I think those that do performance, seldom do conformation and vice versa. There
are only so many dollars in our purses and so many hours in our days.
On top of that, when those of us who do performance venture into the show ring,
we usually only stay long enough to get a CH on our dogs (and that is difficult
enough with ‘other’ lines) and don’t pursue the other titles.
The idea of 2 Nationals is a good one but again, there will be a dearth of
people to do the work and that is part of what is stifling all of our shows -
whether it is obedience, agility, conformation, tracking, herding, dock diving,
barn hunting…the same few people do the work and run the dogs and that is
exhausting.
I also think that there should be much more publication of the events. I
receive the SV Magazine which actually had the GSDCA’s WDA show advertised in
it but more to the point, it had GSD events from all over the world set up on a
calendar. With the CKC, it’s difficult enough to know when a show has been
approved, let alone find the funds to really advertise it with the public. And
the public is where the next generation of show people will come from - they’ll
come to watch, then they’ll want a dog, then they’ll want to prove how
versatile their dog is and they’ll start to show, or do obedience or or or…but
until they actually see our dogs working or in the ring, all they think is
‘police dog’ and no longer ‘sport dog’.
Yes, it is up to us to ‘spread the message’ but there has to be someone to hear
the message too.
JMHO
Mary-Ane
From: Carolyn Martello
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2016 2:36 PM
To: versatilegsds@xxxxxxxxx, edwinx@xxxxxxxxxxx, Showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,
bokenkampgsd1@xxxxxxx
Just an example of how little some of us Conformation people know about what is
going on in the actual working
venue of our Breed during a National. I was not aware there was any at the
Canadian National...but it has been
quite a while since I have been to Canada. That was when we were showing
BOOKER ....and BONO was being shown.
Now please do not think I am saying we are ALL that way....as we all know about
our own Julie Degen and her great
conformation dogs that do it all. Julie however is Amazing....as is Lori
Nickeson, and Win Strickland and Dalene McIntire.
But there are more exceptions than the general exhibiting members.
I totally appreciate a working dog and actually love herding more than
Conformation....but literally I cannot do both most
of the time.....and when it comes to the National....we are strictly
"conformation" exhibitors!! <G>
I personally think this idea of two separate venues for our National should be
considered. May not work...may not
even be feasible.....but on the other hand.....it may be just exactly what
works the best and well worth giving some
serious thought.
Carolyn marhaven@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.marhaven.com
On Behalf Of Mary-Anne Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2016 10:21 AM To:
edwinx@xxxxxxxxxxx; Showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Two Nationals
We (GSDCC) had agility in the past but couldn’t find enough workers to help us
put the trials on. It came down to myself and two other members. On top of
that, every year the weather outside at Kitchener had gale force freezing winds
which are not conducive to happy agility people. While we made a fair amount
of money, the stress that it left on me was too much and I resigned my position
a few years ago. I found a great person to replace me. She moved the trials
to an indoor venue run by a trial secretary who supplied all the equipment,
judges etc. All that the club had to do was show up and accept a small
renumeration for each run. While this was not an ideal situation, it did add
to the koffers (slightly). If there could be some way for agility to be run
inside at the National, I’m pretty sure that it would be a successful event.
We looked at offering herding back then but the timing could not be
accommodated even though there was a herding place fairly close to Kitchener.
We have a couple of tracking judges but since one of them runs the
obedience,another ran the Temperament Tests and the other was running the
agility (me), it left it up in the air as to who could run the tracking tests.
My ideal event would start with Agility at the Red Barn in Barrie, Ontario on
Tuesday & Wednesday evening (inside), Herding at Sue Jewells in Angus or Rene’s
in Fergus on Wednesday, Tracking in Orangeville on Thursday , Obedience and
Rally Obedience in Kitchener on Friday, Saturday and Conformation on Saturday
& Sunday. However, I was the only person who thought that this was in any way
feasible (and I'm a dreamer as they say) .
So, there is Rally Obedience, Obedience & Temperament Tests along with the
Conformation in Kitchener.
Mary-Anne Boulet
Albtal German Shepherds
CKC Tracking Judge 😊
Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Two Nationals
We have always had conformation and obedience along with the temperament test.
We may be adding agility in the future.....
On the smaller scale while I was in Tx, we split conformation and obedience and
had them at different times so more attention could be devoted to the
individual events. Realize that may not work at national levels because there
are many who compete in several different events.
Molly
---- Original Message ----
From: edwinx <edwinx@xxxxxxxxxxx>To: freelist <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>Subject:
[ SHOWGSD-L ] Two Nationals
Is the number one performance interest of the membership conformation? And by
asking this question I am NOT disrespecting or ignoring the other aspects of
our sport i.e. Herding, obedience, protection, rat hunting etc.....Would it be
possible to hold two Nationals? One strictly for conformation and maybe
obedience, and one National for all the other activities? This would allow us
to consider more sites because we would no longer be looking for the very few
sites that serve all purposes but not servicing them equally! St Louis seems to
work well for the performance working events, but poorly for conformation (
poorly for our breed at least) ... how Does Canada handle this? What is offered
at their National? The two National plan would perhaps place a hardship on
folks who show in conformation and the other events, but how many do it? The
club needs to toss around ideas to make our National better and more inclusive!
I don't believe this is the case today ( this was NOT a rant) Ed Hill
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