The American Beagler Forum

First of all - ALERT - novice here. Before I get started - I am not new to dogs or to Beagles - have had dogs in my life for most of my life - the last 4 and a half years have had Beagles. My first one, Shiloh (Ringo's Little Boy Shiloh) is a visiting therapy dog. Although I wish I could hunt with him seeing as how he believes he is God's gift to the hunter and will follow a scent as any good Beagle will, I don't have the ability to. He is not the one that will be in a show. I have a 10 month old female pup named Shasta (Tess's Sparkling Shasta) that will be in her first show this weekend - the Capital City Cluster in Topeka, KS. Even tho it is 4 days, I decided the weekend was enough for her. I did take her a bit today just to walk around and let her get use to all noise and activity. Also, I will not be the one showing her due to my own physical limitations - I can walk ok just get thrown off balance fairly easily. A friend of mine, who has shown her Canaan Dog to it's championship, will be showing her for me. I don't know a whole lot about getting a dog ready for show - I have (and so has Lee altho Lee is not familiar with Beagles) been working with Shasta on getting her to stack, letting someone go over her like a judge and letting someone look at her teeth. But as for trimming whiskers and whatever else - nata. Lee said don't worry about it since I am doing this more for fun and determining if there will be any other shows. But after watching the Beagles in their classes the last couple of days - all of them were nice and trimmed up. Also, there is no one around here that knows about trimming Beagles for show - I live here in Topeka and as for show - Beagles are not at all popular here.

So, now I am going to show off just exactly how much of a novice I am. Can you use just a regular pair of scissors to do the whiskers? Do you also trim the long hairs above the eyes. Actually, I kind of have a problem with doing this because I always believed that in the shows, a dog was suppose to exhibit those characteristics that a dog of a certain breed would possess that would enable that dog to perform as was originally intended. I have never been able to figure out how shaving a dogs whiskers would enable him to perform better - say if the dog was a Beagle - do shaving his whiskers make him a better hunter?

Anyway, now that I have written a short story, I will stop. Also, if someone can tell me how I can add a picture, I will let you all see my Shasta - a tri-color Beagle, standing 14.1 inches.

Sorry if I sound a bit tiffed - my mouth runneth over sometimes. I believe it has been 24 hours or more since I first posted. I see that there has been 54 times that this post has been viewed but as yet, no response, not even when I asked for assistance in putting a picture here. Well, I don't need any answers to my questions - the first show day is over and my baby did great - unshaven as she was. No, she didn't beat anyone - yet but who knows what the future may bring. However she clearly enjoyed herself as did I and my sister and Lee, the woman who showed Shasta for me. At this point & time, I don't know what the future holds for us & it doesn't really matter. I was warned about this when a cyberfriend told me about the message board but I hoped she was wrong - maybe not. I can understand how life can get busy for some of us but for 45-50, & all at the same time? I'll try not to waste your time anymore - what's more important, my time was wasted too - twice.

BeagleMomma,
You shouldn't take offence because no one answered your post for many of us the weekends are full and we are on the roads on Fridays immediately after work.

Yes you can trim wiskers on their face with scissors, in fact you can get a better trim with scissors for the most part, yes you do trimt he eye brow hairs too. The reason for doing this is that is gives your dog a softer look. With the whiskers on your dog will have a harder look to the face for some reason. As for triming dogs there is a great web site that gives you some really good pointers, but if you can find a breeder in your area that does beagles and a hands on session really does help....

http://www.geocities.com/aladarbeagles/groom.html

Well any way I am glad you did take your dog and gave it a good try. We need new comers in the beagle venue, and we are always glad to see new folks, but you have to understand just because this is a forum don't mean we are on it full time, many views on these posts could have been from others that don't share the same interest as the folks that show their dogs but ones that want to learn because they are interested in showing. Or maybe they didn't know the answer and instead of stearing you in the wrond direction didn't post something. Most of the board members on this board are awesome folks that will help anyone out and know very valuable information so give em a chance.

