# Honestly evaluate my 4 month old puppy for possible UKC conformation shows?



## outwest

I have been thinking of showing my puppy UKC. I think she is pretty, but I do not know enough about poodle conformation to know if she is pretty because she is now my baby.  I love her happy personality. I did not buy her with conformation showing in mind, but thought I might do some obedience, so please be honest.

She is being groomed on Friday, so I will try to post a couple pictures of her groomed if that makes a difference. In the mean time here is my scruffy 4 month old puppy. She is 18 inches at the shoulder at 4 months old. 

4 months old:
Here is her face in profile when she was 3.5 months old and it was recently shave. She has a squared off longish muzzle Should you be able to see the whole lower jaw in profile like this? Most poodles don't seem to have the lower jaw showing, but it looks nice to me?:









This is her coloring and also how her ears lay flat, but go up when she is very alert. Is that a fault? They seem low enough (at eye level) when she is relaxed. She has good control of her body. 










This one shows her body structure pretty well and her neck length except her rear legs are far apart. Is her neck short? She has a nice flat back and seems 'square' to me. She also has a solid chest, much more so than my last poodle, and her front legs are set back a little bit (hard to see in this picture). Should she be of lighter structure with a narrow chest? She still prances around on light little feet:









Thank you for taking a critical eye to my puppy. I am trying to figure out what her strengths and weaknesses are to decide if I should try conformation.


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## cavon

I'm no expert either, but there are folks on the forum who will be able to give you details. Your girl is beautiful in my opinion. I love her top line and she seems to have a very good natural stack. Nice tight feet too.

I would suggest that you have your groomer put her into a puppy clip, stack her on a table either at the groomer or whn you get home and take several pictures, side, front and back. Then everyone would be able to see her from all angles and give you detailed opinions. 

I say find a show in your area and go for it. she has to be 6 months old, but that won't be long now!!


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## outwest

Thank you for looking. I will try to get better pictures in a couple days after she is groomed.

puppy clip: I ask her to leave her top knot, neck, legs and chest hair long so it can grow out and shape around her tummy and angulate her rear? I will hunt up a picture and take it. She is a great groomer, but I don't know how many puppy show clips she does. Bonnie would have a few months to grow more hair.

grrr...I wish I could clip myself, but I always did a hack job on my last poodle. I don't want to mess Bonnie up if I decide to try the showing...


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## Birdie

My amateur eye thinks she looks pretty nice. I really like her back end and topline, and I agree about the lovely natural stack. And it looks like she has a nice long neck, decent carriage, and a good head. I have never been good at looking at the shoulder/front area, but I think that might be her weak area. Maybe... Trust a pro before me, I'm just tossing in my opinion.  
She's adorable, at the very least! She will turn into an absolutely lovely dog one day, CH title or no.


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## cavon

Ormar Standard Poodles: Ch.Unique Ormar What A Babe (Lola)

follow this link and you will get a fantastic picture of whitepoodles girl Lola in a puppy clip. Even if you don't have enough hair to pull the topknot up, your groomer can start the shaping!!

remember to have the base of her tail shaved and a "shelf" shaped onto her butt. Search the forum, I'm sure there are tons of other pictures!

http://www.standardpoodlesusa.com/images/puppyclip.jpg


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## outwest

Oh, thanks. Maybe I can print out whitepoodles picture. I will check out this 'shelf' thing. I would like the option of showing her even if I don't end up doing it. I need to start on her coat now. 

I think she has a nice head, pretty eyes that are very dark, nice back and profile and I like her feet. Her nose is pitch black and tight. Her lips are black, but not as dark as her nose (but they seem to be getting darker with age). I am wondering about her front legs/chest (they seem a little hefty?), her ears and her lower jaw. Her bite is good so far. I will try to get some good pictures tomorrow after her groom. Her tail seems to be docked long, but I think it is in the right place on her body. It is straight most of the time, but has a slight bend when she is really excited, but doesn't ever go over her back. She almost always holds it up, which is nice. 

