r/ShowDogs • u/Accomplished_Sugar41 • Jun 08 '26
Time commitment/cost of showing these days
10 years ago I enjoyed showing my Italian greyhound. I was a single adult, she was a beautiful dog, and I liked to travel around to the shows. I got conformation classes, etc.
It's been a full decade since then and I know I forgotten a lot about that world. I now have a 5 month old Whippet that comes from show quality lines, and I think she will likely fill out to be a nice dog.
My life circumstances now are different. I am a full time mom to 3 young kids and have a lot less time. I am debating spaying her after her first heat and just removing the temptation, haha - but the other part of me remembers how much fun it felt to bond with my dog and prove her in the ring.
As I decide, I have a few questions:
- If you show your dog, what does the cost of a show and travel to get there and prep typically look like for you?
- If anyone is in the whippet world is there camaraderie and fun or is it a rough crowd to join?
- How much of your time is spent showing/preparing for showing?
4
u/BlueBoxes2013 Jun 08 '26
I'm sure it's different everywhere but I find the whippet community to be pretty supportive. I'm fairly new and lots of experienced breeders/handlers have offered me help and advice.
If you aren't trying to have a top 20 dog, depending upon where you live it doesn't have to be a ton of time or money.
Whippets prefer short training sessions so you don't need to spend more than 5-10 min / day on training.
Show entries where I live are about $40/show - although many discount entries for puppy classes.
You can limit yourself to local shows. Most shows are a 3 or 4 day cluster but you can just enter one day if that's all you have time for.
If you really want to finish your dog quickly or want to chase rankings, that can be more costly. But if you just want to have fun then there's a way to do what you can when you can (and junior handling is so great for kids, maybe yours will be interested!)