[ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Falling Entries
- From: Terry Cochran <fairway97045@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: d_fritsche@xxxxxxxxxx, showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 21:11:52 -0800 (PST)
I guess we all better dress in black as we ready for the end of the sport as we
have known it. How despressing!
Terry
David Fritsche <d_fritsche@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> There are other reasons, of course, why entries are low.
> What do you suppose these other reasons might be?
> Jane Kerner
1. A change in sociology.
When I got my first GSD (1954), I lived at home with my parents. Our
recreation was always as a family. Our family was traditional and typical.
Dad worked, Mom took care of the home and we four brats. (Oh no - 3 brats
and me!). My first dog show (Los Angeles County Fairgrounds, Pomona, CA) was
primarily families with children our for the day with their picnic lunch.
Family size in those days, about 2 parents and 4-5 children, depending on
which part of the country. Family size today: 1 parent, 1.4 children and an
estranged parent who has custody weekends or twice a month.
The traditional family is gone, and so is the family in the park playing
dogs. There are many factors that have caused this social shift, but I don't
have space here to go into all of them. It is just that our culture has
changed and it is not coming back. So our shows have changed socially, and
it is not going to go back to the agricultural models of the past.
2. A change in mobility.
We used to get in the family car and go together to the park. Today, we do
not go together much at all. Mom is running the younger kids to soccer,
dance lessons, karate, football, basketball, baseball, track, play practice,
choir practice and dad doesn't get home until 8. The older kids have their
own cars, as does dad and mom and so, when the weekend comes, everyone is
off to their individual interests, not to the dog show as a family together.
This has a lot of advantages. You can move at the speed of sound, experience
more in life by 16 than I have at 67, and we hard, cold and cynical by the
time you are old enough to drink. Mobility has changed our world and it has
changed our sport. There are simply too many other things to do for our
young people.
3. A change in competitive expectations.
Everyone who goes to a Schutzhund trial can come away with a rating or a
score or something. In our sport, three dogs win and the rest get dumped (at
least that is the emotion for many who loose). It takes years to know what
you are doing in breeding and selecting the dog to show and in finding the
right combination of dog, handler and eye for the judges. This is a finesse
sport. It is born from a gentlemen's era, where dressing up and parading
around and showing class and style were the order of the day. This is the
sport of Kings, Noblemen and the upper class. But, we are without pretense
any longer. We dress down by-and-large as a culture, and we have found
freedom of speech, so we do not have to be gentlemanly any longer. We are a
classless society, or so we pretend, and we no longer have patience for
delayed gratification. If you do not win - today, then there is something
wrong with the system and it is oh so easy to fine a more easily attainable
sport where gratification is quick, instant, prepackaged and prefrozen and
ready for the microwave.
4. Gosh... I can think of another dozen items that are changes culturally,
time constraint changes, wow..... You know it is not so much that we are a
failure in bringing people into our sport as much as it is that we do not
recognize the monumental social shifts that surround us. And they continue
at an ever increased pace!
I suppose we could change the rules and the standard to make it more - more
split second changes per frame in the ring - more spectacular special
effects in our temperament tests, - more spiked coat hairdo's with
psychedelic colors, a alternative head-banging band or rap group to
accompany the go arounds - more......
Or we can just recognize that we are relics of the past and we enjoy the
earth, the dogs and the friends we meet more than watching TV reality shows
with people eating worms and spiders. If we do that, then we will probably
relax and enjoy the years we have left in the hobby that we have chosen and
cherish the friends we have made and the breed that we love, without guilt,
fear or a sense that somewhere we are failing. It may well be, that we have
succeeded in accomplishing something in dogdom and in the history of animal
husbandry that few today really care about, but which will leave its mark in
our world, but more importantly, in the hearts of human and dog - for
eternity.
Dave
============================================================================
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 - www.showgsd.org
============================================================================
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.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 - www.showgsd.org
============================================================================
Other related posts:
