[QUOTE=Houndhill;8474016]
When I was 12, I took my first wolfhound puppy, who I thought hung the moon, into the ring to be judged by one of the “pillars of the breed”. He complimented her on her extremely white teeth. I was so proud! Samuel Evans Ewing The Third thought that my Molly had beautiful teeth![/QUOTE]
That is adorable!
Glad to hear the meeting went was. It sounds like they are open to some of the changes you’re pushing for.
I have to <lightheartedly> disagree with the answer to your cousin. No, many dog people do have terrible social skills. That’s why they’re in dogs! :winkgrin: Round up a bunch of socially awkward, bullied-as-kids, bookworm introverts and throw them into a competition. Bazinga! Dog World.:lol:
[QUOTE=Bicoastal;8474540]
I have to <lightheartedly> disagree with the answer to your cousin. No, many dog people do have terrible social skills. That’s why they’re in dogs! :winkgrin: Round up a bunch of socially awkward, bullied-as-kids, bookworm introverts and throw them into a competition. Bazinga! Dog World.:lol:[/QUOTE]
Okay, okay, I admit it… I left out the other part of what I told her. :lol: What I actually told her was that a lot of dog people are fairly weird and lacking in the social skills department, but that they’re overwhelmingly a very nice bunch. :lol:
The movie Best In Show kills me every time, because I swear the “caricature” characters they wrote for the film are actually reflective of some of the types of weird that actually exist in the conformation world.
I really do hands-down prefer the dog-world weirdness to the horse-world weirdness, though. The lower stakes, smaller amounts of $ at play, and less “elite” reputation seem to make things friendlier.
[QUOTE=Lazy Palomino Hunter;8473194]
…I swear a minimum of 50% of my interactions with the conformation folks are like this… people volunteering mean, catty comments. While seeming totally oblivious to how rude they are. [/QUOTE]
Sad to say, I’ve had the same experience. It’s even worse with people in the same breed. The first question is always “Who bred your dog?” Then based on that, you’re either their new best friend or a sworn enemy.
I have met some very nice people showing dogs. For the most part, however, people just ignore me, and that’s even if I’ve said “Hello” or “Good morning”. 
I can live with that, but at the same time, it’s this group who are bemoaning the fact that people are leaving the sport and not joining clubs. If they want people to join, they need to be more outgoing and introduce themselves to new members. Make them feel welcome. I’m not expecting a red carpet; just a hello would be great. 
I was invited to a club meeting, and other than the person who invited me, no one said a word to me. Talk about awkward. :eek: I’m not really a joiner, so it’s no skin off my back, but if they’d been a little more welcoming, I would’ve been happy to be an active volunteer and a generous benefactor. I’m not a breeder and have no plans to be, so it’s not like I’m a puppy mill pariah they need to quash down. I just want to learn and enjoy my dog, and share that with people who love the same breed.
This has been my experience in AKC. My experience in UKC has been much better. I enjoy showing UKC, but I now use a handler for AKC. Funnily enough, since I started using a handler, the people who used to ignore me or make catty comments are now being much nicer, even though my dog is winning more. I’d always heard people got uglier when your dog starts winning. Just an interesting observation. I’m at the age now, where I really don’t care what anyone thinks. I’d enjoy finding some new friends, but I’m mainly doing this to have fun with my dog.
I am no help to the OP, I own two rescue mutts that I do rally and obedience with. One is registered thru the AKC PAL program the other is registered simply as a mutt (what is the term they use now, All American or something like that).
I just wanted to comment on the post below.
[QUOTE=My Two Cents;8456891]
I agree it needs to be newbie friendly. We have stopped to watch a few dog shows in a nearby town. Everybody there appeared to pretty much know everyone but we did not feel welcome. Nobody smiled, said “Hi”, or “Do you have any questions?”. We clearly were there to have a look around.[/QUOTE]
I went to my first AKC show this summer. I was there to do Rally, my first Rally show.
My experience is that no, no one is going to approach you and hold your hand and give you a guided tour. What they will do is help you the best they can if you ask for it. No one I talked to was anything but helpful and friendly.
At my second show, when I had to change my class for the next day after we got the third Rally Novice leg, I had no idea what I was supposed to do. The poor guy at the registration table was so patient with me. He helped me fill out the form and congratulated me on moving up.
I would guess that most people did not assume you were lost people looking for help.
