[ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Specialty vs. All Breed...
- From: InquestGSD@xxxxxxx
- To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 10 Jul 2005 11:44:12 EDT
In 7/8/2005 9:49:58 P.M. Central Standard Time, workingdawgs@xxxxxxxxx
writes:
bringing working ability into a discussion of specialty v. all breed is NOT
grinding a personal axe and DOES contribute to the discussion. Working
ability is part of the essence of the breed. Working ability is what the
breed
was developed for. If there is no proven/seen working ability, how do we know
it exists? In my opinion, part of the reason so many questionable
temperaments are seen is because people pay too little attention to working
ability/trainability (biddable). There is too much emphasis put on only
movement from
the side, not enough on the down and back, nor enough emphasis put on proper
temperament.
Michelle
Michelle,
Allow me to give you a different view or explanation.
A discussion of the differences of showing in the all breed ring vs the
specialty ring has nothing to do with the working ability of the animal.
For starters, we can all agree that different training is involved. A dog
that competes at all breeds must be sound enough to come back to a group
competition without looking bored, but doesn't get as physically worked out as
a
dog in the specialty ring, that must work on a much bigger ring and sometimes
judges keep them gaiting to test their endurance. This is one difference.
The judging is different also. All breeds shows have time restraints that
specialty shows don't. Many all breed judges are not GSD breeders, some have
never owned a GSD. They are getting their license in their quest to be able to
judge the entire herding group, and sometimes are only aware of the
disqualifying faults of the breed but do not understand the temperament (GSD's
are not
supposed to act like Goldens ) or don't understand the breed movement, and
the best, I've heard this first hand, will look only at the one that looks
more like such and such picture. The Parent Club needs to be more involved in
mentoring new judges, so that they understand the breed better. But that's
another discussion <G>.
Now, I agree with you that a good GSD MUST be highly trainable. But this
is not a requirement for either the all breed or specialty ring, which is what
the discussion was about.
While I agree this makes for good discussion, this is not the forum.
There are all kind of reasons why some dogs have bad temperament. Bad
breeding, too many dogs, not enough time. Bad experiences. More emphasis
should
go into temperament. Actually, temperament needs to be better understood by all
fanciers. I've seen dogs penalized for being aloof, and dogs rewarded for
being extremely friendly. Wrong.
I deal with rescued dogs all the time. It is a credit to this breed how the
majority of these animals can get past whatever hellish experience they had
and still be sound. A good dog is a good dog. Period.
Personally I can't live with a stupid dog. I just can't. I have dogs that
will never see the inside of ANY ring, who rule in my household and are great
members of our family.
The value of a dog is not on the ribbons it gets. That is what feeds OUR
egos and keeps us spending the money. The value of a dog should be measured
in
the contributions it makes to its owners. That is priceless. Temperament,
intelligence, and yes, trainability, are some of the most important things on
this breed. But, they are not highly measured or even considered in either
the all breed or the specialty ring. There are other rings for that, and
other lists to discuss it.
So, I think we can all agree that the majority of GSD owners on THIS list
know the value of training a dog. We DO train our dogs. It is just a
different kind of training. Some of the working people can't appreciate that
because
they don't understand it. But it is training, nevertheless. It is SHOW
training. It is training that makes this dogs easy to live with. Now, we can
all disagree on the value of this kind of training. But not on this list.
Here
we discuss all breed vs specialty rings, the conformation venue. That's our
passion.
JMO
Ileana
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