Hey, what's going on, everybody? Welcome into the Tac Box Podcast, episode 63, right, Dale? 63. We've had a awesome journey getting here and and we posted out on on the Facebook, you know, get asking for listener questions and feedback so we can make sure that we take a moment to appreciate all of our listeners and are able to answer their questions. And we got flooded with, yeah, everybody everybody wants to know Dale's opinion on every topic related to dogs from judging to breeding. They want to know your opinion too. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, there was a question that related to me, and I was just like, oh wow, interesting. Okay. So we're starting to get we're starting to get in there to where there's some questions going on. So you were up in uh you had a crazy week, actually. Talk to us about your week. And I know that last week we were talking like, oh, you're gonna go here and then you're gonna come home and you're gonna drive to, you know, how did all that turn out? Well, because it all worked out well because my friends between you and Rick and everybody got covered for me while uh we were doing our down in Murfreesboro for Minpin Nationals, and then flew home on Friday and hopped in the car and drove back home. We were in the house for 23 minutes long enough to uh pet Samson and switch out luggage, and then we were off to Oklahoma City for two days of judging. Did Georgia even get out at all in that 23 minutes? We didn't. Oh no. Once you let the genie out of the bottle, there's like there's hours of decompressing after that. And says just leave her in the bottle for that 23 minutes, and it's like it didn't happen. Oh, we weren't home. Yeah, that's we just had to we had to deal with that Sunday night, and believe you me, she was in a state. But you know, like the you know, she found a toilet paper roll. I mean, it was there was collateral damage after after that. But so now we're we have like really only one show this whole next month, and that's just in Korea. And uh so we're kind of looking forward to doing some home stuff and getting ready for getting ready for national and and uh you know and we're getting into planting season right now in Texoma. So you know, because you're you're you're significant other as a plant person, so you have been digging holes and planting and you know, all of that. I feel like that's what my life has been for the last week is like here's this tree. We need to plant it. Dig a hole. Okay, let's dig a hole. Digging a hole. We uh buy one going free, so I bought two of them, you know. So dig two holes. Okay. Yeah. Hey, there's another thing. You know, it's like uh I want to dig up some of these plants and transplant them into other areas. Okay, let's dig them up. You know, and actually it's like the ground here is so easy to dig, it's like really not even that big of a deal. It's you know five minutes you can have a tree planted. Yeah. It's really it's like in our properties, like the first foot is really just easy to dig. And then you kind of get some red clay-ish and it gets a little bit harder, but you know, the first foot's super easy. So if you're just digging up some, you know, some plants or grasses or something like that, super easy. If you got a tree that you're only putting 12, 18 inches, super easy. You know, but you start getting deeper than that, and it's like, okay, here we go. You know, like but you know, compared to South Dakota where you're hitting you're going through rock bed and red dirt, it's like this is easy. Yeah, a little shovel and you can be done in no time. That's pretty awesome. Well we'll we'd be expecting to see some pictures coming on Facebook of that and the the new flagpole and and all of that. You know, it's all gonna have to be so we can all see what you've been doing. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I should have before and after pictures. Well, I pr I probably can find some. But yeah, it's been you know, that's how it all it works every time you you know you move. It's like you gotta you gotta go and it it takes some settling and then you gotta make it your own, you know, and then you gotta make it work for what you're trying to do, you know. So the kennel's in process and that's all fun and interesting and you know, an adventure in itself, and then you know, it's like you're relying on people to get other things done, you know, like you know, say you have somebody that needs to come mow your lawn or something like that, you know, and it's like there's so many excuses for why people can't get things done very quickly, or you have to call them back th 15 times just to get a job done. It's like it's it's uh it's an interesting, interesting dynamic, you know, and I think we've spent more time, you know, traveling to other cool little places around here than actually being here. So that's you know, that's a fun thing, but it's like, you know, you take the kids while they're out of school for the summer and just kind of explore a l around a little bit and you know, doing all that at the same time too. It's like, you know, it's like today when we when we went south down to Sherman a little bit, and it's like you start seeing things, it's like, okay, I know like I know that this big taxoma medical facility, like I've driven by here like four times here. This is like a main road, you know, here that that you're gonna travel on a lot. So you start seeing those landmark things, and it's like, oh, I don't need the GPS, I know where I'm at now, and start figuring it out a little bit more as you go, other than the road construction. And and like the hardest part for me is like I can figure out ways around. It's like the weird the way the exits and stuff work here, like to get back on interstate, is like jump on the service road and drive a mile, and then all of a sudden it's gonna jet onto the interstate, or you can still stay on the service road, but not this main road. It's a service road that I don't know where it goes. It's it's it seems different and weird, but yeah, we're starting to figure it out a little bit. You know, just a pro tip, you know, whenever you have an opportunity, go to the bathroom before you get on the service road. Because once you get on there, there's no stopping in because now you're committed. And it might be 10, 12 miles before you turn around. So yeah, don't you it's the the the Texas highway, that that's real. It's a you you get on, plan on staying on for a little while. Well, and then it's like sometimes you get off of an exit, and it's like there's like three lanes when you get off of an exit, and the left lane is like if you're not paying attention, it'll get you because it's a U-turn only lane. So it's like it's just cruise along and all as you