I have no idea what people say out of my earshot but I can say that other than a few breed clubs (that do not allow the mixed breed dogs at their shows, even in Rally), I have found most people to be supportive of any owner who wants to show their dog.
My trainer is a breeder. She shows in the breed ring (and in obedience and rally). She is who encouraged me to register my two dogs and compete with them.
I have found the people at ringside in the Rally ring to be very supportive of each other. Stopping to tell you what a great job you did or to compliment how cute the dog is.
When I began showing my first Standard Poodle, one of the first judges I showed her under–at a specialty no less–was breed expert, Jim Clark. He told me afterward that he “liked her face, her feet, and her balance.” Like you, I was elated. The bitch did have a beautiful head, but really that was her only good attribute. I had bought her from a breeder who used hair and a top professional handler to finish his Poodles; and here I was trying to be an owner-handler in a decidedly not amateur friendly breed. When I knew a little more, I realized that the reason Jim had complimented the bitch’s balance was because she was perfectly straight at both ends. :lol:
I have been reading this thread since its inception and it just makes me sad. I grew up going to dog shows as my mother bred and showed Norwiches and my grandmother (a former breeder) was then a Terrier group judge. At that point in my life, all I cared about was ponies but as an adult I decided that I wanted to show Standard and Mini Poodles. Between the mid-seventies and the mid-nineties I bred around 20 champions, finishing most of them as an owner-handler. I was a member and an officer of my local and national breed clubs. So I was all-in. I can’t imagine wanting to do that in the dog show world I am hearing described here. 
Sure there were cliques back then, but nothing like has been talked about in this thread. It’s a huge shame that the dog show world has become so unfriendly, if not downright hostile, to newcomers. In those days, in my part of the country (northeast, mid-atlantic) Poodles had a good sized group of owner handlers and we were all friends. We groomed together and hung out with each other at the shows. Not only that but some of the professional handlers were part of the group too.
I remember being at a show and seeing a young woman I’d never seen before walk by with a pretty black Mini. I turned to the assistant handler who was grooming next to me and asked, “Who is that?” just as the woman began to gait the Mini outside the grooming tent. The Poodle strutted down and back like she knew nobody was going to beat her on the day. The handler took one look and replied, “That’s the enemy.” We both had a good laugh at that and then we called her over and introduced ourselves. Next show, the woman was grooming right next to us rather than on the other side of the tent.
What a shame that those days appear to be gone.
[QUOTE=LaurieB;8475065]
Sure there were cliques back then, but nothing like has been talked about in this thread. It’s a huge shame that the dog show world has become so unfriendly, if not downright hostile, to newcomers. In those days, in my part of the country (northeast, mid-atlantic) Poodles had a good sized group of owner handlers and we were all friends. We groomed together and hung out with each other at the shows. Not only that but some of the professional handlers were part of the group too.
What a shame that those days appear to be gone.[/QUOTE]
I don’t know that they are gone. I think it depends on who you ask. What you described sounds a lot of what I experience at shows. You will always have some people who have history but I don’t think that means everyone is unfriendly.
Competitive events are always going to be a little bit harder because only one dog can win (or win the points). Obviously, our Hunt Tests and my NAVHDA club are very different - dogs compete against a standard, not each other - so of course there is a lot more camaraderie.
I have found that owners who do things in addition to conformation tend to be friendlier and enjoy showing more than those who only show in conformation. My dog is particularly nice, or I would have been done in conformation long ago; that’s why I keep saying “it’s not really that fun” unless you have a chance to win. My dog thinks it’s stupid, and would much rather be hunting birds. I can’t blame him.
I am reminded of the time I attended a club event that had a silent auction. This event said “newcomers are welcome”. A club member was reading names on sign up sheets for the auction items and said “Who is <my name>?” I was right behind her and said “Hello, I’m <my name> from <several states away>”. She looked me up and down and said “oh” and walked off. So much for “newcomers are welcome”. 
It’s sad, but all I can do is laugh at the absurdity of it.
From my experience, it seems like it’s the more established people with the really good dogs who are nicer to the newbies. They don’t need to try to run off any competition. I’m a newbie, and I’m nice to everyone, or at least I try to be. It’s the ones who are bitter and don’t have particularly good dogs and don’t try to improve because they are know-it-alls who like to trash other people’s dogs. The old timers know they’re full of hot air, so they pick on the newbies. Like other bullies, they typically hang around in cliques. It’s this type who give dog people a bad name.
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