Grooming questions and stuff for first show

[Co-Pilot in Flight]

I have been working with Co-Pilot on walking on her lead, standing and handling her mouth, etx. What I do not know...and don't know where to find it is how are Pug's groomed for a show?

I have heard different things about removing or trimming their whiskers, is this standard? Isn't this how they keep from running into things, is this a dangerous practice?

What else does my Puggie need other than a good bath and remove all loose hair? Or point me in a direction of where I can find this info, thanks!

Another question that perhaps can notbe answered, if I handle her myself, how in the world do I know what to do in the ring? I have watched dog shows, but you can never hear what the judges are saying, i guess just do as they say? How did you all get started.

Thanks in advance for answering the questions you can.

[Luvbean25]

The best way to learn how to groom your pug is to watch someone else do it a few times. But I will try and give you the basics. Please note that everyone has a diffrent routine and way of doing things and this is the way that I do it, maybe not the person I am showing with.

First of all, I never bath my kids the day before a show, I usually do it 2-3 days before. The reason being is becasue if you have noticed that the day after a pug gets a bath there is hair flying everywhere. The worst thing is having a dog on the table and having hair flying around while the judge is examining. I use "Bio-Groom" shampoo and conditioner and they can be found at any show. I use the Protein Lanolin for the shampoo and the "Silk" for the conditoner...see the webstie here... http://www.biogroom.com/dogcat_fullline.htm

After bathing, I always blow dry to fluff! You will need to buy a good pair of straight scissors and thinning shears...not the $5 ones at walmart, but we are taking about the $75-100 pairs. There is a huge diffrence when it comes to a choppy trim or a smooth one...it can make you or break you. I trim the mud flaps on the back legs, all the fluffy stuff of the tail, the chest hairs (curly Q's) and the underside hairs. On the boys I also trim the hair on thier man parts. Thinning the mud flaps and tail takes steady hands and you really have to know what you are doing. If you are not showing now, now is a good time to practice. (Also I do my major trimming after a bath so that if I mess up it has 2-3 days to grow back/even out ).

The day of the show I trim whiskers (this is NOT required, however I trim all of mine, I have never had problems with injuries), I re-trim the mud flaps and tail, brush their teeth, and give them a good brushing...15-20 minutes of stroking (To release natural oils for shine), and I also clean ears, nose rolls, and apply just a tiny dab of vaseline to the nose. If you have graying issues in the muzzle those will also need to be touched up (but I think you have a puppy so no worries yet), and if you have white nails you will need to take a sharpie marker to them. There are a few judges out there who don't like seeing white nails on pugs and will not put one up (Mrs. Forsyth is one of them, she is hates to see white nails on a pug and will let the world know about it). I do not use any sort of shine products as most of them cause skin issues, especially with the pugs.

If you have a mentor you may want to ask him/her to show you how to groom your pug for show. Although the standard reads that they should be shown in natural state, a well groomed pugs looks more professional and give the appearance that you want to win, instead of just being there. Grooming for show requires weekly up keep and mine are groomed EVERY thursday night...show or no show. Two weeks ago before I left to show in Atlanta I spent nearly 6 hours grooming 3 pugs! It is alot of work for a breed with no coat...I feel for people who show peeks! I would shoot myself!

Good Luck and let me know if you have any questions, you can PM me any time!

[Co-Pilot in Flight]

Thank you Sarina! Do you ever come to shows in CA? I would love to observe you.

The breeder I purchased Co-Pilot (girl) from is helpful, but also lives several hours away. I am hoping to meet up with her for some practice SOON!

Co-Pilot's nails are dark so I don't have to worry about making them darker, but I am wondering if it is acceptable to have nails "clipped" which tend to have a look different than a dremeled nail. Is this important? So far I just trim her nails, not dremel.

My puppy (almost 6 months old) has a little pink on her nose, adorable, but not sure about that either. And a touch of fawn on her ear ( I know this can be colored). I think her body and head are really good for the breed standards, but don't know about these other things.

Also I was going to PM you, but since I did a search prior to posting to see if other people asked questions (that could answer mine)I thought I would post publicly, so perhaps this will help answer someone else's questions.

A few photos of her. And I am asking for your HONEST opinion, I can take it, really. This is my first dog, and first Pug. Now I purchased her from a reputable breeder,, as show quality and my Puggie's Aunt just went to Westminster, but I don't know if this girl is truely show worthy. Either way I love her to pieces, so thanks for helping me figure this out.


And one so you can see her nose and ear closer:

[Co-Pilot in Flight]

Offended?