can it just comes to a dead end. It's like all you can do is U-turn. It's like, why? I don't understand. But once you start figuring out how the traffic system works, it's like, well, because there's one ways only, and you know, it's like but but it'll get you if you're not used to that type of thing. It's it's interesting how in different areas of the country, just traffic congestion or you know, the dynamic of things and how they run it is so different. Very different. So, what are our listeners coming back to us with? So we got some we got some good listeners uh we got some good listener uh questions and feedbacks. We have listeners that asked multiple questions, so we'll see how many we get to. We might have to make two episodes out of this, but you know, it's like the more questions you have, the cooler, you know, it is. So all right, we'll just jump right in and we'll see how many we get to here in our in our time allotment. So Anastasia wants to know, as a relatively new exhibitor, she'd like to know about some of the unwritten rules to dog showing. And her example was she had seen people clapping for people in the ring once and was told not to do that because it persuades the judge's opinion towards one, uh maybe towards a an exhibitor or not, but then also has seen it to where people are clapping for people. So she doesn't know when to clap and when not to clap and wants to kind of know like what's specifically clapping, but what other unwritten rules are there in confirmation? So so that's a very good question. Because there and there are just some unwritten rules that the kind of that everybody that goes all the time to dog shows and we all know them, and we kind of expect everybody else to do, you know. And it's like, well, they may not. So when we're talking, you know, usually at all breed shows, there will maybe be some clapping in the groups for for your favorite dog in the group or clapping in for best in show. Clapping isn't usually done at the breed level. You know, usually. The only time there would maybe be an exception to that is like uh when they have veterans classes. And I think that it's very acceptable for everyone to clap for the old champions and the old veterans class dogs. Those are very, are very cool to clap for. You know, I think the the big thing is clapping prior to awards being given are you know can kind of be like if they're gonna clap for one, they should clap for all. And at an all-breed show, that might be kind of uh a lot. So some like at specialties where they're about to, you know, and they've got them lined up to do the final go-around, people will clap for the for the winners in line. That's cool. That's fine. You know, that and veterans and stuff, or groups, or best in show, best in specialty. That's kind of when that's kind of when uh that's done. Yeah, it's kind of like one of the yeah, I I never really knew either. There'd be when I first started showing, and it's like, why are people clapping? What's going on? You you just look, you're looking around because everybody's clapping, and you kind of just put two and two together as like people clap for specific people and dogs in the group ring specifically. You'll see a lot of that like cheering and clapping when a specific dogs go on in in the group ring. You don't see it nearly as much in the breed ring, and maybe that's where it's a little bit more frowned upon is like actually during breed, you know, because it's kind of just like yeah. Sure. At the end, when all when the awards are given, if someone wants to clap, that that's that's fine. It doesn't usually happen a lot in the breed classes and stuff, but you know, like I say, veterans, always cool to clap. You know, when the awards are given out for juniors, sometimes they'll support the kids and they'll clap. But uh, you know, but you or after the end, whenever awards are given out, then no one's gonna complain if they're clapping then. But during the judging Yeah, except for like in the groups. In the groups, they'll clap for their favorite dog, but not usually during the breeze. And like another unwritten rule might be something along the lines of like as an exhibitor, like giving other exhibitors in front of you space. You know, don't don't crowd them, don't walk your dog right up next to theirs behind them, because it gets done to you and it will get done to you at some point. But that's kind of like another unwritten rule in in the ring, too. I I think that that is probably one of one of my biggest pet peeves is like everybody paid for the same entry or entry fee. Everybody deserves the same. It's like you have this little you're subletting this little space around your dog. It is up to you to enforce. And you want number one, don't ever crowd anybody. And number two, don't allow someone to crowd you that's gonna destroy your dog's concentration with that. I mean, so there have been times and and usually people that are crowding are unaware that they're doing it. It's like that, it's like it's you're usually for me. If someone's gonna come and mess up my dogs, it's gonna be my friends and they're gonna be going, Dale, Dale, did you see? And they're walking over there, you know, dropping bait and toys and a brush and stepping on my dog, and their dog is jumping on my dog. And it's like, great, now, you know, we've just destroyed our three minutes of in the ring, you know. But so try, you know, kind of like, hey, we're in the ring, we're gonna we can talk smack outside, but right now, let's just kind of do our thing, you know, and uh, you know, we don't we can we can hold off on that. Uh the uh but some I have even at times when I've set my dogs up. If I have people that are maybe not aware and they're getting a little close, I'll take a brush or toy or something and I'll set it to my left and I'll move over kind of like on that's imagine you remember UKRP in Cincinnati? Old sitcom. And Les Nestman had the he had his own office, but they never built the walls, so he put tape on the floors, and everyone don't walk over the tape, go through the tape door. That's kind of like imaginary walls. And I I think one of my biggest pet peeves in the whole world is like in the group, when you get a bunch of people all huddling up in a corner, and then at the very last minute, they all want to jump into space, and they you know, and if you have a breed where you're brushing them down and getting them in position and kind of like doing the the little zen thing because they want them to bait and have their little moment so that they do the last whole walkthrough, and then you have someone running in and jumping and throwing their dog right in front of you, and they're baiting and being romantic, and they're like destroying your dog. Yeah, I I'm