A Few Good Man And A Good Dog

I picked up a little information from http://www.wy-os.net/show.htm.

Besides, there are friends who are already showing dogs in local shows. They offered their best guidance when I made up my mind for showing miniature schnauzer.

Showing dogs is fun! Owners get to interact with their dogs. Owners also get to meet new circle of friends. To some very competitive owners, the show ring may be political as everyone is out to win. For me, I just wanna relax, interact with dogs, catch up with friends, chat the all day long with close friends and watch the show.

Owners have a choice of two : either by engaging a professional handler or exhibiting your dog yourself.

I prefer my dog to be shown by a experienced handler who is into the showing miniature schnauzers for some years.

1. Finding Long Term Mentors.
Locally, there are not many owners/breeders around who are actively showing miniature schnauzer in the SKC show ring. Mr. Kelvin Ng Lip Siang is one of the best person who had successfully shown many well know Miniature Schnauzers and win many awards for his Miniature Schnauzers in Singapore. He has many years of experience on this particular breed. I decided to go to him for sourcing of my show dog and that is how I found my boy - Ben. Not only as a mentor, he is also very skillful groomer for show miniature schnauzer. As I mentioned before, groomed towards the breed standard.
Certainly he do not use the most expensive shampoo or conditioner but only those appropriate ones. He does not use expensive scissors or shears nor has a fully air-conditioned grooming room, but he is just good with his experience and skill. With him as mentor, it certainly save me from mistakes along the way. I am grateful to him all this time.
Besides Kelvin, personally I also know a friend, a friend who I know way back since my previous hobby of arowanas - Mr Steven Gan. Steven is a well versed in medical terms and also very resourceful in his research. He is a good owner with good knowledge. He has offered many tips and sharing his knowledge with me on daily care and ownership of show Miniature Schnauzer. I appreciate his help and advises all this while.

2. You Must Have A Good Dog.
I still can remember I went around meeting friends who owns show miniature schnauzers and talk to them about the breed standard. One very bold and repeating sentence came about - "Go to Kelvin". With Kelvin's help, I managed to view the puppies that he imported. I did some simple temperament test based on observation and trust, I tried my best to look at potential faults along the conformation standard, but for a puppy, it is much harder to gauge. Nevertheless, I confirmed on Ben. Some gave me feedback about Ben's topline when he was a puppy. I even have the remarks from judges during last year's show. I trust the words given by Kelvin and some friends that his topline will develop further as he gets older. It is true enough that Ben's topline is much nicer after he grows up, and Ben is 9mth plus old that I noticed that his topline has even up and with proper grooming, it is now near straight.

3. Finding A Long Term Groomer.
Miniature Schnauzers are shown in conformation shows with a stripped coat. A Schnauzer's body coat is never clippered since puppy until it's end of show career. I did enquired on the charges for stripping the coat from a few places last time. Some charges are just way too expensive. I would say most of them know how to strip, but they do not meet the standard of grooming towards the breed standard. Not many can make it except those who actively show Miniature Schnauzers. Many owners have a bad impression on stripping is painful to the dog. This is totally wrong! When done carefully and correctly, stripping is not painful for the dog. My boy can sleep when I was stripping him. haa..
Even now I can perform the stripping, I would say it is very important to know what is next after the new coat is out. The whole show grooming process for miniature schnauzer take weeks to complete and due to the tight show dates schnauzer, we may have only one chance to strip the dog. The rest of the time, the dog's coat is rolled.
Rolling is also not as easy as it seems to be. Rolling needs to be done without much cutting and the coat must be rolled once a week. Every time I observed Kelvin's grooming, and impressively, he crafted out Schnauzers towards the breed standard. To me, grooming is an art. Which part to keep, when to keep, which part to go, when to go. Isn't it interesting! Sculpturing the dog out from the breed standard. Ben is groomed by Kelvin and I truly respected him for his skill.

4. Finding An Experienced Show Hander.
This is a very important person in show. He/she has to be evaluated with the following aspect:
a. The person's attitude towards the dogs.
b. The person's experience in showing Miniature Schnauzer (not just dog but Miniature Schnauzer).
c. How successful is the person in shows.
d. Does the person show his/her dogs (this to make other possible arrangement if crashes).
e. Is the person comfortable with my mentors and groomer.
f. The person's appraisal for my dog and it's chance of success.
g. How much time the person can train and bond with my dog.
h. Is the person willing to travel to your site, ie home visit, play, walk and handle my dog for a few sessions.