But Wait! That's not a Flat-Coated Retriever - Rüdi
While it's not my favorite activity, we are showing Rüdi in Conformation since we promised his breeder we would try to get at least a Champion title on him. He got his first point toward his championship by going Best of Breed a couple of days shy of turning 8 months at the Silver Bay show on February 26, 2023. At the Puppy show at Bakersfield on March 30, he even pulled Working Group 4. That one does not count for anything since it was a puppy show, but it was a good experience for him.
In a show that really did count, he was selected Best of Winners at the Conejo show on April 22, 2023 (not Best of Breed, but best of the non-champion dogs). That was a 3-point “major”, so a really good day for us. He continues to do well in the breed ring though we struggle to find competition; he was at 21 points early in 2025 — way over the 15 needed, but he needed a second major to actually complete his Champion title. At right is a picture of him and Julie having earned an Owner-Handled Group 4 placement at the Santa Barbara show, Aug 25, 2024. We decided we need to travel a bit to find shows with a bunch of Swissies entered.
And on April 5, 2025, we went up to Oregon for the Chintimini Kennel Club show (actually we were returning home from a trip to Washington State and stopped on our way back for the show). He didn't do anything at the Friday (April 4) show, but on Saturday he was selected Best of Winners. Turns out being Winners Dog would have been enough, but he took Best of Winners as well. That finally gave him the second major that he needed, so he is now Champion Rüdi!
I haven't really decided if we will go for a Grand Champion title. It would be a nice feather in the cap and Rüdi is a really nice dog, but there is way too much drama and I simply don't enjoy it that much. We'll continue to show him in supported entries and so forth to help stay active in the club, so if the title eventually happens, that would be great, but I'm not inclined to actively pursue it. We'll see.
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