national working & pastoral breeds - Page 1

I was delighted when Mo Lakin gave verbal critiques to each dog placed, well done, I just wish every Judge...never mind just GSD judges had the courage & knowledge to be able to speak out &  explain their descisions, it makes for very interesting spectating. Also from ringside, sometimes one wonders why placings are as they are, often explained by the critiques.

On a less positive note, I was very saddened that one owner was whinging about what was said in certain top honours critiques & insinuating that what was said was against KC regulations & rushing around trying to get 'witnesses'.What springs to mind is a) Bad sportmanship,b) bad loosers and c)have they forgotten the whole ethos of showing is that its one persons opinion & the moment you sign the entry form you are opening yourself up for disappointment & the old addage about the judges descision being final also comes to mind !!

No wonder entries are falling when we have such bad sports in our midst ?

Well said!

It does spoil things when people are so obvious about their disagreement with the judge, it lowers the tone and shows them as bad sports.  Another thing that I overhead was that the same owner doesnt show bitches as its too hard - now doesnt that show that they take the easy option??

Another thing that I noticed and certainly didnt enhance the tone was the GSD that had been crated slightly away from the ring and who barked consistently throughout the show - many of the non GSD people were extremely irritated and in my mind shows lack of owner control or interest due to the absence of them being corrected - makes you wonder what they are like at home.

Beepy

I totaly agree with the first part of your comment, how ever I only noticed intermittant barking. I would remind you dogs do bark and was not excessive. What contitutes lack of control, in my mind, is when dogs walk past and another dog flies at it for no particular reason,

E.L.

longshanks

I too noted the constant barking of the crated dogs, they barely paused for breathe, I also heartily agree with beepy in that it once again doesn't reflect well on our breed at shows, surely owners can see that anti social persistant barking just gives other breeds more ammunition against our breed.

If owners can't control barking perhaps the dogs should have been on the benches( as per KC ruling ??????) & not near the ring,the noise muffled out alot of the judges verbal critiques that I was keen to hear, I heard several people also moaning about  not being able to hear due to the barking.Come on owners for goodness sake lets have a bit of consideration AND common sense shown, as to where you leave your dogs at shows, yes dogs bark ,but excessive barking is downright anti social for all who have to suffer it, also I feel very discourtious to expect the judge to have to make herself heard ( or not as was the case here) above the noise.

It was a bit difficult Longshanks, and I raised my voice up as far as I could.  Luckily, the video that my partner Zep was taking of all classes and the awards were clearly audible, so no problems.  My critiques were more based on why i had placed the dogs where I had placed them, and i am very pleased that the committee of Nat Wkg didnt interfere with that side of things, in fact, they left us alone pretty well for a Gen Ch Show.  Thanks all for your kind comments, it only dawned on my how loud I was shouting when listening back to the video (also the accent YUK !)  Its a bit like looking in the mirror when you see/hear yourself isnt it, I always blame the mirror !!     Mo

I can happily say I never noticed an acent!

I look forward to seeing the critiques in print as I did miss quite a bit due to the noise outside the ring.

Just remember that you are always more critical of yourself than others will ever be

I think the show was also sensible in where it placed the GSD ring and that it gave the breed more freedom than had it been lumped in with the other rings.

Singe

I said I only noticed intermittant barking and in my oppinion it is acceptable, I did not hear anyone complain and I stood quite close the the ring were the judge did the critique's. In the second part I did notice a dog lunge at another dog with teeth bared this is more of a concern than barking and is happening more and more. I beleive there is a Kennel Club Rule regarding aggression ????????. Would you not agree. By the way how did you do at the show.

E.L

I spent some time across the roadway watching some of the other rings (my friend was exhibiting there) and you could hear the constant barking from the GSD's and there was quite a few comments from the other exhibitors.

I didnt notice the agression - was anything done at the time and what triggered it??  I did notice the beautiful Dog de Bordeaux sat behind the ring watching the classes which was nice.

I too noticed the Dogue de Bordeaux Beepy - I was so tempted to go and have a cuddly squash of that lovely big face, we had one in for training for two weeks recently, and what a beautiful dog he was - mind I had more than my fair share of "showers" and hair washes  each time he shook his head... and when doing of lead work to get the dog back to you when called, it is SUCH a sight to have that large type of dog galloping to you... you say your prayers that it will stop, or Zep could have ended up in the village backwards !   They are such a constant source of fun though.  apparently the food was VERY expensive at the show.  some-one has since been telling me that rolls and burgers were hitting £4 & £5 - but I was given the most lovely meal by the committee running the show, and I scuppered the lot. (not unusuual there then)   Mo

Good to hear the committee fed you - bet that's not a common occurrence.  I didnt buy food but I did go through £10 just getting a few coffee's!