MASTERS TOURNAMENT - Page 6

Isn't it fitting that Dr. Raiser won?  Very cool he shared the winnings.  Now that is sportsmanship!

Can someone tell me who is representing the USA in SCHH this year at WUSV & FCI?

Thanks!

I only got there in time for yesterday afternoon's protection. It was, from what I saw/heard a fantastic event in every way, thrilling to witness so many fabulous routines, excellent dogs and super handling. The venue was wonderful, concessions, lots of ice-cold Gatrorade much appreciated.

Protection judging was tough but fair IMO. Not being on the field, in close prximity to the dogs.handlers, it was difficult to determine where every point went even to the seasoned veteran, let alone a casual observer. the critiques were comprehensive for the most part, included many specifics, tempered with a bit of welcome humor at times. The helper work was super overall, as befits that level of competition.

Raiser demonstrated his typical "this is how its supposed to be done" handling performance. I think everyone appreciated his acceptance speach, loaded with sportsmanship and support for all competitors, helpers, organizers, judges, etc. Heart-warming to see him shake every other competitor's hands, congratulate all sharing the champagne, and suggest splitting the purse money between top finishers in future. He also invited everyone to join his new organization, adding a cute plug for  immediate membership numbers' enhancement. LOL  I can't remember how old he is now, but I'm thinking that man must be substituting formaldehyde for Geritol. Ha ha ha.

I hope this event continues to be held in future. Great job all the way around.

JMHO, SS

The judging was very tough, however considering much money was involved and the quality of the competition.  My only coment is I dont thing the jusdges took in to account the heat.  The obedience judge said on all dogs, more power, more speed.  It was 100 deg on the field.  The Protection judge never saw a grip he liked.

animules wrote:

Isn't it fitting that Dr. Raiser won? Very cool he shared the winnings. Now that is sportsmanship!

YESSSSS! It feels sort of like a Phoenix rising from the ashes. :)

All of the teams were great and the sportsmanship displayed by everyone was fantastic, very positive energy on all three days. Dean Calderon impressed me hugely when he removed his hat during the judges's critiques in a gesture of respect. His mama raised him right. But that Helmut took 1st place does, indeed, seem fitting. BTW, the results are posted at www.2008masterstournament.com/competitor_list.pdf

As he said in his acceptance speech, with his training method any of his students could have done just as well. Finch certainly is a well trained, clear headed, happy dog who obviously had a great time on the field. He, and all the other dogs, embodied the theme of this competition: "A well-trained dog is not  the problem". I have got to find a bumper sticker of that phrase!

We are working hard to get the RSV2000 Webpages translated into English. The financial team is presently making arrangements with credit card companies to facilitate payment of membership and enrollment dues and fees. Right now, payment from outside of Germany is via wire or electronic transfer, making it clunky and expensive given the fees charged by financial institutions. There is a preliminary translation of the membership application process at www.ellerbach.com/SV-2000/ in .pdf format.

Will there be any videos on-line about the performances?

Lots of video taken, Im sure they will be showing up on Utube soon

I did wonder if the judge's took into account the heat at all.  All of the dog's tongues were hanging out of their mouths only halfway through their routines.  However, given the heat, one would expect the scores to be lower overall.  Great for Todd taking high obedience. 

It was sooooo bloody hot!   I did not stay for the ceremony, but how very classy of Helmut!  Wow!

Shelly I think that I saw you in passing, but didn't get the chance to introduce myself. 

A DVD is in the works.  It's referenced on the Master web site.

Cool on the DVD.  As I said earlier was just going to go one day, but ended up going both because I really wanted to find out who was going to win the thing.  It seemed that obedience seemed to be everyone's breaking point.  The one guy Pedro from Spain had awesome scores (97 in tracking and 96 in obedience) going into obedience and ran into problems in the obedience phase.  AS the heat rose, the scores in obedience dropped.   The best obedience score on Sunday was a 90, most everyone's breaking point was the retrieves and also were hit on "slower" recalls.  John Jabina had a very nice and steady routine and required two commands on the send away.