Addicted to Success

It's a universal truth that success is addictive. It’s how we train any kind of animal to consistently perform a behaviour (including humans) – we reward them for success to the point that the success becomes self-rewarding. That sense of achievement is what keeps us all going.

Dog Showing is a competitive sport, and like all others, success is one aspect that keeps us all coming back. Success doesn’t always come from winning, although that is the ultimate achievement, it might just be peer recognition on your grooming or training, it might be sincere admiration for your dog, but in all its forms it is invigorating.

To the layman, the preparation for a dog show might seem extreme. We spend hours grooming dogs to run them around a ring and compete against others who've also spent inordinate amounts of time preparing. There's only one winner, so somebody's hard work isn't going to pay off.

But even though we don’t always win, anyone with a hobby or a passion will tell you it's worth it. There are so many other things that make it an enjoyable experience.

It's the people; all of us have the same passion, a keen understanding and appreciation for the effort our fellow competitors have gone to grooming their dogs to perfection, training them to stack and gait in the ring and breeding dogs that match the breed standard in conformation and temperament as closely as possible.

It's the dogs; picking a hobby that includes copious cuddles, slobbery kisses and puppies (there's always someone with puppies to cuddle at a dog show) is immensely rewarding. These dogs are family- much loved, adored and all with their unique characters. We all have our favourite breeds, often with breed-specific temperaments and abilities that we love, nuture and conserve so future generations also get to experience these amazing breeds.

It's the competition; that one big win will keep us going through the next loss, putting in the hours of training and grooming, just for the chance of another win.

It's the artistry; the satisfaction of creating the perfectly groomed dog, on a live moving canvas, is immense. It's a craft the requires a lot of learning and skill to achieve great results and as with any art, we are all constantly learning new techniques, finding new tools and trying new products in our never-ending quest for perfection.

It's a community. No matter how much some competitors may not like each other, at the end of the day we're all together for a shared love of dogs. This was shown perfectly in the last few years when bushfires threatened the homes of many dog show exhibitors and breeders. Those in safer areas with boarding kennels opened their kennels freely to anyone needing to evacuate their dogs, even offering the use of their dog trailers as well. Those who didn't have boarding kennels helped in other ways- transporting dogs, bringing food etc. Another regular example is the sad case of a breeder losing the mother of their puppies during birth. Sometimes another breeder with a small litter may be able to foster the motherless puppies.

It's the lack of discrimination; male, female, gay, straight, different ethnicities, old or young you can take a dog into the ring and be successful. It's the dog being judged, not you. If you're unable to run fast, might I suggest a smaller dog like a cavalier or a miniature dachshund that you can walk with instead?

It's the utmost faith we all have in our dogs; win or lose we all take the best dog home with us. It might not have been to the judges' tastes on the day, but in our eyes, our dog was the best. If you don't go into the ring with this attitude you are going to lose. Every other competitor in there with you thinks the world of their dog and shows them with the innate confidence and knowledge that their dog is the best.

I have two dogs that I compete at conformation shows with. One is Oliver, a handsome English Springer Spaniel with a long silky flowing coat. The other is Odysseus my rugged German Wirehaired Pointer complete with a bushy beard and eyebrows. Both of them are family dogs. I'm not a breeder, I just enjoy the training and showing aspects of having these special dogs.

Preparation is not just in the week or two leading up to the show. The dogs need to be in great physical condition to show off their working heritage, so there's twice-daily exercise and weekly show training to make sure they will be at their best in the ring. Plus, it's important to desensitise them to the sounds of cheering and clapping (for when you win of course!)

To have a coat in perfect condition requires ongoing top quality nutrition, and also some supplements- foods high in omega oils for a shiny coat are a must. Regular washing to keep the coat clean, and for a spaniel, it’s also essential to give them daily brushing to keep the coat in great condition and avoid matted hair. For my wirehaired pointer monthly stripping of the coat is done to encourage new growth, plus his beard needs to be wiped after every meal to make sure bacteria don’t grow and cause skin issues.

