[ SHOWGSD-L ] what a lot of nonsense!
- From: Schipstar@xxxxxxx
- To: pmick@xxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 7 Jul 2005 20:31:24 EDT
In a message dated 7/7/2005 3:53:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time, pmick@xxxxxxxxx
writes:
So, ladies, there is not really a difference. The best specialty dogs can
and do win in both venues. However, there are dogs shown at the all breeds,
and they sometimes win, too...who would be completely out of the money at even
the smallest specialty show. If you pay attention and still can't figure that
out, then you need to begin your education all over again.
BTW - the German Shepherd is not the only breed that has specialty/all
breed divisions...
I will admit to finding these statements somewhat redundant, contradictory
and in itself, confusing. Maybe I'm just extremely dense?
If what is stated is the case, (that there IS no difference) then why do the
GSD breeders and exhibitors themselves (even on this very list) continually
REFER to dogs as EITHER "Specialty" or "All Breed" dogs? Obviously, there is,
at the very least, a very distinct PERCEIVED difference even to the "experts"?
It's hard to "educate yourself" when the experts can't give black and white
definitions of the terms they use to describe their own winning dogs.
Just trying to understand, as in my "other breed" there is no such
difference, and I've ring stewarded for many many AKC shows and other shows,
and judged
sweepstakes and many puppy matches given by AKC clubs, and never have I heard
this terminology used to describe a dog in any other breed. I have shown
Corgis and Collies as well as other breeds, and have friends who are successful
in
these breeds, and never heard them refer to any of their dogs in these terms.
Every breed has a breed standard, it's published in black and white, approved
by the parent club, and even though everyone may have their own
interpretation of what is the absolutely perfect dog, the one most "correct" to
the
standard of their breed, they don't define them as either a "specialty" or "all
breed" dog, and hopefully any differences within a group of dogs who meet their
breed standard are just very slight nuances.
In the 35 years I've been involved in "purebred dogs," I've spent a LOT of
time studying standards, reading several books on each breed I'm especially
interested in, and most importantly, thousands of hours watching breeds, and
most
especially, GSDs and my Schips of course. I always make it a point at most of
the shows I'm showing at, to get over to the GSD ring AND when time does
allow, the group rings and BIS, to watch, talk to people, and look at the dogs.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing GSDs, they are in fact, my first love,
but I guess I want to know which type of GSD the dog that I personally prefer
is? My belief has always been that the GSD is one of the most all round
versatile breeds, because of their temperaments, great endurance and their
athletic
abilities. From what I've been able to observe since I joined the two GSD
lists I'm on, there is no true agreement, even amongst "experts" on the breed,
as
to what "correct" to the GSD standard is?
If I were to take at face value many of the things that have been said on
this list in the past, I would have to believe that the ONLY thing that counts
in
the specialty ring, is movement movement movement, as this is what is most
often discussed with reference to winning dogs, and yet, even then, as has
recently been discussed, what IS correct movement? Is it the so called "flying
trot", OR, as I've always thought, the "effortless" gait, that allows the dog
to
travel all day, with very little wasted motion? A dog who has more angulation
than the "average dog breed," without being TOO extreme (or a "hock walker"),
and at the same time, angles that MUST match, front to back, in order to
achieve the "thrifty" effortless motion (UN-wasted) that the breed must have in
order to perform as they'd originally been bred to do.
The example of excellence I compare GSDs to would have be the German film of
the GSD moving (alongside a car I think) in slo-mo, and it just goes on and on
and on and on. I saw this film when I attended the GSD workshop at the L.A.
Dog Judge's event that used to be held annually each fall, to educate
potential breed judges about breeds they were applying for. It is the most
wonderful
piece of canine footage I've ever seen, and in my uneducated opinion, THAT
film and THAT dog (and I don't even know who he is) define what this breed is
supposed to be able to do and to be.
I saw this same "type" of dog when I worked with Erich Renner, he had some
very very wonderful, sound, TRUE WORKING, and I believe correct GSDs. The
truth
is, I don't see many of that "type" of dog anymore. Even in my own back
yard, as beautiful as I do believe the two I have here now are, they aren't the
same as those dogs I worked with all those years ago. And yet, someone said
something earlier today or yesterday that sort of downplayed the qualities of
those dogs of the 50's, 60's and 70's?
Am I wrong about all this, again, just so incredibly dense that I'm not
"getting it"?
And, as to what an "all breed" GSD dog is supposed to represent, still not
quite sure about that definition either, as from all the all breed shows I've
attended and all the dogs I've watched win and lose, I have not necessarily
seen
a lot of consistent qualities in THOSE dogs, as opposed to the dogs I've seen
at the specialties I've attended, that would clearly define a difference
between the two "breeds" of GSDs.
I don't believe there is any other breed which has such diverse opinions as
to what is "correct," as I've seen among many of the GSD folks, at least those
who have been the most vocal on the lists I'm on, which I did join in order to
continue to educate myself. So, if asking for a black and white definition
about commonly used terminology is too much to ask to try to understand, maybe
that has nothing to do with "education," maybe there just simply IS no answer?
Lynn
Lynn Brown - Ebonystar Schipperkes/Angelsgate Rescue
Post Office Box 92283 - Long Beach, CA 90809 (562) 428-9832
...special dogs for special people since 1972
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