Adventures in Training the Beagles

Showing - Early Training

One of the reasons I was able to Summer, is that she didn't want to show.  She particularly didn't like getting ready to show.  She really frustrated her owner at the time.

Surprisingly enough, a lot of people spend a lot of energy grooming beagles for the show ring.  I haven't ever gone as far as some, but. have shaved her chest, blended that into her coat, and shaped her tail.  I do like the way she looks blow dried and have done that too.  She has a massive cow lick on the back of her shoulders that needs to be kept trimmed or she looks like she has a bad front.

Unfortunately at the first show, it took 3 of us to hold her down and get her ready for the ring.  This was in December, by May, I could take her to a show, put her on the table and get her ready by myself.

How, its taken lots of time working on her on a table in the back yard.  I have spent a lot of time just giving her treats on the table, grooming her, starting with brushing and giving treats for that.  She does like to be told she is pretty, so I do a lot of that while I am working with her.

Her nails are still hard, and it works best if I can wedge her into a chair so she can't squirm.  Beagles don't particularly like to have their nails done -- whenever my vet asks his vet tech to do it, he says he doesn't want to but does it anyway.  His vet tech is very good with beagles most of the time, so I blame the beagles, not the tech.

Getting a Conformation Dog

No matter the breed, dogs that are capable of getting a championship are rare.  Breeders are not going to sell their best dogs to an unknown person.  They want their best dogs in their gene pool and want to show themselves.

However, if you become known to the breeder, you will get some consideration.  In my case, I have competed in agility with two of the breeder's pets, and have even competed in conformation with them.  I have been active working with rescue and have helped her place pets and retired dogs.  

Many breeders will co-own with a junior so the dog can still be shown under their name and so the junior can compete. Many breeders will place a retired champion in a pet or performance him. Most of them are spayed first but if you are active in the breed they make arrangements. 

The key is being active in the breed. Agility is a real blast and a good way to start. 

Summer

I don't know why I haven't been blogging about this experience.  It has been coolest thing that has happened to me in a really long time.

It started at Purina Farms a couple of years ago.  Dulce got her one and only AKC agility title so far at the nationals and she was fascinated by the puppies.  She was 6 at the time a good spacing between dogs for me.  My breeder promised me a show puppy!  I had redesigned her website so she could update it, she had done it in Front Page, and she wanted to go to Word Press.  It's been a good choice for her.  It's at http://www.tesorosbeagles.com 

To make a long story short, the beagles weren't cooperating.  The breeders I liked either didn't take or didn't have enough show prospects to go around.  Two years ago in June, I took home a nice male, which we hoped would be a 13".  He grew to be a large, hard to control male, and was never visited by the testicle fairy.  At the Florida speciality, I had Jamie with me.  My breeder has a beautiful blue tri female what was driving her nuts.  At the last day of the speciality we traded dogs.  Jamie went on to be placed in a pet home.  So were his parents.

Summer was already entered in the Conroe shows, so I took myself off to as may conformation classes as I could fit in.  She would walk on a leash but hated the idea of the table.  It took three of us to get her ready for the Conroe shows.  She did take several reserve majors.