[ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: I hope I never see this again
- From: "EDEN HALL" <GSDHALLMARK@xxxxxxx>
- To: <inflight@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2004 10:26:28 -0800
Hi Kathaleen,
Couldn't have said it better myself!
One of my posts yesterday described a ring steward who walked around saying
what 'spooky dogs' our breed has. He walked up and down w/ a loud voice. I
made a complaint and no one cared. This appears to be the trend in many shows
all over the country in ABs. Up here in WA, there are only a handful of
specialties a year so we do a lot of ABs. This is what I'm seeing fairly
consistently. When an AKC board member flies into town and performs the 'test'
he did, why all the other AB judges are going to file right into line behind
him. Folks don't show pups anymore for this reason.
I wish I could say it's just some of these uninformed AB judges who are trying
to make some sort of statement about our breed, but specialty judges are
performing totally inappropriate temperament tests as well.
I'm sorry , but I don't want my dogs to be 'trained' into be hugged by a
stranger. They'd have to be 'trained' into it because they are not bred for
such things. How natural is that? What is the judge saying about our breed
when they grab the leash and lean over them and hug them? It looks like the
judges want us to breed Golden Retrievers.
Are our dogs supposed to be in a large ring on a totally lose lead and run up
to the stranger in the ring and give them a slurpy wet one? That's what's
expected in many of these tests anymore. Anything else gives the appearance of
the dog being hesitant, spooky, etc.
Last time I checked the standard it said 'aloof' (I believe that was dumbed
down from 'suspicious'). Hello?
Edie
Hallmark German Shepherds
'The Best of Both Worlds'
Top American And German Lines
www.gsdhallmark.homestead.com/index.html<http://www.gsdhallmark.homesteadcom/index.html>
----- Original Message -----
From: Kathaleen Strong<mailto:inflight@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: PAGAIRS@xxxxxxx<mailto:PAGAIRS@xxxxxxx>
Cc: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 8:59 AM
Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: I hope I never see this again
Pagairs@xxxxxxx<mailto:Pagairs@xxxxxxx> wrote:
I asked Kathleen the same question privately and never did get a response,
nor do I expect one.
Gary
Gary:
Would you mind explaining to this Member of the Club to which you are a
Board member... why in the emails I have received from you both privately
and publicly there is an obvious note of disdain? In case you were not
aware of this fact, there is a 2 hour time difference between our locations
and I happened to be driving home from work at 5:57pm. I also didn't happen
to open my emails until this morning. Because you are probably at work now;
you probably won't get this email, unless it is forwarded it to you;
however, I have responded to the question of "what is the agitation test"
Mrs. HMF, being an extremely astute woman, has already identified the
"agitator". Here I am going out of my way to make up witty nicknames for
these violators of the test, and apparently, my descriptivism isn't enough
for people to clue in.
As I wrote to you in a private email; in response to your thoughts that it's
isn't the "evaluation" it's the evaluators... I'm going to say this... If
you have read anything I have written regarding this "evaluation" in the
past year, you will no doubt come to realize that I think the evaluation
definitely has a place in our breed IF AND ONLY IF IT'S DONE CORRECTLY; and
my problem is ALSO not with the evaluation, it's with the "evaluators". My
other issue also has to do with: this evaluation is very UNNATURAL. What
**untrained** dog stands far away (at the end of a drop lead) from the
person that is holding the lead who is not their bonded love, on ground that
is not their own, and then submits to another stranger who proceeds to do
**more** than just pat them on the head. Done **incorrectly** this
"evaluation" is NOT fair to the Dogs, is extremely UNNATURAL for our Breed
to submit to it, and is NOT EVALUATING TEMPERAMENT - it's evaluating a
trained response.
The PC has opened up this can of worms by sending out requests and
"guidelines" to all judges to perform it correctly, and in the grand style
of America, the free-wheeling, free thinking groups of judges who do not do
the test according to what was described on the letter concerning the
"evaluation"... and now we have body thumpers, dog huggers, "the Mummy",
"the Agitator" and who knows what else will be coming down the line.
Evan... (get ready...) I agree with you. Our temperament is getting a lot
better and I think it's time that we either demand that the judges follow
the test completely to the letter or face suspension from the AKC (and make
this happen) or they do not do the test.
Look at the ramifications of what this test is doing to our breed at the all
breed shows - as evidenced by several people's posts in the past few days -
we are singling our dogs out for scrutinization that not only unlevels the
playing field; it also opens our breed up to doing something wrong because
judges with no experience in our breed's character, are being asked to
evaluate a temperament based upon a set of "guidelines" without knowing what
the temperament is supposed to be and even worse, not using good dog sense
either when doing it (ie respecting the dog)
I've watched the video tape that was sent by the parent club. It was
narrated by the Agitator - I look at it this way, if the Agitator can't get
the test right when judging shows - how in hell is a regular judge supposed
to do it right???
So, the long and short... As I have said in several previous posts, I hope
that the board please does something getting this thing turned around before
some judge; following the "guidelines" requested of the Parent Club; gets
injured when an untrained dog bites them for their improper approached; and
sues the Parent Club for placing them in peril.
Kathaleen
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Kathaleen Strong - Inflight Kennels Reg'd - Breeders of:
1995 US GV, AOE-1996 US GVx, Jubilee ROM
Check out my website edits - New Flash!
http://inflight.cnc.net<http://inflight.cnc.net/>
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POST is Copyrighted 2004. All material remains the property of the Poster and
of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are
permitted without prior permission of the original poster 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 technical help and administrative matters, please contact the List
Administrators at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx
VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://www.showgsd.org
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