Almost a year apart from Memorial Day weekend 2025 at the West Michigan Apple Blossom Cluster to the Michigan Spring Cluster in Mason, MI March 2026. Going to Kalamazoo next weekend for the first full cluster as a special!
Anyone else have a “lucky” dress/outfit? All of my big wins seem to be when I’m wearing this purple dress lol
So excited — Obi wrapped up his CH this weekend with a WD/BOW major! (Pending AKC approval, of course.) That brings him to 5 majors (plus a single thrown in there in the middle), earned across 3 show clusters.
Both of us are very new to conformation. We took some handling classes starting in August, and our first show was at the end of September. No points from our first 2 show clusters, though one RWD — and lots of great learnings!
We hit our stride during our 3rd show weekend in January with 3 BOWs. Then 2 more majors during our 4th show weekend in February. And then rounded things out this weekend!
We’ve had a ton of fun and are grateful that the vizsla show community has been extremely welcoming and kind!
Also…. a lot of (well-intended, I think) people told me that you “shouldn’t” ever enter the AOH class. But we earned our entire championship that way! (And with a boring plain deerskin leather lead; no fancy braiding or beads, because I’m too frugal haha). So…. seek out guidance, but don’t take anyone’s advice as gospel. Do what works for you 😀
I’ve been trying to better understand why Border Collies developed such a pronounced split between working lines and show lines in terms of structure and appearance.
I’ve considered entering my working-bred Border Collies into conformation, but whenever I’ve asked for guidance from experienced handlers or breeders, I’ve generally been told not to bother because my dogs don’t fit the “show line” type.
To be honest, the modern show-type Border Collies often don’t resemble what I personally think of as a functional herding dog—they appear quite different from working lines in both structure and expression. That makes me curious: how did this become the preferred conformation ideal for the breed?
Since Border Collies were developed primarily as working dogs, I’m trying to understand why the conformation standard seems to prioritize a look that doesn’t necessarily reflect working structure or performance traits.
It also raises another question for me: is there any recognition of working-type structure in conformation contexts, or alternative venues that evaluate dogs more on functional build rather than a single aesthetic standard?
I’d really appreciate any historical context or insight into how this divergence developed and whether there are pathways for working-bred dogs in the conformation world.
hi guys ive never shown a dog before but ive recently taken an interest, i have a french bulldog, shes almost 7 months old im going to join the local akc club with her and get her into conformation classes but im having an issue identifying her colors and if she qualifies for show... shes definitely a fawn piebald but the issue is her mask... its not quite brown, not quite black, not quite grey... im unsure if it will darken up or not and she does have lighter eyes which have been slowly darkening as well. even if she doesnt qualify for akc shows i do still think i want to get her into the "exotic" shows for frenchies but can anybody help me identify her mask color. i had her genetic tested and she doesnt have any of the recessive genes that would cause a DQ dilute such as blue or lilac but she does have the genes for piebald, fawn, recessive red, saddle back coat pattern, mask, and tan points. here is a picture of her face to try and help me identify her mask color and also just for the fun of it heres a picture of our very first attempt at a stack
Hello
I was wondering if anyone could help with any exercises to help straighten out east to west feet on a weak front. I’ve seen a few online however don’t want to accidentally cause more damage by doing something wrong.
Once a dog is places in a correct stand she’s more than happy to hold it but freestacks are quite iffy
In the videos her back looks a little narrow however she doesn’t always do this
Conformation/agility dog (apologies if this isn’t the right group to ask)
First show- lots of ribbons! We loved it!
My boy really stepped his game up today and not only went WD but also BoW. In BoB ring he showed his heart out to get our first owner handled points.
We had over a 5 hour break before OH Groups and he absolutely refused to nap no matter what I did - he'll usually settle and nap as soon as I leave out spot but when I came back after a few breeds he was still awake and watching everyone walk by. I tried covering his crate completely, letting him be out with me, being on the table, we even went for a drive which usually has him out within a few minutes, not a single wink.
After he fought through his exhaustion in the group ring (which the "big" ring was an experience itself for him), he promptly came back to our grooming spot to nap on the table.
I posted a few months back about whether I was too late to start training my dog for conformation showing at 3 years old. Thanks to encouragement from you all, my breeder, and friends, we have been regularly going to handling classes since January and are loving it. Our next step is actually entering and going to a show.
I am beyond nervous as a mega-newbie but one of my friends suggested going to an IABCA show at the end of the June as a more lowkey fun exepeirnce for me and my dog.
Does anyone have an experience with these shows? I'd love to know the good, bad, and ugly!