hating on those people. And uh, you know, that that doesn't bode well for me as good sportsmanship. You we all should be able to queue up, we should all be able to stand together. It's not that long, you know. You know, that your your dog won't doesn't need to probably have a fan or a sparkle jacket or all of that crap, you know, that the the all of the posturing and the and the fake bravado stuff. Uh I I don't not a fan. I don't don't love that. I mean, if it's warm and your breed needs an ice pack, by God, have your have an ice pack for your dog. By all means. Your dog's safety and health is per is is paramount. But if you think you need to have a sparkle jacket and wet towel draped over your dog and stuff like that, well, your dog might be pretty damn fragile then. I I think that's for sure. And so keeping your personal space I think is is really important. I can't. It's important for your dog, and it's important for your for the other people around you because remember, it's not it's other people on earth, not just you. You know, try to be a a good citizen of of the universe and you know, don't don't destroy anybody else's dog in the process of showing yours. And that's kind of how like how I looked at the space aspect of it as like, well, if people are crowding me, I'll just give more space to the person in front of me. So when you know, we all line up, then if they start crowding me, I can move over a little bit and still not crowd the person in front of me. So it's like kind of take that aspect of I'm not gonna let you crowd me, but in doing not letting you crowd me, I'm not gonna crowd the person in front of me, you know, and give them their space, but make sure I leave adequate space to where if somebody's crowded me, I can move back. That was like one of the first things I learned because I got I had like aggressive handlers behind me, or maybe I shouldn't say the word handlers. I had aggressive people behind me, like some of my first times in the ring. And it was like walks a dog on a string is a handler. So it's like and sometimes people do it just to try to mess you up a little bit, you know. It's it's a competition in there too. So I'm not gonna say that you know, everybody feels the same way, you know. There you go. There you go. Any other unwritten type of rules, type of things that you can think of? I think a lot of it is kind of like you pay, you just just kind of watch and and learn kind of thing. I don't know that there's any other unwritten type of rules. Some things that are that that aren't really talked about that I think are really kind of important, especially for new people, is to maybe go one breed ahead of your breed and watch the your judge as to how they're how they're running their ring, because it's gonna be pretty consistent throughout the day. So you're gonna kind of get the feel. And then the other thing is get your armbands at least a couple of breeds ahead of your breed. Don't come running up at the last minute to try to get your armbands. Bring your own pen to the ring, write your dog's name and class so you have the armbands in order, you know, and then if you go first or second in a class, please do not throw that armband away. Don't lose it. You know, make sure that it goes with the dog and kind of have a lead and that armband because come winners and reserve, those first and second place dogs are coming into play. And it happens every show that you know, someone goes winners and that's like, who was second? Oh my god, Estelle, where did you put the armband? Oh, I I still have it on. Well, you know, just try to think one little jump ahead. Like, you got the numbers, you know that if they're first or second, they could be coming back in. You know, kind of think if you have a dog, a bitch, and a champion, you might have a few extra people on like, hey, can you take this in for me? Can you take that in for me? People are very good about that, about taking in someone else's dog. Not a problem. But just kind of have the plan in place as to if this happens, this is what we're gonna do. And so, because one uh an unwritten rule is where everybody wants you to have enough time to to be able to do it smoothly, plan it out ahead, have your leads ready, have your dogs ready, have your help ready, you know, have figure the one class ahead and so so that you can compete to your best advantage, you know, and but don't make the and and then if and if you're going outside, here's another one if you have a dog in the very next class, you know, and you're coming out of a class where the whatever you place, tell the steward I'm in the next class. So they're not over there screaming, 12, 12, 12 picked up. Well, 12 is standing in line getting getting a ribbon. You know, you can tell this I'm in the next class. So they know, okay, 12's coming. They just gotta change, change uh, you know, dogs and they're gonna come back in. So that's a good one, you know. Kind of like, you know, using your words and communication goes a long way. And if you have a question, ask. Yeah. Well, as somebody newer, that like one of the biggest things that was confusing for me is going to groups. So it's like, if you've never been to groups before or really pay attention to how they work, and it's like you're a newer exhibitor, and it's like you're you're standing in breed ring waiting for your number to get called. They don't call numbers in groups. So if you're gonna stand there and wait for your number to get called in groups, it doesn't happen. Like that was a confusing thing to me, and it seems so elementary now. And I'm sure to you, it's just like, are you stupid? You know, because it's like that's just how it works. But it's like, but like you have to know that you, you know, you one breed when your group is and pay attention. They're not gonna call a number and and you're gonna go in. You're gonna go in when you they're gonna say, you know, all toy dogs ready for you, go around and stop over here, you know, or whatever. And it's like they're not gonna tell you the order to go in. You have to kind of do that. So that's another unwritten rule is like, you know, you're not you're you're not gonna go behind a dog or in front of if you're a slow walker, you're not gonna go in front of a dog that's a super fast walker, you know, and vice versa. So you want to try to fall in line of you know, pacing of where your dog paces compared to the other dogs that are in the group. That's kind of a I would say an unwritten rule because there's no real rule behind that. But you know, like the group thing is like make sure you still have your number for groups because that's how you're gonna get recorded for your entry and for being there. But they don't call you in at all. It's just your job to know that