New USA Show regulations - Page 1

1) To enter the USA Sieger show you need to be a USA member or belong
to a WUSV member organization. Therefore if you are a GSDCA member you can
enter the USA Sieger show because the GSDCA is a WUSV member organization.
This is an agreement that all member organizations have with the WUSV. This
does not apply to a country's Schutzhund championships because those events
are to determine a country's team members and specific to each country.

2) Effective last Wednesday at midnight the new USA show regulations
went into effect. You no longer need to register your dog with the USA
office for club or regional shows for any classes. The registration
requirement is still in effect for classes 12 months and over at the Sieger
show only.

3) The new rules are posted on the USA website.


The USA Sieger show is moving forward at full speed. I have heard that a
couple of large breeders are not attending. I think that is unfortunate
that they would choose to limit themselves to the detriment of the breed.
On the other hand, this is an excellent opportunity for those hard working
hobbyist breeders to show that they too have excellent dogs that can compete
at the highest level. I also understand that to some, having a USA
conformation judge for the male classes is not popular. This is unfortunate
because our judges are highly respected and have judged at the highest
levels in other countries. And every year I receive phone calls and emails
complaining that the SV judges are well know to our top breeders and that
our other breeders cannot fairly compete. I believe that will not happen
this year.


The location is fabulous and very user friendly. The rings are located on the
show grounds, the host hotel is providing the catering, and we are getting
strong interest throughout the USA on entering the show. We placed a trophy
order just this last week and the budget for the trophies is larger than
last year's!



Sincerely,

Tim Burke

USA National Breed Warden

"Therefore if you are a GSDCA member you can enter the USA Sieger show because the GSDCA is a WUSV member organization."

What about GSDCA-WDA? Are they a WUSV organization? Does the WDA count because they fall under the GSDCA?


"I think that is unfortunate that they would choose to limit themselves to the detriment of the breed."

I find this statement ironic.

As for WDA, all I know is they are not a member of the WUSV - GSDCA is the member. Therefore one must be a member of the GSDCA if you reside in America to show in the USA Sieger show, if you are not a current USA member.

I was thinking of going for a day to watch but now the performance tests are on Friday?  That's too bad, for those interested but can't get off work.

I would love to go, but they don't have a open class for over 24 months!

It's a shame that the exclusionary language was not clarified long ago.  Many of my friends & contacts who would have entered (and had me handle for them) decided not to put it in their schedule because the original impression was that anyone who belonged to WDA would not be allowed to enter their dogs. That impression was pretty clear from the exclusionary wording in the USA minutes and the motion by Johannes Grewe. It caused many to drop out of such shows as the Texas-Louisiana one in the Deep South recently (I could have shown up to 14 dogs myself!) and hurt entries.  It also caused several clubs to cancel UScA events and drop their affiliations/memberships. Is it back-pedalling and damage-control now? or just clarification?   I'll be handling a few dogs at the UScA Sieger Show, but could have persuaded many more entries if the UScA had not threatened GSD owners who were WDA members.

 

Based on what is posted above, one must be a member of GSDCA, not the WDA affiliate. If you are a WDA member, you cannot play. And yes, posting such messages as did the OP is disingenuous and "damage control". But the damage has been done and it will take a long time to repair, if indeed it is repaired.  I am not at all surprised that many events that have already been hurt and will continue to be hurt by the stance that one must belong exclusively to UScA or you cannot play. I know in my own club, we were very happy to have entries from members of any and all organizations to help fund our events. Even so, I ended up paying the bulk of event costs for years because we don't have a lot of people involved in our part of the country.

In the meantime, the genuine people who wanted to support both groups, participate in good events, close to home, regardless of who the sponsor was, will have to make, or will have already made, a choice. That cannot be a good thing for UScA and in time, I think the Sieger Show, which has traditionally run behind the NASS, will see serious compromises......and not be able to make it. That show will further be eroded by making god Johannes the only judge of all the classes. The amendment was part of his greater vision to be Mr. GSD, SchH and Showmeister for the USA. Sadly, too many let it happen. And too many don't really know why people attend in the first place. As for getting a chance as a small hobby breeder to show what you have, it is all relative. Most people really do want to show against the best and large classes, not just end up with a V at a show where the competition was limited. Otherwise, it only perpetuates the weaknesses already in the breed, not only in conformation, but especially in working ability and temperament and health issues.

Fred and Sharyn, First off, I know Mary Dygert (Temar) and I can tell you that she is NOT being disingenuous engaging in "damage control," or back-peddling. She IS simply making the clarification that almost anyone *could* have realized, but for the excess emotionalism in some reactions to the JA. ( I say "excess emotionalism" because, as I have publicly stated repeatedly, the provision is impracticable, unenforeceable and simply a waste of time.)

 Mystere,

Perhaps my words are poor choices and I was not referring to Mary in any case. However, if people cannot belong to other groups, and WDA is the specific target as any person associated with UScA for any length of time would know was the intent, then it makes little sense to post this hoping that some only belong to GSDCA. What is any different? It is a GSD organization and an alternative organization. Whether the provision was impractical, unenforceable or a waste of time is not debated here. I agree 100%. But I know that unless and until such a stupid rule is withdrawn, it will, in reality, hurt the organization and ALL who try to make it a great venue for events.

The proof will be in the pudding. We will see first hand what such a rule will do to the next UScA Sieger Show. I believe it will hurt it and I also believe that it is in need of no hurtful actions in order to really be sustainable. I also am familiar with clubs who have had to cancel events, or in some cases scale those planned down. Again, time will tell. A few have led the organization in the absolutely wrong direction. The organization did not need that as it already had an abundance of problems. Improvements had been made in many ways over the 10 years or so I was involved, but a single wrong turn, especially one of this magnitude, is likely to set the organization back a long time. Knowing that sports like SchH and GSDs as a breed, and working breeds as a whole are under serious scrutiny at all levels of society, it just makes no sense to do anything that further weakens such an organization. UScA could be the leader but exclusivity does not make for a good leader of the issues at hand.

Just my opinion......