I second Carlos Carrizo, just from watching him handle and having seen his immaculate set-up. He shows a few different breeds, but is also usually in the labrador ring and does a fantastic job. Plus, the dogs love him and he loves the dogs- they get taken care of and are aired frequently, and are usually in exercise pens rather than kept in crates at his setup.
Have seen others in action that have been recommended to me who have been very heavy-handed or drive up to the hotel and go inside for the night, never airing the dogs before awakening the next morning. Really do your homework and ask multiple people rather than just one, especially to find out WHY someone doesn't or wouldn't use one of them.
I have to suggest Tonya Struble. She is an incredibly talented handler and breeder of Golden Retrievers. Check out www.Rushhill.com, her credentials are impressive (has bred and finished 55 Goldens, many BIS winners) and works her tail off every minute she is in the ring. She is also the handler that put eight (I think) all-breed BIS s on Sharon Edwards/Ron Perry's Nick last year. She loves and takes great care of the dogs, we never hesitated to send the pampered Trip off with her because we knew he got the very best of care.
Carlos rocks! He treats the dogs better than any handler I can think of. The man loves dogs, has integrity, usually travels with his wife and/or other helpers, and never takes on more dogs than he can handle.
We love him in Southern Cal. He gets a **** rating!
Bonnie DeMille killed a dog and several others ended up at the emergency hospital due to negligence a few years ago, and she had never apologised to the owners of the dog she killed. This dog belonged to a family with 4 kids who lost their best friend, needlessly. These dogs fried in 115 degree temperatures in her box van while she left them unsupervised for 2 hours. Do people make mistakes? Yes, but in this case it was a miracle nothing like this happened before this. Be careful!
Memo Cavazos, he is really good and treats the dogs very good, my dogs love him, he has finished many Labs www.dogsconnection.com I think that is his site.
It depends where you live. You should have a handler that lives near you for transport issues. Go watch the handlers at the shows and make your own decision.
My advise is to go to a bunch of all breed shows. You will see the handlers, they are running around in and out of the ring. They will be dressed well, many having dogs handed off to them by Jr. handlers. Many will win a lot, but they will also lose. Are they good sports?
See who does a nice job, take notes. Then walk back to the set up areas (motor homes). This will tell you a the most. there will be set ups that are immaculate, no dogs left out unattended or on grooming tables, clean and tidy. Take note. Then you will see a set ups with 15 x pens and dogs galore. Maybe not so clean. Take note. Then see which handlers go with which set up. You will learn alot about which handlers will have time to focus on your dog and will keep him/her safe and clean.
Then after all that homework, talk to the handlers that meet your needs and if you can, talk to the owners of the dogs he/she handles.
I think after you do that, you'll find yourself a handler you can be comfortable with.
There are many great handlers (mentioned above), but there are a lot of great handlers who are not so well known who do a really nice job as well.
I disagree with the poster above.
Go to the shows, watch the handler in and OUT of the ring. Professionalism is very important for a handler.
There are two types of handlers out there, one that just cares about the $$$ and helping pay and offset their own expenses, the other that believes in the dogs they show. This is a very big difference.