you're in the group and you need to go in. And so one thing that's kind of kind of a a a little an easy thing to do, and I I mean I do it to this day, is like if I've got groups coming up, as soon as I have the group order posted, I take a picture of it in my phone. So I can kind of look over there and say, okay, you know, if I'm in toy group and I'm like, well, they've got that's after sporting and terrier. Well, I look over there, see the terriers, and I'm like, okay, we got sporting group, then and toy, you know, so kind of like, all right, they've got the tow the table dogs on there and the sporting group, so that's gonna be wrapping up. You can kind of keep tabs on that by because you know the order. And then if you're in the NOHS, you know as soon as they're done with that, they're gonna be in, they're gonna go over and do the NOHS groups. So just having that little picture in your phone can be handy because you know, I mean, that's that's uh you know, that that changes can change every day. And and I mean, they'll there have r rarely that order will change, but pretty much they stick to that order. That schedule is pretty set. And if you if you do an NOHS and you know, you generally it's you go into the regular groups and then right after regular groups you go to NOHS for that same thing. But if you happen to be the last group, you know, you're gonna be say you win your your regular group and your last and your NOHS, it's like, well, you're probably just gonna. Stay where you're at to go to best and show ring, you know, because that's how it's gonna work. Like that happened to me once, and I was like supposed to be like, Oh, I just won group now. NOHS toy group is starting over here, but best in show is in this ring. Like, what do I do? You know, it's like never having done it before, and everybody looks at you like you're an idiot, and it's like, Well, you're gonna stay in the best and show ring. I was like, Well, yeah, uh, yeah, okay, of course. And then it's like the NOHS group just waits for you to finish the best in show ring. Yeah, they'll wait for you. But but there's no rules, it's not written, you know, it's like you don't know that until you know it, you know, but they'll wait for you at that aspect of it. So and then and then everybody that's waiting for you in the NOHS group is sitting there thinking, like, crap, because they're in the best in show ring, and the judge is sitting here watching them in the best and show ring, and then they're gonna pop over here to our group ring and you know, probably gonna win the group, but you know, they're never okay. So it's tumbles. Yeah. All right. So Claudette wants to know how does a breeder know when the confirmation show window has closed? Say they have a dog that's lacking two majors on a four-year-old, is it time to move into the breeding window? Well, okay. So that's that's a that's a that's a pretty fair question. And I think as though when you turn around and say that your major wins are usually harder to get, you know, and if you've been showing the dog steadily, you know, depending as to when you got the dog, I mean, if you got the dog recently and then you're, you know, it's like, well, maybe the dog is very competitive. But if you've been showing the dog for six, spent six, seven months on and it's four years old, maybe maybe it's time to let that dream go. Maybe, maybe, maybe we've done the showing thing and it didn't work out so good. You know, I mean, I myself, I like my, especially on the female dogs, I want them to have puppies in that between two and three. I I don't want to go into four and be with a maiden bitch. I I'm not gonna do that. Probably if that if that's a dog I intend to breed, she's having puppies in her third year, for sure. I'd rather the second year, but for sure the third year. You know, and then of course the other stuff is the male dogs, you got a long shelf life. You know, I mean, it's not there's not, you know, you can keep showing, you can keep plinking away until you find find that person that sees the beauty in that exhibit. But I think probably part of it is you have to know when to fold them and know when to start something over. And you might think something's fab. And it depends a lot like what's being shown in your area and you know who's got what. But to me, if I've shown a dog, you know, 10, 15 times, and and I haven't I haven't gotten pretty, you know, pretty pretty uh substantial if it's not finished, being pretty close to it. You know, now some breeds will take more than others, depends how many it takes for a major, but uh how many majors they're competing against. And sometimes people can get an artificial read on, they'll say, Well, I showed that dog, you know, 20 times. Well, okay, you took it to two or two or three circuits where you competed against the exact same dogs five times in a row, and the better dog at the first show was still the better dog at the fifth show. So, but I mean if you've taken it to different shows and different competition and and it never comes up to the to the winning mark, maybe you need to take that as a sign that this dog might be a great breeding dog, but maybe it's not it's out of type or something's not translating well, you know. Because I for me, I think every third, you know, if you have a competitive dog, it's gonna win about every third show. You know, there's gonna be some time that so they're gonna like something that you don't have, you know. They they like a bigger one, you've got a smaller one. That's gonna happen. You know, and then you know, and sometimes you're gonna run into the wrong competition at the wrong place, and that you're just not, you don't, you're not, you're not, you're not winning. But every third show, you should have if your dog is competitive and it's competing, presented in a competitive manner, then you should probably be winning. That's that's a fair, that's a fair, you know, expectation. Yeah. I think that's a super loaded question because like I think everybody has a you know different opinions on it. But we you know, in the questions he said, you know, just lacking two majors on a four-year-old. Well, you only need two majors to finish. So what that tells me is this dog probably has a lot of single points, dual points, you know, like can beat a couple dogs but can't beat enough to get a major, or it's a really low entry breed and there's not majors that available at these shows. And I think both of those are different, you know. If your dog, if there's if the competition is there and you just can't beat them to get a major, then maybe it's that that's one thing. If there's no if there's not a major at any of these shows, that's another thing. And then it's like, okay, it's four years old. Is it time to