[ SHOWGSD-L ] The Way We Were
- From: James Barnhart <jim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2007 14:13:25 -0800
Bill, I think loose lead evaluation is a better way of finding the
dog that is the best mover relative to the other dogs in the ring.
The point that I'm having a hard time getting across is that I think
that the power that once thrust some of our great movers of the past
forward is gone. No amount of loose lead evaluation is going to bring
it back. As to why this happened I can only speculate. I'm sure that
many think I am full of it and that the best dogs today move as well
as any the greats of past eras. Our best GSDs of today are close to
the Standard in structure and type but to my eye even the good movers
lack this rare quality that is hard to describe to those who haven't
seen it. A lot of GSDs do win because breeders are keeping and
showing dogs that can run fast and that is the trend now. I am sure
that many of us will continue to breed and exhibit GSDs that meet the
Standard but if I am right in my observations we need to be very
careful preserving the traits that have made our breed great. Jim
On Dec 19, 2007, at 11:10 AM, Bill Basu wrote:
> Jim,
> Thank you for the articulate and thoughtful question that you have
> posed.
>
> In my opinion, there are no absolutes with regard to an answers. Are
> dogs out being exhibited today that do exhibit the correct structure
> and gait as per the standard and are winning consistently,
> absolutely.Are there dogs out their that are "foolers" that do not
> have the correct structure and gait as per the standard and are
> winning consistently, absolutely.
>
> I think the biggest deteminant to finding those dogs that are
> correct from a gaiting standpoint vs those that are "foolers" is the
> way these dogs are gaited around the show ring.
>
> Give me a judge who truly puts a priority on "loose" lead gaiting as
> an integral part of their procedure in evaluating a dog and has the
> fortitude to demand it, no matter what we handlers do, and that
> judge will enable the ringside to see the difference between a dog
> that is structure properly and is gaiting properly vs one that is a
> "fooler". Now with that being said, this assumes that the judge is
> knowledeable and has high integrity.
>
> If you can imagine a critical mass of judges that put this priority
> on "loose" lead gaiting then you have a created a movement that will
> by the very virtue of adherence to this procedure lead to correct
> dogs also be dogs that are winning. It has a "rolling stone that
> will gather moss" effect. Winning dogs lead to dogs that are bred to
> and so on and so on.
>
> Without this critical mass of knowledgeable and high integrity
> judges who put a priority on "loose" lead gaiting, you now are
> subject to "handler skill", "Self promotion" and "bandwagon of
> winners" as Lamar foresaw and now the dog that meets the standard is
> no longer the priority.
>
> I was lucky that when i came up i was under the wing of "old timers"
> that made this a priority in the way they evaluated the dogs and as
> such i had the benefit of their teaching and experience. I am afraid
> that a lot of people in the last 15 yrs that have been introduced to
> the breed did not have this same advantage.
>
>
> Bill
>
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