*Unless you're a "little guy" like me and can't just go to whichever show I want to go to....I end up going to the one in my region, because that's generally the closest one to me - if the judge was someone I had a say in selecting, then all the better... Gail Bauman Liebchen German Shepherds Home of: SEL EX CH Liebchen's Boogie Wonderland, OFA EX>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>* * * The subject of picking judges... Also in some areas (clubs) the powers that be that are choosing judges are no longer even showing or breeding dogs and are out of touch with what people would like to see. Their entries reflect this. Look at it, who's doing the picking and the people that are chosen to judge and then the numbers..speaks volumes. When you have one or two people choosing for a Futurity, I think the chances they will get a big draw are minimal, unless you come "loaded for bear" with your accompanying specialty judges. As far as the people that have to "do all the work" ,who is to blame? if the club has dwindled to such an extent that there are only one or two people doing it all, you have to wonder ..."why?" Why are there no new members? Why do people not want to join a particular club? Just because there are some doing "all the work" doesn't mean they should be picking judges, esp when they don't show or breed dogs and havent for a long time, which is the case in some clubs, now. What is the harm in putting it to a vote on a regional level, or is that somehow threatening to people that are "in charge" of picking judges for their clubs, many of which are barely getting majors. Or is that the plan? To maintain control over judging vote? What is wrong with having a majority say in a region NOT just one or two people? Folks, the status quo isn't working..so there is nothing to fear in trying something different. The stupidity is in doing the same thing over and over again , with poor results and continuing to repeat the same, expecting different results..such is our futurity system.. Add that to the fact that esp in the Western states you have several hundred miles between Futurities, one can't exactly just pack up and drive a couple of hours and be to the next one. We are faced with this problem this year. Don't want to show at the "local" futurities (but not because of distance, even though each are at least 500 miles from us,) so our options are extremely limited in the West. So this year our Fut Dog and Mat Dog will sit out. Not worth it, not even a little. If people at least feel they have some kind of vote in who gets in, maybe it will generate more interest. Or how about relaxing the criteria to judge our grandiose puppy matches? Really . Trophies? Instead of all the talk about returning plaques, etc, how about go back to giving money? I tell you what, I'd be more likely to enter if I thought we could pay the hotel bill or even just buy lunch at the end of the Futurity day. The plaques are nice, when I am not picking the GSDs up off the floor that have separated from the sticky tape, lol But in this day and age, cash is still king. Right now it is a lot of money and travel to go to a glorified puppy match , which anymore, isn't so "glorified" . Personally I would rather have two club specialties and a GSDCA regional specialty, in lieu of a Futurity. It would be a better way to spend our money our time, but that is just us. Kathy *http://www.victorygermanshepherds.com*<http://www.victorygermanshepherds.com/> *Home of: UPDATED: OCT 30, 2010 CH. Elvaston's Nations Cup TC, 26 BOBs CH. Victory's Leviathan CH. Garter's E-Male of Fran-Jo Anne Isle * * "Victory...*Vires et honestas" ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2010. 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 NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================