move into breeding? Well, if you want to breed the dog and it's beneficial to your breeding program, then it's for sure time to get it into the like finished or not, it's time to breed a dog, you know. Like for sure. Kind of like you said, you know, so it's like, you know, and I I've had a bitch like that before where it's like you show her, you show her, you show her, you show her, and it's like you're never getting the majors. You might get a single here and there, not getting majors. It's like, how much money have you spent trying to get this dog a title? Is it worth it? You know, or is this dog better off producing puppies that can benefit your breeding program? I mean, that that's a decision you kind of have to make, but like I'm kind of like you at that like two to three year mark is like if we're not doing much with the sh in the show ring and they're more beneficial to be bred, then that's what we need to do. Like, what's better for our program? Well, and the other thing is, you know, there is also, and and I mean, being that it is a competition, and sometimes we can tip the scales of fate in our favor, you know, so okay, well, I'm I'm gonna go to a different area. Maybe, maybe the competition isn't as strong there, you know. I mean, back in the olden days when our breed that we showed cockers, it took like 13, 13 to 15 for a three-point major. And you could get a dog that was pretty good, that could beat 12, you know, but just couldn't quite beat that last two or three dogs. And so you'd minor them out, and so then you'd say, Well, I'm gonna, I got this dog up to needing majors, I'm gonna go to somewhere where I can I can be a bigger fish in a smaller pond. So, I mean, whether that was Puerto Rico or Alaska, lots of trips to Alaska to take dogs to championize them, that they weren't they were good enough, but they weren't good enough. And so, but nowadays, I have to say, there are so many shows, and the point schedules are pretty darn low in most of the breeds. Uh, there are very few breeds that take a double digit for a major. So if your dog has been shown with a concerted effort, in good condition, showing well, presented well, and the point schedule is reflective of what is there, maybe you need to call the game. You know, just be honest about it. It's, you know, I mean, but yeah, you can turn around and say, well, there's a you can I see all the time people will stack entries to make majors. They're gonna like, you know, we're gonna uh enter, enter their uh, you know, so they can put in extras to make points. That happens all the time. And if you if that's what you want to do, that is totally legal. You can totally, absolutely do that. You know, you know, you know, you can bring some points, you know, call a friend. Let's get Ralphie finished, you know. I think that's just like the biggest aspect of it, though, is like being honest with yourself. Like if you've been if you've been showing this dog a long time and you're lacking two majors, like you you really gotta look in the mirror and just be like, my dog might not be as good as I think it is, and maybe it's better to be bred at this point. You know, like just be honest with yourself and your program, and that's what you have to do. Sometimes you have to take a step back and give the 5,000-foot view of your of your program and and be able to be truthful with yourself and like is this the best aspect for my program? You know, is the title, is the champion title on this dog better than the puppies that it can produce? There you go. We'll see, you know. All right, let's do a quick, easy, fast answered question. Sandra wants to know what's the ideal indoor temperature for chin. So I kind of like to keep my brachycephalic dogs in the low 70s. But I think that as long as they're not panting, you know, they're they're comfortable. But if they are if they're panting, they're too warm. You know. And so if they if they if you if their eyes look wet and if they're panting, they're they're they're too warm. Yeah, so that you know, that I think the lows the low 70, 71, 72 right there, that's where I try to keep my, you know, I I try not to keep them way colder than that, but I don't really believe in that we kept them in a super cold room and it's they grew all this hair that that really works like that, you know. I mean, but if they're panting, they're blowing coat. If they're panting, they're too warm. So people will say all the time, are they, you know, when do I you know we used to say if the dog if their tongues come out, they come in, you know, that's a good time. And if you see their tongue rolling in their mouth, then they're really too hot. Then you need to cool them off. You know, that that's a dog that's getting a little dangerously warm. And I don't know if you saw my posts on Facebook the other day about uh bringing dogs in. Bringing dogs in when when you know, it's like don't leave your dogs, you know. It's I know it's sound kind of stupid, like don't leave your dogs in the car. Well, it happens, you know. I'm just gonna do this, I'm just gonna run over here, I'm just gonna blah, blah, blah. I'm gonna leave the I'm gonna leave the car running. I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that, you know, all of this stuff. And we see we people with the very best intentions go ahead and do this. And it happens all the time. And this last weekend at uh the Oklahoma City show, somebody had a uh had a box truck that brand new. It was like in beautiful condition, everything was there, and they had power problems, and they thought their dogs were safe with air conditioning going on them. They had, you know, they were in the building showing, came back, power had been off, and they lost, I think, I think they lost five of the seven dogs. Wow. That's that's just heartbreaking, and it's so sad. And it's partially because people think they're doing good and they're trying to do the right thing. But the right thing when you're talking about these kind of temperatures and these kind of events, and I think this is something that we experienced dog people need to share, say it out loud, you know. If you're at a if you're at an event, if you're at a show and there's climate con climate-controlled area, and you're bringing dogs with you, they come in. You know, they come in, they can hang out there, you know, like like even or even if it's a an a shaded arena with uh with fans, you know, bring them on out there. Have them where people have them where you're watching them and the community is watching, because we all watch each other's dogs, you know. And that's that's uh, you know, do not leave them in a parking lot situation. Do not leave them where they're depending on power sources, generators, that kind of thing out there in the