The American Beagler Forum

A huge congrats goes out to Joe and Cindy! Joe won a Major under breeder judge Ann Roth yesterday!!! Wooohooo!!!

This is a wonderful accomplishment for these two! Joe is well on his way to becoming a Champion!

Leah

Good going Cindy! Lets see some pictures of you and the Curly Guy.
We love to see you do what your doing. Congradulations Cindy!!

WAY TO GO Cindy ... and Joe!!!!!!!

I think your boy will have his championship in no time!

Cindy just out of Curiosity..
how many Shows do your hounds attend in an average year??
Do you Show at only Certain venues? where they may get used to Seeing your Dogs more? and if So do you think this gives you an Advantage?
how many Of these Shows do you have a proffesional handler Show your Dog?
Also Do you look at the average entrys for previous shows to get an idea of how many Dogs may be entered in the class?
With the average cost being $20 per entry how much do you figure it costs you to Champion your hounds out Cost of entry + handler ect
just to give the average beagler an idea of what it costs to Ch out a Dog in the Show ring.

TC wrote:Cindy just out of Curiosity..
how many Shows do your hounds attend in an average year??
Do you Show at only Certain venues? where they may get used to Seeing your Dogs more? and if So do you think this gives you an Advantage?
how many Of these Shows do you have a proffesional handler Show your Dog?
Also Do you look at the average entrys for previous shows to get an idea of how many Dogs may be entered in the class?
With the average cost being $20 per entry how much do you figure it costs you to Champion your hounds out Cost of entry + handler ect
just to give the average beagler an idea of what it costs to Ch out a Dog in the Show ring.

TC,

I'm not answering for cindy but, I know for me I do not ONLY show at certain shows but, usually I look for judge panels that I like. I definately do my local shows. With the cost of fuel now I am very much limited as to where I'll go. Driving 1000 miles each way is almost out of the Question for me and then even driving 500 miles for single points is not something I'm willing do do as those single points end up costing a fortune. So, basically I try to go to shows with good beagle entries. I personally rarely use a handler for class dogs but, have been thinking about it due to the cost of travel. I live in a area with only 8 local days of shows and the highest point schedule in the country ie: NO MAJORS. in the past I've finished 6-8 beagles a year but, this year I may not even finish one.

I personally never think I'm well known enough to win with crappy dogs so, I definately only bring the best and hope that the judges judge dogs not people ;-)

I would say the average cost to finish a beagle used to be about 1500.00 and thats including travel etc. Now.. its more like 2500. unless you get lucky and do it in one or 2 weekends.

Leah

Windkist wrote:A huge congrats goes out to Joe and Cindy! Joe won a Major under breeder judge Ann Roth yesterday!!! Wooohooo!!!

This is a wonderful accomplishment for these two! Joe is well on his way to becoming a Champion!

Leah

THANKS LEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I wouldn't have Joe Joe if it weren't for you seeing him posted in here.

TC wrote:Cindy just out of Curiosity..
how many Shows do your hounds attend in an average year?
Do you Show at only Certain venues? where they may get used to Seeing your Dogs more? and if So do you think this gives you an Advantage?
how many Of these Shows do you have a proffesional handler Show your Dog?
Also Do you look at the average entrys for previous shows to get an idea of how many Dogs may be entered in the class?
With the average cost being $20 per entry how much do you figure it costs you to Champion your hounds out Cost of entry + handler ect
just to give the average beagler an idea of what it costs to Ch out a Dog in the Show ring.

I'm writing this without reading what Leah wrote yet....should be interesting to see how we differ or not answering these questions.

*I don't really show that much due to family and financial reasons. I show MAYBE an average of two days a month if you averaged it out over the year. I sometimes go MONTHS without showing and then will show 2-3 days in a row.
*Certain venues only give you an advantage because you are familiar with the drive, the site itself, and you feel comfortable returning. But otherwise the judges are always different so you don't get that kind of an advantage at AKC conformation shows.
*I really don't use professional handlers at all. If one approached me that I trusted and said he/she wanted to take and "special" a dog of mine I probably would be thrilled, but as far as finishing dogs Championships I prefer to do it myself to prove they are worthy and it's not the handler winning. It's a much bigger rush winning with your dog yourself.
*Sometimes I look at previous years entries to see if entering is probably worth the money...we have to pay two weeks before a show and if you have the only beagle entered you don't get your money back. So if it's close I'll go for exposure and experience, training, and hound group competition butterfly killing
*I GUESS that it costs around $1000.00 to finish a slightly better than average show beagle. Entries, gas, hotels, restaurants...a handler will probably cost about the same if you stay home and they take the dog with them...they'll probably "git r done" quicker but you'll still pay.
* Entri fees here are more like $24.00-$28.00 but sometimes you get a break for puppy or bred-by.
Now I'm going to go see what Leah wrote....[/i]

