Drake is used to being able to play outside every day and have affection poured on him. If we were to give him to our breeder to show, he would be only one of several dogs that she would be showing and he would be spending most of his time in a crate by himself. We would miss him incredibly and the idea that he wouldn't be getting very much attention outside of being groomed and being shown, really bothered us. Drake is a very sensitive dog and gets really upset when we leave him for any extended period of time. Not to cast an ugly shadow on showing dogs, but we got Drake because we wanted a pet, not a show dog, and it would be more upsetting for us as well as him, if we were to send him off for an extended period of time to be shown.
That's the problem....I agree with Newf Lover. If it was a once a month thing where we could go as a pack, it would be fun. But if it was a situation where a handler wanted to take Chester for weeks at a time, we would be SO lonesome without him. The only reason the breeder didn't keep Chester himself for show was that one of his litter mates nipped the end of his tail and broke it...so there's a tweak in there that could be points off. Now that he's a big guy with a full body of fur, you can't feel it unless you know where to dig.
I'm going to listen to the breeder and talk to handlers and see what they say. If we can work it so that he only does show in the So. Cal. area so we can take him and bring him home with us, we could do that. If it means sending him to boarding school and then being on the road, it's just a no-go for us. He's just too much a part of the family.
I'll let you know what happens!