in those parking lots on that asphalt. It gets just too damn hot. It's too fast for when something goes wrong, they're die before you can do anything about it. Like sit in your car and turn like pull up to Home Depot or whatever, turn your car off and sit there for five minutes. Like you're sweating. Like your car heats up super fast in these temperatures, and then on that asphalt, that just radiate heat, radiate heat. It's crazy. So just thinking, like, oh, I'm just gonna run in the store for five minutes. Well, at five minutes, like something can die in that five minutes. It's it doesn't take much. Or or you you get caught up in the store because you run into uh Sally from the hair salon, and now she's tucking your ear off, and before you know it, you've been in there for 15 minutes, and you know, it's like things happen. And and and your car, your car air conditioner goes into cycles off, or something goes, goes, you know, that type of thing. Man, you you're you're just rolling the dice that that everything's gonna go okay. And it probably usually does, but when it doesn't, it's so bad. And really, I would rather see people have dogs in shade, shade with water, in is is way better than air conditioning contingent on a consistent power source. Unless somebody is sitting in there. I don't even want to get overly comfortable with those alarm systems. Back when Jane and I were handling a lot, her mom came along with us a lot, and Connie would sit out in the motorhome or the box truck, whatever we were driving at the time, and she would be need knitting or reading a Louis Lemoore book or doing whatever. And, you know, where we could, you know, be in the building showing, and she was with the dogs. You know, and if we had nobody with to be with the dogs, the dogs were with us. And that is just in the in in these in this time and place, and people say, oh well, you know, there's not they don't allow unanswered dogs. Nobody, nobody is going to complain that you brought dogs, I mean, in to cool. I just like that's not don't leave them out in the parking lot. Don't leave them where their lives are contingent on on a circuit breaker. You know, it's just not worth it. And and I think we need to stress that over and over again. Don't leave the dogs unattended, don't leave them in RVs and park out there. You know, if you know, if you're gonna leave them in there, have a person in there. Because even if they carry them out, if the power goes out, they carry them outside and put you know, put them in the X-Pans, give them water. They won't die. You know, yeah. And that's even like your house, you know, or your kettle building or whatever you got going on. It's like when it's super hot out like that, it's like you gotta check multiple times to make sure everything's functioning correctly. I mean, that air conditioner goes out and it's like you know, power goes out, you gotta have a backup plan. We've talked about that before, uh, you know, and on on an episode about having backup plans, because when it's this, when it's 90 degrees and the sun's out, and it's like it doesn't take long for you know your power to go out in your building to just roast. It goes quick. You know, I mean, that's just like you know, extra insulation, but you know, more keeping things moving around, you know, you just all the stuff where you're gonna, you know, keep because you and it wouldn't even be a bad idea to go ahead and in your building or where you're if you keep in your garage or whatever you're doing, have your dogs set, you know, where you're gonna have your dogs turn off the power and just see how long it get takes to get hot. How long does it take? I mean you know, I mean how long? Because you know, what kind of you know, because I mean some places, some you know, some some will take you know longer than others. And like at night, sure, it's not gonna it's not gonna get hot enough to to be death, you know. But those those hours from you know 11 o'clock, you know, and they on through the afternoon, that's the danger zone. And that's when those dogs just can't be left like that. Yeah, 100%. It's a it's a hot time. And and even no matter where you live, even up north, you know, in the summertime, it gets to be 90. It still gets hot. Yeah, like it can happen super quick. All right. Do judges notice if a winner does not take a win photo with them? And is it upsetting? Personally, I don't think that uh I don't think that judges really, because everybody knows how expensive the photo you know uh the pictures are and all that. I don't think that you are, you know, I don't think anybody goes, oh my gosh, you know, they're they're not going to sit, you know, they didn't take a picture, they didn't appreciate their win. I don't think that's really the case. Uh you know, I mean, because how you know it's can be so expensive and all that and stuff. I mean, I think as though judges are people, and I think that, you know, polite is polite. You know, I mean, the I'm sure that probab perhaps if if if if it's uh if someone's you know not being a bit sport about it or if it's not the win they wanted or that kind of thing. Maybe, maybe they maybe they might go ahead and go, well, you know, you you didn't you didn't take a you didn't take a select picture under under this judge, but you took a select picture under that judge. They might see that, you know. I mean, but honestly, I think as long as as long as, you know, the judge you as long as you're polite and good manners as far as like and if you're advertising or or social media, you know, thanking the judges or whatever. I mean, just do it the same for one as you do it for all. And I don't think you can go far, I don't think you can go wrong. I think that's just kind of like good manners, right? You know? I feel like if I was a judge, I'd be happy when people didn't want to take pictures because they'd be like, Yeah, good. Less pictures I have to take because I really need to pee. I've been judging nonstop for four hours, and now everybody wants pictures. I need to go to the bathroom. You know, like yeah, I don't know. That's I feel like that's how I would be. You know, I was like, oh, you don't want a picture perfect. Fine with me. I I I think that mostly it's I think honestly, I mean, it's a yeah, I mean, 50, 60 bucks a day on top of everything else, you know, go buy your dog a toy, you know. I mean, go, you know, have have a nice have a nice dinner, you know. That but you know, because because with cell phones now, you know, you can get some really nice pictures and you don't need to, yeah, the podium pictures and that kind of thing. I mean, so sure, you know, I think I think that that's I think that that's you know, I don't think that that that's a as big a deal, especially