French Ring & GSD - Page 3

It's a shame that GSD's are the exception and not the rule in a challenging sport like Ring.  Of course, the breed has changed quite a bit over the years.

vs

That might have something to do with it, eh?

I hate these threads that turn into pissing matches over what sport is better than the other, which one is harder and which is more "real".  The fact is that they are all great sports.  Every sport has it's unique qualities.  Can you imagine if there was a Martial Arts convention and they all started acting like this messageboard?  "Tae kwon do is better than Tang soo do!"  "Oh, well Jujitsu is better than all of them!"     It would look like a Bruce Lee film gone bad.  I don't understand why we cant respect eachothers preference and go our own way.  I think ring sport would be bigger in the states if there were more clubs around.  In my state there is a small number of people that do ring.  They have to drive 4 hrs to go to the nearest trial.  Most of them train with SchH people and all get along.   

I couldn't agree more, Don.  I'm going to date myself, but it reminds me of the old Ken'l Ration dog food commercial "my dogs better than your dog" ditty jingle.  I do think this particular thread has stayed very civil unlike what usually happens when dog sports are compared, so kudos to the participants here!

silverbolt -

If I had to make my guess I would say that the jumping ability has more to do with the rear angulation than it does with the croup angle.  I know dogs and horses are substantially different - but the serious jumpers always have a steeper croup angle than the horses that dont jump (dressage horses - go figure...the horses that do the nicest most ground covering trots have flatter croups in the horse - there is the general theory that the opposite is in dogs...though I think that shoulder angle has more to do with that trot than croup).   I think that the angulation is the major determining factor in this - if you look at mals, dutchies and beaucerons - they all have much less angulation than the GSD does.

~Cate

IMO, GSDs can do the required jump heights for ring. How many police and military dogs can’t jump a 6 foot wall? Don’t you think that a herding dog should be able to clear a 3.5 foot fence? If the GSD is a working dog then it should be able to do these things. If the GSD can’t maybe this is an issue that breeders should address.

But, then again, maybe that’s just me talking crazy!

I'm currently training my DDR/Czech male in French Ring.  I am hoping to do a Brevet and FR1 this summer or fall.  He's only been in training since June and has been on and off since then due to him having Pano and me being pregnant.  So in all he's come a long way.  He is a good dog with good prey and play drive, with a balance of defense.  We do not push defence, but it comes natually with him at times.  Hes a clear headed dog and easy to motivate.  Hes doing very well in training.  Our club has one other GSD and he's doing well also, he's mostly DDR with a little Czech in there too.  Even though our TD has Mals he thinks my dog is very good and is excited to see us succeed.

As far as his agiltiy goes he's the most athletic dog I've ever owned and all the jumps so far have been easy for him.  The tallest hudle has been almost a meter, though we only do it a couple times.  We just started our long jump and he flies over it with ease.  We have not done the pallisade yet...I wil have his hips and elbows prelimed soon and if everything checks out fine we will proceed with more jumping.  He loves all the agility.

We have mostly Mals and a couple Dobes that come and train.  Two Dutchies so far.  I still like my GSD better than any of them and feel we are going to do very well with our titles.

Sure there are some GSD's that can do the jumps. But when it comes to the speed of the decoys, they can't cut it at the ring 3 levels. (not saying they can't do it, they just lose too many points to compete with the mals.)

I think it was great to see the GSD on the US team. That was ring 1 though, a far cry from ring 3. I don't think there are any ring 3 GSD's in the US. That would be great to see.

I am not bashing or being negative to the GSD's but facts are facts. They just cannot compete with the mals at the higher levels of the sport.

Don, there actually was a martial arts test to settle the "Mine Fighting style is better than yours" and was done in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, early on-No rules, No time limits & the Brazilian Jui Jitsu guys & Wrestling guys dominated the sport.   Now, they all cross train as a hybrid into whats called .. Mixed martial arts. 

I like a hybrid dog sport  now and choose PSA,   which has very realistic protection emphasized scenarios, but no tracking. There are UTube vids of FR and they are cool,  but I can see why a Mal will dominate that sport, especially at high levels.. Speed, agility,endurance which it has over the GSD.  But thts not to be critical of the GSD.  Its just in FR,  the GSD is at a disadvantage in comparison. The annual top finalists are& have always been, and will continue to be, Mals & Dutchies following.

I dont think anyone is comparing & saying which is better. Agreed they are all good. But PSA is best!

There is a trial this weekend in Hutto  Texas for Ring and Mundio    and   Dave Kroyer will compete......with his dog.....check it out   .....there is a thread on site about it......

http://www.usmondioring.org/2007championship/home.html

This is the link to Dave Kroyer in Texas     he is a multi task man....does it all......wd   shH   fr and mr.