You Don’t Need A Professional Handler

Who are the people who show dogs? Are they lunatics or fanatics? The dog people have a favorite joke about themselves. They say you don't have to be crazy to enjoy shows, but it certainly helps! This is because they actually go through many hardships and disappointments but still enjoy it and call it fun. It is one of the fascinating peculiarities of the dog game that the people who are thrown together in the pursuit of this sport are from so many different walks of life: dentists, carpenters, teachers, bankers, housewives, farmers, musicians, engineers, artists, industrialists, young and old, rich and poor. All have the same desire—to take home a blue ribbon.

Perhaps you wonder why they show dogs. I take it you are interested in showing or you wouldn't be reading this book. I warn you, however, that the day may come when you will wonder why you ever decided to go in for something involving so much hard work and heartaches but so much sheer enjoyment! Well, why do they show dogs? There are many reasons, and here are a few. First, we have the serious dog breeder. He makes a promise to himself to improve the breed in which he is interested, and he is anxious to compare his dogs with good competition, for it shows him if he is on the right track in his breeding program. This is important. Many dogs look very good at home and only when they are compared with other good dogs can you see if they are better. Comparison is the material of which dog shows are made. Every dog looks good in the back yard, but how does he look in the ring ? To the serious breeder showing is important for another reason. It gives him a chance to let other breeders and fanciers see what he has accomplished. He may own an excellent specimen of the breed, one which would be very valuable particularly for his ability to sire exceptional puppies—but no one would know about him if he were not shown.

Then we have a group of people who look at the dog shows as a competitive and active sport. The dog game affords plenty of action but is not so strenuous as, let us say, skiing or tennis. As a matter of fact, there are a great many physically handicapped persons who show dogs successfully.

We have another group. A man buys as a pet or receives as a gift a puppy which turns out exceptionally well, and he is advised to show it. He does so—makes some nice wins, and the dog becomes a Champion. (I'll explain Champion a bit later on.) Very frequently this man is "bitten by the bug," he succumbs, he dreams about breeding his own Champion—he stays around and often becomes an important member of the first group, the serious breeder.

The Brussels Griffon (a toy breed), "Champion Barnumtown Penneywise Gala" shown to her championship by her amateur breeders and owners, Edgar and Ruby W. Klein of Bethel, Conn.
 
Then we have the person looking for a hobby or perhaps a weekend activity. What better hobby than one which offers you some traveling, some outdoor activity, and a great deal of pleasure and good fellowship while also keeping you fairly active and very much interested ? I remember being at an outdoor show rather early one very beautiful Sunday morning talking to Mr. Percy Roberts. Percy was then a top professional handler—one who shows other people's dogs for pay; he is now a well-known professional all-round judge—one who is eligible to judge all breeds of dogs. Percy told me that one of his relatives had chided him earlier that morning for being in a profession which occupied all his weekends. He looked around the beautiful show grounds, at Long Island Sound sparkling in the background and dotted with a few sailboats, at the clear blue sky overhead, and as he lovingly patted his dog he began to laugh, and he said to me, "And to think I get paid for this!" Yes, there is much enjoyment to be had in the dog game.
Finally on our list of those who exhibit dogs we have the "show-off," the exhibitionist. If you like to be in the public eye, here is your chance. Go ahead, show a good dog, you'll really enjoy it! But I'll tell you something. One of two things will happen: either you'll fall in love with the sport and become serious about it and a part of it, giving you an interest which will lessen your need of the spotlight; or you'll look elsewhere for that spotlight, for without a genuine love for and interest in dogs and the dog game you can't last, you will become bored, you'll be forced to find a new spotlight.

If you have thought that you might like to get into dogs, but have not yet purchased your first one, let me give you a word of advice. There are so many wonderful breeds, each with its own particular charm, that I'm sure you can find just the right breed for you. However, decide on one whose size and temperament fit into your life. Don't get a Great Dane if you live in a tiny apartment, and don't get a tiny dog if a high-pitched bark grates on your nerves. Once you have decided which breed you want, please do some studying about what is right and what is wrong for a dog of that particular breed. Read a book on your chosen breed, go to shows, watch the judging, talk to the breeders. Be sure you don't buy a dog which has a disqualification for his breed and, too, you will be ever so much happier in the show game if you at least start out with a dog which has no serious faults. I cannot tell you here what the disqualifications or faults are, as there are more than one hundred breeds for you to choose from and each breed has its own particular faults. When you are ready to buy, go to a reliable breeder and tell him that you intend to show. A sincere breeder would not sell you an inferior animal if he knew he was to be shown. Many people when they are buying a dog ask for "just a pet," thinking they will get the animal cheaper. A good breeder wants his stock shown and does not want to be embarrassed by having a dog of his breeding with a serious fault show up at a show, and by the same token he does not want to sell a top dog to someone who will never show him as for all practical purposes he would be lost to the show and breeding world. He would rather sell you a good dog for less money if you promised he would be shown. If he is a big breeder, he cannot possibly get all the dogs he raises to the shows under his own name, and he is always looking for someone to come along who is interested in showing. He will not give the dog away, because experience has taught him that the dog receives better care if he has been purchased and he has a much better chance of actually getting into the show ring when the new owner has paid something for the dog.

