UK Show Scene - Is it time for change? - Page 2

In my opinion one of the reasons why show entries are falling is that there are far to many GSD clubs who do absolutely nothing for the breed other than hold shows.  No Training, no educational talks, no fun days nothing  to promote the German Shepherd. In my area alone there are four GSD clubs only one of which hold regular training classes which unfortunately I am unable to attend due to work commitments. I like many other first became interested in showing after attending my local GSD training club with my pet dog.

I would have loved to shown our dogs under Kim at the weekend but chose to attend the Champ show instead. Showing is a hobby ( a very expensive one at that) it is also a competition and the highest level at which you can compete in the UK is at  Championship Shows.  The fault of two shows clashing on the same day lies with the secretary and the committee. Show dates have to be applied for so far in advance that it is difficult to avoid clashes but as soon as it becomes evident that two shows are clashing it is so easy to write to the kennel club and request a change of date.

Linda B (Korzwin GSDs)

if other countries can pull away from the governing kennel club body then why cant the uk gsd scene if that was to happen we wouldnt end up with these ancient fuddy duddies coming to the shows complaining of double handling we could then hold the gsd shows properly with no interference from joe blogs make a federation or council do something instead of "well we could but we are to lazy to get of our backsides and give it a bash" or the next excuse "we are to old and set in our ways wait for the next generation" hello we are here and we want change maybe what we really need is for the council big nobs all of them to resign and let some new young fresh bloods give it a go with some fresh ideas all this talking gets the breed no where!! its time for action!!!!!!

i think a class called a champion class is be a good idea..maybe it will help the entries maybe not..but we will never know unless we try..doesnt anyone else think its a good idea?

I think a champion class is a good one - many of the big shows do stakes classes and they hold champ classes under that section.

I know the current head of the KC has stated that he doesnt want to change the way things are done, but Im sure there are ways round things to get a Champ class instigated.

Problem being is there are some out there that like to CC collect and until they stop entering there isnt much that can be done.  My question to those people is how many CC's does 1 dog need.  After all it takes 3 to get the CH on the name - after that they are just a number!

if we had a champions class would the winner of that class be able to chalenge for the cc if not then why enter and if it could then why have a champion class unless the winner of the champion class got some other title maybe 3 wins in the champion class makes it a supreme champion or something like that  just a thought

jim h

or you could have the dog and bitch with the most wins in a champion class for season given the title of champion of champions for that year.

jim h

I think that it is also time that show secretaries try to pick HONEST judges, ones that are going to pick the best dogs on the day and not ones handled by other judges that may be judging a champ show later in the year and that could do them a favour. I recently went to a well known general champ show and if your dog or bitch was not handled by one of the top 4 handlers present it didnt stand a chance of even being placed. Let me also say that I am not knocking those handlers, in general they tend to handle the better animals anyway, but at times there were better dogs down the line or not even considered. Also I think it is time that new judges were used more rather than the same old faces.

Alan Shepherd(Blitzenheim GSDs)

Every breed you speak to talks of wanting honest judges!

As for the handlers - I have said before if they pushed for owners to handle or another one would be for 1 handler to do the individual for every dog!  it would certainly give a more balanced individual performance and then each dog would have to prove themselves in the gaiting section.

Another option would be for all the dogs to go into the ring and then swap the different handlers round - the dogs number going on their collar or something - and in doing so it removes the credos of having a "top" handler. 

Arbeiter

YOU are one of the worst offenders for anonimity and I dont blame people for wiping your posts. You are a blight on the gsd breed as I suspect that you wouldnt know a good GSD if it bit you in the a--e.

The reason I posted my bit was so that my feelings as to certain judging was known. Most of the judges that I enter under are very good, some are not , we all learn by our mistakes and they will not receive an entry from my kennel again.

The bit about new faces was to encourage secretaries to use new judges not to condemn old ones. So kindly keep your comments constuctive instead off derogatory and then the show scene might be able to return to what it was like some 8-10 years ago

Alan Shepherd

a.j.shepherd:

sorry i thought you were genuine in your comments-but how can you let certain judges know you feelings-if you don't say who they are.