A Beginner’s Experience in Dog Showing
As the legendary and respected handler and instructor George Alston told our class, "Conformation is the only sport in the world where you can compete with world-class professionals, even when you have no talent, no experience, a mediocre dog and lousy equipment." And...of course, he is right. Dog showing is a wierd and wonderful world. Some of we amateurs enjoy the competition, some enjoy the craziness, some enjoy the shopping, and some (like me) just enjoy having an excuse to spend the day with their dog and leave "the real world" behind for a day.
I'd also strongly suggest you purchase the following books and read them cover to cover....several times:
-The Winning Edge, by George Alston
-The Dual Ring Dog by Jacqueline Frazer and Amy Ammen
(out of print but generally available on Amazon or Ebay)
-The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Showing Your Dog by Cheryl S. Smith (available on Amazon)
In addition, Shadow-Wood Samoyeds has a great webpage that could be a great help to you.
What follows below is a chronology of my show ring experiences. And if you are considering showing your Samoyed, you might see the kind of things that may lay ahead for you!
Lisl's Story- If I can do this....so can you!
Sarah's first owner Marge, required that we show and "finish" Sarah as a condition of owning her. Yipes! Through a leap of faith (on both of our parts) and a commitment to give my best to the unknown, I promised Marge that I would attempt the show ring experience. She promised to help coach me. And off we went into the world of dog showing.
I had been passionate about, Samoyeds for almost 40 years but until that day, I had never even thought of venturing into the "crazy" world of the dog show ring. Instinctively I knew that anything that looked that simple had to be complex and I was sure it took skills and character traits that weren't on the (short) list of mine. But some situations call for something bold and that seem to make no sense, and this was one.
So…I decided to let Sarah focus on getting her fur to grow back, and I did what any amateur would do.....I entered Flurry...right away! Despite expert handling from two top professionals, Flurry never really grew to like showing. She approached it like some people do getting their teeth cleaned. But the judges really liked Flurry, and she always pulled herself together when it was time to "work" in the ring. So we kept showing Flurry AND Sarah throughout 2007. What had started out as a goal to show just Sarah resulted, in less than one year, in two champion girls! Needless to say, I was in a constant state of wonderful amazement. 
Anyone who knew me well must have thought that, at age 46, I’d lost the last of the brain cells I had possessed at age 45. 
After all, to be a successful competitor you have to good at advance planning, clock-watching, repetition, minutia, research, logistics, patience, organization, and you have to possess an ability to focus on one thing: winning. I did not have one of those skills or traits when I begain showing. Not one!
I had never been to a dog show. I had never known anyone who showed dogs.I didn’t know how to enter a show. I had no idea how to bathe (let alone groom) a Sammy for a show. I didn’t own a single piece of the "essential" equipment. 
I didn’t have a truck or SUV. I didn’t own a pair of "sensible" (aka ugly) rubber-soled shoes. And well....I didn't have a very competitive nature...at all.
What I did have, however, was a love and faith in my dogs, a stubborn commitment to having fun, a thick skin, a great desire to learn, an unshakable determination to achieve the goals that I had set for myself, and a willingness to be the novice among a group of professionals.
I volunteered as a “helper” at my first show. I watched as people arrived a day early to the Timonium (Maryland) Fairgrounds "Cow Palace" with crates, carts, chairs, boxes, blankets, tables, dryers, power tools, construction cones, coolers, and all kinds of other things I didn't recognize. I offered to help folks move their stuff into place but I didn't see any Samoyeds for hours. Finally, I worked up the courage to ask one of them, “Umm...where are your dogs? Do you need any help with them?” “Ah!,” he replied with a smile, “I wouldn't dream of bringing them in here if you until tomorrow. They are resting in the motor home in the air conditioning.” They? A motor home? Plus, I learned they had driven from Ohio! Geeeez!
It all seemed more than out of my league and almost overwhelming but between all the fur and chalk and terms I didn't understand, I saw camaraderie, respect, sportsmanship and laughter. It was clear that, while there were some admittedly “white-fur-win-obsessed” folks, even the ones "on the edge" loved their dogs. And the best part.....there were more beautiful Samoyeds to watch than I could have hoped for!
From the time I entered my first show, Sarah made it so easy. 
She loved grooming, she behaved perfectly in the show environment. She made it seem like a piece of cake. But a few months after our first show to my horror, as I groomed her, I kept watching her beautiful coat fly away only to be swooped up by the birds.
By the time she was dry and combed, she looked like a little, hungry, arctic fox. The picture below on the left is Sarah without fur. The picture on the right is with fur....fur is preferred for an arctic working dog (duh) :)
Flurry's first show was the benched show in Harrisburg, PA. It was so big, so noisy and so crowded, that it freaked out both of us from the time we pulled into the parking lot. If knew then what I know now, I would have called the experience a disaster, except that day I learned things that would improve the showing experience for me and the SnowAngels from a stressful one, to a more enjoyable, and winning one. I learned to ask lots of questions, and be open to the responses. By the second day, thanks to wonderful advice from Carol Montgomery and Marge Goodenough, Flurry was calming down. It was because of Flurry's uneasiness that Carol introduced me to flower essences.
The other invaluable suggestion was one made to me by Heather Shannon. As Flurry and I literally stumbled out of the ring, I asked her for any advice she wanted to offer. She graciously, carefully asked me if I had ever considered hiring a professional handler and offered to introduce me to one who may be able to help me right away. Heather's offer to help me ultimately led me to professional handlers, Barbara Waldkirch, and Cathy Schott, who both graciously handled Sarah and Flurry at the bigger competitions, and ultimately to earn both of their champion titles.
Well if you've visited Halo's page, you know that he is our first show boy. What a different experience a boy is! Halo earned his title quickly and easily. He was such a good companion and (when there were no girls in season around) and turned so many spectators into fans that I decided to "special" him. That meant that I would show him in the Best of Breed category, which also meant that I would definietly be competing with professional handlers and breeders who had a whole lot more knowledge and experience in the show ring than I had. But my goal was to show him myself...and do it well....someday.
I knew enough to know that my lack of handling skills would keep us from winning at that next level....at least some of the time. 
After some research and talking to friends, I decided that what I needed was George Alston's handling class. I had heard that he was tough, they were tough to find, and they filled up as quickly as they were announced. I was told to go into it with a thick skin and a good night's sleep. In December, 2008, I got a spot in his 2-day Advanced class! It was THE BEST decision I could have made and I would recommend it to anyone. I only wish I had taken it sooner. I improved so much over the two days that I actually won the handling competition that George holds at the end of his classes. It was the single largest confidence boost of my life.
So, in 2009, in addition to "specialing" Halo, I decided to take on what may very well be my most rewarding largest challenge yet.....EASTER! Easter is the first showdog completely bred by me, so it was a thrill to show her to judges and see how quickly she earned her Champion title. I handled her in every competition....until recently....
Chris's Story - Fearless fun with fantastic results!
You know how they say that the sign of a real crazy person is when they want to teach their craziness to someone else? Well...call me crazy then. Just about the time that Easter earned her Champion title, I met Chris Moffett. He and Easter became mutual fans from their first encounter. A few weeks later, I realized that Easter and Halo could both be successful in the Best of Breed ring, but to do that, one of the two would need to handled by someone other than myself. Chris volunteered....and a new amateur handler was "born."
Since November, 2010, Chris has handled Easter a handful of times and won a ribbon and points each time. So....Chris and Easter will be taking the floor of Madison Square Garden in Feburary 2011 (only 4 months after Chris set his foot into a show ring) at the 2011 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show!
