Handlers - Page 3

It certainly does.  I think the atmosphere at the shows has changed a lot in the last 10 or so years and people's attitudes are quite different.

I heard at one show a person going round questioning what the judge had said, at others people bitching about the time judging takes etc etc.  I doesnt help the day go with a smile.  I've often wondered if its because people feel that they want something to show for all that money spent??

Great Post Shelly !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Would handlers be willing to handle for free?  Really?  Are you serious? 
If I handled for a friend who might return the favor to me at some point, yes I handled for free.  Otherwise, I also had to take out a small loan to get to the show to handle "your" dog!

Back in the 90s I handled a lot of dogs and traveled all over the Western US to do so.  The amount I charged often did not even cover all my expenses to get there, let alone give me some spending cash.  If it was a relatively local show, I still had expenses, not to mention giving up my weekend, and working my a** off to the point that it was diificult to walk from the soreness for a day or so.  So while it would be charitable for a handler to handle for free, back in the 90s I was handling for people who had a whole lot more money than I did.  And as someone suggested, these shows are to promote breeding dogs who will bring in some money. The handling fee is just one small part of the expense of breeding.

Oh and one last thing, if it became a win or no fee deal, handlers would quit handling.  There were times when I worked extra hard with a mediocre dog, with a double handler that only made my life in the ring difficult, and ended up viewing the rear end of those in front of me.  It wasn't until I decided I wouldn't handle any dog that I didn't think could get at least 3rd place, that things started getting easier and more fun  :)

Getting off my soapbox now . . .

In Ireland Handlers do not charge, even the top handlers here will give a hand, and they are as good as the best in the world,  I,ve handled for years and never took a penny and don,t think I ever would, Often got my lunch or a cup of tea and its as much as i'd expext. This could go back to judge the dog not the face, and thats one off the reasons people look for the so called top handlers,

Dude,

Let's look at it again from the handlers' point of view:

I don't travel to events to show/handle dogs other than my own anymore unless I get paid travel expenses and fees in advance. Too many times I have skipped my own training days, trial days, traveled a long way to handle other people's dogs instead of entering my own, only to learn when I got there that they'd pulled their entries, failed to show up, engaged someone else who would do it for nothing, didn't bother to book me a room... I have too much to do and too litttle disposible income to be running a few hundred miles to a show and back only to find myself a spectator.

You know who you are out there...I know you are reading this... and shame on you.

SS

SS, The same happens to people who book handlers in advance sometimes.  They turn up at the venue to discover that the handler they'd booked has "something else" for that class! 

In the UK, most good handlers have a dog in near enough every class, it often causes hold ups if there's a dog & a bitch judge because everyone is waiting for the handlers.

Dude,  If Steve in Belgium takes a rain check and Two Moons no longer fancies bean stew... I'm with you! LOL

I don't mind paying handlers... I really don't but some of them want too much money... then want even more for tickets B.O.B. etc and that's very greedy and shortsighted IMO.

Don,t think i could handle for a bean stew,  tea and scone  .the struggle for handles seems to be hard getting harder and that why i think they are looking for the big money, they know this,,Get a neice,newphew, brother sister lots of kids out there would love to train to handle, and be part of something I don,t know go to youth clubs invite them all to a training classes all kids love dogs and would love the chance to work with them, i,m sure one or two will get the shepherd bug,

Dude

Handling/double-handling at National-level show amost invariably costs me 5-8 pounds of body weight no matter how much I am fed.

SS