As I said, sometimes my mouth runneth over & I come out sounding like a crabby old ???????? I really do appreciate the information you supplied. I have made a few attempts to trim the whiskers but I always stop before I get started. I just have a hard time making myself do it. Tomorrow at the show, Shasta's class is not until 12:30p or after - there are 35 Cresteds and 22 Basenjis that show beginning at 12:30 then her class 0 so maybe I can get some help there. Like I said, around here - show Beagles just are not a popular dog -there is a kennel club here in Topeka, maybe I can learn something there. Thanks again & in case you haven't figured it out - patience is not a virtue of mine.
I have been doing some reading of the other messages & I knew there was some good info to be had here on the Beagler.

Hey Beaglemama, first off welcome to the board. The reason your post was not replied to right away but was viewed by 50 people is probably because the vast majority of members here know very little about showing. This is primarily a hunting board, but I as well as many others will read the posts in every section just out of curiousity. I won't comment on everything I read though, only when I feel I can contribute. In this case I didn't really know the answer to your question and I imagine that's true of many of the folks that read your original post. Honestly any post you make will probably be viewed by hundreds of people but only have a few replies, that's just the nature of message boards. This is a very nice board full of some very nice people, sorry you seemed to get the wrong impression. Good luck with your beagle at the shows!

-Stacy

wvduece wrote:

marr24 wrote:Hey Beaglemama, first off welcome to the board. The reason your post was not replied to right away but was viewed by 50 people is probably because the vast majority of members here know very little about showing. This is primarily a hunting board, but I as well as many others will read the posts in every section just out of curiousity. I won't comment on everything I read though, only when I feel I can contribute. In this case I didn't really know the answer to your question and I imagine that's true of many of the folks that read your original post. Honestly any post you make will probably be viewed by hundreds of people but only have a few replies, that's just the nature of message boards. This is a very nice board full of some very nice people, sorry you seemed to get the wrong impression. Good luck with your beagle at the shows! i have only seen one bench show and it was after a hunt dont belive any of the dogs had been shaved i read your post earlier but didnt reply because i knew nothing about shaving let alone showing i read every post on here too but very few do i reply to unless i have something to offer then that could be questionable keep coming back lots of fine people on this board n WORLDS OF INFORMATION jb

-Stacy

have only seen one bench show and it was after a hunt dont belive any of the dogs had been shaved i read your post earlier but didnt reply because i knew nothing about shaving let alone showing

see i dont even know how to reply to a post i added to marr24 post somehow good luck with your dog showing jb

I read your post this weekend but, didn't have time to sit down and reply. My days are busy for many reasons be it a weekend or weekday. I check my email when I can but, I just don't always have time to reply to it so, many times even personal emails get put on the backburner.

In reply to your post.. I take whiskers off of my show dogs. In between shows I don't bother but, I like the cleaner look of a good shave. I do know people who show their dogs with little or no trimming and do just fine. I had a dog grooming business for 17 years so, the groomer in me has to do a little trimming here and there ;-) 99% of my grooming is done at home. At the show I just dust em off maybe wipe their faces with a wash cloth and go to the ring. I trim whiskers with a clipper but, you can do it with scissors if you feel comfortable. I do also take off the hairs abovet the eyes, Round the tip of the tail with scissors, I use thinning shears to work on the cowlicks on the neck as well.

My best advice to you is when you are at a show ask some of the beagle exhibitors to help you. I haven't met too many that wouldn't be more than happy to spend some time after they show to give you some tips and advice.

To add a pic you need to load it to http://www.photobucket.com

Leah

I hope that everyone agrees with me - time to move on with this. First impressions are not always that great. I am going to move on to a new post and try to get a picture of my Shasta posted. We still have work to do and I hope she will come away as a good show dog but first and foremost - she is one of the best companions I could ever want. Even tho she and my other Beagle, Shiloh are uncle and niece - and I love both of them dearly they each have their own personalities and very desired characteristics (at least with me)

Now, moving on to better things.............

