Hi Rhona, I attended the Westminster Kennel Club Show this week, which is also a benched event.
We waited till after they were shown to go ogle the Berners in the benched area - which was easy because they were up at 9:00am on the first day! Even if they aren't up first at Crufts it's best to wait till they've been shown before you go chatting up the breeders/owners/handlers. From the reactions of other breed's owners/handlers, they are too stressed before their dogs are shown to talk to bystanders. Crufts and Westminster are premier events and many breeders have spent mucho $$$ getting their dogs ready for a major show. It may be fun for us but it's work for them. But afterwards, I was able to track down everyone but the winning Berner's breeder (who still had the Group to worry about). The rest of the people in the benched area were friendly, outgoing and informative once the pressure was off. I think the pros recognize that among people coming to dog shows are many excellent sources of potential new talent to support the future of the breed. And since I haven't heard about a lot of dog show people getting rich from it, I have to assume they're doing it largely out of love for the breed and their dogs...though bragging rights must be nice too! :-) The benched area at Westminster was organized by breed, so it was easy to find most of the Berners together in row 15, aisle A. But at least at Westminster, they had a separate catch-all area for handlers who are showing multiple dogs of multiple breeds. Unfortunately, that's often where the creme de la creme of dogdom are hiding out. The benched area was super crowded with handlers trying to prep dogs, people trying to exercise/feed/snuggle their dogs and pesky bystanders like me asking a zillion questions. In the process, I got to meet some really nice people. Take care, - Alex Ford (future Berner parent) > [Original Message] > From: Rhona Vantine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: 2/13/2003 4:30:12 AM > Subject: show etiquette > > I attended Crufts Dog Show last year and loved it! I > hope to go again this year. My question is, what is > the proper ‘etiquette’ when you go to these shows. > Someone mentioned recently that at a big show it’s > probably not the best of times to bounce up to a > handler and start asking questions. I desperately > wanted to touch all those beautiful ‘benched’ berners > but wasn’t sure if I should. The handlers all seemed > to be grouped and chatting. > I can count on one hand the amount of dog shows I’ve > been able to attend but at one in San Antonio, Texas I > touched a Golden Retriever and the handler asked me to > please not touch the dog. I felt really bad. > Rhona and Louis > In The Netherlands > > __________________________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day > http://shopping.yahoo.com
