.com Forum · Beginner Forum

Hello everyone, I have rediscovered Showdog after some number of years and want to get back into it. I'm fairly new, the first time I played being so long ago and I maintained only a basic account with a couple dogs before quitting. I went ahead and upgraded to a family account because I would like to have multiple kennels to play around with different breeds. Any tips for someone just getting back into the game or what breeds to get into?

Hello!
Welcome back!
Some main things to get started is to make sure your puppies that your using for show are placed on 1777 puppy formula (you can custom make it by doing only the lowest vitamin setting as it doesn’t actually effect anything then the highest- all 7s- for the others. Make sure to switch your pups over to adult food at 14 days or they will loose condition.
Make sure to switch your salary/session options to the highest session option- it will actually give you 48 sessions a day and you can sell the extra for more money to get way more than the salary option will give you.
Make sure to check the shows if they need handlers or not and place handlers on the dogs that are shown under handler preference judges. It will list the handlers by judges preference and have the handlers rank next to it, try and pick the highest rank handler that’s highest on the judges list.
Those are the main things I can think of you can always ask me or the forums if you have any questions! I am happy to help newcomers get started. If your intrested in any of my breeds let me know I will see if I have a breeding age female or a pup available. I have smooth/toy/wire Fox terrier, Jack russels, Mudi, husky, Australian shepherd, merry blue terrier, Caucasian mountain dog, Anatolian shepherds, skye terriers, amstaffs, Italian greyhounds, rat terriers, Irish wolfhounds, borzoi, sealyhams, Scottie’s, Spanish water dog, Manchester terrier, Tibetan spaniels, Shiba Inu, German spitz, Akita, Rottweiler, standard poodle, GWP and GSP and I may actually be forgetting a few so if there are any others your interested in let me know. Good luck!

Thank you so much for the tips! I am starting out with GSD and Belgian Malinois in this kennel, but I am currently going to make another account I think for poodles! Akitas also sound like a fun breed to get into as well. I do have a question btw if you don't mind to answer; should I be getting starter dogs?

Welcome back!

Re: your starter dog question - they are useful if you want to work on bringing in certain colors or traits. Some breeds are on the brink of being lost, so some users make and use starters to revitalize breeds. But for breeding and showing in a competitive breed, they might not be useful on the whole.

Detroit captured everything well. I'd just add that SOP isn't everything when evaluating dogs so get to know your breed's scale of points well.

(I am not sure if you are also Rapt, but if you are, welcome to the wonderful world of Poodles! )

Yes Comet hit the nail on the head with starters, helpful for “extinct breeds” or color projects but not really if you want competitive dogs for showing they will all be extremely low SOP.
I do have standard poodles (czarinaestates) and Akitas (detroit313) so drop me a message if needed, I have a breeding gal in both breeds I would be willing to sell.
Good luck with your kennels! All mine are pretty dormant and not showing right now as I am dealing with treatment for my real life dogs cancer and unfortunately it’s too exhausting to also tend to my virtual dogs as well at the moment. But I’m still around and happy to help out any new user and will hopefully be able to get back into showing in the next month or two.
Good luck!

Thank you Comet and Detroit for the help! I am indeed Rapt and can't wait to get started with Poodles, they seem like a fun breed (: Both of your explanations about starter dogs helps a lot. I was hoping to get into Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, but there don't seem to be any for sale, so I wonder if it is a breed that needs revived through starters. If so, I don't mind undertaking that project even if the stats will be poor.

Also Detroit, I will send you a pm about Akitas/Poodles, thank you so much! I hate to hear about your dog in real life having cancer and hope the treatment is going well for them!

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posted by
Thank you Comet and Detroit for the help! I am indeed Rapt and can't wait to get started with Poodles, they seem like a fun breed (: Both of your explanations about starter dogs helps a lot. I was hoping to get into Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, but there don't seem to be any for sale, so I wonder if it is a breed that needs revived through starters. If so, I don't mind undertaking that project even if the stats will be poor.

Also Detroit, I will send you a pm about Akitas/Poodles, thank you so much! I hate to hear about your dog in real life having cancer and hope the treatment is going well for them!

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How weird, I guess it glitched? Either way, that was me!

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posted by Maegu

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posted by
Thank you Comet and Detroit for the help! I am indeed Rapt and can't wait to get started with Poodles, they seem like a fun breed (: Both of your explanations about starter dogs helps a lot. I was hoping to get into Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, but there don't seem to be any for sale, so I wonder if it is a breed that needs revived through starters. If so, I don't mind undertaking that project even if the stats will be poor.

Also Detroit, I will send you a pm about Akitas/Poodles, thank you so much! I hate to hear about your dog in real life having cancer and hope the treatment is going well for them!

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How weird, I guess it glitched? Either way, that was me!

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Sometimes if it takes a minute to type the system will log you out and it will post as basic. And thank you for your kind words, she has a really good prognosis, she’s had the mass removed and is now undergoing chemo but after that she should be totally in the clear which is awesome.