I know they count points/titles very differently than AKC. My dog has great structure but has a bit of a sparse coat for the breed, so I am not sure how successful we would be in AKC in our area and breed. Is it worth playing in this venue for a little bit while I am still learning?
Not sure if this matters but I have no intentions of breeding my dog, unless my breeder wants to use him for her program, so we are just doing sports and shows for fun! We love Nosework, barn hunt, and obedience and now conformation is another fun thing we like to do together :)
I am writing this out of genuine confusion and seeking advice.
I have been showing my dog since it was four months old. The dog is now almost 4 years old. The dog has never had a single health problem in its entire life up until Tuesday when the dog was outside playing with another dog and the dog collapsed and had a grand mal seizure. I took the dog to the vet immediately and they said that the dog was completely fine and the dog didn’t seem to be affected by the episode.
I am now running into a dilemma where I am unsure if I should continue to show my dog. I am newer in the dog show world and really do not want something like that happening at a dog show. I also am not sure what caused this episode to happen, but I do know that in my breed it’s not exactly uncommon for dogs to develop epilepsy or seizure disorders after the age of three. I was also made aware very recently that there has been an immediate family member that has had seizures for about a year now. I currently do not have any other dogs I can show or keep myself active within the community as this dog was being campaigned and poured into.
My dog will be pulled from breeding but I currently heavily campaign my dog, and I’m very successful with the dog. I just am trying to figure out what is the right thing to do between all these gray lines. I obviously care so much about the health of my dog and its longevity but I find I’m hitting a cross roads of what to do. I still had so much planned for us… WWYD if this was your dog?
I’m seeing mixed things online about this. I have a show puppy (5 months), we are in conformation classes but not quite ready to show yet. We will be going to a fastcat event for my other dog and there is a dog show going on at the same time. Am I allowed to walk her around the show if she is not entered? I would really like to expose her to the show environment before we actually show.
ETA there’s also obedience, rally, trick dog stuff going on as well
How do Groups work in BPUP?
I know if you win your breed you go on to group and if win that go on to bestin show. But how does the group assignment works? It seems I see posts of the same breed being in Group 1 or Group 3, so Im confused how you get into which group. I thought they were like herding, sport, etc groups?
New to showing andhave my first coming upd
I’m considering a second dog. There’s a puppy available in my current breed that’s a great prospect, and would give me the opportunity to connect with some really cool people and potentially contribute to the future of the breed in a positive way. I love my breed, and I adore the breed community, and part of me wants to throw everything I have into owning, showing, and eventually breeding them. It’s a rare breed and their preservation really matters to me.
However, another part really wants to explore another breed. I am worried if I get a second of the same breed, they will be too similar. This other breeds temperament really appeals to me and I’d love to see if we mesh. I’ve met quite a few and loved them all. Plus they are a toy breed, which makes so many things so much easier. This breed is more popular, and I get the sense the breed community is less friendly and welcoming. And I’d be entering as such a newbie. Also, while I’ll continue to be connected to my previous breed community through my first dog, soon she will likely be spayed and no longer actively showing. So I do feel like I will no longer be as involved as I am now. I care so much about the breed and helping them continue. But since two dogs is my max right now this will be my last for a while.
It might help to know dog #1 is my first adult dog and first purebred. I’ve had fun showing her but would like to get more serious about putting titles on my next. I’m really stuck between leaning all in to one breed before trying another since I already have a solid foundation there, or trying out different breeds while I’m young before getting more serious about one over another.
If any of you have switched breeds, I’d love to hear about it!
I guess I’ve relied too much on using a mirror while training because during confo class without one I’m finding it hard to tell if my dog is stacked correctly (back legs specifically) She is a double coated breed which makes it harder to see under all that fluff. Any tips for this or does it just come with time?
I have a double coated puppy that I plan to show. I’ve been bathing her every couple weeks to keep her coat nice. I use Chris Christensen products (day by day shampoo and spectrum one conditioner. diluted). I know it can irritate their skin if you bathe too often but not if you use good products. When I dry her I can see down to the skin and her skin looks fine, she just has some dry flakes that come off of her mainly when I brush her. any tips? should I try different bathing products? I don’t think it’s allergies since she doesn’t really seem itchy.
I'm pretty new to showing. I have an upcoming show that says it will be casual attire. What exactly does that mean? How casual is casual? The premium list also says that there will be both indoor and outdoor rings. When I've been to indoor/outdoor shows in the past, my breed is always outdoor. I suspect it's because they don't require more grooming than just a bath and a nail trim!
