Castration

[JohnK]

Dennis has just been to Puppy class tonight and somebody was suggesting it would be a good idea to have him "done" when Pauline said we were planning to try and show him, she said to check out if he would be suitable for showing.

We are amenable to this idea, as we are not planning to breed from him.

Where could we go for advice as to whether he would be suitable for showing?

[Emilyoliver]

Does his breeder show? If so that'd be the first person I'd ask to assess him.  otherwise ringcraft classes might help - people involved there might be able to offer some advice. The other option is to enter him in some open shows when he's old enough and see what the judges think of him. Judging is very subjective though, and in addition it is often difficult to tell from a young dog how he might develop with respect to show potential. It also depends on what you want/ expect to achieve from showing him. Cockers are a popular breed in the ring and very competitive - cc's are hard to come by. 

[SophieBlueRoanLover]

There was another thread on this recently - I think having a castrated dog doesn't preclude them from being shown, as long as you let the KC know (or something like that). However, there may be judges out there who are prejudiced against it, and might deduct points for this.

[Archie bean]

You might find this thread Interesting too.

http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=93246.0

[Brimbeck(Dyllan)]

If you want to show I would go along and watch many people are friendly If your breeder shows they will be able to give you a good idea. There are lots of "levels" of showing and most people start with a dog they have bought before they thought about showing, there is a fair bit to learn for you and the dog.

Even getting 5/5 I was pleased with the card and we learnt a lot sometime we didn't come last, I was very pleased with that and eventually we got a Best of Breed or two
The following  dog we bought can from a breeder who showed and we had more success even getting a CC despite been a newcomer.

My dogs are entire  for various reasons including showing but also because my older boy was a little shy and castration would have made him less confident.

Give the showing a go it's good fun

[mlynnf50]

I thought they had to be entire, as the breeder I got selby from was keeping him to show but he had a retained testical so that's why she sold him, if they can be castrated it woldmt have made any difference would it?

[Jane S]

I thought they had to be entire, as the breeder I got selby from was keeping him to show but he had a retained testical so that's why she sold him, if they can be castrated it woldmt have made any difference would it?

Depends on the country - in the UK, castrated dogs can be shown in that there's no rule preventing it as long as the KC has been notified but it's not necessarily easy. Coat changes after castration means it often becomes difficult to keep the coat looking as it should for the show ring and also judges may not want to place a castrated dog very highly (due to the fact the breed standard requires two normally descended testicles)

[mlynnf50]

I thought they had to be entire, as the breeder I got selby from was keeping him to show but he had a retained testical so that's why she sold him, if they can be castrated it woldmt have made any difference would it?

Depends on the country - in the UK, castrated dogs can be shown in that there's no rule preventing it as long as the KC has been notified but it's not necessarily easy. Coat changes after castration means it often becomes difficult to keep the coat looking as it should for the show ring and also judges may not want to place a castrated dog very highly (due to the fact the breed standard requires two normally descended testicles)




Thanks