I find it sad that some of you are judging something you know nothing about. Championship shows are a huge money making business for the dog food companies and other stall holders at the shows! This is however not the case for approx. 90% of the exhibitors! I say 90% as obviously larger top breeders will be able to sell more puppies if their dogs have successful show careers, win CCs, have CH before their name. It is very expensive to enter any championship show these days, even with just one dog. Most exhibitors save up to be able to afford to go to Crufts or any champ show and are well and truly out of pocket when they come home again. Exhibitors travel long distances to take part in these shows, at Crufts some coming from as far away as Guatemala, the US, India and Russia. For all of these people, it is the highlight of their year and usually it is also their holiday. Very few shows give any prize money for winning a class and if they do, it is never enough to even cover our costs. This may be different in other countries. But here in the UK we are given a small A5 piece of card. If we are lucky we even get a rosette and if we are extremely lucky we get to put one hand on a trophy for the photographer, before it is snatched back again by an eager steward. Sometimes, the committees feel very generous and let us take the trophy home for a year. And no, the trophies are not worth anything, not even taking to the pawn shop! As for bad handling in the rings and outside of the rings, I have seen it myself. It does happen and it has to be stopped! Luckily we belong to the Irish Wolfhound community and, as there are not many of these wonderful hounds, most of the people at the shows know each other and are friends. So our area is a bit party like, with cake and chocolates for all etc. Some of us are disabled, so the others help by running our hounds in the ring. We really are a community that keeps an eye out for each other and for our hounds. If anyone were ever cruel to their hound, our community would react appropriately. I hate seeing, particularly, the toy breeds and other smaller doge being strung up by the neck so tightly, that their front paws are unable or hardly unable to touch the ground. This to me is cruelty! As for any dog owner / handler being harsh or cruel to their dogs, I wish someone could do the same to them and some! Our hounds are our fur babies and, while we may in the extreme raise our voice to them, we never hit them! Wolfhounds are gentle souls and need to be treated with kindness and love, nothing else! “MERLIN! GET YOUR TONGUE OUT OF MY COFFEE!” Grrr!