but now with all of our pictures being digital and stuff like that. It's like, you know, you know, I mean, some people uh you know, some a lot of people want pictures for group placements and that kind of thing, and you know, some only want them for group one or you know, sure. That's it's your budget. You know, I mean I I could never fault anybody for say, you know, I mean it's like, oh, they couldn't they didn't want to spend the money on that. That was not their budget. Well, by all means, you know, participate within your means, you know. That's that's that's just uh that's common sense. Yeah, absolutely. And and really you can go get a picture taken and then you don't have to buy it. It's I mean, you can get it taken and then you can look at the proofs and decide if you want to buy it or not. Like you don't have to buy it, but I think a lot of times you get them, you know, especially like handlers. I think a lot of times they get like every win, whether it's a group placement or not, picture taken, and then like owners can decide if they want the pictures or not, type of thing. Sure. Well, I mean, just like in anything else, some of the pictures are better than others. And if someone gets a, you know, like I know as an owner, when I've put my dogs with handlers, I like them to get pictures to so because that's really all I have to show for that show career, right? And especially on a dog that's just gonna be finished and get their championship or grand championship, whatever that might be. And because that's really what you have to show for it, is that show picture, you know. So yeah, the tens of thousands of dollars that got you to that point is memorialized in that one image, you know. So I mean, I I do, and I know that handlers are busy and they don't want to do it, and they don't have time, and and they're being big whiny tit babies about it. But it's like as the owner, I'm like on, you didn't get a picture, you know, you got one picture and it's crummy, you know. So I I paid five or six thousand dollars to finish this dog and I have one crummy picture of it. Well, you know, that that's that's kind of like you know, you have a bit uh my dog is a champion and you've shown this one crappy picture of the dog where he's you know immature, not having his. Best moment, and you go, that's what I have to show for it. You know, great. So I mean, I think as though that, you know, and good handlers make sure that their clients have good pictures of their dogs. And, you know, because that is really what we you know what we're going to share on social media and our websites, on our pedigree programs. I mean, we want that picture, the money shot, that that forever perfect picture of that dog. So once you have that, then then of course it becomes a little less uh, you know. Used to be what we would say back in the in the dark ages of handling, we would get a pitcher for the first points, we would get pitchers for majors, and we get a new champion pitcher. So your dogs would end up with three, maybe four pitchers to and their finishing career, somewhere, somewhere about that. You know, they'd have their their major pitchers and their uh, you know, just because kind of like wanting to keep track of who gave them majors, who liked the dog, and that kind of thing. Yeah, yeah. And then the new champion pitcher, because it says new champion, you know. That's everybody wants that, yeah. Yeah, yeah. It's kind of like the uh at a race when you come across the finish line. It's like finisher, you know. I mean, that's that's that's a great, that's a great image to, you know, for the entire entire thing. But as far but when you start showing for ranking and that kind of thing, you know, pitchers can get to be a lot. All right. Last question to wrap out this episode, which we have a lot more questions, but we're gonna do one more in this episode, and then we'll just have to do another listener question episode. So we'll we'll hit it next time. Yeah. And it's a good question, too. So what advice, so from a judge's point of view, so this you're judging cat, this is Dale the judge. Now, from a judge's point of view, what would you what advice would you give to somebody who shows less popular breeds, say an American hairless terrier or a Norwegian Lundehund? So they win their breed and they go to groups, and the judge, the judges in there have seen thousands and thousands and thousands of all the other dogs that are in there, but they've only seen, you know, American Hairless Terrier or Norwegian a few times. So, how does somebody get their dog noticed in the group to a judge that maybe hasn't judged their dog a whole ton of times, but has judged the other breeds in the group ring thousands of times? Well, that and that's a that's a fair question. So when you have a breed that is a rare breed, you kind of have an opportunity, a responsibility to be an ambassador for that breed. And that's back when we were talking about giving back to your breed, you know, when you are doing your your mentoring and doing your hands-on and doing your your stuff, you sharing your pictures and stuff, putting on, you know, sharing information about your breed and promoting your breed. So when people see that breed, they go, that's a and and they have a basis to say, that's a good one. You know, I haven't seen a lot of these, but that's a good one. I think you have a responsibility, an opportunity to, you know, because you know, I mean, it's a double-edged sword, right? So I've seen hundreds, thousands of cocker spaniels. So if if I was going to if I see a cocker spaniel that really impresses me, it's gonna take a lot. You're gonna have to really wow my socks off to before I'm gonna see one. But if I see a really good Lundan Hun and I've not seen that many Lunan Huns, I'm gonna go, ooh, wow, look at that. That's that's really something kind of special there. That's that's something that you don't get to see every day. So I mean, and grant granted, you have you have an opportunity to show something that is not seen, is commonly seen, but you also have the opportunity to give the first real impression of your breed. So if you bring a if you bring an A game and you go and they walk out of there, so because I know back when we started with the Japanese chin, they never won anything. They were a flyover breed. Nobody, they didn't win, they never placed in the group. The number one dog in our breed, the year I showed Tennessee Tuxedo, he had over 80-something best of breeds and two group placements, like a two and a four. So he had been in well over 80 groups in one year, and he got two small group placements. So that's not just setting the breed on fire, you know, but the breeders had three weeks ago, you won four breeds and four group