Oh, her toenails have a very black line that runs down the middle of them, which is cute, but the underneath of the nail is self colored. Is that alright? I will try to get a pic of her toenails. 

[poor Bonnie to have her Mommy picking her apart like this. LOL]


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## outwest

Okay, 4 month old Bonnie was groomed and I asked for the beginnings of a puppy show cut. You can see how big she is at this age by comparing her to my leg (I am 5'7"). I think many standards are bigger at 4 months, but I might be wrong. I just got that feeling from looking at pictures on this site. 

I tried to get decent pictures, but it ain't easy. LOL Obviously, if I think I might want to do this, some training needs to be done...

face and you can see the black line down her toenails:

















rear









front and a good look at her feet (yah, I know she is crooked- it's the best I could get with the wild animal):









moving. The breeder said the diagonals should hit at the same time for perfect timing, but she is still a baby. 

























this one shows the most her tail curls. My husband called her and she loves my husband and gets excited:









Is this the right puppy cut for her to work into the full puppy cut? The groomer is a sweet heart and very willing to try to do this for me, but says she is not an expert on the show cuts. I brought her a picture like you recommended. I thought she did a good job:









Thank you for looking at my baby.


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## ArreauStandardPoodle

She is VERY pretty. Her back end is terrific and it looks like her rear angles are really good, Great pigment and eye colour. Her face is a bit fine and her ears a bit high set, but over all, she is lovely. Her tail is set decently, but could be little higher. She ought to do well in UKC.

It is not fair for folks to be too critical from a few photos. You really need to get your hands on a dog, feel its bone structure, watch it move...


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## NOLA Standards

and 4 months is in the middle of "puppy uglies". You'll notice she seems to change everyday - she's growing.

Socialize her, encourage her (her tail needs to come up some though UKC is not as critical as AKC) and train her to stop and stand for you.

(Email me if you want some tips  )

Then, when she's stopped the crazy growing spurts evaluate her. It's best to evauate at 8 to 9 weeks (not beyond) and then again after 6 months.

Wide in the rear is good  A square stack when standing is also good.

Showing is great fun!


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## outwest

I thought her ears were high, too. They have lowered as she has grown. We'll see. The color difference between her ears and the rest of her body accentuates it. On all white and all black poodles it is hard to notice. sigh.The groomer trimmed her top knot. I will make sure to ask her not to. More hair up there will balance her ears better. 

Her tail appears placed correctly at the end of her spine. She only holds it straight up sometimes. That might be an issue. She normally holds it at the angle in the pictures. 

When they shaved her face it looked smaller without all the fuzz on it. Neither parent had a fine muzzle, so I assumed it is because she is a puppy. It is a pretty face, though.

For a cream her coloring seems good to my eye. Her cream is all one even pale color except for her ears. She doesn't have solid black nails, but she has a black stripe down them (better than nothing!). Her eyes are so dark I can't see the pupils and her lips aren't missing any pigment. 

I think she has a really good rear end, too. Her front legs seem shorter in comparison. A month ago her rear seemed shorter! Weird. She must be growing unevenly. Maybe they will come together at some point. 

I can train her to top and stand. I have done that before. I used to train my boxer puppies to stay after I stacked them from the time they were small, but I always used bait. I read you can't use bait in UKC. Bonnie is a wild animal right now! I must start more training. I have been perfecting her manners. I better get cracking. 

I couldn't deal with the haircuts needed in AKC shows. UKC is better for me for a number of reasons. 

Thank you so much for looking! It was fun getting pictures of her.


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## Fond of Poodles

Very pretty puppy! I like her face, and she does appear to have a nice under jaw. Her movement in the pictures is beautiful! You sound like you'd really like to show her, so go for it! There are no perfect dogs and you both will have fun doing a "job" together! That's the main reason I went into showing, lol. I love poodles, enjoy the grooming, and spending time with my dogs!


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## 3dogs

Give it a go. I love UKC. It is a great place to begin & to work on handling skills & great to work a dog with NON PRO's in the ring. You might find you love the confromation ring or you hate it but heck go for it.


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