Both my dogs have vastly different grooming requirements and need an arsenal of grooming tools and products to prepare them for a show. In the week before the show, Oliver needs to be stripped using a stripping knife and stone, the tops of his ears and throat clipped, and then the scissor work happens.

Scissors to a dog groomer are like knives to a chef. It's important to have great quality scissors and also the right kind of scissors for the right job. The outlay required for good grooming scissors isn't cheap, but if you want nice clean cuts and perfect blending it's worth it. Chefs don't have cheap knives and dog groomers don't have cheap scissors. I got my thinning scissors secondhand for the bargain price of $200. Nice and sharp, practically new, but with a cheaper pricetag.

For Oliver, I use 3 different sets of scissors: straight, curved and of course my previously-mentioned thinning shears. Straight scissors are for trimming the hair from between his toes and tidying up the ends of his swishy coat so that it is all neat. Curved scissors are longer and used for shaping- making sure his toes look rounded and ensuring his flowing coat is perfect and consistent on both sides. The thinning scissors finish everything off- they blend in any obvious scissor lines for the perfect finish.

The grooming table is also a really useful thing to have- keeps you from having to bend over the dog so you don't get a bad back. It also helps to be able to see the dog at eye level when grooming.

Odysseus likes to nap as Oliver spends hours on the grooming table, probably revelling in the fact that his wire coat only requires a quick strip with a stone to remove any dead hair and a little scissoring of any over-long ear fringes. 5 minutes and he's done.

For both, their nails are also ground back and teeth are checked to make sure they are clean.

The night before the show they are bathed in special shampoos. Oliver has a purple whitening shampoo (no I'm not kidding), and a silk protein conditioner. In case you're wondering, yes his conditioner costs more than mine. Odysseus also has a special shampoo, but his is for wire coats, also no conditioner for him as it would soften the "wire coat" texture that we're aiming for.

To keep Oliver's coat flat, once he's blow-dried he wears a special drying coat and also a snood over his ears to keep them clean and dry.

Show day starts around 5am with a quick dog walk. Oliver is then stationed back on the grooming table for a final blow dry with a volumising mousse and conditioning spray to make his coat really swish in the ring. His coat is then straightened with a hair straightener (a GHD in case you're wondering) and out come the scissors again for any touch-ups. Odysseus has a nice nap during this because he's already good to go.

Back goes on the snood and a velvet show coat to keep Oliver’s coat in pristine condition. The grooming bag is packed with all manner of scissors, combs, brushes and sprays. It's also critical to remember the treats, or bait, as it's referred to at dog shows. You want your dog excited and happy - ready and raring to go out into that ring and win... the better the treats the more likely that is to happen. I use a combination of smoked sausages (yes human ones smoked and cooked on the barbecue) and cheese, other people use dried liver, dried kangaroo, dried fish, Frankfurt sausages, ham, basically whatever the dog likes best.

Then it's time to drive to the show. For me it takes about 45minutes to get there. Once we arrive and set up we get a chance to relax for a little bit and chat with fellow competitors who have all just endured similar mornings to be here. Sometimes is commiserating- we've all had that dog that decides in the morning of the show to jump in a pond or pool and ruin all that hard work washing and blow-drying the night before, resulting in a panicked wash and another blow-dry in the early hours of the morning.

Sometimes it's gossip. Like any hobby or sport, we're not immune to titillating tales. Maybe someone's spent an exorbitant amount importing a dog from overseas and it hasn't won anything yet, maybe there's speculation that someone has used black hair dye on their black dog (possibly cheating?) to make sure any grey or sunbleached hairs are black- because no dog is naturally THAT black. Perhaps someone's paid for an experienced handler to come over from interstate and show their dog (in Australia you can't pay the handler for handling your dog, but you can of course pay their flights, pay them for grooming your dog, and all sorts of other loopholes). On the tamer, more positive, end of the spectrum, maybe someone's dog has achieved a show title, or recently had a Best in Show.

Sometimes it's catching up or admiring someone's new puppy, potentially finding out someone's breeding plans for contemplating when to get another puppy (so tempting…).

