Ripley Show Thread

[Rits]

and it's truly humbling to be so close, so often!

That's for certain! To keep it vague I won't name any names but I have a friend now who knows someone that has won A LOT while the dog was young and now he isn't winning and they are upset. Going through this journey and what everyone tells us is completely normal for doberman bitches is very, very humbling lol. Any win she does get I'm that much more excited about! If she finished fast we would have missed out on so many experiences and opportunities. Fortunately she is very nice and is a slow maturing girl. She gets better with age and isn't breaking down like some of the adult looking puppies will.

she sure is a champion!!

Thank you with time we will make that official!

I enjoy your show updates....I showed in conformation years ago, and it brings back so many memories Rip is looking GREAT!

Thank you so much! Wow, that's awesome! You should share sometime in the throwback Thursday thread!! I love the experience and environment, honestly. Most people want to see you succeed and do good. There's always a few sour apples but you surround yourself with the good ones and they don't matter. It's like going to an event and all your friends are there but you are also surrounded by dogs! Sounds a little bit like heaven lol!

 

[Kswoodssue]

She is gorgeous, and I love to watch her move! Well done!

 

[LifeofRubie]

I'm so happy you guys continue to have great experiences and get wonderful feedback about Rip! She is so stunning!!

 

[Rits]

I love to watch her move!

Thank you! That's one of the areas she gets the most compliments is on her movement.

I'm so happy you guys continue to have great experiences and get wonderful feedback about Rip!

Me too... honestly it can be hard to keep our spirits up and stay positive. But everyone behind us and you all here rooting us on helps tremendously. I have a friend that has been at this almost as long as we have and she's also ready to be done and go back to the obedience ring. At least there if you don't win its always because of your own doing LOL.

 

[JanS]

Wow congratulations. That's a lot of Dobermans and for her to place that high is really saying something.

I agree that I love every one of your updates!

 

[jazzies mum]

It has been a lot of fun watching team Ripley and I hope you continue to keep us all up to date. It somehow feels like watching family out there doing well and Ripley is truly gorgeous, versatile and in my opinion the perfect all round Dobe. That is hard work to achieve no matter how good the genetics are! Well done all!

 

[Ravenbird]

honestly it can be hard to keep our spirits up and stay positive

You are the best at this ^^^ and you will succeed!

I have to tell you when I started in horses (1980's) I thought I wanted the show world and I interned with a really good show barn went to several shows with them including Regionals. It was an eye opener for sure. I'd never seen adults act like 3 year olds before but there they were. I saw judges quickly change their gaze to another horse when the one they were admiring made a mistake (to appear to have not seen that mistake because they were going to place that horse/handler). I'd heard about all this but thought it was exaggerations. Unfortunately I saw it with my own eyes, including tantrums in the respected barn I was working for... and in three months decided the show world was not for me. I wanted my training to be judged by a time clock or a jump refused, something concrete rather than somebodies opinion. It's all tough, but I realized the toughest of all is swaying an opinion. You guys are tough and it shows. You will get there, I know you will and I'll be cracking the champagne in Team Ripley's honor!

 

[JanS]

I saw judges quickly change their gaze to another horse when the one they were admiring made a mistake (to appear to have not seen that mistake because they were going to place that horse/handler). I'd heard about all this but thought it was exaggerations. Unfortunately I saw it with my own eyes, including tantrums in the respected barn I was working for... and in three months decided the show world was not for me. I wanted my training to be judged by a time clock or a jump refused, something concrete rather than somebodies opinion. It's all tough, but I realized the toughest of all is swaying an opinion.

Amen to that. It's amazing how you can go for a weekend with 4 or 6 different judges and come up with 4 or 6 different results depending on the judge when they dog and handler performed the same way.
In the horse world I sadly saw a lot of wining and dining the night before a big event.

 

[Ravenbird]

In the horse world I sadly saw a lot of wining and dining the night before a big event.

Yup. You could guess the winners of the next day by watching the shmooz going on the night before. I'm sure it wasn't everywhere or all the time, but it was enough for me to decide I didn't want to go into the show world. I did & still do really admire the people who work their tails off showing dogs or horses to the top, it just wasn't for me.

 

[Rits]

Was a rough weekend mentally for Team Ripley last weekend. She showed well as always. Some hiccups along the way, lessons learned. She hasn't been holding her tail up lately except when free stacked, so we spent all day training and rewarding that after the first day of noticing it as an issue. Last day hubby's nerves were shot when Ripley's competition was going to be handled by their co-breeder. He for some reason just lost any hope that he would place above 3/3 in class after placing last/3rd every day so far and thus didn't show her well. He knows and doesn't expect to win all the time but he was hoping maybe one of those days to not place last in their class. It was hard on the heart! Then again, the #2 doberman in the US didn't win at all that weekend either!! And so many others. We also recently learned from a friend that back in November, Ripley beat a b*tch (when Rip won Reserve WB to the major) that came down all the way from Canada that had won WB both times at the nationals in 2022...kinda crazy to think about!!!

