2008 NASS Impressions - Page 4

I see that many posters agree with me about the placement of the top three (3) dogs, and will now write my comments here. Over the past two (2) days I sent some private e-mails and PM's to some of the regulars here as I wanted to keep my opinions off of the post. But, now I can share them.

VA-1 should have gone to Liedo-no doubt the better mover. I was standing ringside chatting with a lady when I shouted "hey judge-move that Nr. 2 dog to the Nr. 1 spot!" I felt someone pat me on the back, and it was a woman who I presume was on Liedo's team. VA-2 should have gone to Teejay, and VA-3 to Gorbi. I do think Teejay had a slight advantage when it comes to pigment.

I think what determined Teejay's placement was his impressive progeny group-that is where he outshined Liedo. Of course we know the stud male of choice is but one-half of the equation, but life is what it is. And I think it is far more important to see what a dog produces rather than the dog himself, and I think that all of you agree here. I think judge Schweikert had a wee bit of prejudice caused by this, but I digress.

But all-in-all, it was great to see so many American-bred dogs do so well. I still think I was impressed more by the bitches I saw than I was by the males-all groups. With the males I saw too much size in some of them, and several eyes with light pigment. I did not see the consistency dog-to-dog that I saw in the bitches.

In closing, I do think we owe the G.S.D.C.A and the attendees a round of applause for a job well done for getting the dogs and people there, but we also owe the G.S.D.C.A. a bit of greif for the things done poorly such as having an insufficient amount of programme catalogues and a lack of signage around the grounds. Here's to 2009 being the best show of all.

Best Regards,

Bob-O

Unless I am mistaken, Show Officials cannot even enter thier own dogs in the event, which makes their sacrifices even more important. Do I hear Preston volunteering to create and post 6' direction signs for '09? LOL

BTW: The catalogues are beautiful, very good quality paper, covers, binding, attractive ads and divider pages... First one in a long time that didn't fall apart well before the closing cermonies after being bent up and stuffed in my pocket 100+ times, dropped a few times, food-stained and soaked with a variety of beverages. Most catalogues never make it past the first practice session intact in my hands.

I LIKE the $35-40. "marked" catalogues after-the-fact idea. Take one accurately marked catalogue, copy it as needed, bind and mail. I was charged $5.00 for parking for the entire event, but that was a real bargain IMO given the quality of the event, the convenience of the parking areas (no long walk to the ring no matter how late one arrived) and the venue itself.

SS

Hi Shelley,

Next time I want to be the guy who sold me the $3.00 canned coke, and the bite sized package of chip's again for $3.00 and I don't remember what the tiny beer sold for.    I could get rich in as week !!  LOL

And I will remember to dress a bit warmer...

Moon's.

We paid NOTHING for admission or parking and the officers and officials are paid  NOTHING for their countless hours of time dedicated to the breed and sport.   It is too easy to be an "arm chair quarter back" and complain about the programs or food... All in all it was a DAMN GOOD SHOW with an outstanding representation of the breed and a huge spectator turn out. The weather was nice, the competitors and dogs were well behaved, the officials should  be commended!!!!

Suggestions are great;  pre-pay for a catalog so they know how many to print and have it reserved under your name. Get involved, make the next show even better. 

Bob-O gets it right on the show as usual.  He seems to be able to always pick the best GSDs in the ring very quickly. Undoutedly Bob-O has a very keen eye for quality and good movement.

Shelley, what good is it to someone who can't buy a catalog at the show even if it is well printed and high quality?  I would have paid the same price for a simple copy on plain paper from a quick printers on a xerox type copy machine.  You miss my point.  If non-exhibitors had been informed on the NASS 2008 website that no programs would be available on the second day and last day of the show, how many do you think would have come long distances?  Answer is NONE of whom would be arriving on Saturday or Sunday morning. 

There were several quick print shops close by and one 24 hour one so there is no excuse, especially after the show officials were informed of the problem.  They just didn't care and obviously don't care about expanding the WDA.  Seems to me that some of the kennels and exhibitors bought expensive ads in the catalog and expected this information to be seen and held by show attendees even after the show, to be used as future reference. Why else would they pay so much for their ads? This inadequate supply removed most of the value of the placement of their expensive ads. 

The 12-18 month old Male winner (Jaeger von Haus Munsinger Dunn) in the young dog class sent shockwaves through the spectators.  This GSD had strong pigment, superb male type, great movement and was near perfect in every way.  This dog is going to be a big winner no question about it.  If you ever have a chance to see him in the ring, don't miss it.

The catalog was posted on the internet days in advance of the show. Hit the print button.

If non-exhibitors had been informed on the NASS 2008 website that no programs would be available on the second day and last day of the show, how many do you think would have come long distances?  Answer is NONE of whom would be arriving on Saturday or Sunday morning.

I doubt that very much. Like Dog1 said, the catalogue is online prior to the event. I nearly always print one out on heavy stock, schedule in plastic sheet cover, spare pages for notes in the back. I punch it, make some dividers and take it along in a 3-ring binder so I don't wreck the one(s) they give me at check in during the course of the event. If you plan to show up late, the results for the classes completed prior to your arrival are already marked almost immediately following the classes nowadays. I keep the "real" ones for sentimental reasons and for advertising reference.

You cannot predict how many catalogs to print for how many attendees any more than you can predict the weather in advance of the event. If it had been forecoast to POUR the whole weekend, the organization would likely have had catalogs stacked in every corner of the office for years to come.

SS

I just checked their website and there is now a list of entries posted by number.  This is not a catalog and has no contact information.  I didn't have a laptop with me so I couldn't access this information once I was at the show.  At a minimum, WDA officials could have made copies of this entry list and passed it out to spectators for free.  I know someone who checked the NASS website on Sat. for a copy of the catalog listed and couldn't find one or the entry list either.  I have never heard of a show where someone attending it as a spectator has to worry about getting their own entry information or catalog themselves and not to be able to buy one at the show.  Candy coat this if you like but it was completely out of line for the WDA to bungle this so badly and quite frustrating for many folks who travelled long distances.  I was one of many that thought this poor planning and organization sucked.  It's the old "pass the buck" blame the customer routine.  Too bad the person responsible won't take responsibility and see that it doesn't happen again. 

Okay, Shelley, I get it.  From now on all attendees should plan on printing their own catalog in advance, if it is made available on the website of that particular show.  There goes the income from the catalog sales.  A better solution yet is to print a minimum expected number of catalogs, and then have someone available to go to a quick printing shop every hour if necessary and print up more batches as needed.  Or just don't print any more catalogs at all, just have folks print their own off of the web site.