Detroit Dog Show was fun but......

[Guest Anonymous]

Goodmorning, My friend and I, got up early loaded up my son and headed for the dog show at cobo hall. When we walked in we were in ahhh at all the great dogs. Then we started walking around checking out the dogs and looking for are breeds we have at home. We thought that it would be great to beable to ask a few questions about some of the breeds. Let me tell you big mistake . The " dog People" were so mean and rude that you were afraid to even look at them.lol I've never seen anything like it before. They treated us like we were idiots.lol Good thing I wasnt going to the show to see if I wanted to get into dog showing. It would of made me think twice if thats the way people treat you. Out of the dozens of people we talked too only the gal with the blood hound like mine was kind. It still was a blast and we will again load up the van and go next year. I wonder if any of you have any thoughts on this. Thanks

[kendalyn]

shoot! I totally forgot about it! I wanted to go :(

I'm not surprised that the people were mean to you. I've been to a few shows before and it was a similar situation. It's too bad though.

[Queen Bitch]

I'm going to play devil's advocate....

Did you approach the people before or after they got out of the ring? They could have been suffering from nervousness before they went in or disappointment afterwards if they didn't win. Did your kids just run up and pet or did they ask first? Some dogs have to have hours of grooming before hand that can be easily messed up in a few brief seconds or by sticky hands. Even if your kids were perfectly well behaved, a LOT of parents have no problem letting their kids run amuck petting without asking since it's a dog show, not just some random dog on the street. Dog shows are a fairly stressful time for most of the handlers. Granted it could be handled a bit differently than outright rudeness, but they are dealing with a lot while they are there. It can be hard to properly express that you would rather chat later about your dog without coming off as rude, especially if you are stressed out. Dog handlers are in a whole different mindset at a show than they are when they are "off show", just like at any event where people/animals/etc are being judged by their performance. I have friends in bands who though they are some of the nicest people in existance are downright unbearable before they perform. Stage fright. I tend to wait until after the dogs have got out of the ring before approaching any handler ( as opposed to going up to a handler waiting at ringside for their turn in the ring) and congratulating them on thier performance and telling them that they have a great looking -fill in dog here-. Also if you are walking around and see the handlers with thier dogs in casual clothes, it generally means that they are done in the ring and are far easier to approach. If you buy one of the catalogues you can see what breeds and groups are judged when. I hope you have better luck next time around, not all handlers are evil trolls. :wink:

[Carolk9s]

I agree with Hillside, timing is very important to people showing their dogs. Many people are concentrating very hard and trying to keep their dog in the 'zone', focused and ready to show. After all, a large part of showing success is the mental prep, not just the physical presentation. Make sure the person is truly finished when they come out of the ring, sometimes they are going to go right back in if they won their class, other times they are just switching dogs before going back in. Of course outright rudeness is still wrong, but being thoughtful and waiting until they are DONE showing their dog will be more likely to garner you a welcoming reaction.
I have been at the entrance to the ring, next on the agility course, and had someone touch my dog or talk to them. I am working on keeping their focus on ME, I HAVE had to say as nicely as possible between clenched teeth, please back away from my dog, she will be happy to visit with you AFTER we run the course.

[imported_Cassie]

I have to say...show people can be very very mean!!! I attend shows ALOT, and I show my dogs...even with me they are RUDE and MEAN. I have even had freinds blow up at me for all kinds of different things...from holding a dog for a friend before it went into the ring (out of the kindness of my own heart- she ASKED me to) when the dog was dumped she blamed me!!! :evil: I have seen my own friends who are breeders turn into another person at the shows...and why??? its only a beauty contest :roll: the dogs don't have to DO anything in the ring except stack...I have seen dogs have a poop in the show ring and still place...these dogs do not need to focus...and I have run quite a few dogs around the conformation ring..there is no prep to it :roll: obedience and agility...yes, your need to focus...but, even when I am waiting for my turn in the obedience ring I am nice to people...yes, your child can pat my dog and ask questions. I don't even mind people coming up to pet my dogs while I am preparing them for the conformation ring...the only people I can see really flipping out are the people who have had to straighten their dogs coat and tease it etc.
But, even then they could be nice about it...I have never had any body just come up and start patting my dogs...most people with their children will ask first. The more up tight the handler is the more anxious and nervous the dog will be.
I have seen people not place and throw their dogs into their crates and kick the crate...people leaving their poodles on tables in a noose for hours at a time...there are many things I consider very cruel.
Show folk are a whole different sort of people...they can be very self centered...I also feel sorry for most of the dogs at the shows...most of them don't have much of a life :(

[imported_Kat]

I will have my head taken off for this by quite a few, but on the whole I find that breed people are a lot less approachable than obedience and agility. I do agree though that trying to talk to someone before they enter the ring is not a good idea. I personally don't like it myself either as I like to spend time with Meg and only Meg doing motivational training with just the two of us before we go in to compete. In between competing I don't mind at all if people want to talk or stroke Meg. I enjoy interacting and answering questions, as do most other obed/agility people that I know :)

[kendalyn]

[quote]They could have been suffering from nervousness before they went in or disappointment afterwards if they didn't win. [/quote]

That is no excuse for being mean and rude to well meaning people. Spectators are part of showing and if people can't handle that then they should stop doing it.

[Queen Bitch]

[quote name='hillside']Granted it could be handled a bit differently than outright rudeness, but they are dealing with a lot while they are there. It can be hard to properly express that you would rather chat later about your dog without coming off as rude, especially if you are stressed out.[/quote]

Hey guys, I personally don't like a lot of handlers attitudes, but sometimes, though not all, it isn't intentional. It is hard to politely turn down someone's attention to your dog, even in a normal pet situation. Not everybody is nice in the first place and when you add that to the eqaution you get jerks and it is unfortunate that anyone has to deal with them in any situation.(I'm sure they are awful people in regular life too.) There are people like Kiwi and Cassie and soon to be myself though that will/would be/are thrilled that you have singled our dog(s) out of many like them for attention.

When I was younger, I used to help out my neighbor when she would show her Briards and Newfoundland in conformation and obedience. She instructed me to always be polite when people asked about the dogs, but that she also didn't want anyone to interact with them until AFTER they had been in the ring. I was curious as to why she would put that stipulation on so I asked her. She said that there are a lot of moralless people in the dog show world (just like in the real world) that will actually do things to harm other peoples dogs in one way or another so that THEIR dog has a better chance. If I had only encountered the bad rude people, I am sure that I would have been totally turned off of the dog show world, but because of her and other handlers like her, I'm not.

I guess I am just saying, Kimberlee and others, that I am glad that you aren't put off of enjoying shows, and remember that despite the bad, there are good people there.