It would be hard for me to tell you exactly what you ought to pay for a dog good enough to show and have some fun with. In addition to the fact that prices vary a great deal in the various breeds, and not taking into consideration the actual worth of a dog because of his good or bad points, there are many other things that enter into the price you must pay for a good dog. Here are a few:

1. How many other good dogs has the seller in his kennel? By selling you the only good one, he may be left without any thing to show himself, and if he wants to show, the price may go up.
   
   
2. How crowded are the seller's facilities? If he is over crowded, he may be willing to sell at a lower price than usual.
   
   
3. Can the owner afford to show? If not, he may sell for less in order to give the dog the opportunity to be shown more frequently.
   
   
4. How many other persons are interested? Naturally, if several persons express the desire to buy the same dog, the price of that dog will go up.
   

I've known of show dogs, which were sold for $50, and I've known of some, which sold at about $7,500. But if you know your breed before you start out to buy, you at least will know what you are getting—and remember, the price paid for a dog is not the most important consideration. I once knew a man who thought his dog should win over another simply because he paid more for his dog than did die owner of the other dog.

If show training is started at home with a young puppy and continued until the show career starts, the handler and the dog will enjoy the shows a great deal more. Once you are in the show ring only a slight touch under the muzzle, or perhaps a gentle stroke or two, will be necessary to keep the dog in position resulting in a more relaxed dog and handler and usually a higher placing from the judge.

The advice and helpful hints you will find in this book will help you to understand the rules, will help you to get your dog entered at a show, to the show, and into the ring. We will attempt to tell you how to show it to its best advantage, but remember, the quality of die dog itself is up to you. We will not cover in this book obedience trials or field trials except to tell you what they are, as they are activities completely unto themselves and you will find them fully covered in other books.

Now let me bring up another point. There is one thing you are going to hear frequently, and if you take my advice you won't pay any attention to it. You'll hear that in order to win at shows you must be rich or at least employ a professional handler. This talk usually comes from the disgruntled or bad loser. It is not true! I have known owners, sincere about their dogs, who could not afford the entry fees at shows and as a result attended very few shows. Yet when they did, their dog won many times over dogs handled by professionals. I do not mean to insinuate that these people were exceedingly poor—no —but they were not rich, and they won. Indeed, their dog won over dogs who were owned by really rich people.

The professional handlers? Yes, they win, and very frequently. But just consider it a moment. They work at their jobs all day, every day, not just at weekend shows, as do most of the people who complain about how much winning is done by the professionals. Why, I've known more than one professional handler who has gone from early-morning breakfast until nine or ten at night without any food because he or she was too busy to stop. By nine or ten at night in some towns there is no decent place to get a meal, and the handler winds up at some "greasy spoon" with a dinner of ham and eggs, the same thing he had for breakfast that day and the same thing he will have for breakfast the next day. Yes, they really work at their jobs. I make you a prediction: given an equally good dog on which you spend as much time as do the professionals, and when you learn how to show a dog as well, you will win just as often as they do. Many a time you will see the top professional handlers placed last in a good class, with an amateur in first place. So let's not complain when professionals beat us, but let's watch them, learn their secrets, equal their knowledge and ability, and you'll come out on top.

Aside from costing you a lot less, I believe you will have a great deal more fun if you show your own dog and you will learn about dogs a lot faster. A good professional handler, one licensed by the American Kennel Club and one who is a member of the Professional Handlers Association, will usually charge $20 to show your dog at a show. This does not include the entry fee—it might include the trimming charge, or the transportation charge, but it might not! If the dog wins a Group, an additional charge is made, but this charge is usually agreed upon in advance. The owner gets the trophies, but it is customary for the handler to keep all the prize money won by the dog. This in part explains why the professional handlers will always try to take into the show ring only good dogs who are really ready for competition. Naturally, they want prize money. The amount of prize money a dog wins is offered by and determined by the show-giving club, and usually varies according to the number of dogs entered in any given class. In a way, it is unfortunate that there are too many owners who are so anxious to show their dog that they cannot wait until a dog is mature or in the proper coat or weight before they start to show. However, the professional is in a much better position to wait until a dog is ready to be shown because, if he is a good handler, his services are much in demand—he may even have a waiting list. He can choose from many dogs which one he thinks is really ready to go.

When a person employs a professional handler to show his dog, he is inclined to come to the show only if it is convenient, because he knows the dog will be properly cared for and handled. When he is going to handle his dog himself, he must be there at the appointed hour and he must stay until the time when the dogs are released. However, it is during this time, begrudged by many, that you learn so much about dogs and about shows. It is during this time that you meet other interested people, that you have time to see other dogs in your breed, and see where yours is better or where it is not. When you begin to know these things, you really begin to have fun—with a capital F—at dog shows.
I have told you a little bit about dog shows, about the history of shows, and the people interested in the sport of showing their dogs. Now I want to make you a promise. Once you become interested in what we call "the dog game," aside from giving you a hobby which will keep you busy and happy, you'll meet some of the nicest folks in the world; some will become your lifelong and closest friends.

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