The Making of a Universal Sieger - Page 4

connie, oops, I mean autobahn, it's been 20 minutes. show us some dogs.

Rick Atchley

One thing I noticed in one of Randy's posts was that the dogs should be ready to breed by 2yrs of age, thus the urgency in getting the titling completed quickly. This appears to be a very common attitude, particularly in the show world. I understand it. There is a ton of competition for breeding. I think a key point to be emphasized here is that, if one is planning to pursue such a goal, don't be in a rush. You may sacrifice some breedings, maybe a lot, but that goes along with this being a personal endeavor. So, maybe your prospect doesn't achieve SCHIII until the age of 3 -5 yrs. You can still show a dog in the working class with a SCHI or II. Things that should be considered. A dog that has true, solid character and working ability will be sought after by those who know what they are watching. Word of mouth travels. The true and solid SCHIII by the age of two, in reality, is just not reality for most dogs...however, if you are pursuing mainly conformation and really have no intention of competing in SCH, then this makes more sense. Theresa

That goes back to what Steve1and lonewulf mentioned about "honest training." Randy came close to acknowledging that the show camp's practice of "tilting to breed by two" amounts to "ethereal " training. IOW Midnight trials and the titles from them, which is often what results from shipping dogs off for training/tilting, as opposed to honest training.

"Came close to acknowledging"; is a term that infers. I don't want anyone to follow that logic as if it came from me. There are hundreds of dogs titled each year. Some young, some old, some better than others. Each dog and training set of circumstances are unique. Each end product is different. Good trainers often do better than bad trainers with better dogs. The only way to tell what a dog has; is to evaluate it for yourself. See the dog look at it's performance through each phase and note the strengths and weaknesses. Talk to the helper too. They see more than anyone else.

What I will say is if you want to persue the Universal title. Train the dog yourself from the beginning. Do not send the dog off expecting it to return with a title you can take to the Universal level. There's too much lost in the transition.

Since someone asked,,,,,

There appear to be three Universal competitions in the US. There is the USCA and WDA qualifier for the New WUSV universal sieger. The WUSV Universal is the recently implemented world event. If my memory serves, the GSDCA-WDA will host this event next year. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

The USCA has their own Universal Sieger competition which is a combination of the results from the Sieger Show and the Nationals. With this event you declare your intentions to compete for the Universal title as a part of the registration process. There is a box on the entry form to check. You compete and must get a rating at the Sieger Show. At some point in the calendar year yu must compete in a USA trial and get a SchH3 combined score of at least a 270 to qualify for the Nationals. You must compete at the Nationals. The results are combined, there are factors that affect the final placing based on where the dog is rergistered (was born). Details are on the USCA website.

The concept has been around for years the enthusiasm to participate has swayed back and forth. Some years it was a big deal, event was publicized more or at least there was more chatter on the internet. Some dogs that received the title were promoted more than others.

This appears to be an up and coming type of event. The whole program is somewhat at the grass roots level right now. Minimal competition and participation in the US which is ashamed. This event should get more recognition than either the Sieger Show or the National Schutzhund events. It's the only event that covers the breed standard and the only event where the working lines and show lines are on equal ground.

I think it's always been considered more of a showline event. Someone finally got a showline that could do a SchH3 at the National Level. Woo Hoo! Better get that one to the Nationals as a Universal Sieger. You hear many conformation line dogs described as the 'Universal Type'. This is usually an expression that translated means; The dog really sucks from a conformation perspective, but it appears to have enough drive to get a title. This is what has created part of the problem with the concept. The Universal Sieger is regarded as a compromise dog. A dog that is not really good enough of a show dog for the show breeders to breed to and not really a good enough worker for the working people to breed to. This appears to be changing a little as dogs like Javir embrace both sides of the breed standard. Zambo is a good example too. Placed well at the sieger show in Germany, VA rated in the US. Certainly a dog that appeals to breeders from a conformation perspective, and has documents performance results for the performance side of the standard.

The shortcoming of the program is its complexity in a system where there are few qualified resources across the country. You really have to put forth the effort in a system where there is no package deal or program to follow. You have to put the plan together and work it yourself. This is  where those that compete really deserve some special recognition. They are overcoming the system that caters to the working and show aspects of the breed separately as if the breed were two types of dogs.

There are also the Universal Siege qualifies by both USCA and WDA for the WUSV Universal Sieger title. BOTH events were sparsely entered this year. The why's would include the economy, the fact that multiple national events were crammed into a six-week period, and the near last minute staging. IF WDA is hosting the WUSV event next year, there may be more interest. I have heard nothing of the sort, however. WDA IS scheduled to host the WUSV Team Qualifies next year for the (working)WUSV Championship next year.

Looks like I was off a year. Here's some information from the 2009 WDA board meeting.

Approved the GSDCA-WDA Board of Directors, in concert with the WUSV 2013 Committee, National Speciality Committee and the Centennial Committee, finding sites for the 2013 WUSV World Championship.

I'm not sure what the status of the event is now, but it appears plans were in the making for the US to host the event in 2013.

A reminder.

If the event is in the US and you want to participate.....You should be about a year into your program to be ready for the event.

If you are just starting. There's probably not enough time to get ready unless you are starting with an older dog.

That would be so awesome if it were to be held here in the US! How exciting! Theresa

Sorry,

That seems to be the WUSV World Championship which is a different event than the WUSV Universal Competition.