The reason I'm done with dog shows.

I want to start this off by saying, people who know me know I'm not a quitter. Sometimes I can be too competitive, but I roll with the punches and take the wins with the losses. I never get mad at my dogs because I know they are working for me at the best of their ability whether we have a good or bad day. There is always another day... another win or another loss. Competing is about me spending time doing something with my dogs that both of us enjoy. It's my philosophy for training and competing.

But lately there have been many show days that I haven't enjoyed being there. Or I spend the whole time wishing I was at home watching my child play T-ball, or seeing a movie with my husband. I had been considering taking a break from agility which takes alot of time in training and trialing. But I had decided to give Rally a try with Kishi and if I liked it, I would then try to title Farley and Tama. Rally is a sport that can be trained at home with very little equipment and just some basic training skills.

Well, today is the straw that broke the camels back.

Now being competitive, I understand and accept if I make a mistake in the ring and we are disqualified. I never argue a judges call, because I know they could be seeing something I'm not as the handler. I may not agree with them, but it gives me a chance to watch out the next time and correct it or keep it from happening again. Like constructive criticism that I just paid a $25 entry fee for (it's better than therapy - right?). But what I don't understand is how a judge can look at my dog and disqualify me before I walk in the ring. But before I get into that, let me give you some background.

Kishi has allergies. And I have to admit, they are bad this year. She has very little hair and elephant skin under her arms and along her butt and tail. She is itchy. But she's had them all her life, we do our best to keep them under control, and we work through them. She has agility and obedience titles that she has earned looking as bad or worse than she does today. She is my most trained dog with a variety of really awesome tricks and strong obedience skills. She has a resume of achievements longer than mine. AND, she is so excited to be back out in the ring. She thrives on attention and loves to work. And Rally is the perfect sport for her. It's positive and it's what she likes to do.

So today at the show we showed up at about 9:30am for a 10:10 show time. They told me when I checked in that they were running a half hour late. At 2:00pm our class was finally called to go in the ring. A few HOURS late. Kishi was ready. Her sits were quick, she had that sparkle in her eye that I recognize as her "I'm going to do a good job" look. I was psyched.

We were the next dog up, and Kishi started to rub her butt on the floor. She does that when it itches. If her face itches, she rubs that on the floor. I'm so used to her doing that that I didn't think anything about it. We weren't in the ring yet! Then the judge looked at us and called us in the ring. I went to the start line, thinking she would say "Are you ready". Instead she said, "What is wrong with her, it looks like anal glands to me. I don't want her in my ring. You're dismissed."

WHAT THE...?

I told her "NO! She has allergies, please don't dismiss us. Give her a chance to show you what she can do."

And she said "I've made my decision, you're dismissed. This is a novice class and if she has anal gland problems it will distract all the dogs"

"It's not anal glands. Please let us try."

"No, you're dismissed."

So I went to the superintendant of the show. They said they couldn't do anything, to talk to the AKC rep. I talked to the AKC rep who said that it was judges decision who shows in their ring. If they witness a dog throwing up outside the ring, they can dismiss them. If a dog is limping, they can dismiss them. And I guess if the dog has an itch on their butt, they can be dismissed.

OK, so I paid the money, I drove there (paying for the ferry both ways), waited, waited, waited... for what? To be told that I was dismissed because the judge, who is not a veterinarian, thinks my dog has "anal gland problems", which she doesn't, before I even crossed the start line!

Does this make you want to go to dog shows? Does this make you want to compete? And lately it has been one little disappointment like this after another.

So today, it's official. I'm done with dog shows. I wish I could say I ended on a high note, but such is life. It was quite a disappointment. With a total of over 20 AKC titles on 5 of my dogs, do you think AKC will miss me?