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- Herausgeber: Anne Tureen
- Kategorie: Lebensstil
- Sprache: Englisch
The Ins and Outs of Handling offers a concentrated tour of the handling world. Voices of handlers from Europe and the USA, some famous, some not, will share with you how they came into handling, what they found there, and what advice they would give you.
Two chapters explore basic concepts of how to rear a showdog and techniques to start handling that dog your-self.
This is an entertaining text full of anecdotes and nuggets of wisdom, inspiring handlers both green and seasoned to be their best.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020
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Dog Show Handling
The Ins and Outs
by Anne Tureen
2019 Digital Edition
Cover photo by Lisa Croft-Elliot
© Copyright 2018 by Anne Tureen
1st Digital Edition – 2018
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The author undertakes to make corrections as soon as possible or necessary.
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It was not possible to trace the authors of all the images used in this book, but the author commit to agree with those who demonstrate any rights to copy on the reproduced images, the most appropriate ways to use them.
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The summary, quotation or reproduction ofr parts of works and their communication takes place under art. 70 of italian law 633 in date 22nd April 1941 as made for use of criticism or discussion, within the limits justified by those purposes and do not intend to constitute competition for the economic use of works reproduced, cited or summarized.
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This book is dedicated to Mario Canton,
Acknowledgements
The author expresses deepest gratitude to the contributors of this text for sharing their experience and advice.
Further gratitude is due to Mario Canton for the translation from the original in English language and the assistance in the publication of this digital version in Italian.
Special thanks to Jovana Danilovic, Marco Ditel, Lisa Croft-Elliott, Joyce Martin, Ross Young, Sheri Amsel from Exploring Nature Science Education, and of the breeders and handlers who made the im-ages of this book possible.
Florence (Italy), October 2018
A.T.
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Disclaimer
It has not been possible to trace the Authors of all the photos used in this book, given – particularly for some of them – the long period of time since their realization. However, the author pledges with anyone who demonstrates any copying rights on the reproduced photos, to agree the most appropriate ways to use them.
Author’s introduction
Fig. 1 – Painting One on One by Ross Young
Reflections on our dog’s potential
The dog is the apex of pre-industrial technology. He is an instrument perfectly tuned for his task, be it in the den, the water, the snow, or the open field. Each breed will bring the qualities of intelligence and loyalty to the particular task for which it was developed, bred for a unique recipe of speed, strength, agility, and strategy. The good breeder and the good handler will endeavor to develop the dog as a whole, stimulating the young dog's mind in order to enhance that intangible brilliance of attitude and expression which will get him in the ribbons.
You have a puppy that shows potential as a show dog? The attitude of this particular puppy shouts 'Look at me!'. Now plans must be made to bring up this pup as equipped as possible for his show career. Showing with average constancy will be rigorous for the dog. His meal times vary as well as his sleeping patterns, getting up before dawn to be washed and brushed out, and spending long periods of confinement in a crate. Once at the showground, he can easily become overstimulated by inundations of scents, the challenging glare of the judge and audience as well as other dogs, the blow driers, loud speakers and lights, which are bookended by the long rumbling drive. A good owner or breeder will bring up their dog with a view to obtaining the maximum in mental as well as physical stability and elasticity.
Your responsibilities
The person caring for and presenting the dog in the ring is his handler, be it the breeder, owner or a professional, and the first consideration for anyone entering this sport is their responsibility as handler. From the moment the dog comes into your care, you are the custodian of his well being, including safety, temperature, cleanliness, hydration, nutrition, and relief from potentially dangerous annoyances such as insects, scratches, splinters and the like. Keep in mind that the dog cannot remind you of any of these basic needs, so the dog must always come first in your list of priorities. If you need to get out of bed at four in the morning so he can be watered and exercised properly before prepping him for the show, that is what must be done. During the show constant attention must be paid to protecting the dog from the noise, potential aggression of other dogs, from the people attending the show who may not treat your dog with respect, and who may even harbor malign intentions; his comfort and safety must be unfailingly assured. After the show he is exercised, accommodated and fed, and then you can do the same for yourself.
