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And now the continuation of the dog show and what the heck is a Reserve Winner's Dog?

dyeramy — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 01:12:00 +0000

So I have told you why we show our dogs and how the classes are broken down and what is required to finish your dog. But now what? What do all those numbers mean when it comes to the show ring? Sometimes even I get confused at the whole process, but it can be very simple. The easiest way to go about this is to break down the winners.

Best of Breed (BOB or BISS which stands for Best in Specialty Show): This is the top winner of the Breed, the best Saint Bernard (or whatever breed) there at the show and will move forward to compete in the Group Competition.

Best of Opposite (BOS): This is the second best of the Breed. It is always the opposite sex of what won the Breed. So if a male dog wins the Breed, the BOS is always a bitch unless one isn’t present and then the award just isn’t given.

Winner’s Dog (WD): The best male dog out of the classes (unfinished, not championed dogs).

Winner’s Bitch (WB): The best female dog out of the classes (unfinished, not championed bitches).

Best of Winner’s (BOW): The best of the two class dogs mentioned above. I know, sounds silly to have to choose between the male and bitch, but there is a reason (to finish your dog) for it that I will explain.

Reserve Winner’s Dog/Bitch (RWD, RWB): The second best dog and bitch out of the classes. Gets a red ribbon. We have lots of those from Sinatra. Can’t you tell I’m bitter? Don’t get ya anything!

You look at the entry and it says for Saturday’s show it’s 5-5(2-1). The 1st five is class dogs, the 2nd five is class bitches, the two is for Special Dogs and the one for Special Bitches. Special Bitches and Dogs are those that have their Championship already. In Saints, they usually do not break the numbers down anymore than that. So when you get to a show, you have to look at the catalog to see who is in your class, whether it’s the Open Shorthair or American Bred. To make this easy, let’s just say that there are two dogs in the Novice Class, two in the Open Short and one in the American Bred. The two in the Novice class would go in the ring first. The judge would award a first and a second. The American Bred would go in and hopefully get its first place ribbon, and it does. The two remaining in Open Short would go in and get their places. You now have three dog with first place ribbons and two dogs with second place ribbons. The three first place winners go in the ring next. From there, the judge picks the Winner’s Dog, meaning the best of the dogs. Say that dog is from the Open Short class. He gets his ribbon and leaves the ring while the second place winner from the Open Short goes in the ring with the other two first place class winners and the judge then picks the Reserve Winner’s Dog. And this process is repeated for the class bitches.

So the last ring is the Breed Ring. The Specials go in and so do Winner’s Dog and Winner’s Bitch. They are always at the end of the line. The judge will go over the Specials and may go back over the WD and WB. From here the judge will pick the BOB, BOS and BOW. This can become confusing because it is very possible for the BOW to go BOB or BOS.

The thing about BOW is that it can be a major in bitches (3 or more points) and only one point in males. But if that judge gives the BOW to the WD, he will get the major points too. It’s called crossing the points over. He would get the major points because he beat all the bitches. This is how we got Sinatra’s first major on him by going BOW in a bitch major. Polly won the bitch major too, but Sinatra beat her to get BOW.

On a side note, if you’re watching Breed Ring and can’t make out if it’s a male or female, the armbands have numbers and the bitches are always even and the males are always odd numbers.
Hope this article was helpful. If you have any questions, please ask. I’ll try to answer!

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Why Do People "Show" Their Dogs?

dyeramy — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:12:00 +0000

1) For Fun!
2) To show the world that our dogs are conforming to their specific breed standard which in turn leads us to
3) Breeding the best animals we have.

Conformation Dog Shows are all about breeding and the sport itself. I don’t know exactly how many years it has been going on, but let’s just say a long, long time! If dog shows didn’t exist, we would never really know how our dogs compared to other dogs out there.

A lot of people think of the Eukanuba Dog Show, the one on TV or Westminster when they hear the words dog show. And the ones that are televised are glamorous and such– if you are watching from your living room. When I hear the words dog show, I think of many things (like my checkbook balance, the grooming, the gas money, having to deal with my kids, will we actually win this time? etc…) but most of all I think of the movie “Best In Show”. There are a lot of things and people in that movie that are so real and it’s just something that we people in the dog world have come to accept. Parker Posey’s character (they had the Weimaraner), Meg Swan, is an extremely believable person in the dog show world, as is John Michael Higgin’s character, Scott Donlan (with the Shih Tzus). These people were “over the top” with their attitudes and animals! Then there are those like Christopher Guest’s character, Harlan Pepper with his Bloodhound, Hubert. He was very minimalistic, laid back and sometimes hard to come by at a dog show! But whatever category we fit in, it all works out in the end, and we are really just normal people at the end of the day!

The way dog shows work is this. Your dog needs to be an intact (no spay, no neuter) male or bitch that is purebred and registered with the AKC. There is also a list of unacceptable surgeries and alterations that cannot be done for aesthetic purposes, like changing the ear set on your dog. So, you have a dog that meets these requirements? Now what?
The Premium List is a list sent out by the hosting Kennel Clubs that list the judges, the place, the date, hotel information and importantly, what classes are offered. The most common classes are as follows:

Puppy, 6-9 months
Puppy, 9-12 months
Dogs, 12-18 months
Novice
Bred By Exhibitor
American Bred
Open
Winners

The classes are broken down by dog and bitch. I think the first 3 classes are self-explanatory. You must make sure that they fit in the age frame by the date of the show, which may mean two different classes in one weekend depending on the birthday. The Novice class is new to the AKC and it’s described as a class for a dog over 6 months who has not earned 1 point, has not won 3 first place placements in the Novice Class, or 1 first place placement in the American Bred or Bred By Exhibitor class. The Bred By Exhibitor Class is for dogs that were bred by the owner and shown by the breeder/owner. The American Bred is for dogs born in the USA. Sometimes this class is useful coming out of the puppy classes because there is usually not a lot of competition in it (at least for Saints). The Open class is for any dog that has not finished their Championship and is a very competitive class. Once a dog is a Champion, they may compete in the Winners, or Best of Breed, class. Essentially, when your dog is “finished” (Champion), you may just enter to win the Breed.

The Saint Bernard’s Open Classes (only) are further broken down into divided classes: Longhair and Shorthair. The puppy classes may have shorthair and longhair, as well as Bred By, American Bred and Novice.

The way to a Championship is to get 15 points. But there’s a “catch”. Can’t be that easy can it? Out of the 15 points, the dog must have won 2 majors under two separate judges. Majors are defined as dog shows won with 3, 4 or 5 points. A major is different all around the US and the AKC determines a point schedule every year for different regions that takes into account what was shown last year and how many litters were registered and probably a lot more data than that, but I don’t know the whole story! Obviously, the more class dogs, the more points. Right now it takes 5 dogs and 7 bitches to make a 3 point major in NY and for a 5 point major it’s 10 dogs and 11 bitches. It is possible to take 3, 5 point majors in one weekend and finish your dog! That’s what I call a cheap championship! Possible, but doesn’t happen too often. We have personally not done it, but we do know people who have achieved this. And I’m envious and hopeful it, too, will happen to us!

So after your dog or bitch has attained 15 points, with 2 majors under two separate judges, it will be a Champion and have the Ch. In front of its name. Exciting isn’t it? But what is really going on that ring? How do they actually get judged and what the heck is a Reserve Winner’s Dog? Please stay tuned for the second lesson!

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A great way to save $$$$

dyeramy — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:30:00 +0000

Tonight we had to give our dogs their Ivermectin for the month. A fun process for all parties involved, but mostly my husband who gets to hold the mouth’s open and get slimed!

A lot of people don’t know that you can actually purchase Ivermectin from your local Agway store or tack shop and give it to your dogs. It’s extremely cheap too! I have a 50ml bottle that expires in 2010, it cost me just over $30 with shipping (this is before I realized I could get it at Agway) and has done me through last summer and this year. And it’s still going since the actual dosage per dog is around 1.5 ml a month. You do the math. These dogs require about $35-$45 a month EACH for Sentinel or Heartguard. It’s absolutely insane! And you can only get it from a vet or if you find it cheaper somewhere, you have to get a script and it’s just a hassle! Who can beat the prevention of heartworms for $32 for three years times 4 dogs?

Here’s what you do. You need to buy the Ivermectin 1% Bovine Injectable. Please don’t let the injectable term throw you off, it’s safe to give dogs orally. The dosage is 1ml of Ivermectin per 100 pounds of dog. So my dogs weigh around 150 pounds, give or take, so they get 1.5ml a month. You need to mix it with something, usually something sweet so it goes down better for the dog. I’ve heard that some people use orange juice, but we use simple syrup. I take three tablespoons of water and mix it with an equal part of sugar, nuke it for a minute or so in a coffee mug until it’s incorporated. Then I set it on the kitchen table for most of the day cooling off. You need a way of measuring out mls, usually a container that comes with cough medicine will do that or baby Motrin or Tylenol syringes will work (please don’t reuse them on the kids though!). I measure out the Ivermectin first, add some simple syrup (usually 5-6mls) and Matt opens their mouth, I dump it in and that’s that! We refrigerate our Ivermectin, it stays right next to my Optivar eye drops (which don’t sting as bad if they’re cold). And, as always, make sure you check with your vet before taking this route with your dog.

Hope I saved you some money with this post! It’s helped us out a lot!

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Longhair vs Shorthair? What's your preference?

dyeramy — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:58:00 +0000

A lot of people I come in contact with don’t know that Saints come in two different coats. If we bring Luci out in public, we get questioned about her breed. So I’m going to explain the pros and cons to the two different coats.

Shorthair (Smooth)

Directly from the Saint Bernard Standard: Very dense, short-haired (stockhaarig), lying smooth, tough, without however feeling rough to the touch. The thighs are slightly bushy. The tail at the root has longer and denser hair which gradually becomes shorter toward the tip. The tail appears bushy, not forming a flag.

Please don’t get fooled into thinking that the shorthair (sh) Saints don’t shed, because they do! Their undercoats come out a couple times a year, usually in the spring and the fall. These Saints always look “cleaner” and amazingly enough, dirt rolls right off them usually. We call them the “wash and wear” Saints, especially when it comes time to show them in the ring. Minimal grooming to do. I find that the hair from sh’s are more “coarse” than that of the longhairs. What I mean is that their hair will stick in the couch rather than lay on top of it. From experience only, sh’s drool less, don’t ask me why, but that’s what we have found to be true.

Longhair (Rough)

Directly from the Saint Bernard Standard: The longhaired type completely resembles the shorthaired type except for the coat which is not shorthaired (stockhaarig) but of medium length plain to slightly wavy, never rolled or curly and not shaggy either. Usually, on the back, especially from the region of the haunches to the rump, the hair is more wavy, a condition, by the way, that is slightly indicated in the shorthaired dogs. The tail is bushy with dense hair of moderate length. Rolled or curly hair, or a flag tail, is faulty. Face and ears are covered with short and soft hair; longer hair at the base of the ear is permissible. Forelegs only slightly feathered; thighs very bushy.

Can you say “high maintenance mama”? Three times sloooowwww? This is the dog you can brush and groom forever and still have more work to do! Longhairs (lh) shed, and shed and shed. Did I mention the shedding? They “blow” their coats twice a year and it’s not pretty. LH’s will look like they have lost 30 pounds. And sometimes the shedding is done over a course of a month unless you (yes, you the owner!) help it along with a blower or manual stripping. They need trimming and a vast array of grooming products if you so choose. The coats can run from straight, silky smooth with long hairs, to shorter, heavy coats that lay flatter. That’s determined by their lineage, if they are out of two roughs, or a combo. That would be a genetics post, which I would let my husband write, I ain’t no genetic expert! They tend to drool a lot more than the sh’s, which makes it more messy, well, because they have a lot more hair to contend with! They are the producers of the “hair tumbleweeds” in the house. I swear I have a meeting ground for these under my kitchen table. These are the dogs that most people have come to love from the movies.

When anyone asks me whether I have a preference, I say “Shorthair“. But that’s just ME because I am allergic (that will be a whole different post) to dogs and a dog that drools less (allergens are in the saliva) is one I can cope with better. As for which one makes a great house dog, that is up to the tolerance of the one living with it. I won’t lie when I say that I’m glad Sinatra is out in the kennel. He’s a great dog in the house, but his nickname is “drooly bastard” for a reason and I have scrubbed way too much drool off my walls because of him!

To get a visual of the coat differences, go to my website at http://www.brogansaints.com/. Click on males, Sinatra is a lh with a longer silky coat. Click on bitches and look at Polly. She is a lh, too, but her coat is thicker and flatter. Luci is our only sh Saint. Patsy is a lh with a very (incorrect) wavy coat.

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