Nationals/Universal Sieger - Page 1

Who are this years favorites for the Nationals and the Universal Sieger? Any thoughts?

well, as far as I know, or at least the last I knew, Ron Harris and his dog, Arnot; Molly graf and Eagle, adn Pedro Jiminez and his dog, Alex were the only 3 thinking about going for it. I am not sure if any of them have qualified for the Nationals yet with a 270, but all 3 were at the Seiger show. As far as favorites going to the Nationals, well, Hawk vom Eichenluft would have to be my favorite. (wink) He has proven himself to be a consistent competitor, and he and his owner ( me!!) just like getting out there and having fun with our only goal of not being the bad example. Luckily, since he loves to work, so far he has kept us out of that category. Hawk is my buddy and house dog first, schutzhund dog second. So we are Alabama bound in November, with a dreamy two week Florida trip planned immediately following the Nationals...so needless to say, we are really looking forward to it!!!

LOL.......GO HAWK.....Good Luck Kandi.

Only 3 attempting the title? Any thoughts on why there aren't more? I wonder if that was the ONLY title offered at a national level, what would happen?

My guess for the limited number of people trying for it is : MONEY. It is a huge expense to travel to a Sieger show, and the dog must be rated SG or better, along with going to the Nationals all for the title, which probably doesn't bring a dog any more breedings or notoriety than if they skipped the whole thing. Also, I think dogs who can excel in both worlds AND have a handler motivated enough to persue it are few and far between. As a "working person", I handled my own dog in the show ring to only get the Koer, and the G was good enough. A better handler or more training might have gotten him a higher rating, but my energy is always concentrated towards the schutzhund field. I think many others feel the same way. Along with the "show" people only caring about a passing score for a Schutzhund title, and instead concentrate more energy in the show ring.

Does anyone know why USA doesn't have it all in one week? Would that help with expenses at all? I know it must be cost prohibitive and also agree with your reasons mentioned above. It's a shame. Any other thoughts out there??

Hi Kandi. I need to respond to your post. I agree with part of it but am a little upset that you used "show" people. My wife and I own Fabian vom Mittelwest, 2005 Universal Sieger. He is 2x VA, and when we decided to go for Universal Sieger Title, ALL of our efforts were devoted to him being ready for the Nationals as we knew he would do no worse than a V rating at the Sieger Show and wanted to devote all of his training to competing against some of the best working dogs. This type of post is why there are not more dogs attempting to reach this title, neither wishes to see their dog do poorly in either venue. We know our boy, and just wanted to see what he could do as he loves to train!! Would we do it again, probably not, as we took a lot of verbal abuse for having as you say, a "show" dog there. (But I encourage others to go for it). There are a lot of working dogs that I do like, but I would never post anything to discredit their capabilities. The Universal Title is to show that the dog is capable of doing well in both arenas, people on both sides of this issue, lose that perspective. Respectfully Gene

Hi Gene, I responded to your post, in length, but it never showed up...sigh...so I will try again. Gene wrote: Hi Kandi. I need to respond to your post. I agree with part of it but am a little upset that you used "show" people. My response: you are reading into what is NOT hidden between the lines...I meant nothing by it. I don't hide behind an identity here that has no information. If I have an opinion I want to share, I will say it. Sure, there are some show dogs who are incapable of doing the work, but it is my opinion there are far more who are never given a fair opportunity via proper training and preparation. At least that was my observation at the last Sieger show. Just as there are working dogs not properly prepared for the show ring. I have nothing against show dogs. Everyone is entitled to the "type" they prefer, and based on that "type" people persue the venue in which that dog is most likely to meet success. My point was only few people have the dog, time, money, and support to persue BOTH venues. Gene wrote: My wife and I own Fabian vom Mittelwest, 2005 Universal Sieger. He is 2x VA, and when we decided to go for Universal Sieger Title, ALL of our efforts were devoted to him being ready for the Nationals as we knew he would do no worse than a V rating at the Sieger Show and wanted to devote all of his training to competing against some of the best working dogs. My response: I neeed no introduction to Fabian. I know who he is. And You, your breeder, your family, and T Floyd certainly earned the recognition of Universal Sieger. FYI, a very good friend of mine owns brother Flint. Gene wrote: This type of post is why there are not more dogs attempting to reach this title, neither wishes to see their dog do poorly in either venue. We know our boy, and just wanted to see what he could do as he loves to train!! Would we do it again, probably not, as we took a lot of verbal abuse for having as you say, a "show" dog there. (But I encourage others to go for it). My response: I think meeting success at a high level in any venue opens yourself up for such talk. Some people are serious with their negative talk, for they have thier own issues and inner demons, and "dissing" someone makes them feel better I guess. Others are only saying it in jest. Certainly if I took my G rated dog to a Sieger show, I would expect comments, and would probably laugh with them as long as they meant no harm and we were all for having fun. If they were being intentionally cruel, they could kiss my ____. Anyone who competes knows it is easier to sit on the sidelines and bad mouth than to get out there on the field with your dog. We have one "show" person in our club, and we rib her all the time, but we all would stand up and defend this show dog's ability to do the work any day. Despite our club being mostly "working dawg" folks, we are all pretty excited for this show dog's future accomplishments. Gene wrote: There are a lot of working dogs that I do like, but I would never post anything to discredit their capabilities. The Universal Title is to show that the dog is capable of doing well in both arenas, people on both sides of this issue, lose that perspective. Respectfully Gene My response: I don't think so. I think many would be quite tickled to have a dog that is capable of doing well in the ring and on the field, and also have the "village" to help get them to Universal Sieger or Siegrin. I certainly would. But it ain't easy! Of course, you already know that! Good day Mr. Gene. Kandi Jacopino Rokanhaus Kennel www.rokanhaus.com Now I will hit "copy" in case this disappears again!

Hi Kandi, I appreciate your post, and am upset with myself that I may have read between the lines. I just get so frustrated at times at all of the bitter comments and innuendoes on both sides when it comes to working/conformation lines, and which is better, but, you are correct in being able to voice an opinion. Your are so correct on how much training it takes to do either, let alone both!! I am sorry if I read more than what was there. Anyway, have a great day. Gene