Tiffany,
Sorry the show didn't go as well as you hoped. If it's any consolation, Duke's reaction is the norm for most cats. If I had to hazzard a guess, I'd say for every 10 cats that look good enough to win a title, only one will be a cat that will tolerate the showhall and succeed.
Even those cats should be started out as 4 month old kittens. I even go so far as to take a 3 month old into the showhall just to acclimate them to the noise and atmosphere. They just stay in the benching area.
It can be very stressful for a cat who is only used to being at home to suddenly be thrust into the show scene. Duke just isn't accustomed to that environment. No fault of his or yours!
If you plan to show your new bengal, start him as early as you can. Play the radio at a medium volume while you're away from home, so he becomes used to strange voices and sounds. The PA system at the shows can be very unerving for cats that aren't used to that sort of thing. Get lots of your friends to handle him in the same manner that the judges do. Subject him to new things as often as you can. Car rides, visits to pet stores, anyone new (people with glasses, hats, males, females, kids, people in wheelchairs, etc.), loud noises, enroll him in a human-animal-bond program through the red-cross.
The more he is subjected to these things and tolerates it, the better he will behave in the showhall.
Sorry the show didn't go as well as you hoped. If it's any consolation, Duke's reaction is the norm for most cats. If I had to hazzard a guess, I'd say for every 10 cats that look good enough to win a title, only one will be a cat that will tolerate the showhall and succeed.
Even those cats should be started out as 4 month old kittens. I even go so far as to take a 3 month old into the showhall just to acclimate them to the noise and atmosphere. They just stay in the benching area.
It can be very stressful for a cat who is only used to being at home to suddenly be thrust into the show scene. Duke just isn't accustomed to that environment. No fault of his or yours!
If you plan to show your new bengal, start him as early as you can. Play the radio at a medium volume while you're away from home, so he becomes used to strange voices and sounds. The PA system at the shows can be very unerving for cats that aren't used to that sort of thing. Get lots of your friends to handle him in the same manner that the judges do. Subject him to new things as often as you can. Car rides, visits to pet stores, anyone new (people with glasses, hats, males, females, kids, people in wheelchairs, etc.), loud noises, enroll him in a human-animal-bond program through the red-cross.
The more he is subjected to these things and tolerates it, the better he will behave in the showhall.
