Labrador breeding & showing?

You do not need a professional handler. What you see on TV is the not the norm--most dogs are shown by their owners. And handlers start out as owners.

When I first became interested in showing, I bought just about every book that I could find. There are a number of good books that I could recommend, including:

Show Me! by Caroline Coile, as someone above recommended. There is also a Show Me! Yahoo Group started by the author that you might want to join. It's not too active, but the people are generally very helpful.

Tricks of the Trade by Pat Hastings

Dog Show Handling by Peter Green & Mario Migliorini

The Winning Edge by George Alston--this is the best book that I found by far. If you can only get one, this is it.

Better than reading about showing, start going to dog shows in your area and watch. Join your local AKC kennel club and attend their conformation classes--these are designed to help you learn to handle for shows. The clubs will also hold occasional matches, which are like shows, but you don't win ribbons, they are just for practice. In all honesty, this is a sport where you learn by doing. Don't worry that you'll do something wrong--and believe me, you will--just realize that there will always be another show next weekend and you won't make the same mistake twice.

If you are talking about showing in the breed ring:

SHOW ME!!! A Dog Show Primer by D.Caroline Coile is a very good book.

Many owners show their own dogs.

Show in what?

www.chambraylabradors.com/PPPTraining.htm