THE GOLDEN RULES OF THE SHOW RING

• Never position yourself or move between the judge and your dog.

• Always be polite to the judge and other competitors.

• Be neat and clean in appearance, your dress should be suited to your sport.

• Above all concentrate, but enjoy yourself and then your dog will.

• Know all about the breed you are handling: size, conformation, weight and age.

The triangle is used to show the dog's rear movement (A-C), side movement (C-D), and front movement (D-A).

During the movement the judge should not find it necessary to move his position to obtain the correct view of the dog.  The triangle must not be so wide as to be outside the judge's field of vision, nor too narrow because the side view (C-D) would be too short.

The line (C-D) should cross the judge's line of vision (A-B) at right angles to provide the perfect side view.

Be alert for the judge show moves position and line of vision, however slightly, and adjust your direction and points accordingly.

STRAIGHT UP AND DOWN

Straight up and down is used to show the judge the rear and front of the dog in movement.  The dog must be moved along the judge's line of vision and returned along the same line, taking care not to slow or stop the dog's movement on the turn.

Watch the judge, your line to point B, and your dog throughout the movement, being prepared for the judge who changes his position and line of vision during gaiting.

ROUND THE RING

This pattern can be used to see the handler's control or to compare several dogs together.

The handler must keep the dog moving at the correct speed, positioned on the left, in an anti-clockwise direction round the ring.  The judge is usually positioned in the centre of the circle.  Care should be taken not to overtake the dog in front, but if it is slow moving, stop until there is enough space to gait your dog at his correct speed.

RING PROCEDURE

Having practised the basic handling skills, the handler should now move on to ring procedure.

GAITING AROUND THE RING

With their dog on the left hand side the handlers gait around the ring in an anti-clockwise direction.

DO

• Gait the dog at the correct speed.
• Keep the dog on the left (judge's position permitting)
• Keep your dog away from your legs so as not to obstruct the judge's view with skirts, by extending your arm into a soft curve.
• Keep your eyes on your dog, direction and the judge for further instructions, eg to stop gaiting.
• Stop and wait for space rather than crowd the dog in front, and gait on at the dog's correct speed.
• Keep at a comfortable distance from the dog in front.

DO NOT

• Crowd the dog in front.
• Allow your dog to get too far in front or behind you.
• Gait your dog too slowly because of the slower speed of the dog in front.
• Distract other exhibitors' dogs.

STANDING IN A LINE AT THE SIDE OF THE RING

DO

• Stand your dog correctly and quickly.
• Keep control of the dog's head at all times.
• Be ready to position your dog for examination.  Unless otherwise instructed by the judge, do this whilst the dog before you is being gaited.
• Dog not be a distraction to that dog's performance, but be ready when the judge comes to you.

DO NOT

• Crowd the dog in front.
• Obstruct the judge's view of any part of your dog.
• Allow your dog to lick, sniff or interfere with the dogs in front and behind you.
• Position your dog in front or behind the line of dogs.
• Become hidden from the judge's view by positioning yourself in a corner.

INDIVIDUAL EXAMINATION

DO

• Have the dog standing ready for viewing by the judge immediately after completion of the previous dog's gaiting.

• Have control of the head at all times, either by hand or lead and normally in the right hand.

• Be ready to present the dog's head and show his bite on request.

• Move to the rear of the dog, keeping lead control of the dog as the judge examines the front and check the rear positioning of the dog.

• Move to the head of your dog with main head control still in your right hand as the judge examines the rest of the dog.  Check the dog's front, but at no time obstruct the judge's view or examination, and be ready to return to the dog's side to "stand" him for final viewing before gaiting.

DO NOT

• Block the judge's view of examination by having your hands around part of the dog being examined.  Human hands can be an ugly sight.

• Impede the judge's view by being too close to your dog: always try to remain at arms length.

• Delay after examination, be ready to move your dog to the gaiting position quickly.

The handler must learn how to stand the breed of dog being handled as quickly and efficiently as possible, because sometimes there are only a few seconds and the dog must be "set up" according to the breed's stance.

With any breed the handler must never lose control of the dog's head.

During a line-up the handler will present their dog in one of the following ways, dependant upon the breed.

• The handler standing beside the dog.
• The handler kneeling beside the dog.
• The handler standing towards or in front of the dog's head.

Some breeds and dogs react best to a loose lead, whilst others are more responsive to tension above the head from the lead.

Watch experienced handlers in the breed to learn correct technique.  They will usually be only too pleased to show the good points of the breed and how to emphasise them.