Getting there
Breeders who have spent a lifetime in dogs can effortlessly prepare their puppies to become champions. They may think they are not doing anything special to make a showdog of their puppy, but their dog will arrive in the ring for the first time perfectly calm, enjoying his time at the show, and walking, stacking, even standing on the table like a pro. A well-heeled breeder will accomplish this almost unconsciously, but there is always a beginning, and to avoid trial and error pitfalls there are a number of good theories to consider and experiment in order to make steady progress. You may have had pet dogs for years, but now much is planned for the new puppy, and much expected of him, so consider some of the classic training games, presented here which are designed to open the mind of the puppy and in the process will possibly revolutionize your approach to your dog. Later chapters of this text will bring you the voices of some of the greatest experts in this discipline. Younger and older from all over the world, these great dog lovers, who have become successful professional or nonprofessional handlers will share their personal story and give you friendly advice on navigating the show scene from home to the ring and back.
1. Reflections on Handling
Few people are as revered yet simultaneously subjected to as much envy as professional handlers — especially from those whom they have defeated once too often — so to maintain an impartial distance is necessary.
When I was very young and new in dogs, the idea of becoming a professional handler seemed quite wonderful. What could be better than spending your life with dogs, going to dog shows and getting paid for it?! We had no professional handlers in Sweden where I grew up, so my familiarity with the profession was then almost entirely through photographs I saw in American publications. It all looked so glamorous: both the handlers and the dogs were always immaculately groomed, they got gleaming trophies for winning Best in Show. Imagine doing that for a living!/p>
Having the opportunity to travel for a few days with the greatest star among the professional handlers in those days, Frank Sabella, opened my eyes to the fact that the glitzy surface was not really what it was about. Once the photo session at the end of the day was over, a gritty reality came into focus that I didn't even know existed – tearing down the set-up, packing the van – plus of course the endless work of cleaning up after dogs, exercising dogs, feeding dogs, etc. ... All of it should have been expected, but somehow it wasn't. I realized pretty soon that a professional handler needs to do much more than look pretty – and make the dogs look pretty – in the ring. The nice jacket and tie came off immediately after the show (and remained inside its plastic bag, spotless and ready for use at the next show); it was all grungy shorts and t-shirts after that.
It requires a very special mind set and an unusual combination of skills to become a successful professional handler. I have a lot of admiration for those who succeed in what must be one of the world's most specialized, and certainly most demanding, professions. By "succeed" I don't just mean that these handlers win a lot, but that the dogs they show are obviously happy, healthy and well taken care of, and that they themselves, and their assistants, also seem happy and content.
Quite how you consistently succeed in that I really do not know, because there is always a lot of pressure. You need to be good at handling not only dogs but people. In fact, you must have considerable people skills, even be something of a psychologist, in order to deal patiently with a large number of demanding dog owners, all of whom will have questions or complaints as soon as their prized champion doesn't win as much as they think it should. I know I would be really bad at that ...
It was soon clear to me that to become a good professional handler you have to be good at a number of different, unrelated occupations that I'm not sure how I would have coped with. You need to be a bit of a veterinarian, a nutritionist, a business- and salesperson, a chauffeur and auto mechanic, an accountant, an artist-in-residence — all wrapped up in one person. It was actually pretty easy to determine that this wasn't anything that I would be consistently good at.
There's a lot more to being a professional dog show handler than just showing dogs!
Deciding not to become a professional handler was definitely one of the most important decisions I made early on. Instead, I became a breeder-owner-handler. Some of us are every bit as good at what we do as the professionals, but we focus on dogs that we have bred and/or own ourselves, and we do not regularly show other people's dogs for money.
(Actually, these days some people do, they are at an in-between stage where they primarily show their own dogs but also agree to show for their friends in exchange for some kind of remuneration. As long as that's not their primary source of income I would not call these people professional handlers).
As has been pointed out many times, the professional handlers have some advantages over the rest of us. Most of them go to many more shows than we can ever hope to do, and they therefore gain incomparable ring experience. They usually show many dogs, sometimes as many as 20-30, while we seldom have more than two or three, providing opportunity for them to learn from a wide variety of dogs. Because the professional handler is exposed to so many judges, he or she will eventually have a good knowledge of what "type" of dog most of them like, how they want the dogs to be presented in the ring, etc.
