Pixee, the temp. of the dog or the handler. I am staying out of this I know nothing of the show ring. This is why I like the compete against the standard  and not one dog wins comp.

 I do however like to read the banter. Just agree to disagree would be best hear.

decided to stay away from this one

Matt, settle down.    Conformation is NOT considered a perfomance event, it is a conformation event.  What you just said is that a special peed in the ring and should have been DQ'd.  I know, I know, you know what you said.  I had the same thing happen to me with my Hero daughter at the Minnesota Nationals in 1998 (?).  I had always said.."my dogs will NEVER pee in the ring, I aways ex them before I show them", especially after the famous Westminster incident involving Valerie and Becky.  Emma was a 9-12 puppy.  There was plenty of time to take her outside, several times.  Each time I took her out, she peed.  Finally we were in the ring with about 20 other 9-12 bitches and it was time for Emma's individual.  I was still on my "never" kick...Well, she did the down and back perfectly and we came back to the judge. She looked at Emma and said, fine, take her around..I started off and Emma did not follow.  She created Lake Emma right there in the middle of the floor!  I swear that bitch had two bladders on that particular day.  She never did it again, and I knew she had peed not more than 15 minutes before.  I never say "Never" any more. 

I think Rebecca explained the UKC match thing-its like a match following a regular show, gives puppies experience, etc.  They need to get their feet wet so that the first real show experience doesn't turn into a "I don't wanna do this".

I definitely agree with Beverly...someone needs to get a thicker skin if that is going to bother her...

Hope you and yours are doing good...see you in Denver?

(where I hope no one pees!  )

I hate to jump into this thread but I figured I would put in my two sense (which trust me is very little when it comes to the show ring) Matches are matches for a reason, its a great chance to get the younger puppies out there and allow them to become more comfortable in what can be an intimidating setting. Anyways, I thought I would share a story about one of our matches that could help lighten the mood on this thread.

In a match we were in a couple weeks ago, the pbgv puppies (I think there were 3) were just having a good old time next to the ring. Once they got in and were stacking in a line, one of the pbgv puppies decided he would mount the dog in front of him.  Everyone just looked at each other and then couldn’t hold it in anymore, within seconds we had tears in our eyes from laughing so hard and the judge had to step away and collect herself. I am in no way saying it was okay for the handler to let the dog mount the other, but not everything is going to be perfect with puppies Moral of the story it was FUN, that’s what the matches are about, everyone is supposed to enjoy themselves in a stress free environment.....breath people

Geez folks, everyone take a deep breath.  Ok, matches are for giving puppies experience in the ring.  Sometimes accidents happen.  In any event, a match is training nothing more, and nothing less.  Who wins?  Everyone who shows their pup.  All that said, I judge my pups as to wether they are ready or not.  I will not show my dogs in matches or otherwise if I don't think they are ready.  I pulled Halo out of the show ring at just under a year because, she wasn't mature enough for AKC.  She already had her UKC and International titles.  We worked on other things and now she is doing wonderfully in AKC.  My boy Ringo at 7 months IMO is still not ready for the ring.  I will test the water with an International show, but depending on how he does I may not show him for a while in AKC.

As for peeing in the ring, I also show in Obedience, and I teach my dogs to go on command.  I will never say never because accidents happen (especially with younger dogs), but I work to prevent that from happening because it does stop the show and disrupts what is going on in the show ring.  All that said I tend to agree that even in the show ring it ought to be a DQ.  My reasoning is if you can keep them from peeing in an Obedience ring where the exercises are much longer, then you ought to be able to keep them from peeing in a show ring. 

Finally, to set the record straight, not everyone knew who was in the show that was being discussed.  I think it is a bit egotistical to think that all the readers on this forum know.  I am from Texas and could have cared less.  The discussion was about what happened and IMO was more of a training question and not about who is who.  I personally would perfer to see this thread kept as a discussion of show experience and how new handlers can learn from showing and asking questions.  So, again my opinion, I would love to see the personal stuff left out of the discussion.