Caution: Show Dogs bumper stickers

[Bicoastal]

[QUOTE=Either;6129735]
There is a comedian on you tube who does a 2 mins bit on seeing a trailer that said “CAUTION: SHOW HORSES” and then goes on to say how impressed and in awe he was that they were “SHOW” horses and that he wont ram the bumper like he does with “regular” horses.[/QUOTE]

Stole this topic from Off Course, thinking finally someone talks about this! As a pet owner, when I saw the CAUTION: SHOW DOGS magnets and bumper stickers, they rubbed me the wrong way. Now as a doggie sport newbie I try very hard to understand the driver’s perspective but honestly they still bug me.

Anyone scratch their heads about them, like me?

Anyone here have em? Do you get tailgated less? Personally, I get curious and want to see who’s in there!

Do you think tailgating scares your dog? That was always my first thought when I saw those warnings :lol:.

Are show dogs (often safely crated) more important than pet dogs (often loose) driving around with their owners? That belief will irk a lot of drivers into tailgating :o.

I see those stickers being slightly useful in showground parking lots as a reminder to leave room for doors to be left open and maybe some xpen space. But if you are attending a dog show, most drivers will have their own dogs and will allow room. Also useful if you leave your dogs in the car but there is no emergency contact info on those warnings…

Your thoughts?

[AlmostDun]

I think any bumper sticker in small print is an invitation to tailgaters. People have to get close enough to read it, after all.

I’ve always interpreted the “caution: show dogs” stickers as meaning, “caution: self-absorbed, overwrought driver.” It’s nice they think to warn the rest of us. So many don’t.

[vtdobes]

They are like the “baby on board” things people put on their cars.

Like…yeah? Who cares?

Yes I show my dogs & horses but don’t put those stickers on my vehicles. The paw print magnet on the back of my car says “My best friend is a bitch”

[my_buddy_s_blue]

IMO, I think it is for attention. My daughter has a friend that is pushed by her mom to show everything they own. And they have the bumpersticker to let you know. I’m just waiting for the show guinea pig sticker now that they are showing them too.

[Emryss]

OT: “I’m so busy…I don’t know if I found a rope or lost my horse.” :lol:

On topic: I find those bumper stickers pretentious. That said, I do have a license plate frame that says, “Well, that was that dog show” which is pretty much what my husband and I say after every show - win or lose. (Come to think of it…lose. We have yet to make BIS. Or a Group 1. We lose every time!) Haven’t decided whether it’s pretentious or not, but it makes us smile when we load up after the day. It’s always a good day at a dog show.

[Arbitrary]

They are the equivalent of “my kid is an honor student.”

One more for the “who cares” crowd.

[wireweiners]

I always thought those stickers were pretentious also. When I was showing I had all sorts of dachshund related bumper stickers on the car.

[jadewolf]

[QUOTE=Arbitrary;6130942]
They are the equivalent of “my kid is an honor student.”

One more for the “who cares” crowd.[/QUOTE]

Ditto this.

I want to get this one to put on my car, as a nice counterpoint…

Your Honor Student is Merely a Pawn in my Border Collie’s Diabolical World Domination Plot

[amm2cd]

How bad is it that I want a “Caution Show Horses” sticker because it’s pretentious and will make me chuckle every time I unload my QH at a dressage show?

I doubt i’d do the show dogs sticker because my poodles A) would prefer to cuddle on the couch or run through a muddy field than show and B) would embarass me every time they boiled out of the car just to disprove the ‘show dog’ sticker…

I do like the “My ____ Is smarter than your honer student” (bc really, how hard is it to be an honor student anyway?)

[S1969]

To be honest I have never thought about it. I don’t have one but I see them at dog shows.

I suppose there is the possibility that other drivers might give you a bit more room or understand your driving better just knowing that you might have 12 crates with dogs in the back of your oversized van. As opposed to delivering nursing home supplies or boxes of copy paper.

In a parking lot, people might not park as close to you if you have dogs on board.

Although more likely people don’t actually notice them or care either way.

[wendy]

I’ve always wondered what they are “cautioning” us about? if it said “caution: uncrated untrained jack russells” or “caution: rowdy mud-covered hounds” I’d know not to try to steal their GPS system out of their car; or if it said “caution: neurotic shelties who never shut up” I’d know not to park near them when I want to make a phone call, but “show dogs”?

[Bicoastal]

[QUOTE=wendy;6131203]
I’ve always wondered what they are “cautioning” us about? “caution: neurotic shelties who never shut up” I’d know not to park near them when I want to make a phone call, but “show dogs”?[/QUOTE]

:lol::lol: Sheltie & GSD owners should be required to put that on their vehicles! :lol:

<<Running/ducking for cover>>

[spinandslide]

[QUOTE=carp;6130493]
I think any bumper sticker in small print is an invitation to tailgaters. People have to get close enough to read it, after all.

I’ve always interpreted the “caution: show dogs” stickers as meaning, “caution: self-absorbed, overwrought driver.” It’s nice they think to warn the rest of us. So many don’t. :D[/QUOTE]

LOL…Very true…

[S1969]

[QUOTE=carp;6130493]
I think any bumper sticker in small print is an invitation to tailgaters. People have to get close enough to read it, after all.