• Arrive at the venue in plenty of time, check the schedule if it's a split group or it could be a show in reverse alphabetical order.
• Locate the ring for your breed, keep a watch as to breed no's on before you.
• Make sure you check in a catalogue that you are in the right class, ie if you have been put in the catalogue & judges sheets as a puppy when you are in fact no longer eligible & should be in junior, but go in the ring and be judged as a puppy even if there are no juniors anyway or no
  other entries of your breed you will be disqualified.
• As judging of the breed prior to yours is completing move closer to the ring and obtain a position reasonably close so assembly steward can see you & you can hear your exhibit number called. (only 3 calls are given & then you will be marked absent).  If there is a lot in the group, the assembly steward will be checking off numbers a few classes ahead of what is actually next in the ring to keep things moving quickly.
• Watch how the steward and judge are using the ring and telling the exhibitors what to do, i.e. if there is only 1 exhibit in the class you might only ‡ way around the ring, if several exhibits in the class it might be 1 ‡ times around the ring before the judge goes over the first exhibit.
• If there is only the one person doing both the assembly & ring stewarding jobs, they might not be able to tell you what to do all the time in the ring.  If you have watched previous classes you will see how much instruction is given.
• Take the time at shows to observe how exhibitors of other breed in your group handle/stack/ run/correct their dogs.
• When 'junior handler' classes are conducted at shows, take the time to watch these youngsters, they are a great learning exhibition.

Handlers placing their dogs before the judge

CHOKERS AND LEADS

• The choker only needs to fit comfortably over the head so as it can be positioned high up on neck, under chin and behind ears.

• A loose, down on the shoulders choker gives you NO CONTROL.  The length of lead is an individual choice so long as you can control your exhibit, but not too long that it is on the ground & you risk tripping over it.  Generally a lead the length of the dog's body will be long enough.

RING ETTIQUETTE

• By watching the breed/s on before you, you can see how the judge running/managing/conducting his judging and where he wants the dogs to stand/run etc.

• Always have a cloth with you before you go into the ring & make sure you wipe your dog's mouth to remove the drool that is ALWAYS there.  No judge wants to come up to check the teeth amongst a mouth full of slobber.

• If you are going to have bait in the ring, make sure you have a cloth with you in the ring too.  A small face washer you can tuck in your pocket.  Don't feed the bait to your dog just before the judge is to look in their mouth.

• Make sure you have the bait held in something secure so it does not fly everywhere as you run around the ring.  There is nothing worse than a dog being distracted by bait on the ground in the ring.

• When the ring steward calls you into the ring follow their instructions as to whether you move along the inside of ring (if possible STACK your dog now so that when the judge turns to look you are already "showing" your dog).  Sometimes you are instructed to gait your dog to in front
  of the judge ñ then STACK your do.

• If there is more than 1 exhibit in the class after the judge has examined the first exhibit & it is gaiting around the ring, move up to where the judge went over that exhibit and set your dog up ready, so as soon as the judge finishes watching the other dog run they turn & see your dog all set up.

• If there is more than 1 exhibit in the class after the judge has examined the first exhibit & it is gaiting around the ring, move up to where the judge went over that exhibit and set your dog up ready, so as soon as the judge finishes watching the other dog run they turn & see your dog all set up.

• If you are asked to go straight out & back.  Look first at a point you are going to run straight to & check as you go to run back to the judge as to where they are.  They may have had to move to watch you on your 'straight' run out & are not where they were when you left them.   The same goes for a triangle, take a moment to look at where you are & where you are going to run your triangle in the ring before running off.

• If there is several exhibits in your class keep watching the steward, judge, your dogs and other dogs.  Once the last dog is being judged start to set your dog up & make the most of him/her.  Choker up under chin, place front legs first then rear end.  The aim is to show your dog to their best advantage all the time you are in the ring.

• If there is more than 1 dog in your class, try not to get to close to the other dogs when moving.  As well as disrupting the dog in front it also puts your dog off.   The rings are large enough that you do not need to run over the dog in front.

• If the dog in front is extremely slow, mucking around or just not moving at all, go behind them & keep running around as requested, then leave space for them to come back their position in front of you.  Or if you know your dog will move very easily and quickly, leave a few seconds between when the dog in front takes off and you start your dog moving.

• You will notice that the various breeds are shown differently, as do various exhibitors with their own dogs of the same breed.  It is all about making the dog you have look its best & as each dog has its own good and bad points it is all about making the most of that individual dog.  Some dogs have a good head/chest/front, others it is their body/outline, others it may be slightly turned feet or soft topline you need to "hide".

• NEVER leave the ring until instructed to do so by the steward.

• If you have been awarded 2^nd place don't leave ringside until breed judging is completed.  If the cc is awarded to the 1^st placegetter from the class you were 2^nd in your dog will be required back in the ring for the judge to choose a reserve challenge recipient from the remaining 1^st placegetters & your 2^nd place exhibit.

• If you have decided not to stay for group judging, please inform the steward so they are not calling & calling for you.

By Cheryl Wright