[ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: The club problems, as I see it

  • From: carolyn mckenna <carolynmckenna@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: InquestGSD@xxxxxxx, showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2006 19:43:08 -0800 (PST)

 Ileana , my reply is addressed not only to your current post,  but also one of 
  yours from earlier in the week.  I, too, am distressed that the Dallas club
  is closing down,  Your reasons are valid, and most of the problem seems
  to be infighting and jealousy. Certainly this has been a huge factor in this
   club for thepast fifty years, and you nearly brought them out of it.
       Too bad more areas cannot have the commaderie that other Texas
  clubs have. We are, for the most part, a close knit group here in South 
Central
  Texas, close friends of many years, good and respected breeders who are  not 
jealous of each other and admire each others'  dogs and are  happy for the
  well deserved wins of each others' dogs.  We also have a great deal of fun
  and laugh a lot.
        Glen Rose was no exception. We had fun,  and there were some really 
good dogs, some of which were  recognized,  However, Ileana was correct in her 
post
  as to the worst judjing ever. I am not sure that I have not seen worse, but 
not
  by a judge who supposedly knows our breed. 
      I am not defending the judge, but I do believe that I can explain where he
  went wrong. --------FAULT JUDGING.    He seemed to be hung up on lifting
  and said as much to some .  However, it was a very small ring, and the very 
  good dogs had to be held back to even make the corners. He did not seem to
  try to determine the reason for the lifting,  eg. asking them to go 
separately,
  slowly, loose lead. etc.  Even if they were lifting in his eyes, should a 
judge
  consider dogs based on a fault, even though it is one he cannot abide?
  Consequently, with the exception of his winners dog who competes in both
  rings and finished that day, he ended up  with several mediocre dogs in his
  winners class.
         Bitches were a whole new ball game. ......some gorgeous bitches, 
  including one who was BOB from the specialty the night before. I think
  she was dead last in her class under this judge.   Welllllllll, the winners
  bitch class was an absolute abortion, a bunch of pets who had no glaring
  faults.  Isn't that wonderful ?
       Really embarrassing was the BOB class. He had found a really good WD
  (surprise) so when the class came in for BOB, here were all the really nice
  champions, the gorgeous WD, and ooops !  Where did this WB come from,
  didn't look like anything else in the ring. 
        My point ?  We have to do something to keep people enthusiastic
  about the sport.  We have to do something to spur on the people who
  drop out of conformation and go to the performance ring.  (By the way,
  many of those good ones at Glen Rose got their HIC  and we had some
  more celebratory  fun.)  But most of all, we have to do something about
  what is driving people away.  Creepy dogs are finishing, enhanced dogs
  are finishing,dogs with such pushed forward fronts are finishing.  We claim
  to be for the betterment of the breed, but I wonder if most are just for the 
win
  no matter what the cost to the breed.  Sigh
             Carolyn 
  the very good WD and a WB that 
       
  
InquestGSD@xxxxxxx wrote:  I have to say thank you to you all for the amount of 
emails I've gotten  
today regarding the state of many of our specialty clubs.
 
Below I will state all the problems about starting a new club.  It has  
nothing to do with AKC, they will bend over backwards to have  more club$$$$.  
But 
having to face all the problems below makes it  very tempting to try to 
"rescue" a dying club, at the risk of contributing to  the problems and not 
coming 
up with any new and effective solutions.
 
This is my take on specialty clubs:
 
It is a sad state, when you find out that many clubs have to survive on  
monetary donations from the members to be able to pay their bills, renewals, 
and  
put on a show. 
 
It is a sad state when over and over you hear about clubs that have members  
in paper, people who pay their membership as a requirement, or a stepping 
stone,  towards their judging license, and don't attend meetings, or work for 
the  
club.
 
It is a sad state when you have so many clubs run by one or two people,  
because no one else wants to work, to the extent that out of area  exhibitors 
have 
to help with the shows.
 
What are we learning here?   What is the purpose of having a  breed club?
 
I have learned that for many years a specialty club was thought of as the  
group of conformation show people, who could not be bothered with any of the  
performance events....that perception is slowly changing, but it has cost us  
many people.
 
I always thought that breed clubs were to be heavily involved with public  
education, but I am finding out this is not the case. Many people are  asking 
me 
what a Meet the Breed board is, they have never seen or use one.   I will 
post later on that alone, so many people have asked for  this information.
 
I have learned that if you have a club member with money, this person will  
finance the club activities, and pretty much call the shots when it comes to  
activities, judges etc.....is this what we want?   
 
How about requiring members to attend a minimum of let's say 2 or 3  meetings 
per year to keep their memberships active, and participate in a match,  a 
show, an educational program?  Or is this too demanding? How can you say  this 
is 
too demanding and them complain about having no one to work at the  clubs?  
What if this clause was part of the membership application, that  way everyone 
would know what they are getting themselves into.  And be held  accountable.
 
What is the solution to all these problems?   Is our sport  aging?  Are we 
witnessing the end of dog clubs/dog shows as we know  them?  
 
We have discussed over and over the surge and growth you see in the  
performance events.
I spoke to many people just this last weekend, people who were active in  the 
breed ring (read conformation ring), who are now involved in the performance  
rings exclusively.  7 out of 10 cited money, or the lack of, for the  
changes.  The rest are enjoying the participation with their dogs, not  having 
to pay 
a handler.  These were GSD people, Corgi people, Sheltie  people, Rotti 
people.....you get the picture, don't you?
 
I am not light about this, I am honestly asking for input.   I would like to 
help other clubs stay alive.  But yelling at me, insulting  me, and trying to 
make me the bad guy is NOT the way to go about  it.  I'll just ignore you.  
But the problem still  exist.  I am not mad, I am sad that things are this way, 
and so many have  their heads stuck in the sand and can't or won't see what's 
happening. I have  always believed that the message is just as important as 
the delivery, is not as  much what you say but how you say it. 
 
We can get our heads together and find solutions to these problems, or you  
all can bang your heads together and be nasty at each other. 
 
For now, I am spent.
 
Ileana
 
 
 
 

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POST is Copyrighted 2005.  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. 

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. 

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