Best of luck with the showing. The registry has some say on grooming. For the AKC shows cutting the wiskers is more important than in IKC all breed shows. UKC recomends they not be trimmed. At shows from either registry get together with the other exhibitors and they will give you some grooming tips.

Honey & Cindy summer 2004

Show Grooming Your Beagle
By Terri Gianetti. Beowulf Beagles
Exhibitors new to the Beagle ring are often surprised at the amount of grooming involved in this small breed which is "shown in its natural state." Of course there is a direct relationship between the number of hours that you put in, to the density of your little hound's coat.

Taking a dog "out of the raw" is always something that I prefer to do at least two months prior to the show. Allowing yourself this time frame will result in a much better blend in your trimming. Always start with a freshly bathed dog and limit the time he is up on the table to avoid marathon-like conditions. Removed any dead coat by using a Classic butterknife or McClellan stripping knife in a raking fashion, starting behind the dog's back skull and working all the way to the base of the tail. Do not use the stripper on the tail except if hair growth is excessive at which point you would only work the top side...never the brush. If the coat is very dense, start with a coarse knife and then graduate to a fine.

Clippering begins on the underjaw and proceeds all the way down the neck, chest and stomach to the inside of the hind legs staying on the white hair only. Beginners should use a number 10 blade on thier Oster clipper and plan to switch to a number 15 when they become very skilled at blending. The clipper is held "upside down and backwards" and moved in a raking fashion, up to down covering about 3 to 4 inches at a time. Be careful not to nick the teats on your dog or bitch...I prefer to hand trim around them with a small (3 inch) curved scissor.

Blend the neckline on the sides where the black/tan meets the white with a thinning shear. At this time you may wish to pull out more undercoat with a stripping knife to prevent holes. Use the same procedure on the rear to tidy up the pants. The back of the dog's legs where the brown meets the white should be blended with a thinning shear and stripping knife. Round the tip of the tail to resemble a paint brush and trim any excessive scragglies on the brush itself. The brush should look full so proceed conservatively here.

Trim any other "loose ends" such as whiskers and behind the front legs using a straight-edge shear....for the ear leathers and the tuck-up use a curved shear. The feet should resemble a tight cat paw so clipper the hair out of the V that is formed between the big pad and the four digit pads. The hair around outside of the dog's paw should be trimmed to the pads and the nails shorten by use of a grinder or dremel. Of course the ear canals should be clean and the teeth scrapped.

The day of the show you will want to spray your dog's legs with a waterless blueing shampoo such as Self-Rinse. Dry the legs with a clean towel and rub in a dab of Kolestral or Chalk-Mate. Brush powdered chalk up and into the legs, then brush out. Chalk may also be padded onto the muzzle with a cotton ball. Brush the top coat with a natural bristle brush and comb out the tail.

Knowing exactly where and to what degree you should trim your Beagle will come along with your better understanding of the standard. For example: if your dog is lacking in depth of chest, you may want to leave some volume of hair on the chest when clippering. I rarely groom any two Beagles alike since I first access the strenghts and weaknesses on the hound and then proceed accordingly. Learning to trim to maximize the Beagle to its optimum comes with time and patience, so if you have a dog that is not currently being exhibited (even the neighbor's field Beagle)...that is a great way to practice.

Much of what I have covered in this piece has been presented to you in a rather condensed form. Alot of what I have discussed is best learned by visual instruction. Because of the numerous requests that we have had over the years to help Beagle exhibitors with this subject, my husband Ted has produced the video, "A Show Beagle Groomers Guide" featuring Ralph Aldefer of Pin Oaks Beagles. In the tape, the tools needed to do the job are presented as Ralph walks you step-by-step through the grooming proccess. He begins with the trimming that is done at home right through the day-of-show grooming with chalk and brushing.

Good luck and see you ringside!!

For more information about Terri, Beowulf Kennel, or to order the video visit......

Any of the tools mentioned in this piece can be found through the following dog show supply merchants:

Country Way... (717) 424-9511
Cherrybrook... (800) 524-0820
J-B... (800) 526-0388