[ SHOWGSD-L ] confessions of a loser, a little long

  • From: Sheila Lieberman <sheilaofmiami@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: thelist <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 4 Jul 2006 10:03:32 -0700 (PDT)

I am second generation, not that that means anything.
   
  I found a dog I thought would be a great dog.  I showed her while she was too 
young to win.  I hoped some judge would see her potential and give her credit.  
She came close several times to getting pointed at tiny shows with local known 
handlers.
   
  She lost a lot.  Some times I thought she lost due to the judge's lack of 
understanding of the Standard, as many shows were all breeds with judges who 
come from other groups or breeds that are very different from GSD's.  I also 
thought that she blew all her best chances with bad behavior.  She still does 
sometimes.
   
  Every now and then I thought she lost due to pure political plays.  But not 
often!!!!
   
  The worst was taking care of my club's needs then searching for a handler who 
would be at my club's shows and would handle her for me.  No such luck.  Maybe 
it was because I was blacklisted, maybe not.  I cannot say for sure, but I do 
know that my club's shows in the past were controled by others.  I am now in a 
position to be sure the only person with any real control over who wins or 
loses is the judge.  And I work hard to be sure the the judge's selected by my 
club members has every chance to select the dog of his/her choice for wins.
   
  It seems to be working, because while I continue to loose, the dogs that are 
winning are dogs of quality that I cannot complain about.
   
  I have not shown, except to support the sport, in 2 years now.  Liddy may be 
back to hunt for her majors, I am hoping to find the means to get her back in 
the ring.
   
  Beyond that I have no plans to show any dogs until they are ready to win.  I 
had planned on using my pups to support every regional GSD club I could get to. 
 But I see now that I may well not have the funds necessary to be that nice.
   
  I cannot show my own dogs anymore, so there is no savings there.  My kids are 
not interested.  And Juniors must be interested to be any good at all.  So no 
point bothering my boys.
   
  So, I have been a happy loser for 2 years, when I have been able to show at 
all.  I go for the friendship, as many here do.  I love the people, as long as 
we don't talk about which judge is crooked.  I can put myself in a place where 
that does not matter.
   
  But I still read the standard with some regularity.  When I have a dog that 
meets the Standard completely, and loses, you will know about it.
   
  When I can spend $500 a weekend for rather local shows with well known 
handlers and I continue to lose, you will know about it.
   
  I want to remain in a position where I do not enter dogs at my own club's 
shows, but sometimes we have to show dogs to keep the entry high.  Well I want 
to stop that too.
   
  I am hoping that I, along with my other club members, can create shows that 
will draw enough people down here that I don't have to fill out classes with 
whatever I can dig up.  And I want to keep my own dogs out of my 'own' ring so 
that I can enjoy the day with NOTHING to lose but sleep and nothing to gain but 
a few pounds from eating too much.
   
  Some day I want to be a winner.  Maybe I have 2 pups that can win for me.  
Maybe I don't.  I will not speculate about their quality here.  If they are my 
own breeding, their wins are mine, their losses will be mine too.
   
  Mom finally got her champion.  Thanks go to Fred and Ellen, Tom and Sandy and 
Deb, and the Girlz.  Mom finally got the $$$ to buy into some really good lines 
and some really strong pull.  It all came together for her.  G-d love her.  
Yes, she got a really great dog to start with.  But $$$$ had a lot to do with 
her success.
   
  I am still paying for private school for my boys.  And the more dogs you have 
the bigger your vet bills, unless you are the vet.  So for now I have healthy 
dogs, but no one in the ring.
   
  If anyone wants to see my bitch and help me decide how to finish her, I will 
welcome the help.  But $$$ is tight now, and she is just coating up finally 
from her small litter.  She is getting more excersice than she did before the 
pups, they keep her going, as they do me.  She needs conditioning time at a 
kennel and a handler who appreciates her quality, who will go to the trouble to 
find the best judges for her and get her the majors so I can say I have ONE 
champion.
   
  In the meantime I continue to lose when I enter a dog, but I lose with the 
understanding that I will still have to run the to little girls room as soon as 
judging is done, making me look like a sore looser, when I really just have a 
small bladder.
  sheila

Sheila of Miami
Mernydex GSD's
Loving Obedience Dog Training
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