of a puppy, and I have steered clear of of her.
How about a good show potential puppy?

My goal is not just to show someone elses dog to a championship. My goal is to have my own homebred champion, and even more so, my own homebred grandchampion someday.

I want my own too but I really don't like the whelping box. I don't mind showing for others as the show ring is where much of my passion lies. That is why I see so much in the ring that doesn't belong. I do want another litter within the next couple of years but only with a champion sire and bitch

[Brooklynn]

Originally Posted by Mardelin

I think both Donna and I have stated, though she started a bit differently than I did. Along with studying lines, you must attend dog shows, get to know people, pitch in and be a gopher. Breeders/exhibitors need to get to know you, before they will relinquish a show/potential.

I studied lines and was lucky enough to find the lines I wanted locally. My mentor is my breeder.

After my first dog show as a spectator I was hooked. My very first dog show was the Houston Reliant in Houston, Tx and from then on I attended all the local shows and joined Bluebonnet Yorkshire Terrier club. My first contact was Lee Grunwald actually. I also help Kara Parks hold a yorkie. I was lucky in how I got involved and it just evolved from there. I"ve been showing since 2004. I"ve always had my type of yorkie I like and have pretty much stayed with the type I like. Although, I do prefer Radar's lines but the sad part is Aero no longer breeds but I can have access to what is behind Aero and other breeders with that line.

[yorkielady06]

I have always had a passion for the whelping box. I live for the rush to see the new arrivals and what they will bring. Yes, there are sad times and stressful times, but overall to see what crossing 2 together and the tiny lives grow from unseeing little creatures into full adult beauties amazes me. However, the finding of perfect homes I could live without. That part has been the part I do not like at all.
Now, I find that I have the same passion for showing. To find that show potential, to nurture his/her spirit and desires, to groom that silky coat and walk with your head high in that ring is also amazing. Even to do the gopher things like cleaning up the pee in the ring, and bathing in a tub in a hotel room with the ice bucket, to picking up potties in that hotel room, all of it.
It is now squeezing out the time to do both and do them correctly.

[Brooklynn]

Originally Posted by yorkielady06

I have always had a passion for the whelping box. I live for the rush to see the new arrivals and what they will bring. Yes, there are sad times and stressful times, but overall to see what crossing 2 together and the tiny lives grow from unseeing little creatures into full adult beauties amazes me. However, the finding of perfect homes I could live without. That part has been the part I do not like at all.
Now, I find that I have the same passion for showing. To find that show potential, to nurture his/her spirit and desires, to groom that silky coat and walk with your head high in that ring is also amazing. Even to do the gopher things like cleaning up the pee in the ring, and bathing in a tub in a hotel room with the ice bucket, to picking up potties in that hotel room, all of it.
It is now squeezing out the time to do both and do them correctly.

I truly wish you good luck I've never really had the desire for the whelping box and I do love puppies very much! I just don't like the stressing over my bitch that is in whelp and that has to deliver babies and the risk that's put on her. She's the one I've nurtured from the time she came into my life until the time she goes out, it would kill me if something were to happen to one of my bitches because I chose to bred her. I know the risks when I do it so I guess that's why I don't have many litters and my search for a female is taking as long as it is as I'm in no hurry. LOL

[YorkieRose]

I recall saying some time back that I thought it was much easier to get a really tip top show prospect now then in years passed...and I believe it even more today....I have seen several fairly new exhabitors purchase some terrific potentials...so terrific they were finished as quickly as the breeders own dogs they are showing.

Are breeders producing better quality then in years passed and are they producing more then they can possibly show themselves? I saw two litters recently and all 9 pups had show potential IMO...some better then others, but no slackers in the bunch...how can a breeder show 9?

[LuvndemYorkies]

Newbies -many have started without a mentor.if you have an eye for a dog and don't mind studying WARNING if you are looking for advice check out the persons own statistics. SERIOUSLY what have they done for the breed? Not what has their mentor done!
just because they talk a good talk and it doesn't add up when you look at their own accomplishments in the breed. so be careful who you listen to for advice
Also have you noticed the serious/accomplished breeders don't hang around here putting others down-juz sayin

[Brooklynn]

Originally Posted by YorkieRose

I recall saying some time back that I thought it was much easier to get a really tip top show prospect now then in years passed...and I believe it even more today....I have seen several fairly new exhabitors purchase some terrific potentials...so terrific they were finished as quickly as the breeders own dogs they are showing.

Are breeders producing better quality then in years passed and are they producing more then they can possibly show themselves? I saw two litters recently and all 9 pups had show potential IMO...some better then others, but no slackers in the bunch...how can a breeder show 9?

If I were in the situation this breeder was in with 9....I'd pick the best of what I needed at the time whether it be a male or female and place the "nice" ones into loving pet homes, as I can't keep or show 9 and besides...I wouldn't be having two litters at one time LOL...

[Brooklynn]

Originally Posted by LuvndemYorkies

Newbies -many have started without a mentor.if you have an eye for a dog and don't mind studying WARNING if you are looking for advice check out the persons own statistics. SERIOUSLY what have they done for the breed? Not what has their mentor done!
just because they talk a good talk and it doesn't add up when you look at their own accomplishments in the breed. so be careful who you listen to for advice
Also have you noticed the serious/accomplished breeders don't hang around here putting others down-juz sayin

I don't think anyone is being put down? I also agree becareful who you listen too and what a breeder has done for the breed....I couldn't agree more with that statement

Donna

[smepperson]

Originally Posted by shodanusmc

<<<What would you do if you bought a puppy as a show pup and it didn't turn out like you thought? Would you send it back to the breeder or keep it as a pet or continue to show it>>>>

No idea to most questions, but I know that we would never send the dog back after we had it. It would be a family member regardless. Guess it is a good thing we are not show people.