[ SHOWGSD-L ] Another way to look at it.
- From: "Evan Ginsburg" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> (Redacted sender "elg440@xxxxxxx" for DMARC)
- To: tinky91147@xxxxxxxxx, d_fritsche@xxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2015 11:43:38 -0500
Tedi raised a good point, I had not thought about. Most of the breeding is
done by the conformation people. We provide the performance dogs, and few of
the performance exhibitors breed litters.
I am not sure what that means, or how it impacts entries, but if we
conformation people stop breeding litters, (which many have), were are the
puppies going to come from? I know when we get calls for puppies, we have
trouble finding anyone with litters in Southern California.
Evan
-----Original Message-----
From: cinosamgsd <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: tinky91147 <tinky91147@xxxxxxxxx>; David Fritsche <d_fritsche@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: edwinx <edwinx@xxxxxxxxxxx>; Showlist <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sun, Feb 22, 2015 5:35 pm
Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Interesting Decline Conformation
Conformation entries are on the decline in all breeds.....this is a fact.
All breed clubs/shows are folding left and right. There are many causes which I
think everyone has touched on, but the bottom line is that people are just not
breeding dogs any more. The big kennels are gone. The breeders are gone.
Conformation is primarily a place for breeders to showcase their breeding
stock. It is not something that the single pet owner generally gets involved
in and if they do they almost always bring a single animal to a show and only
do so periodically. Lose the breeders and you lose the entries.
Cindy
From: Terry Cochran <tinky91147@xxxxxxxxx>
To: David Fritsche <d_fritsche@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "edwinx@xxxxxxxxxxx" <edwinx@xxxxxxxxxxx>; Showlist
<showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2015 8:01 AM
Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Interesting Decline Conformation
I use to think that until I photographed the Great Dane Specialty here in
Phoenix. Total entry 89. It was the same number of entries they had last year.
They were worried that I was a GSD photographer. Was I going to be hard to get
along with? Would I make their dog look awful? I am sad to say that we do have
a poor reputation among other dog fanciers. On the bight side, one of the
judges had been to our national and was proud of the fact that he was mentored
by Jim Moses. Was amazed at the size of our ring and said he would have never
been able to see he dogs being shown so far away.
I asked the president of the club how many professional handlers there were
there and she told me three.
Our entries are declining because we are a "Handlers Breed" if you want to win
you need a professional handler. We have done a very poor job of bringing young
folks into the group. The young families go to the German ring where they have
a better chance of winning handling their own dog. And yes they are there in
the German ring, and in the German training classes.
The American specialty ring will soon be a thing of the past as we die out. We
have young handlers but we are running out of young owners and breeders. Is
there a way to turn this around. I really don't think so.
Things change,
Terry
On Sat, Feb 21, 2015 at 8:24 PM, David Fritsche <d_fritsche@xxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I’ve stated my opinion on this before, but since it is a current
discussion, might as well refresh it.
There are lots of reason advanced that are introspective and blame
the trends on us. Although we could do better and be more friendly and cook
better lunches and…. These are not the problem. The problem is cultural. Our
culture is changing.
The modular family has declined over the past several decades and
will be extinct if trends continue.
Those families that do exist have far more draws on their time and
competition for their attention. There are graded activities for each member of
the family that keep the family car going 70 different direction 8 nights a
week.
Sports and activities have changes also with far more active and
dangerous activities drawing attention. A dog show you say? How many people
will be eaten, will fall through the air without a parachute, will do 12 flips
in the air over a fire pit… ???? What, run around in a circle for a few minutes
and get pointed to?
I love it, you love it but you have to understand the details
yourself and be able to set ringside as judge. Then it is exciting. Otherwise,
for the current culture – not so much.
I still love it and do not want to change it and want to be able to
get out to more shows. But like many of my peers, I am older now and at some
point I have to make that mark in the sand: No more dogs. My ability to handle
them and care for them decreases and I do not want to leave a bunch of dogs to
themselves when I die – and that is an inevitability that is slowly chasing me
down.
Dave
From: showgsd-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:showgsd-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of edwinx@xxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2015 9:31 AM
To: dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Interesting Decline Conformation
So why ( if in fact ) are we slowly going the way of the dinosaur ?
Dogs are just as popular ( if not more so) in our society as they've ever been!
I still get chocked up when I see a guide dog, or a police dog taking down the
bad guy... Why is OUR sport suffering? Is it us? Not blaming, just asking! Too
many lurkers on this list! Give your opinion, join the discussion, or start a
new one! Stormy WILL protect you! Look at at all the ridiculous things I post!
Raiders moving back to LA.... God lets hope so ( Sorry Zoe..lol) FB
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------ Original Message ------
From: Evan Ginsburg
To: freelist
Sent: February 21, 2015 at 8:07 AM
Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] Interesting Decline Conformation
those numbers do not report what is really happening to the core and life blood
of the Sport, Conformation.
What do we do? Face the facts. Recognition of the problem with
facts is the first, easiest, and most obvious step.
Linda brings to us a most interesting issue and study. I printed
out two lines from the post that set forth the real issue.
There is a saying, GI, GO. It means, garbage in, garbage out.
Here is the problem. If you start with the statement that the
"life blood of the Sport, Conformation", then you have created a problem not
based on fact. It is clear, Conformation is not the life blood of the sport,
any longer. Every other facet of dog shows is growing, except Conformation. So,
is it not time to stop clinging to the theory that the part of the sport we on
this List love, and keep saying it is the life blood, when it is not? Maybe it
used to be, but the figures tell us it is not.
Then, at the end the article says, "Face the facts". So, let's
face the facts. Conformation has become something less than the driving force
for dog shows. That is not a good thing, nor is it a bad thing. It is the
"fact" and we need to face it.
It is true that we want it to be the "Life Blood", but wanting
won't do it. We love conformation, but the majority of dog show entries show
us that what we love is not what is the "life blood" of the sport.
When we recognize the facts, we can figure out what to do about
it. Do we want to increase Conformation when the majority of dog show entries
don't desire that? Maybe so, but if we do that, we need to do it with the
understanding that we are pushing against the tide. There is nothing wrong
with "tilting at windmills", so long as you know the windmill is going to win.
Not that there is anything wrong with that, so long as you know
what the facts are.
Evan
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