I feel as though I have offended someone or asked something that I shouldn't have. Is it normal that more people aren't chiming in? Is it expected that my breeder be my only mentor on this?

Thanks everyone for reading!

[Blanche]

I don't about the show ring, but I give her a first place for cuteness and sweetness.

[ownedbymack]

Offended?

I feel as though I have offended someone or asked something that I shouldn't have. Is it normal that more people aren't chiming in? Is it expected that my breeder be my only mentor on this?

Thanks everyone for reading!

I'm sure that you haven't offended anyone. There are very few people on the board that show so I think most of us aren't really qualified to answer your questions. I think your puggie is beautiful though!!

[Co-Pilot in Flight]

I'm sure that you haven't offended anyone. There are very few people on the board that show so I think most of us aren't really qualified to answer your questions. I think your puggie is beautiful though!!

Thank you!

Here I am being paranoid huh! Well everyone here is so wonderful I just would hate to offend!

[jwestoverpug]

Hi Sarah,
When is your first show? Will co-Pilot's breeder be there? She should be able to show you how to trim her right before the show. Different regions of the country seem to do more or less grooming. I do bath the day before shows. I haven't had any trouble with shedding. Sarina is right about getting good shinning shears. I trim all that hair on the back legs and the tail. Take a look at her on a table from every possible angle. Do you see any scraggly looking hairs, that look out of place. Especially on her belly, chest and the back of her front legs. If your bitch is very heavy coated you may want to shave the belly area. You just want a nice clean line no matter what angle your looking at her from. I wouldn't mess around with coloring her nails or ears. Yes, LOTS of people do this, but in my opinion it's obvious and you won't be foolng anyone.

Do you have any handling classes in your area? Check with local kennel clubs. Here's a good link with some basic info. http://www.akc.org/events/conformation/beginners.cfm

Luckily you're showing a bitch, so you will be able to watch all the dog classes first. When you get to the show, find your ring, get your number. Put it on your left arm. Every judge is different, but generally when your class is called you will bring her into the ring and stack her, then the whole group will go around together, then you will stack her on the table. The juge will do a quck examination of her, then you will gait her. Watch what pattern the judge has all the dog classes do, you'll do the same thing...likely just a down and back. When you come back toward the judge stop Coco a few feet from him/her and take your food, toy or whatever and get her attention. You want to get some expression from her. Then the judge will likely have you go all the way around the ring and back into your spot in line. After all the entries have gone through this procedure the judge will award placements. If you are first or second you need to stay close by. All the classes will do this, and then everyone who won their class will come back in the ring, this is for winners bitch. The judge will pick their winner, and then second place from whatever class the winner came from (6-9 month puppy, 9-12 month puppy, 12-18 month, open, bred by exhibitor) will come back in the ring for reserve winners bitch. Whoever wins WB will stay in the ring, the winners dog and the specials will then come back in the ring for best of winners, best of breed and best of opposite.

My opologies if any of this is old news to you, I have no idea how much you already know.

Let me know if you have any other questions at all.

Jesse

[jwestoverpug]

One more thing, by the looks of her pictures I'd tape her ears if you haven't already. You can leave it on until right before you go in the ring.

[Luvbean25]

Sara:

Sorry I am late posting back to you , but I don't usually have time to post in the evenings. Anyway, the pink on the nose will have to be covered up.. You can do two things, first you can try supplementing her with "Kelp" it is known for making the nose black...I have nothing to back me up on this except that someone told me that when I bought my first pug, and I tried and it worked! The second there is a product called D-nose, and it will blacken the nose up until she matures, you can find it here:

http://www.needsndesires.com/teethnosefeet.htm

Here ears will HAVE to be taped as Jesse said and there are two ways of doing that, from the outside or inside. I tape both ways, on older pugs I tape from the inside becasue they learn how to pull the tape off on the outside.

Here is for the outside:

http://www.pugcentral.com/tapes.html


And here is how I do it on the inside:

http://hometown.aol.com/luvbean25/page15.html

For your first show, I would not spend time grooming her, I would focus time on moving her and table training. When you are at the show, ask for help in the grooming department. There is a sweet girl who lives there in Cali that shows all over, her name is Casy Wallace and I will email you tonight with her phone number. I think you should try and hook up with her and she can show you how to groom, and other handling tips. If I am not mistaken she has been in pugs for about 13 years and she is only like 23!

Please don't feel like you have offended anyone, I think that there are 5-7 show people that are active on this board, so the response is going to be limited!