I have a friend with another breed who asked me a tough question. I told her I would toss it out on our Forum.

She has a bitch who only needs a major to finish and is entered in a show this weekend that has the exact amount of bitches entered to make a major. She also knows of two other people entered who only need majors. Of course everybody knows how important it is not to break the major...BUT...her bitch has been exposed to a dog with kennel cough (they played for a few hours together before the other dog was symptomatic)..Her bitch has just started to cough a little bit...Should she keep the sick bitch home and break the major for everyone or should she give the bitch a cough suppressant & try to get the bitch in & out of the show quickly (without any contact) and insist on showing her own bitch's bite (not letting the judge touch her bitches mouth?)OH and majors are very hard to come by in this breed...rare! I was torn with my response... any thoughts?

Show the bitch if she is not coughing. Really if people do not get it by now, dog shows are cess pools of germs. They could get kennel cough from anyone, it is not the end of the world. If people are that sensitive, then they should not show dogs or anything else .

I thought kennel cough was a requirement for showing. My dogs always come home from a show with it.

I applaud your concern about spreading kennel cough in a show environment(or anywhere else for that matter). Under the circumstances, if it really is that critical to hold the major in the breed, the plan is as good as it can be. Remember, every time she coughs, even a little, she spreads the virus in the droplets.And other exhibitors may not be so cavalier (as others have indicated in this thread) about taking KC home to their dogs or pups. Perhaps more exhibitors keeping their sick dogs at home would contribute to reducing the viral cesspool at shows.
JMHO
Best of luck to your friend

Sick dogs should stay home. In case anyone has forgotten, kennel cough CAN (although rarely) be fatal.

Recently at a show that was not even a major, just one point-we brought kennel cough home. I normally sit to the side talk when my dogs are out of the crate away from everyone just in case, but my daughter was helping me with one of our boys and stood in group of all the dogs. And it started with him first and then went through all my dogs except my pregnant bitch...Thank God!! Everyone was up-to-date on kennel cough vaccination and had very mild case.
Even though I love showing and getting points would not go because I wouldn't want someone going through the same scare we had.

Kennel cough is every where. We show all the time and have picked it up at shows. We have also picked it up at the Vets office. Think common colds and you
will understand the contagious nature of kennel cough.
A common cold can be fatal, yet how rare would that be? That one dog not showing is not going to stop
the spread of kennel cough.

If she is coughing she should stay home! I'm horrified there is even a question. NO major is as important as the health of the bitch in question or any of the other dogs she might come in contact with, or any of the other dogs it might spread to. Not only that, it could be a benchable offense to show a dog that you know to be sick and possibly contagious.

I don't think that I would show at an indoor show, knowing that my dog might cough. That would be embarassing. However, if I traveled to an outdoor show and I had traveled a long way (and I have had this happen) and my dog came down with a mild cough at the show - then I would show. I have used Zicam to control the cough and if I am at a show already (away from home) then I start on antibiotics.

Just curious though - how do the professional handlers decide what to show, when they have dogs on the truck that might be coughing and have alot of dogs that are being campaigned?

If there is a sick dog on the truck he/she stays in the truck. Most of my clients understand that the health and welfare of the dog come first. The dog doesnt want to be dragged around the ring if he/she are sick. Although,in my opinion, there are many handlers out there that will show the dog, regardless, just to get that extra buck.

In the case of majors, i will be the first one to say unless you are dead, dying,sick or your dog is sick you better not break that major. Majors will come and go, and there will always be people out there to break them.

Keep the b*tch home, they wont be the first to break a major, they wont be the last!!

Jen

Stay home. Majors break and it's nice to not want to be that person, but if it relies only on 1 person to break it, chances are someone else will most likely not go anyway, so don't risk it with the sick dog.

I say health comes before a show any day, major or not.

Stay home! Even if you medicate so the dog is not coughing...most judges do not wash their hands between dogs when the are examining the bite..that is how it is usually passed.

Be a good sport...if you know who the other exhibitors are...I would email them and let them know. I am sure they would be much more appreciative of that then showing up and seeing that major broke...especially if their bitches only need majors. Might save them some travel expense.

JMO

Speaking as somebody whose elderly Lab died due to complications from KC brought home from a show by one of his kennel mates please don't inflict this on anybody else. Very old and very young dogs can contract pneumonia from a severe bout of kennel cough even with the best veterinary care and medications. I wouldn't want that on my conscience. I have also noticed that it is usually the same offenders who bring infected dogs to a show and seem oblivious to the suffering they cause.

question for the handlers...even if handlers leave any "coughing" dogs on the truck...aren't the other dogs possibly infectious...even if they are not coughing yet? Does any handler pull all of their dogs because they only have one or two on the truck actually coughing???

Last post most honest of all. If a handler has a coughing dog, the whole truck is exposed and is contagious , and the dogs not coughing do go in the ring ! We all know it, so if you can't take the heat stay out of the kitchen. Dog shows are not for purest!

Ditto.
Stay home! If you sent your sick child to school, they would have the common sense to send the child home.