[ SHOWGSD-L ] National
- From: EJDegen@xxxxxxx
- To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2005 08:41:58 EST
I left home for the national on Thursday, 27 October, and returned on
Sunday, November 6th. I had 4 dogs with me. One was entered in herding at
the
beginning of the national. I believe it is absolutely CRITICAL to our German
Shepherd breed to have a "complete" national. We must have all the
performance
events and conformation events TOGETHER. Otherwise, people will have to
choose which "national" to attend and few will be able to attend both. Yes,
attending all the performance events and conformation events makes for a long
time away from home, but it is easier for those of us that WANT to attend
everything than having to go on two separate trips.
*I* HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH THE CURRENT NATIONAL SCHEDULE, but below are some
suggestions anyway.
1. Herding should be all breed (for income reasons). The best situation
would be for it to be AT the showsite. If that isn't possible, then it needs
to be within an hour (preferably 30 minutes) of the showsite. Herding should
take place on Saturday, Sunday, & Monday.
2. Herding Instinct NEEDS to be at the showsite on Tuesday, run
concurrently with the Temperament test on Tuesday and a CGC.
3. Tracking should be as close as possible to the showsite also (30 minutes
would be great, up to an hour should be allowed). Tracking should be Monday
& Tuesday (tracks are plotted on Monday.....the test is on Tuesday).
4. Agility needs to be a 2 day event. I like having the GSD only agility,
but if we need to make $, it is an event which we could easily make all
breed. If it is during the week, we'll still mainly have GSDs, but the
additional
"other breed" dogs that we have would just be profit. I would really like
to see the agility entry fees more reasonable and if we have to have some all
breed dogs entered for that to happen, I say let the other breeds in. I
would like to see Agility continue to be on Wednesday & Thursday.
5. Rally could run concurrently with obedience on Friday & Saturday (having
TWO DAY events for both of those venues). Or, run Rally concurrently with
Agility one day and obedience one day (Agility on Wednesday & Thursday, Rally
on Thursday & Friday, Obedience on Friday & Saturday).
6. Conformation CAN be shortened. I like not overlapping classes, but when
we began "not overlapping", I thought the goal was to get the dog class
checked in and ready to GO while the bitch class was finishing, so there was
maybe 30 seconds to a minute between classes. By keeping our dog classes and
bitch classes on the same days, we could actually continue this and pictures
can
be taken quickly. They really need to be IN the ring READY, though.
I *LIKE* the current schedule for conformation classes and have NO PROBLEM
with it staying the way it is, but if people insist on a shorter conformation
part of the national, we could shift everything a day so that it ends on
Sunday and not have a big *overpriced* Victory dinner on Saturday
night....instead have an informal party on site (Lew's suggestion...IN the
ring!)
immediately following BOB. Or, keep the days the way they are (ending on
Saturday),
but start Futurity/Maturity finals on Wednesday a.m. and keep the classes IN
the rings. There should never be a time that there isn't a class in the ring.
This said, I enjoy shorter days (but more of them) at the national because
this is when I get a chance to visit friends that I only see once a year and
roadwork or play with my dogs. The national isn't just about showing....it's
a convention where we all get together to meet & greet. We maintain/renew
old friendships and make new ones. I remember nationals in the past where it
was so rushed that we didn't have TIME to do that.
Julie Degen
P.S. comments on the dinner to follow
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