Linda Seabury and her husband, Fred Matuszewski enjoy showing their dogs in competitions. Seabury shares the details about being in the ring during an AKC Confirmation Show and discusses what to do — and what not to do — during an event.
A condensed version of her conversation is below; the full interview can be found here.
Seabury has a Glen of Imaal Terrier named Brigid, while her husband owns Mickey, an Australian Terrier.
Seabury says that dog shows are more “than just a beauty pageant.”
“When you have a dog that ends up going through all the dog showing, they (judges) are checking it against the standards for that breed,” she says. “And out of that, you end up with dogs that would be the best for reproducing.
“You know, I’m boyfriend shopping.”
Unlike other sports, dog showing is very subjective, Seabury says.
“When you go to a baseball game, if somebody hits a home run, it’s a home run,” she says. “In this sport, you will have a judge who looks at a group of dogs, and they’ll decide, ‘Yeah, this one may have that fault, that one has that, but I like this one better.’”
It is important for the dogs to have proper diets, exercise and training. Good grooming is a must. Their behavior in the ring will also be judged, and there is a protocol to follow.
“So you go in, you know that you’re first going to stack your dog, the judge will come along, kind of look, then they’ll tell you to go around,” Seabury says. “In our case, both dogs are dogs that go onto the table.
“As you put them on the table, you learn, put the front feet right at the edge of the table, because that way the dog is less likely to be moving around. There’s everything from, “What’s the distance across the top of the head, what’s the shape of it? What’s the distance from the set of the eyes versus the nose?”
Judges at the competitions are trained and tested on each breed.
Seabury said she sees the same people and dogs at competitions in the area, and confesses that she is envious because she has a partner who is also interested in showing dogs and is just as passionate about it.
“We’ve had people ask us, “Is it tough when both of you go into the ring at the same time?” Seabury says. “It’s like, ‘No.’
The only thing we have to watch is, that we can never have Bridget walking behind Mickey, ‘cause then she wants to run up to her and play.”
Seabury said it is not about the humans — it is about Brigid, Mickey and the other dogs. And, that humans and dogs are all having fun.
“If you’re not having fun, don’t do it,” she says.
