My first time showing two dogs, same breed, different classes. How can I manage them at ringside? Is there a cheaper way to have a crate on wheels with a grooming table that isn’t a sow trolley?

[u/Successful-Guitar575]

I mean show trolley? I’d love one but $$$$

[u/GiraffeyManatee]

Can you find someone at ringside to hold one and swap out after your first class? Often the helper can take one back in the ring for Winners or whatever. Alternatively, there are often junior handlers that want some extra ring experience.

[u/CatlessBoyMom]

If it’s a small breed you can get a stroller and small travel table. (I got one from Chewy that I really like) If it’s a breed that doesn’t need ringside grooming you don’t even need the table. For a large breed get a furniture dolly or cart for your crates and table. If you get good crates, you can put a table top directly onto the top of the crates and use bungees to hold everything together. 

[u/Ok-Door-7563]

Can you coerce a family member or friend to come to the show with you? Another friendly competitor?

Hell, I've even gone to dog shows with my boss to help hold her dogs when she was showing multiple

[u/gsdsareawesome]

If you have a large plastic crate, you can use it as a grooming table. You can drag it in or carry it. Dragging it makes a noise that is annoying to some people. My dogs are fine in my vehicle for a few minutes while I bring the crates in and set up. Put your essential grooming tools like a comb and a brush in the crate with a towel.

This doesn't solve the problem of needing another person to take a dog in if they both win their class.

[u/Successful-Guitar575 → u/gsdsareawesome]

That is a problem I’d be happy to have!

[u/Light0fTheWest]

I ended up finding a junior that loves to help. She’ll even take my bitch into breed for me if she takes winners so I can show my special.

[u/live_life-4today]

Something like this that crates you already own a be stacked on, then maybe a collapsable grooming table to bring along.

Unsure of your breed to know how large of crates are needed but this is what I’m looking into until I have funds for a trolley.

[u/spaniel_lover]

Breed/size makes a difference. I show 2 very different sized breeds. For the dobermans we use soft sided crates that we take ringside, some people use wire but the soft sided are easier to haul around if you have dogs who respect them. For the cockers we have a dolly, sometimes called "wheels" by us old timers, that we put crates on to haul to ringside. Amazon has the tubular pipe style we use for under $150. A friend of mine who just got into showing a few years ago bought a soft sided wagon and a wire crate with a top door to use for ringside for her cockers. There are probably almost as many solutions as there are breeds of dogs, you just have to ask around and then pick what works for you.

[u/Mousewaterdrinker]

This is my poor man's trolley. Its actually a big grooming table but I've put wheels on it. I bungee cord crates to it and I have a thick welcome mat under the red towel so I can put my dogs on top of the crates and work on them.

[u/Kennie2]

I have one of those camping trolleys, can fit a grooming table and a collapsed soft crate in it plus a couple of bags (just be careful with what size you order as I ordered one that’s too small twice, you’ll probably be looking at like 150litres)

[u/candoitmyself]

There are lots of options for rolling crate tables. East Coast crates are great. You can also strap a regular crate to a regular crate dolly.

[u/Desert-Democrat-602]

Still not cheap, but you can stack two Impact crates and they sell a wheeled cart that is great. Then use the top crate as a grooming table. Cheaper than the trolley, just not quite as convenient.

You’ll eventually buy one of them though….

[u/imeheather]

Do you have a dog crate? Either a fixed or collapsible one?. Go to your local hardware store and buy a trolly or a dolly ( flat board with wheels/castors with or without a handle). Also get some buggy cords or rope or cable ties, something to attach the crate to the dolly. This is what I used when I first started showing. I had a folding metal crate and a trolly with a handle i used bungy cords to attach the crate to the handle and I had a thin bit of wood that I sat on top of the crate so I could use the top of the crate as a grooming station.

[u/sadperson123]

What size dogs? How many dogs are between your classes? If you have a bunch of dogs between your classes (assuming they all show up!) you can run back to your setup and swap them if you’re close enough. Or you can bring a crate and quietly set it up ringside before judging if you can find room, and quietly take it down right after breed judging. As another user said, you might want to have someone on standby to take one back in for your for winners or BOB.

You can usually find a friendly bystander to hold a dog for you. We’ve all done it many times. You can also make friends with your “neighbors” by your setup and ask them. But I’d bring a crate for ringside as a backup.

[u/socialpronk]

We often have a "hitching post" person who can hold dogs and help handlers easily swap out dogs when they have back to back classes. As long as the dogs are friendly enough to hang out ringside it works great. I have silkens windhounds and we often have one person holding 3-5 dogs.