A dog dosent care if your rich or poor,educated or illiterate,clever or dull.Give him your heart and he will give you his.It was really quite simple, and yet we humans,so much wiser and more sophisticated,have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not.~John Grogan

A dog dosent care if your rich or poor,educated or illiterate,clever or dull.Give him your heart and he will give you his.It was really quite simple, and yet we humans,so much wiser and more sophisticated,have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not.~John Grogan

If neither is available, contact the National Breed Club for your breed and look for breeders or mentors in your area (some offer "mentors").  As for breeders, some may be willing to help but others may not. 

For a Corgi, you want a thin metal or nylon slip (choke) collar.  As thin/refined as you can find.  Cherry Brook which someone else posted a link for, will have these.  I would reccomend chain only because it slides more easily through a thicker coat.  They will have fine jewelers link chain collars or snake chain collars.  I reccomend the fine link, they don't break as easily as the snake chain link.  Do Not pick up a regular chain choke collar...they are too big/bulky for conformation.  You can get silver or gold.  If yours is a sable Corgi, go with gold.  You want to match/blend in with the coat.  If it's a tri, you can do either.  If you go with a nylon slip instead, you want to match the dogs coat and there are plenty of shades of browns as well as white and black to choose from.  If your dog is a correct sized, adult, Male Corgi you will probably need a 20"-22" collar.  Females  18-20".  You want the collar to be bigger than the way you would size a regular collar or an obedience collar.  You need to be able to lift the collar off the dogs neck and put your hand under it to hold the dog in the stack.  I Highly reccomend the "loop" or "Handlers" leads rather than a lead with a snap.  Snaps can come unsnapped unexpectedly and suddenly you have a loose dog!  The Loop or handlers lead gets threaded through the collar ring and the collar/lead become one piece.  For a Corgi you'll probably want a 36" long show lead.  Maybe a 4 foot, though I find novices have a harder time handling "excess" leash and do better with a slightly shorter lead than what an experienced handler may use.  Again, match the lead to the dog and it's collar.  You want the collar and lead to "blend in to the background" and basically be "invisible" so as not to detract from the dog.  I give you all these specifics as I've had so many novices come into my handling classes with incorrect equipment that someone in a pet store reccomended to them.  Our local stores have a very limited selection of show supplies and staff who know Nothing about showing.  Other breeds may use a martingale style or a rescoe style lead, but most these days show on a slip collar/lead combination. 

It would also be wise for you to get a copy of the AKC standard and start to study it inside and out.  You need to know the standard in order to understand what is being judged in the ring and in order to evaluate your dog effectively.  While your dog may be just a pet, there is nothing wrong with giving showing a try...except if you are going to be disapointed when you don't win.  I have had a few students get started with "pets" and then once they learned, they acquired a show quality dog to continue on with.  But they understood what they had and simply looked at it as a fun learning experience.  Others walk in wiht a pet, and get dispointed when someone else honestly tells them their dog isn't suitable.  Just recognize which type of person you are, and make sure you have an accurate assessment of your dog.  With all respect to your Veterinarian...unless he/she has shown his own dogs, knowledge of soundness and show qualities may not be there.   There are plenty of beautiful dogs who are physically unsound and/or not suitable for showing.  OTOH, you have a Corgi...and my experience with Corgi's (I assume you have a Pembroke Welsh Corgi?) is that even the pets are usually fairly sound and attractive, and even the ones from poor and/or pet breeders are usually the same.  They might not have the "extra" flashiness of a show quality dog, but you shouldn't look too out of place in the breed ring either.  So I think it's great you want to learn and give showing a try!  If you find your dog isn't cut out for the show ring, you can always get involved in Obedience or Agility!  Corgi's are great at both! 

OH, and somehow I totally forget to mention your best resource...Your dogs breeder!  Assuming your dog came from a knowledgeable/responsible breeder, he/she will be able to help you on your way to showing your dog and should be able to provide you with an assessment.  Or if the breeder isn't in your area, they should still have contacts in your breed and can refer you to someone who will help.  Definitely if you are going to exhibit your dog, the breeder should be made aware of it.  Most will welcome the opportunity to assist you.  BTW, I do assume your dog has full AKC registration?  Dogs who are on limited registration will need the breeder to lift the "limitation" before being able to be shown. 

Finally, someone above mentioned UKC shows.  UKC shows are more laid back.  They also have a lower level of competition in many ways.  They can be fun in that regards as it is easier to succeed.  However, they are also fewer and farther between which has always been another downside for me.  OH, and they don't allow bait/toys in the ring.  That's neither here nor there IMO...except that if your dog isn't trained yet, you will want to wait to show UKC until your dog is trained well.  You want your dog to be up and happy while showing!  :-)

If for some reason you can't find assistance in your area, you can also start wtih books.  I think it was Caroline Coile who wrote a book called "Show Me!".  There are other books on the market too which will help get you started.   

Good luck!   

Are you really going to that show? in Atlanta? So am I!!! I'll Be showing one of our females

The Cane Corso enthusiest!

Please visit my web,

        www. canecorsoinfo. webs. com!

Please visit my web,

        www. canecorsoinfo. webs. com!