My First Proper German Shepherd Show - Page 1

Today i went to Liege French speaking part of Belgium to a German Shepherd Show 144 entries in various classes
I did not see them all but stayed for 6.30 hours Just to see what really goes on in one of these Dog Shows
Of course very near all were Show lines, But a few things surprised me, First of all people running round the outside of the Ring whist the Dogs were running round Shouting whistling and shaking pebbles in a Can waving deflated Ball on a tape Just to get the attention of the certain dog in the ring plus calling the Dogs name, in one class i heard Here Baz many times i thought to myself that old Bazza from the Forum is not over here competing is he, Must have a word with him then, But it turned out just to be a short name for a Dog in the Ring, Sorry about that Bazza
along came a class for Females 12 to 18 months old two more days and i would have entered Izzy Bitch
But what truly surprised me was some of these Females to look at and i thought this cannot be right
10 dogs in the class and four were certainly over 60cms They looked to be around 64 cms and they did not look like a Female but like a Male in build and in looks but certainly the measuring was not as it should have been and others voiced it as well
But i was not there to pick fault i went there to see how it was done, I watched the entrants go into the ring then they started off in order of numbers, after a few Laps the Judge called them into the centre again then told them the order he wanted them to carry on, once or twice the order changed But even me being a novice at the Show game could see a difference in some dogs one or two stood out, that pushed off from the hind legs and the front legs stretched out they looked pretty good compared to some others,
Saying this Izzy and i were in 5th place going round the ring at the Show club last Monday evening
She was going okay when the judge told me to move to the front i did not know why at the time i thought i was doing something wrong but it seems i was not, that only came to me today seeing it happen here
I took Izzy Bitch with me and walked her around with the other Dogs and People she was great never a problem and it did her a lot of good for when she has a go
Overall a good day, dedicated people at there own sport, a lot of work involved, However i need to get a G or SG and to get Izzy Korclassec but i will not be buying a Showline for me it is too hectic and too noisy, But fair play to the ones who enjoy it
Steve1

Thanks for sharing, marvellous writing you could have been a glamorous reporter.

Ibrahim

Ibrahim
Sometimes i get it right sometimes not, the problem with my writing is that i carry on far too long and it gets twisted by some trying to decipher what it means, That can cause problems when there are none to be had
Bazza
Yes, I thought Crikey he cannot be here But stranger things happen, The Show had Dogs from Germany, France, Holland and Belgium funny though mostly from Germany. It was a bit hectic with people running round outside the Ring
One woman had done a bit of running round then she ran out of puff her mouth was opening but no sound came out
I said to myself she has better take a rest or she will keel over, the laughable thing was though the Dog took no notice of her at all, Well it was but i did not laugh being the Gentleman that i am
Yes, those folk are dedicated to the show side of the breed a lot to learn, but i did learn a lot  during my time there
Some of them looked at Izzy in an old fashioned way of course she looked different from the Show Dogs but she took it all in her stride she did not bark at other dogs or lunge at them and acted like a Lady, She looked around with interest ears pricked and took it all in, i was pleased with the way she acted a completely new thing for her among 100's of strange people and even more dogs walking about,  plus the noise and excitement never phased her one bit
Steve1

Sounds like it was a good time Steve :-)
I plan on going to one of those shows sometime soon, just to get a bit more of an education as far as the GSDs. I will remember to bring earplugs ;-) I don't know if I can handle all the noise and commotion, but I will sure give it a try. I may even enjoy myself!!
Stacy

Hi Stacy
Rinus put Hestia in the show and he got SG he is very pleased the reason why there was so many German Dogs in the Show was that there were two Judges there who will Judge the Sieger Show in Germany later on i guess the people were testing them out to see how there Dogs would fare under them, a great Pity Izzy was not two days older she would have taken part to get her grading but i have to wait a bit longer now
Steve1

Steve1...so glad that you somehow enjoyed youself...even able to spot the size of certain bitches being over the limit by 4cms and doing so from outside the ring!! for sure you have judge making potential :))

On the whistling, running around etc...I personally call it atmosphere; because without that, and I've been to many shows where double handling is not permissible - they are dull by comparison, and the dogs inside the ring by far less animated (understandably) as there is nothing to motivate them to go round - you see they have a mind!

But coming back to the atmosphere: Imagine a football (I love football myself) game or a basketball game being watched in the same manner as watching a chess game (nothing wrong with chess - love a good game in peace and quiet)!!

Anyway good luck with getting your female the highest possible grading!!

Ah yes - the joys of double handling - I have seen grown men and women reduced to hysterical, toy squeaking, whistle blowing crazies (and, yes, I have been right there amongst them once or twice). I do believe what the showline GSD has, in great abundance, is a good sense of humour - seeing their moms and dads behaving like raving lunatics. It's a load of fun though regardless of which part of the world you're from.

At the UK GSD Regional event in one of the classes the judge did mention that as the attraction outside the ring got more & more tired inside the ring dog showed better and better...

As with most things a careful balance is required and sometimes less is more

AandA

Glad you got a big dose of the show ring. Amazing how much temperament one can detect about dogs in the show ring (or not!)  Izzy looks like she'll do fine in the ring. She's a good looking dog. Her beautiful feminine face and lively expression will be noted on her critique.

When I showed my Onyx in the ring, clearly a working line sable, no one would handle for me, so I handled him alone. He was so amazed by all the people calling their dogs making all that noise he showed like a champ, and when the rest fell down in front in the heat, he was still moving up in places, fresh and excited. He got SG1, largely from attrition, but I was very proud of my boy that day.

Keep up the good work!
Shelley