I’ve always interpreted the “caution: show dogs” stickers as meaning, “caution: self-absorbed, overwrought driver.” It’s nice they think to warn the rest of us. So many don’t. :D[/QUOTE]

I wonder how many people on this thread/board actually know anyone who shows dogs? (In real life, not from the movie Best in Show).

It’s just so fascinating to see horse people calling dog show people “self-absorbed”. Obviously not everyone on COTH shows their horses but people who show their horses seem very accepted…dog show owners, not so much.

[my_buddy_s_blue]

I show my dogs.I am a judge with UKC and AKC, and while I have met some wonderful people showing dogs I have also met some that should not even own a fish and here they have show dogs.

[Houndhill]

How interesting, S1969. I confess to having shown dogs for ahem, shall we just say more than forty years? For me, horses are the noncompetitive outlet in my life…I foxhunt, trail ride, do Horsemasters, whatever is a supportive and fun environment. I have shown dogs since I was twelve years old, have bred some quality hounds who have been treasured companions, which is what really matters, and now also judge.

I understand that dog breeders (and I am one, although litters have been infrequent, mostly every few years) have been demonized, and showing dogs has also been deemed “politically incorrect” in some quarters.

I am the first to admit, some of the criticism of purebred dog breeders is justified…but I hope not all are painted with the same brush. I so love my breed, and my dogs, and try very hard to do right by them…

I find the “Show Dogs On Board” bumper stickers quite obnoxious, but then also put into the same category the “Baby On Board” “My Kid Is An Honor Student” etc. bumper stickers.

My vehicle sports the international foxhunting symbol, and I am conscious that it probably offends some people. Who may damage my vehicle.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=Houndhill;6131465]
I find the “Show Dogs On Board” bumper stickers quite obnoxious, but then also put into the same category the “Baby On Board” “My Kid Is An Honor Student” etc. bumper stickers.[/QUOTE]

Oh, I’m in total agreement about the bumper stickers.

And perhaps this should just become a spinoff thread. I have noticed, however, that the “purebred” dog and “dog showing” on this board are most definitely viewed by many to be a ridiculous sport/hobby, and show dogs are owned by “self-absorbed” people (I have been called a rabid purebred fanatic or something like that…).

And I get it – if you talk to 95% of the world, they would think showing and breeding dogs is ridiculous. But I would think most horse owners would be more accepting, considering that horse ownership is a luxury, and certainly horse showing is a sport in which only the most well-off of our population can afford to partake to any great degree.

Seems they have a whole lot in common…I am just continuously surprised at the attitude toward purebred dogs and dog showing on COTH (of all places).

For the record, I own a farm and two horses that my kids show at the 4H level, and own two purebred dogs - one of which I show.

[iechris]

[QUOTE=my buddy’s blue;6130679]
IMO, I think it is for attention. My daughter has a friend that is pushed by her mom to show everything they own. And they have the bumpersticker to let you know. I’m just waiting for the show guinea pig sticker now that they are showing them too.[/QUOTE]

Slight derail- you can show guinea pigs? Must share this info with guinea pig loving co-worker (though she doesn’t seem the showing type).

On topic- don’t see the point of putting a show dogs sign on your car. More of an invitation to have someone steal your car with your dogs in it if you ask me (and I do have a friend whose van, with dogs in it, was stolen from a show).

[Casey09]

iechris wrote

On topic- don’t see the point of putting a show dogs sign on your car. More of an invitation to have someone steal your car with your dogs in it if you ask me (and I do have a friend whose van, with dogs in it, was stolen from a show).

I totally agree with this. I can’t imagine either the show horses or show dogs stickers would make other drivers more cautious, and I would worry that either might attract some nutjob and create a theft risk.

I do know some people who show dogs, and I am trying to get into showing in dog stuff (other than conformation). I hope to one day show conformation. I definitely get the feeling that many people think that showing dogs is ridiculous. Personally I hate trailering and for that reason alone I decided long ago that showing horses was absolutely not for me. Showing dogs seems more practical (for me).

Bicoastal wrote

Are show dogs (often safely crated) more important than pet dogs (often loose) driving around with their owners? That belief will irk a lot of drivers into tailgating .

Well, I know that I have done it, but really dogs should be crated or restrained in another way in a moving vehicle. In an accident, a loose dog becomes a projectile, which is a danger to other occupants in the vehicle even if they are wearing seatbelts. Not only that, but the dog is likely to be thrown from the vehicle and seriously injured, lost, or both. I know a number of people who have lost dogs after car accidents. It is safer for everyone to restrain dogs in vehicles, whether the dogs in question go to shows or stay home.

[Kryswyn]

I don’t want people tailgating, that’s why my JACK RUSSELL TERRIERS ON BOARD stencil on the rear window is really big! But it’s in lovely silver cursive on my charcoal gray SUV and I have silhouettes of standing Jacks next to it and on the doors as well!

Pretentious? Nah, I’m just proud to announce I have the best dogs in the world in my car.

I would put a ‘Caution: Show Dogs’ on my car, but we don’t “show”; we “trial”. :yes: :yes: