Getting Started In The Sport of Dog Showing: Part I

You're perhaps interested in joining the sport of dog showing... but how to begin? I'll take you through a few steps that can get you started on the right path. It can be daunting to begin, but trust me, it's worth every bit of the time you may put into it. I've grown tremendously as a dog trainer, owner and professional since beginning my dog show journey; and as my mentors have helped me in the past, I'm here to help share information to encourage the next Champion, or Grand Champion.

The first thing to do is to register your dog with the appropriate registry. If you have AKC papers on your pup, it's simple to register it with other registries. ABKC is very similar in it's breed standard as AKC, however they do allow blue dogs to be shown, as AKC does not. Hopefully, this will all change in the future and AKC will open up to "fad color" classes; but for now, I show my dogs mainly in the ABKC.

ABKC

I recommend registering your dog using the "expedited" services, as the regular service can take weeks... or months, even. Make sure you have a front and side photo of your dog to submit, as well as their 4th generation pedigree.

Now let's take a look at your show prospect. Let's say you have a 12 week old puppy who looks like it may have some potential as a show dog. Are you feeding it from a raised bowl to strengthen her pasterns, while keeping her nails super short? I trim my babes tootsies at least once a week, making sure they NEVER touch the ground. This allows for the pastern to develop properly as she grows. Show dogs need to be able to hold a "stack" and with strong and correct pasterns, she will be able to do this. But it starts early, as soon as she's done with her last round of immunizations, find a little AKC group and start conformation handling classes with your show prospect. Hopefully, your group will be supportive to the"newbie" and show you the ropes... whatever color your dog is. And if they're not? Well, move on to another group. There are plenty of dog show enthusiasts across the US who hold conformation classes. Google "AKC Conformation Classes" in your area and take it from from there.

Before doing all of that, though, have you studied what breed standard entails? Does your lad, or lassie, hold dear everything our breed should exhibit? Let's take a peek at what our breed standard calls for, ok?

French Bulldog Breed Standard

There is no such thing, in my opinion, of a perfect dog. However, we want to use this standard as a guide and let it help us in making decisions in whom we breed, and what we show. Side note: Merle and fluffy are not welcomed at the ABKC, as of now. I've shown Meadow in ABKC before the registry stopped officially welcoming them. She did beautifully, and actually beat some very nice dogs in her class. I took her out to have her evaluated, knowing I would never Champion a merle French Bulldog in the ABKC. The color controversy is just too heated for our lovely merle babes; and I get it. Merle is a recent-ish outcross and a lot of merle French Bulldog's DO NOT look like what our breed standard calls for. However, our Meadow's pedigree is very close to standard, meaning she has a pedigree where merle is a recent introduction and she has mainly standard fawn and brindle in her lines. I've never seen such a correct merle, ever, in our Meadow. I was told that she is, "The nicest merle I've ever seen," by a judge, and a few peers, while showing her at the ABKC event. I agree: Meadow is amazing; and if you strip her of her splashy color, what we have with Meadow is a correctly built French Bulldog. I have no doubt she'd hold a title if she was a standard colored dog; but, alas, our Meddy is merle.

If you want to show your merle, take her to the BRC registry, or ICBR, .., . Don't do ABKC, it's just not time for her, yet...

Stay tuned for part II and feel free to email me any questions! xxxx Natale