Working dogs CAN show! - Page 6

yoschy/nick or in this case natz... this cross works well. i have done it a couple of times and pleased with the results not only with tempermant but definately produce more attractive dogs then not.

hutch is a quality producer... a dog i had wanted to use... good luck to Bill and Boy in the future

Dan Juros

I think there was one huge issue at the SS reagrding Boy, Dux looked at the titles, hip rating and then sturcture, Boy only has a sch 1, Titan is a 3, regardless of how/where/when it was earned, Dux used this criteria to initally sort the dogs, he even stated so in his run down.    By doing a sort by title, Boy did not stand a chance with the number of sch 2's and 3's out there, regardless of scores or performance on the field or where the titles were earned.   Its a hard cold fact.

First of all why is Boy only a SchH 1? I know why my mine isn't: 2 litters, work, too much time involved and too much $$ for training, but Boy's owner is a trainer. Just curious.
Second a dog will not go VA at a Sieger show with only a SchH1. This is my understanding.
Third I do believe Dux mentioned size and he was not thrilled with large dogs.
I think Boy is a handsome dog, but once again this is a showline show. I do not think any one is trying to take away from the dog. Just be realistic. Could he out shine some of the VA dogs in protection? Probably, but once again it is not all about protection.
Fourth: someone said the week before Boy was in front of Titan. Well, in another class in Edgerton  there was a dog shown who the judge blasted as looking feminine and gave it to a friend of mine. Then the feminine dog was put in front of the other dog at the Sieger Show......go figure. Doesn't mean the judge was paid off.  Just a different day on the dog show circuit.
We all get so caught up in all of this that we tend to forget it is JUST A DOG SHOW! I am sure the owners of Boy did not throw him out because he did not make VA. I am sure they love him just a much now as they did before the show.
Pat

I don't usually post here, but wanted to make a few comments since I've been training Boy since he earned his SchH1 last fall and have been living with the dog since he came to this country at 18 months old. When we entered Boy in the Sieger show, the goal was to show a working line dog with correct structure at the highest level (I know we are not the first and won't be the last, but this was a first for me personally).

I am thrilled with the V rating and for the opportunity to show his work, and had no illusions he would go VA or probably even be competitive in this venue. As Pat said, this is a "showline show". I was under the impression it was a "German Shepherd" show, but that's a story for another day ;o)

I also wanted to thank everyone for their kind comments about Boy. Pat is right that we do love him just as much now as before the show. I am very proud of our dog and very excited about what the future will bring for us. He is a special dog inside and out, and I know how lucky I am to be working with him. I will be completing Boy's titles this year and hope to make a run for Universal Sieger in the fall. We have a lot of work to do, but my heart is on the schutzhund field, so I'm looking forward to what the journey will bring. 

Thank you,
Jennifer Acevedo

The Sieger Show in its conception by the founders of the breed was meant to steer the breed towards what Max wanted from the breed, not divide the breed into show and working lines.  Today's judges forget that this is their job as well as preserving the history of the breed.  It should remain a total breed show, not just an arena were only show lines are welcome.   If that were true, then the breed should be split and the working folks can would have their own conformation arenas and show folks can have their own "trails".    IMO, this will lead to what we went to the German Lines for, to get away from the over angulated over breed American  Breed GSD.  Have we learned nothing from the mistakes of the past?    Are we doomed to make the same errors over and over again in the name of selling more puppies that conform tempermetally to golden retrievers, or worse, than the true GSD?

I agree with Herr Grewe's standments at Edgerton, we need to see more dogs like Boy and Fabian in both arenas and the breed needs to be preserved as the founders intended.  If the personalitites involved cannot get behind the principles, then we must divide and re-visit the need for titles and bite work at a beauty pagent and as requirments for breeding for the show lines.  How long can heads be held high when living a lie?

This devisive jealousy and back stabbing between show and working line enthusiasts is really getting quite tedious. A dog coming from working lines does not mean the dog is a WORKING dog. The dog actually has to WORK!  HELLO! If a showline dog has working titles, competes in SchH or is a real service dog, is it NOT a working dog? If a working line dog is judged on its conformation, it is being used as a show dog! The GSD is supposed to be versatile! There is a local kennel that breeds showline dogs that grow up around sheep, are trained to herd them, and earn herding titles. Yes, they are entered in conformation shows, too. Does that mean they are not working dogs? Protecting and guarding sheep takes a lot of problem solving and skills that the dog must utilize in situations that change all the time - fighting off predators and thieves, finding lost livestock, etc. It forces the dog to be creative rather than merely performing in carefully orchestrated and limited situations. In a way it is a real life expression of SchH and the VERY HEART OF A GSD! The weight on protection being the only legitimate work and the only proof of a dog's genetic worth only takes the breed away from its core value: VERSATILITY and INTELLIGENCE. Anyway, all this childish fighting is what ruins the breed. People really need to get some therapy and get over themselves!