[ SHOWGSD-L ] showman or structure
- From: "Carolyn Mckenna" <kennadale@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "showgsds" <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 00:22:31 -0500
This has been an interesting discussion. The dog who flies around the
ring looks exciting,
and these days usually wins. However, I believe this can sometimes be
deceiving. Barbara
said that a good judge should be able to evaluate the correct dog at a walk.
Years ago, this
was not an unusual practice : Ernie Lobe walked them; Lloyd Brackett walked
them : Ray
Smith was the king though, walking each class as much as an hour or more. Of
course,
many things about judging have changed, time constraints probably causing many
of those
changes. Think of the time given to judging in Germany, for instance. I
wouldn't trade our
dogs for theirs, but I surely wish we could judge our specialty shows as they
do. One thing
we would notice is that the dogs could not maintain the gait we now ask of
them. Another
change is in the conditioning of many of our dogs. Many are now worked on a
treadmill,
particularly some of the all breed dogs. This can make a dog look smooth as
glass and
fleet as a gazelle, but it can sure fool the judge who isn't watching where
those feet grab the
ground. It can also cover up that choppy gait caused by a pushed forward front.
Lang Skarda
used to say "fear lends wings." and back when we had so many spooks they could
really
cover the ground and look good. Some dogs simply had temperament too sound to
be a good
show dog. That was when the attitude in a tablet started, a Dexedrine 30
minutes before
ring time. It's a conundrum, and no one has an answer, but I'll certainly
defend our double
handling to AKC and everyone else rather than the drugs that were used a decade
or so ago.
One other change I would mention is in quality. Back in the 50s, 60s,and even
somewhat in
the 70s, the really good ones stuck out like a sore thumb. Now we have so many
good ones,
it is the fillers that stick out. All in all, I believe the GSD overall has
made more progress than
any other breed. We must be doing something right.
Carolyn
Carolyn McKenna
361-293-5389
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