Sometimes it's getting grooming tips, or showing tips, particularly if you're newer to the sport. Older, more experienced, exhibitors are usually happy to help, and any opportunity for improvements should be taken. I've only been showing for 3 years and I am still quite new, so a friend who is a groomer that used to be an extremely successful Springer Spaniel exhibitor sometimes grooms Oliver for me. This is particularly handy if I've been super busy and don't have the time (hours) to put into Oliver's grooming, but I still want to go to the show on the weekend. This may seem like it would take away from the overall sense of achievement, but it doesn't really. It's a helping hand, but I still have to wash, blowdry, straighten and do the finishing touches to his coat before the show.

We keep an eye on the show ring once the event commences, and when we're about 15 mins away from being called to the ring Oliver is back on the portable grooming table, getting the last brush through with shine spray, and maybe even a final touch up with scissors or cordless hair straighteners so that everything is sitting just so.

By the time Oliver is ready to go and we’re about to head to the ring, someone will usually remind me that I've forgotten to brush my own hair this morning (oh the irony), and I'll hurriedly brush it with Oliver's brush (a Mason Pearson $150 brush), and then be ready to go.

We line up with all the other perfectly presented springer spaniels, hyped up and ready for Oliver to strut his stuff. A couple of laps of the ring, coats flashy and flying as they stride around, and after the judge scrutinies the line-up sometimes we're the winners and sometimes we’re not. It's amazing and exciting to win, the thrill keeps me buzzing for the rest of the night. But even if not, as long as we had fun and did our best it's okay (unless the dog that beat us is obviously nowhere near the calibre of Oliver; then it's a travesty and the judge is clearly blind!). We win more than we lose and we accept that not every judge is going to like our dog. It's no good for the sport to be a sore loser.

The great thing about having two different breeds of dog is that even if I lose with one, I still have an opportunity to win with the other, although it's always even better to win with both. Losing teaches you to be humble and gracious- nobody wins every time. It also gives you grit- if you want those wins you have to go through the entire washing, grooming and preparation rigmarole next weekend as well- and there's no guarantee you'll win then either.

Odysseus is quicker to get ready, just a quick brush, wipe off any drool on his beard, and a fluffing up of his beard and eyebrows before he's ready to go. He loves a good spotlight to strut his stuff in, and will sometimes leave me in the dust taking off into the ring and striding confidently around it perfectly with me trying to keep up.

Odysseus rarely loses, partially because there's very little german wirehaired pointer competition to be had since it's a less common breed, and partially because he loves to show off and it's hard to ignore him when he's striding around the ring looking fantastic. He knows this is the way to earn the smoked sausages! On a good day, he might win and be the best gundog (over 70-100 other gundogs). We haven't won the elusive Best in Show yet, but have had a Runner Up to Best in Show, so I'm sure we'll win one eventually. Win or lose, it’s now time to let everyone else who isn’t at the show (friends, breeders of Odysseus and Oliver, family etc.) know how I’ve gone via social media so that they can congratulate or commiserate with me.

Win enough times and you'll gain enough points for your dog to be officially titled a Champion. It's always an amazing feeling of achievement to get there, and both Oliver and Odysseus have achieved their Champion titles.

People ask if you win lots of money at dog shows as if that might justify the amount of effort put into this sport. The answer for the majority is not really. The reward is knowing your dog was judged the best of all the other dogs there. It's the success and the achievement. Those that earn money in related ways are usually through professional grooming and training (even online versions in a post-COVID world) or boarding kennels. Let's be honest, most of the money earned goes back into further developing breeding lines and producing the next show champion.

Yes, the same as any other sport or hobby, there's those who take it too seriously, those that will be upset that they didn't win (when they clearly had the superior dog) and are sore losers. Losing sucks. There aren't any competitions where there aren't those that are sore losers. But as long as you don't let them spoil your day, you can still enjoy this hobby.

When the day is finished, ribbons are awarded and we're headed home. We can relax, revel in the enjoyment of the day, and maybe even head to the beach to let the dogs ruin all that grooming effort and just have fun.

No sport is easy, all of them require commitment and effort to achieve something and dog showing is no different, but I think it's better when it includes dogs and it is absolutely addictive to win with your best buddies.