The emotions swirling around were only amplified with the stress of trying to get treatment for her thyroid from her vet just a week prior. Her coat looked thin close up but it wasn't bad enough to pull her, we just were very aware of it since we see her every day. I've been fighting my vet to get her on a low dose of thyroid medication!! Three panels later over 9 months and sending the last panel to the wrong lab...(don't even ask about that ) we finally agreed upon starting her on a low dose of meds. The final straw was her coat starting to be thin all over and excessive shedding on top of other symptoms plus her T4s dropping to low normal with continued high TSH on this last panel. Her T4s were always in the "normal" range so the vet didn't see the need to put her on meds despite her TSH levels being consistently high. So basically she probably will lose thyroid function in the future. Derek and I both KNEW something wasn't right so we pushed and pushed for an answer or treatment. Fingers crossed this gets her looking and feeling better again! Been upping her exercise game too so she's looking fit for that next show.



Free stacking queen


Her movement is the best thing about her. She's a modern b*tch standing, not overdone, and she moves flawlessly and effortlessly! Great reach and drive, with a level and stable topline.


We put our name on the list for the cluster's professional photographer to take a nice picture of her too. Too bad his arm isn't a hair up and her lips were stuck in focus mode I still love the beauty of her and the artistic style of this picture. Stay positive friends!

 

[Ravenbird]

I can really identify with those tough weekends! You can only do the best you can do! Interesting about the Thyroid - maybe you could start a conversation about it in the health section?

Team Ripley showed up and that's half of it right there. I think (mostly from back in my horse days) that conformation has to be the hardest to compete in. It's a judges opinion on that day and that's it. In sports they either do the thing or they don't, they either do it brilliantly or sloppily. But it's easy to see why they placed where they did. Conformation, not so much. Especially when there may be just tweak difference in the dogs: one has a bit better head, the other has better movement, & the judge happens to be a fan of good heads? That's what I found in the horse world anyway.

 

[Kswoodssue]

I can really identify with those tough weekends! You can only do the best you can do! Interesting about the Thyroid - maybe you could start a conversation about it in the health section?

Team Ripley showed up and that's half of it right there. I think (mostly from back in my horse days) that conformation has to be the hardest to compete in. It's a judges opinion on that day and that's it. In sports they either do the thing or they don't, they either do it brilliantly or sloppily. But it's easy to see why they placed where they did. Conformation, not so much. Especially when there may be just tweak difference in the dogs: one has a bit better head, the other has better movement, & the judge happens to be a fan of good heads? That's what I found in the horse world anyway.

Agree. Showed horses and beef cattle for years, and still sometimes go to a show, just to watch, and leave scratching my head. Politics can sometimes play a role, but if you fall down that rabbit hole, you will lose the fun of it all. Most experienced judges can probably look at Ripley and guess who her breeder is. Then they judge her, not just on her looks today, but against all the bitches that breeder has brought into the ring in the past or present. Keep showing up. Folks will come to know you and see how intent you are in promoting the breed.

 

[Rits]

Ripley was critiqued recently by renowned breeder judge Theresa Mullen in her Facebook group, "Everything Doberman Explained" for educational purposes to showcase living examples of to standard dobermans. I thanked her immensely for her lovely comments about my girl and making a post highlighting her! I wanted to share with her #1 fans at DCF.




If you would like to learn about doberman structure, I would highly recommend checking the group out. Everything Doberman Explained | Facebook

Here is the original picture. Interesting about the neck, I've never seen her neck do that bulge before (I know she was really pulling against the collar hard that day to get the thrown cat toy and I noticed her neck then too) but it could explain why sometimes she has some difficulty pulling her neck straight up high over her shoulders.

 

[LifeofRubie]

The judge really likes her booty!

 

[Kswoodssue]

Awesome!!!

 

[Ravenbird]

Great share, @Rits - when I get a minute I'll be back for comments & questions. Insane busy-ness right now...

 

[JanS]

Nice!

 

[Kaiser2016]

What a great review and how nice to have someone who knows their stuff saying all these great things about her!

 

[Rits]

What a great review and how nice to have someone who knows their stuff saying all these great things about her!

It really is such an honor...I can't believe how much of a blessing and happy accident Ripley has been. From supposed to be a male , to supposed to be a pet/performance puppy. I know her breeder and I wouldn't have it any other way! Yes, she is versatile...smart and pretty but like I said, bottom line, she's my heart dog! Not sure if I ever shared it here but she is so in tune with my emotions that she has consistently exhibited what would be considered task performing behaviors, without ever being trained to. I don't 100% consider myself nonfunctioning without her but it is nice to know she is there for me when I need her. I truly feel she was meant to be! I hope in the near future we can make other people just as blessed and happy as she has made us. Hoping this is her year for her CH!

 

[Ravenbird]

And now I have to thank you for that link... all the posts are long and detailed and then I have to read all the comments... I don't even care for conformation that much, but the genetic stuff hooks me, then the confo stuff I have to read and study the photos... jeez, I didn't need another site that takes up so much time. But yes, thank you for that link, I'm big on learning.