[ SHOWGSD-L ] Fear not
- From: "David Fritsche" <d_fritsche@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <Showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 27 May 2014 06:25:55 -0700
Evan, this is why I consider you a friend, but
also a challenge. You have masterfully articulated
the position, not only of many in our GSD breeding
world, but of our current liberal philosophy. You
are, as I have seen, a brilliant and bright
attorney. You are the master.
My best friend from grade school through, well,
the rest of life is now incapacitated and will not
debate with me any longer, so I will have to
depend on you! He and I disagreed on everything
and enjoyed the stimulation of going back and
forth. It forces us all to think, and that is a
good thing. <grin>
. "I have never understood why some fear
change so much."
Is it possible that we who are happy with the
standard as it is, do not fear change at all? Is
it possible that we simply understand that change
is not always for the better, but that the
unsettled need to change things is in contrast to
the principle reason for a standard in the first
place: To have a settled definition by which we
judge, breed and measure our progress.
I would argue that moving the line and the
definition will ultimately find us in the same
place with a different dog and that regardless of
where the line is moved to, it will ultimately
find those who need to move it again to include
their own personal preference. And that is the
nature of a standard. It defines for a group, what
our goal is and will be. The more flexible it is,
the less definitive it is.
The purpose of any standard, regardless of what it
says, is to determine a goal for a diverse group
of people. It is, by its very nature the
'constitution' around which we gather and its
design is to document our values and principles.
Change then, is reassigned to the people who
gather within the group, rather than to the
document they create. Change is what happens to
the breeding focus, not to the standard.
The converse question is, why do people breed away
from the standard and then push to change it? Did
they not read it before they decided to be
involved in breeding within the definition of that
standard?
To argue that a dog who does not meet the standard
is genetically the same as the one which does meet
the standard is flawed. It is genetically
different or it would meet the standard. However
slight is the DNA variation in a given animal, it
is a variation of the standard description none
the less. It has little to do with health, little
to do with history, little to do with being within
the greater approximation of the DNA for the
broader definition of being a GSD. It has to do
with a sport, a culture and a goal and a standard
that is, by its very nature exclusive. It excludes
a lot of things.
It is not fear of change that drives those who
want to adhere to the standard, but a satisfaction
with the definitions that exist and a willingness
to accept it. The converse question is, why do
people need to breed in contrast to what is the
standard, whatever it is, and then to demand that
the standard change to meet their personal
differentiation?
As a youngster, if I can remember back that far,
we would go into the field and throw rocks at
targets and compete in the clearly undefined art
of marksmanship. We soon learned that the winner
was not the kid with the most accurate throw but
the one who called the target after the rock hit
something. We stopped that fellow by demanding
that the target be defined before the rock was
thrown. That changed everything, although it was
clearly not in the best interest of the fellow who
wanted the target to be whatever he hit. It is
much harder to hit the target that is predefined
than to simply change the standard to be what you
are producing.
Why do people fear the standard is the question?
Should the standard never change? Maybe it should
as we move along and see that it is confusing or
that modern concepts and word usage leave its
descriptive language less than clear. That is, are
the exclusion that define our breed in need of
change to better articulate the goal or to better
prescribe the exclusions? Then certainly, let's
clear it up. But the drive to redefine the goal,
whatever it is, should never be easy. If it is,
then we will continue to move the target. And that
is destructive to the reason to have a target in
the first place.
Which should we do? Move the target or ask that
those who play the game to improve their aim?
Respectfully submitted,
Dave
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In a message dated 5/25/2014 3:53:31 A.M. Pacific
Daylight Time, rautt75@xxxxxxxxx writes:
Not sure why you are emphasizing the health of
the white GermanShepherd as the DNA of the white
GSD is no different from the standard one. Health
issues are primarily brought about in the
breeding of any of these animals.
The article you linked to is from White Shepherd
- breed separation.
I have never understood why some fear change so
much. The standard is just a group of goals that
over a hundred years ago, a group of normal people
decided to set up, in order to find a way to judge
our breed. It was based on what two men decided a
few year prior as what they wanted to use for a
new breed in a far off country which to that day
had never heard of a Schufferhund.
Here we are today, with some thinking that what
was decided then, must be true forever. It somehow
was determined by people wiser, smarter, more
clever, and with better judgement than can be
found with a few thousand members of the GSDCA
today who have dedicated themselves to this breed.
To avoid change is to cause ourselves to be stuck
in the past, and to make the same mistakes that
have been made before. We need to learn from
accumulated knowledge and decide based on reason,
intelligence and experience.
I hear from too many we can't change the standard
because it is the standard. I read time and time
again we should never change our standard, since
it was already decided.
That does not work well for me, but then again, I
only get one vote. But, everyone else does too. I
trust that the membership has an accumulation of
learned experiences that will serve our breed
well, not just for today, but for the years
ahead.
Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Evan
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POST is Copyrighted 2014. 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.
Each Author is responsible for the content of his/her post. This group and its
administrators are not responsible for the comments or opinions expressed in
any post.
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@xxxxxxxxxxx
VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org SUBSCRIPTION:
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NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/
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