placements. Bingo with chin, you know, like it's come a long way. You can change the narrative. You can change the narrative. And I remember one one weekend uh four different chin won groups on one weekend. I'm like, they're winning group ones everywhere. And it's like, yay, our breed is getting seen and appreciated, and all of the work that went into that to build the appreciation for our breed, that is something that these people with these rare, not as seen breeds, not the common knowledge breeds, you have that opportunity to do something more with your breed. You know, you have an uh opportunity to make a mark, to make an impression. But you're you're not gonna do that unless it's a unless it's a positive one. And you have to put the work in. And I feel like we don't think about it, we we think about it more in the terms probably of how she asked the question. But like you said, the other side of the sword is like if you've seen these other breeds in the group ring a ton of times, they have to really impress you because you've seen them a ton of times. So you know what a good one looks like. If you're in there with a rare breed and and you know your dog and you know how to present your dog and put a really pretty picture in front of the judge, if they haven't seen a ton of those dogs and you can make that dog like you can catch their eye pretty easy because it's like, wow, that just looks really nice. Like that dog is like just wow, you know, comparative to the cocker spaniel that's in there. It's just like I've seen a thousand of these. It's a normal cocker spaniel, it's an average cocker spaniel, it's not anything great, you know. Yeah, right. So there's an there's an opportunity with when you have a rare breed to know to have that relationship with I I would attribute probably some of my group placements to to just that of like the relationship I had with the dog and was able to present her in a way that stood out to the judge of like, wow, that looks good. That's a nice little package right there that looks good. And maybe I don't know a ton about Japanese chin, but that one that just looks good, what they're doing there. You know, it looks yeah. So I think I think you can kind of change that fate a little bit in front of the judge as well, just how you present your dog in general and just put it in a nice little pretty package for them to see and and just catch their eye. Well, I know that when uh one of and I've told this story probably on this podcast, I don't tell it one more time. The the the when the day that I had got my first best in show with a chin, which was Tennessee Texedo with Dorothy Nichols, famous great Texas judge. And I was sitting there kind of gobsmacked with my mouth hanging open, going, you know, like, oh my God, did she just do that? Am I having a stroke? You know, and after I had the ribbon in my hand and I wasn't getting turned loose, I asked her why. Why, why did you choose him? You know, I mean, you're not, you know, it's like I I don't get it. These dogs, these other dogs have won so much and are such great dogs, and and why? And she told me at that time, she said, I had seen as good or better in each of those breeds of those other six dogs, and she said, but I have never seen a better Japanese chin. She said, So by virtue of judging him against his standard and his breed, he had to be best in show. And I've always taken that really to heart, that you're judging them against how hard it is what their breed is. You know, so you know, when you go ahead and have that opportunity to be a star in your breed, it's it's a it's a responsibility and an opportunity at the same time. And if you rise to that occasion, you can do something really great. I mean, and that's that's kind of a a pioneer spirit, you know, where you can, you know, there's been lots of great breeds, and there's you know, there's been super big winning dogs in a lot of these breeds, and you know, there are really high mountains to climb. But you know, with a rare breed, you have a chance to be a pioneer. You have a chance to make a mark, and you have a chance to have something like you can do something for your breed that maybe no one has done before. So I love that story because it's like I think that's how a lot of judging should be is it's like thinking, you know, I was like, have I seen a better of this dog before? Yep. Okay. Have I seen a better one of this? Yep, okay. Have I seen a better one of this? Nope. So then like that dog should automatically just like, you know, like I've never seen a better one of these. That's that's such a great mindset to have when you're when you're judging that. Well, I I think I just that the earlier this year I I actually put a Lundan Hun group one in an NOHS group, and I just thought she was so cool. And I like I haven't seen a ton of these, but that's a really neat dog. And I think that in my mind's eye, she kind of made the standard come to life, and what a what an opportunity to celebrate a rare breed and something that was so so different and yet such quality. And I thought, yay, you know, here here's one for the team there, you know. So like I said, that's that's where that's where it goes. You know, you're not gonna probably get the quantity of wins when you do something that's a little bit different, or if you're out of the box, but maybe you're gonna get some real quality wins that maybe have a bigger impact on your breed in the long. Yeah. All right, awesome. I mean, some really good questions in this episode. Uh we got to we got to think a little bit and put our thinking caps on and really enjoy uh answering uh these guys' questions. So thanks for putting the questions in uh so we have an episode to talk about and and hopefully we answered uh those questions adequately for you guys. But we have more questions still, so continue to send us more questions and we'll we'll continue to answer them. But don't forget to subscribe to the YouTube channel, like the videos, uh the podcast, share it out with your friends and family. Um, you know, any anybody, any dog people or animal people will will love the podcast. So share it out with them and and help spread the word. But any final comments at all Dale? Well, you know, I think that this has been kind of a fun episode, and I've got a couple of really good questions that we'll add to the list next time and stuff on leasing bitches and offering dogs at stud and all of that kind of stuff. So we've got some fun things to talk about in the next one, too. 64 is going to be great. Yeah, so stay tuned for the next one for a continuation of this and uh questions. So all right, everybody, thanks for joining this episode of the Tac Box Podcast. We will talk to you guys all next week. Have a great day. Bye bye now.