Leahs probably correct about how much it costs to finish one....I try not to think about it, LOL.

Ok thanks for your reply
Thats about what we spend also just seeing if it was the Same for most!!
yes it is a lot nicer to finish your own dog.
it seems that in the Areas we are in that it is usually the same dogs Winning Most of the Time And NOT always because they are the better Dog Either IMHO But WHO they are Or WHO the Dog belongs to.
Now Some would say that it does not make a difference I tend to Disagree on that But again JMHO. but you gotta get em out there the more you are seen at the Shows the better your Dogs tend to do Why is that?
Ok here is the breakdown to finish a Dog to its CH in the field
$15 to & 20 an entry for the Field and another $10 for the Show so figure $25 to $30 a day for 2 days now you need the Wins also (like majors)
here is the kicker the entrys can run from 25 dogs to 200 dogs on any given weekend with 5 to 15 in the Show portion
I have it figured at about $1500 to $2000 to finish a dog to its FCH So about the same

I am having a hard time finding majors in 13" females...I owner handle my dog....and have traveled as far as 600 miles for a Major weekend. We did get a Major and a BOS the day before the North Ga Hound specialty and 2 Reserves that weekend..but that was a 600 mile trip. The Brittany summer Specialty was also that weekend and I handled 1 britt for someone else and that helped with expenses(gas money). I show once a month and the close shows are a 4 hr drive.

UMMMM Try 13" males in these parts...........

TC wrote:it seems that in the Areas we are in that it is usually the same dogs Winning Most of the Time And NOT always because they are the better Dog Either IMHO But WHO they are Or WHO the Dog belongs to.
Now Some would say that it does not make a difference I tend to Disagree on that But again JMHO. but you gotta get em out there the more you are seen at the Shows the better your Dogs tend to do Why is that?

Well could be that the people winning just present the dogs better and present a more professional image. You have to at least pretend that you are a somebody (I'm basically a nobody in the dogshow world but you don't want the judge to know that). Are you dressing the part? How are your handling skills? Do you look goofy and fumbly (guilty here often) or do you present a smooth polished performance (we try!). Watch the people who win...stay for groups and watch those top handlers. Watch how GRACEFUL, cool, calm, and collected they usually are. Everyone has bad days, and dogs will be dogs....sometimes it's about the dogs, sometimes it's about a judge relating to the handler for some reason or another.......it's all a gamble but if you want to win you usually need to look like your one of the "players" and do NOT want to lose. Don't make it easy for them to dump you!
No baseball caps in AKC conformation either, LOL!!!!!! Suits..skirt suits for us chicks and nice sport coats, a tie and slacks for you gentlemen.

JMHO

Thanks for the tips

So See Even you admit it aint always about the Dogs

It SHOULD NOT MATTER WHO is on the END of the Lead!!!!!
That is not Where the Judges SHOULD BE LOOKING

And YES WHEN I was Showing I always Wore a Suit!!!!
Now I let my Wife and Daugter handle the Dogs as I kinda have a Mouth

I still Do handle the Dogs in UKC and have a lot of Fun at it...
But then again they are looking at the DOG!!!!

I Would much RATHER attend a field trial than a AKC dog show Just for the reasons Mentioned above That is More than Likely the reason We dont Show as much as we used to. I lost a lot of respect for AKC Show judges..
Dont get me Wrong there are some very Good Judges out there and When they come to our Area I will show under them it is just that they are Few and far between.......Now this is just MY opinion and not Held Exactly By My Wife (JC) LOL So those AKC judges that may be reading this Dont Hold My Opinion Against my Wife Daughter Or Our Dogs LMAO