[ SHOWGSD-L ] Bad experience??
- From: "David Fritsche"<d_fritsche@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ducksavsfan@xxxxxxxxx , "'GSD'"<showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:16:09 -0700
Hey listers,
=A0
Need to ask another question.=A0 For those of you who show in
conformation, have you ever had an experience where a judge
was rough on a young dog and as a result, the dog shied from
the judge the rest of that show and the next day?=A0 If so,
what did you do to help the dog recover from that experience
so that the next time you show it doesn't happen again?=A0 I
had something like that happen this weekend and I want to
make sure my boy doesn't think all judges are bad now.=A0 I
did get some tips this weekend from the wonderful people
here locally, but I just wanted to see if there are any
ideas that haven't been thought of in case those tips don't
work.
Tina Klahn=A0
Illusion GSDs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good question Tina and to some degree, there is no "one
answer fits all." Only you, over time, will be able to know
where the problem is, if there is one and how to correct it,
or if it can be corrected.
There are two parts to the problem you describe: 1. The dog,
and 2. The judge
The dog who reacts inappropriately may be young and
inexperienced, and may do fine after a few shows and some
socialization. Socialization is so very important and ring
experience is also part of the equation. I had a judge once
tell me to not bring my puppy into her ring until it was
totally trained and ready to handle it. Excuse me! Training
is one thing, but experience happens in the ring! So we did
not take an inexperienced dog back to her, in fact we did
not take anything back to her. I meet attitude on the
freeway daily, I don't need it on my hobby day off.
And there is something to be said for the feeling that a
good dog that is sound will not react. I think that is only
partially true for the puppy getting their feet wet in the
ring, but basically, I believe it to be true. But there are
levels of soundness and while there are some ideal dogs,
most fall somewhere short of perfection in a descending
scale. Somewhere in that scale, and below, is the dog that
is not going to do well and is not a credit to the breed. We
can love them and keep them, but we have to decide
occasionally to not show them or breed them.
Aside from that spectrum of dog temperament is the judge
issue. I have seen some judges who simply do not handle dogs
well. I met one some years ago who was afraid of German
Shepherds. God only knows why they were judging them. And we
have seen judges that stalk the dogs, staring at them while
approaching them, and doing other overpowering things that
are simply inappropriate to any German Shepherd. Most breed
judges are around the dogs regularly and understand what is
appropriate or not. If you find one who does not, it is
their best interest and the best interest of the sport to
point it out to them, the show committee or AKC. There are a
few judges out there who should be out there just a little
further - outside the ring.
The real answer is to do your best to socialize your dog and
then find some understanding breed judges who will allow you
to get some ring experience without any expectations of
winning or standing still. Training them well is important
then getting the necessary experience is also important.
The same is true for the exhibitor. You also need enough
experience with the judges you show under to not give an
entry to those who are without sufficient knowledge of the
breed or of their temperament to do a good job. Those who
judge should know, and fortunately most do. We who show do,
in a certain sense, empower judges to be there by our entry.
That's my opinion - which is most often wrong to many
people... <G>
Dave
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