No shows until October, any way to train her till then?

I have one cat Harlequin I would really like to continue showing. She just turned a year old. She went to one "Household Cat Show" (an only HHP show) in March when she was 8 months old and she won best in show (most points when all rings added up). I also showed her brother Spot but he did not do as well. I wanted to keep showing Harlequin but I was very busy until last month, and then I could not find any shows to enter. The only show I can go to is not until October. I am worried she might change her attitude and by the time October comes around she might end up not wanting to show and do badly. This is what happened to my other DSH who I showed for a while last year Church. He did well the first few times, but then started to get irritated as he got older and decided he did not want to be shown.

I recently took her to my friend's pet boutique with two of her males littermates because my friend adopted one of their littermates as a store cat so I brought them to visit. The two boys preferred to stay in their carrier most of the time and were a bit nervous but Harlequin just wanted to explore and meet all the new people (and my friend's Pomeranians!) and was totally at ease which I think is a good sign for future shows.
I am just wondering if there is anything I can do to help her to stay sweet and laid back and not afraid of different environments like she is now so she will be comfortable at the show in October?


Here is a photo of just because I like showing her off She is a small (7 lb) brown ticked torbie with white.

Take her out to differant places.
She sounds like a cat that it will be ok to wait with.
Dont you hate it when there are not many shows in the area.
My Cleo will go to her first TICA show in October.

Have friends over, take her to different places....or do nothing. Our shows stop over summer from Oct-late Feb, I don't do anything different with the cats in that time.

I would just continue to take her "shopping" at Petco/Petsmart every so often. Have friends/family handle her at home and do the show stuff - making her stretch out, stand on back legs while holding on to the front, playing with toys on the table, etc.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

I would just continue to take her "shopping" at Petco/Petsmart every so often. Have friends/family handle her at home and do the show stuff - making her stretch out, stand on back legs while holding on to the front, playing with toys on the table, etc.

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This is really great advice which I too will use. I took Gigi to two different pet supply stores over the weekend. I got her one of those ferret harnesses (like a jacket, made of soft meshlike material). As of the weekend, she is literally WALKING on the lead!! She was walking down the aisles and would come with a little tug (but I also let her lead the way quite a bit..she liked to check out all the shelves..climb on and go under. I had several people hold her or pet her. Children, men, women, etc....she did great with that. She did see a dog yesterday that was on a sit/stay and stared at her...the staring did not sit well with her and she puffed herself WAY up and was VERY serious about it. Finally we had to pick her up and brush down her "mohawk" LOL and get her away from the situation. Dogs normally don't bother her a bit, but it was the staring I am sure. I had a guy from a pet therapy group approach me about joining when he saw her on the leash and his children petting her. Maybe in the not too distant future!
Now I will also continue to play with her on a table and handle her a lot myself. Still have to decide when first show will be. Looks like she's coming with us to Ontario for the dog shows next week