At the end of the day of a show there are only a few people who will actually think the judge was knowledgable and honest. The winners and maybe a few spectators that agreed. I am guilty myself of thinking a judge that put my dog up was right on top of the game..... As a Provisional judge i have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that i know i am knowledgable and honest and many others are going to have a difference of opinion with me and thats completely ok............ As an exhibitor i have come to the realization that not all judges that dump my dogs are crooked or stupid.............i may actually just not have the best representation of our breed that day in the judges eyes. Though it is truly hard to be subjective about our own little super stars................ There are alot of lessons learned along the way, but the biggest lesson for me is that you can lose more than you win and as long as you made your weekend hobby a fun time and enjoyed the company of your dogs and friends and going out to dinner or going to karaoke or seeing some new sights along the way then your trip home is an easier one knowing what an enjoyable weekend you had, win, lose or draw........................if it isn't fun and you are basing your fun solely on a win........then something is wrong with the picture and then you'll know a change needs to be made. Amy Safdir Almanya Shepherds www.almanyagsd.com ----- Original Message ----- From: <GrnRam415@xxxxxxx> To: <hckryhillgsd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <Showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, July 01, 2006 4:44 PM Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: A compromise > > That said, I am finding myself more interested in performance events and > less > interested in conformation as times goes by. Conformation is subjective, > political and frustrating. Yes, an owner/handler can win with a good dog. > That > is a given. But even that good dog will get overlooked more times than > not. > Why, becasue too many judges don't know how to judge, don't know the > Standard > or depend on well-known handlers to show quality dogs. So, I will show my > usual schedule til the end of the year. After that, my dogs will only be > shown > to judges I know are honest and look at the right end of the lead. But, > my > primary focus will be on the performance events. That is my compromise. > > Will I look for that "special" dog in the furture? Or hope to breed > him/her? > Of course I will. But right now, my priorities are set. Fun first! > > Laura Thomas > http://www.treasureranchgsds.com/ ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2006. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - URL temporarily deleted due to AOL issues ============================================================================