However, the most important advantage that a professional handler has, is probably that he or she is much more easily able to assess a dog's realistic chances of winning than an owner-handler. Since the professionals are (usually) not the breeders or owners of the dogs they show, there is no ego or mixed-up emotions involved in evaluating how "good" a dog is, and since their livelihood depends on winning, it's not likely that they are willing to show a dog with obvious faults. Of course an owner-handler should not do so either, but we are all too prone to deceiving ourselves about the quality of our own dogs: because we love them we may be convinced that they are better, objectively speaking, than they are. It's not called "kennel blindness" for nothing!
The non-professional handler has some advantages as well, though, if he or she is able to turn the above circumstances on their head. For instance, because we show fewer dogs and usually own and (hopefully) live with them we can get to know each of them better, forge a bond and learn the little quirks of each individual dog we show — although it must be said that professionals are often amazingly good at establishing rapport with any number of dogs, seemingly in no time.
Because the dogs we show are of the same breed we can more easily learn the finer point of our breed than a professional handler can about all the different breeds they show — although, again, this will vary with each individual. We owner-handlers never have to face the difficult decision of which dog should have priority when two of them are being judged in different rings at the same time …
This, of course, leaves out the most common problem that owner-handlers have against the professionals: that many judges supposedly favor the professional's dog when a decision is close (and sometimes even when it's not). I'm not sure that this is true, however: since the professionally handled dog is in the ring because an impartial handler has determined that it's ready to win, chances are an unbiased observer would have to admit that the reason the dog won was simply that the judge thought it was the best one … and often better presented as well!
Getting back to the days very long ago when I first started in dogs: there were in fact some professional handlers then that we in Sweden could watch in person if we went to Great Britain for dog shows — and we all did, at least to Crufts every year, frequently two or three times to other shows as well. England was the sacred land of great dog shows in those days. However, most of those handlers did not hold much appeal, at least for me: hard-bitten Terrier men all of them, undeniably extremely talented but seldom the kind you wanted to imitate or grow up to be like.
Perhaps the reason for this was the fact that although I showed some Terriers in those days I was not a Terrier specialist. I showed anything that anyone asked me to handle simply because it was fun, I had lots of energy and long legs, and even if I was not on a level with the professionals I later met in the U.S., I was probably better than most of the local exhibitors.
There were breeds as diverse as Golden and Flat-coated Retrievers, Pugs and Bull Terriers (very different from the "regular" Terrier breeds), the occasional Poodle, and other breeds as well, but primarily I specialized in Sighthounds even then. There were my own Whippets, a few early Afghan Hounds and Greyhounds, and also Salukis, Borzoi, Irish Wolfhound, Scottish Deerhounds, etc.
In 1963, when I was 18 years old, I won Best in Show at the international show in Stockholm with a Whippet that I owned and had imported from England as a puppy. It probably wasn't quite like winning Westminster, but it sure felt like it!
That was 55 years ago, and I still have Whippets: to my mind there just isn't a more wonderful breed, and I never tire of them. I've never had a kennel and not bred much, but the dog I just finished in January 2018 was, I believe, my 135th champion — counting also those I've bred that others have finished in at least a dozen countries around the world. I'm very proud that most of them have produced champions for others, and more than 30 of them have also won Best in Show and/or Specialty BIS.
I don't show often these days, and although I'm certainly not as sophisticated a handler as the best professionals I'm apparently quite good at presenting an image of a serious, old-time breeder-handler who doesn't seem to be trying very hard but whose dogs have to be considered if the judge himself (or herself) wants to be taken seriously.
That is probably because that's exactly what I am, and the older I get the less patience I have with handlers who relentlessly push their dogs into the judge's face, resorting to various extreme mannerisms to make sure their dogs are noticed. Perhaps it's because I also judge that I know that most confident judges prefer to find the good dogs themselves, without too much obvious help from the handler, but it's also because my view of handling has developed.
I now know for sure what the best professional handlers have already figured out: It's not the handler who should be noticed but the dog. Ideally it should look like the handler blends into the background without doing anything at all, with the dog presenting itself as if it were self-taught or born to this …
Of course we owner-handlers seldom succeed with that, but when the best professional handlers do it's beautiful to watch.
