# Show tips



## cdd1020 (Oct 19, 2008)

Hi i am new and i have Australian Shepherds (puppies) and i am just getting into showing and i need help with how to create and maintain their coat for a show. I would appreciate all the help i can get. I have two blk-tris and two blue merles. Also what would be the best shampoo and what products would work best to create the poof effect.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

Hi there. Congrats on your new puppies, and your desire to get them into the show ring. If you are serious about showing them, you really need to contact the breeder, and have her help you. There is ALOT more to showing a dog, even a "simple" groom dog like an Aussie. I have not shown an aussie, but I do know you only want to use a nice, polished pins, pin brush, NOT a slicker. Chris Christensen has some nice ones that won't damage the coat. Shampoo isn't going to be of the utmost importance, but getting a squeaky clean coat with no residue in it is. You are going to want to use a whitening shampoo on your merles, and the white parts of the tri's. You want to keep the coats from being sundamaged/bleached also. Again, I would recommend you contact the breeder, and ask for her help. If they are unavailable to you, then I would search for your local dog club to help out. And get them ALL in conformation classes at a training center near you ASAP. You have to train them for the ring as well, and this is the best way for you and the dogs. You can't just grab the dog and go in the ring. There is a process, and your dog will show much better if you have taken the time to do the conformation classes and training. Best of luck.


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## cdd1020 (Oct 19, 2008)

Ok so the breeders that i chose puppies from are not available because they are over 100s of miles from me. I have trained all of the dogs for the ring so thats not the issue. I just need help with grooming them i not sure of the process and how to go about it the correct way. I have all the right tools (i think) i just need the knowledge to make it all click. Our Blue merle took first in puppy, but he still could have looked much better. 

Thank you Graco22 For your suggestions they are wonderful and most i have already applied.


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## Boleyn (Aug 25, 2008)

I really, really love the Plush Puppy line of grooming products! They are my favorite. Chris Christensen and #1 All Systems makes some good products, too.


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## animalcraker (Nov 9, 2006)

Invest in a good blow dryer! When you bathe them make sure you get thier coats dry all the way down to the skin, it will make an amazing difference. If you can find a Chris Cristensen or Cherrybrook booth at your next show ask them which tools they recomend and how to use them. Keep in mind they will try to sell you thier stuff, but they have some of the best stuff around; and you'll eventually end up with thier stuff anyways. They can also explain thier shampoo systems and which would work best for your colors. Your somewhat in between a rock and a hard place with the tri's because whiting shampoo is needed for the white but it can bleach out the black and give it a redish hue but the black shampoo will dull out the white. The very best thing you could do is find a Aussie breeder local to you and ask them to mentor you. At the very least a sheltie or collie breeder should be able to help you with the grooming since they have similar coat types.

Just out of curiosity why did you decide to do 4 pups at once into the show scence? I thought one pup was hard enough to work with, but with 4 your going to have your hands full.


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## cdd1020 (Oct 19, 2008)

Well we started off with a red tri but she is not akc she is ckc. Then we wanted another one and so we got a cute little black tri male and he is akc. And my dad breed German shepherds for 20 years and got out when i got to high school so he wanted to go back in to raising dogs so we all decided to go into Australian shepherds cause germans were to popular around where we live. So we got four puppies with in the course of four months. But they are all wonderfully behaved and all excel in the Rally ring. And i have already tought them to stack and everything.

We have only put one is the show ring so far. The rest are one leg away from a rally title at 9months old. But the show ring will be here soon.

Four would be hard but, We have four really great dogs. That makes a difference. They just do anything i ask of them.

Thank you all for your advice. I Have the Chris Christensen line. I bought everything that the lady recommended to me for my dogs. 
I didnt know to completely blowdry them that was one thing i did wrong.


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## Purplex15 (May 28, 2007)

Grooming, especially for a show, is not something that can be told to you on a forum. I know you said your breeders are unavailable, but i know very few breeders who would sell a show quality puppy to someone and have no intention of helping that person. im sure if you contact your breeder, there are people they know in your area who can help you.

This is a hands on thing, and something that needs to be shown to you. There is a difference between owners grooming and professional grooming, and a difference between pro grooming and show grooming. you mentioned you didnt know you were suppossed to blow dry the dogs, and that is exactly what i am talking about. anyone who has little experiance with showing dogs NEEDS a mentor to help them. to do it all yourself and not have anyone to help you is the wrong way to go. 

you need to do a lot of research and find an aussie breeder near you (since you claim your own breeders wont help you), who can help you with this.


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## cdd1020 (Oct 19, 2008)

Ok when you call and email a breeder for two months and they dont return any of them i think that is sufficient enough proof that they are not going to help.

Anyways I have found someone.


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## animalcraker (Nov 9, 2006)

cdd1020 said:


> Ok when you call and email a breeder for two months and they dont return any of them i think that is sufficient enough proof that they are not going to help.
> 
> Anyways I have found someone.


I would say it's clear that they aren't going to be helping you. But I would be worried as to why they wouldn't want to help you. I'm assuimng all 4/5 of your pups are from them and they were sold with the intentions of being shown correct? I'd be questioning the quality of this breeder.


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## cdd1020 (Oct 19, 2008)

I bought 2 show quality pups from a lady in arkansas, but i think something tragic happened to her because her site went down and her cell phone was cut off. So i have no way of contacting her except email and she has not responded to the atleast 15 emails i sent her about the puppies. She was a very accomidating lady and went well out of her way for us so. Another breeder i bought from did not show her dogs so she said she could not help me. The other gentleman i bought my other puppy from is a working stock breeder so i am not planning on conformation for that puppy rather she is in obedience. So the differences in the breeders in significant. They were responsible and had avaliable all of the things i asked for and they could answer all my many questions.

So i asked a very good friend of mine that showed Airedale Terriers if she knew anyone and she pointed me in the direction of one of her friends that retired from showing Aussies, So i found a mentor.

All i have left to do is drive three hours for lessons. Which is well worth it to me. 

I just dont do well to condescending people. I do know that you blow dry a dog. But i was told by a groomer that worked at the same clinic i did, that you could easily dry their skin out if you over-dryed them. With that said, it may have been bad information or good information i just did not completely dry them i would leave them a little damp.

So it is small tips that i was merely wondering about.

Much like what could help fix stains on show day? IF they had an accident!

What kind of spray is good one for remoisturizing their coat?
And what product would be the best leave in treatment for After a show to restore the damage created by all that the products that were used for the show?
Also what would be the best for the copper spots on the Tris. Because whitening for the white and blacking for the black, But what for the Copper?
And so forth.

I would love to show all of them but it may not be possible. But they are all trained to do it anyways.


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