Why do show chins look so different?

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Robbie172006

New member
Joined
Jun 19, 2013
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3
Location
Houston, TX
Why do show chins look so different than pet chins? I don't understand it makes me think that my chins were unhealthy. The pictures of show chins I see are always so fluffy and fat!
 
Aside from likely genetic differences between show and pet chins, show chins are dusted often for a month or so prior to the show or picture taking and combed out well to remove loose fur. There is likely nothing unhealthy about your chin, breeders who show just dust them a lot so the true fur quality stands out....no oils, pee or other stains. You could either offer Blue Cloud dust more regularly or use a lint roller to remove loose fur....those can help a little :) if you want your chin to look like a show chin, there are threads on here that will tell you how to prep for shows, or better yet, attend a show, understand qualities breeders strive for, and someone may teach you how to groom your chin. :)
 
Another difference in most show chins and pet chins is that show chins are commonly house alone so they don't mess up each others fur, and so that they can't spray each other, which causes stains on the fur. Alot of pet chins are housed together in pairs or groups.
 
The chins that people hold back to show ARE obviously going to look better than the chins they sell as pets for obvious reasons...breeders are going to want to use the best of the best to continue their lines and bring notariety to their ranch as they very well should. Not only that but a lot of times many pet buyers aren't going to want to pay the price of a show quality chin when they can purchase a less expensive one if all they are wanting is a pet and not a chin to show or breed. There is nothing wrong with that and those chins have the same capacity for being happy and healthy pets nonetheless...
 
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I show they get more baths then the other ones here, otherwise it is 2 baths a week. I have them in colonies when I do show them. If I have a trio and only show 1 of them all 3 will go to the show. This goes for all my show chins. I am probably the only one that shows that takes them in colonies.
 
I keep my show chins in colonies as well. I would rather them have good chin social skills and get docked slightly. Pet chins are not the same as show chins. Show chins are the top percentage. When breeding anything you wind up with a few that aren't as high a quality. It doesn't make your chins any worse it just means they shouldn't pass on their faults. Price is another thing. Like mentioned the prices vary greatly from pet to breeding-show quality.
 
I know of some breeders in CA who breed solely for wholesaling to the pet store suppliers. Since they don't belong to any breeders organizations or attend shows, they are not breeding to the standards we want to see in our chins. These breeders do not have goals of producing large blocky, densely-furred chins; these breeders tend to breed primarily for mutation colors without regard for quality. Those breeders who show and have a larger breeding program also occasionally wholesale too but like mentioned, the chins they wholesale aren't going to be from their top quality matings. They are generally culls that aren't good enough quality for that rancher to put it in breeding or sometimes they are young chins that aren't old enough to evaluate quality but they need to fill the wholesaler's order

Also, a chin for show is dusted regularly and groomed with special combs to separate all the fur and "fluff" them up. I keep all grower males separate but I do sometimes house females together if they were weaned together... I just dust them more often in prep for show.
 
Pets can also be high quality fur wise. My 5 year old female got Female Champion of an MCBA show last fall. Granted the breeder that sold her to me knew she was very good quality but wanted her to be in a pet home when she sold off her herd (she was a favorite). When she got groomed at the show with the help of some pros she fluffed up and looked really nice.

It's also true about pairs of chins messing up each others fur too.
 
My chins that I keep are raised in colonies, then shown and then put into breeding pairs. I dust them twice a week, but I do dust them a couple of extra days before a show.
 
Robbie, I can add very little to what has already been posted.

We do look at our animals and have certain goals in mind when breeding. I think what your seeing is thick fur and large animals.

We need thick fur. Thick fur stands up on end after grooming and dustings prior to shows. And we dust the daylights out of them before shows.
Sometimes body size IMO, isn't what you think it is. Sometimes an animal will have a smaller body, but long dense fur. That's something I have learned from shows and breeders.

I have a smaller male here who has pin cushion beautiful stand up fur and clear clean color. Thus he will be put with a large weight thick furred female ( who shares the same fur length) to boost up his offspring. He has nice shoulders as wide as his bottom. That goes back to what I posted above. We all have certain goals in mind when breeding.

Some chins are pointy in the face and have long ears. Some have beautiful color and fur that lays flat as a pancake. Others are just tiny for life. Those types of animals would be a "pet quality " to us.

I have several pets here at the house. Bought them before I started to show and breed. A beautiful ebony that keeps her color. But her fur stinks and lays down. I have a standard that is small and has terrible belly color. And a white with fur so thin you can softly blow into it and see her pink flesh.
And they are so spoiled rotten.

I don't know what your chin(s) looks like. If your animal is eating, drinking and is full of energy and maintains a steady weight, then don't worry. Love em!! :thumbsup:
 
The short version: people give a crap about what a show chin looks like and how healthy it will be in the long run. In a pet store/animal broker scenario, they're only concerned with finding someone to give them way too much money for any chin they can get "on the shelves".

My pet chins look pretty darn awesome in part b/c I keep them a lot like breeders do: not a lot of treats (rose hips twice a week), wood toys to chew (to keep their teeth healthy), fresh and long leafy hay (to wear down their back teeth), a buddy where appropriate (one is less social), two baths a week in Blue Cloud dust. And while one of them has an impressive family tree, he's the least showable of the three based on size and over-all shape. The pet store chins that bred my first standard male might have been from one of the AWESOME ranches in Ohio, but I've no way to tell, and *because* I have no idea what his genetics are like, I will NEVER breed him. Period.

A lot of people that buy chins or "rescue" them for $100 off of Craigslist don't have that understanding, and go ahead and breed any chin they get, either accidentally by not knowing how to sex them properly, or intentionally to "make a lot of money".

A lot of pet chins (like the one on the Mazuri pellets bag) look unhealthy because the people that own/market them haven't done the research keeping an exotic pet really requires, and the chins suffer for it.
 
A lot of it is the grooming. It also seems like sometimes the smaller and little less desirable chinchillas seem to have bigger litters and take care of them easier than a big blocky female. We sold couple of our chinchillas from our "pet/production" lines and see them at shows getting firsts and phase champions. We are striving to improve those lines. But here is a pic to show how much grooming can help...if it works.
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https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=484779428278812&set=a.483176881772400.1073741826.483163821773706&type=1&theater&refsrc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fphoto.php&_rdr
 
The video is of Mish and the information is correct. There are several ways to groom a chin but that is typical. The equipment is correct. Most people sit them on a towel on their lap but you have to figure out what works best for you and your chin.
 
I like to stand when grooming a chin (get bad backaches) but word of advice if you ever do that...DO NOT REST THE CHIN ON YOUR KNEE!!! Bloody bad idea!!!! ;)
 
It's kind of amazing how good a chinchilla looks when it hasn't been handled like a pet, dusted and groomed for a show. I know one of my boys could use a good grooming to look better but I am afraid of show combs because they are so sharp.

I always kind of feel sad when people think their chinchillas don't look as pretty as show chinchillas. However your baby came to you and what ever quality it is doesn't take away from what a wonderful pet you have. One of my boys only got a second at a show and the other had damaged fur. I am actually thankful for Jackie's imperfections because he's such good quality that he'd have been sold much earlier to a breeder. Oscar is our only show quality boy and again we got lucky because our breeder didn't need him. She was attached and wanted him in a home where he'd have the best. I don't love him more because of the rosette that came with him at all.
 
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