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I have decided to only show my males because it seems to have less of an impact on my breeding program. I would be interested to see how many of you guys show your females. Do you find that it hinders your ability to produce better quality litters? I am just curious.

Of course! My top SOP is a female. I am also the only one actively showing in my breed so I am not in a race to breed the "best" dog. This may have an impact on how I show. But I have always shown my females in every kennel I've had. Depending on how well they do, I do delay breeding but that's fine for me.

Absolutely. If a female seems to have that hidden something I will show her all the way to 120 days. Some of my top winners in all my kennels have been females. On the other hand, if one just seems average, I will pull her and breed her. The thing is, some of them seem to grow into showing the more experience they have (depends on the judges of course), but I have finished, bred, and then entered females in shows after pups and they do better than they ever did before. That's what keeps the game interesting.

I usually show them up to 30 days. Then if they are close to finishing, I will finish them. If they didn’t do well, I’ll just stop. Sometimes, I return to showing them after they have puppies.

Almost always. I don’t think it hinders anything, I don’t need to be breeding litters as fast as I can, and it actually benefits me to put thought into whether or not I can afford to have bitches out of the show ring for long enough to whelp. The best earners only have one litter or maybe 2 before they get to 120 days. The ones who show decently I try to get to grand before I retire them, but most everyone gets to CH.

Putting everyone through the show ring also makes me more picky about what I keep and only makes the breeding program better.

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Last edited by Bailey Barns on 12/26/2017 3:15:27 PM

For your breed, Mals, I would breed them at 30 days since they take longer to session and bring them back out afterwards.

Keep sessioning them on obedience while they are getting over the litter for even better showing results.

Will

Yes, but I don't typically special them.

I'll special a nice boy for awhile (usually not 120 days...kennel space is tight) but definitely not a girl.

Absolutely! I have more top winning bitches than dogs. If they are winning they get specials until 120 days and then bred.

My platinum GCh. Bitch is only a few champions away from her gold dam award and she didn't get bred until she was 120 days.
I have plenty of others to breed while showing the specials bitches so I don't find it hinders my breeding program.

Will, you hit the nail right on the head. My reasoning for not showing my females is because it takes literally 30 real days to train a Mal for the show ring. By the time she is fully sessioned she is also ready to or just days away from being of breeding age.

I am sometimes a little impatient with things so when one of my girls is ready to breed, then I SO want to hit that breed button. If they are showing, then I can't so that button sits there mocking me for 120 days lol By the time her show career is over and I can hit the breed button, then she becomes fairly obsolete.

As luck would have it, I've had 2 really nice females born within the past 2 months that are much nicer than my males so it's caused me to see how you guys handle these kinds of things.

I show my competitive females to see what I've got. Some have hidden traits which will "out" in the ring, which is very useful to know for their breeding program.
Some of my best winners have been female, getting Group placements and the odd Show placement.

Sometimes I breed a really good one at 30 days... she'll be in the ring at 40 days and then you can show her non stop if she's winning well and has thrown a good one to follow on.