too old? - Page 1

How old is too old to do conformation shows?

I acquired a showline male a few years ago by chance. He was imported to be trained and sold as a personal protection dog.
I was being paid to train him and get him accustom to life as a house dog and family member. Well his owner (importer) and
I liked him so much we decided he could stay with me permanently. 

I never had any interest in SL dogs. In fact I didnt like the ones I saw. But this male SL bites as nice as any WL around and is
a perfect dog in to have loose around the house all day. I put the SchH2 and 3 on him and have had him almost 4 years now.

I would like to learn how to show in conformation shows. But he will be 7 years old in the
Spring (April). I have never seen a Sieger show, except on youtube. I know I should start there, but any advice for now. I do not know any SL breeders. Every one at my SchH club has working lines.

Is there special conditioning for show dogs. All of my dog's exercise comes from SchH training (twice weekly) and leash walks
around the neighborhood. Is that enough?






p.s.   He was V rated and kkl1 surveyed in Germany.

I believe if he's 7+ he can show in the Veterans class, so no he's not too old and having the SChH title and breed survey means he is eligable.  For conditioning, I don't really do a lot as long as the dog is already lean and physically fit.  The dog should have some experience moving around a ring, so he is pushing with his rear and carrying his head up.  This is not as natural for some dogs as others.  My show line dog actually needs a lot more ring training than my working line (who naturally carries his head nice and uses his rear for power).  There are some ladies in Gustavo's group that have show line dogs and experience preparing and showing dogs.  There's no SV shows in Michigan though so that kind of sucks.  I live in Grand Rapids and take my dogs to shows in north eastern IL.  What's the name and pedigree of your dog?

   Hi, I'm also from Mich.have you tried VomDinaburg,Bloomfield Mich(Rita) also try Alto-Tollhaus ,Marshall Mich (Julie Richards Mostosky)both are heavy into shows.You can look up there kennels hope this helps.

Yep those were the two people I had in mind.  I'm not sure if they do organized ring training but they'd be able to point you in the right direction.  However NASS is going on right now so both might be busy for a while (at least I know Julie is showing a crew of dogs).

Thank you both for the information. I have met Rita, through my boss, at AKC shows. I knew she had a SL,
but never thought of her for help. I just found her website, thanks to you, and will call her.

for Lies;  www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/dog.html?id=484567 (my dog is not on there, but this must
be his litter sister)
I read what you wrote about your boy in the "SL intro" thread and I feel likewise about my SL male.
I actually prefer his temperament to my WL male, even though my WL will score more points at a SchH
trial.

to All; Any more comments on conditioning and showing a dog at 7 years of age would be appreciated.

When the dog is shown, most of the time he will need to be gaiting, so if you can take him jogging or running alongside a bike and have him comfortably gaiting for a few miles, that would be great conditioning.  Sometimes the judge will have you move slower and the dogs will walk, sometimes they do "fast laps" but the dog is still at a fast gait, not running.  You also want him to gait using power in the rear and keeping his head up.  My male wants to lower his head so when I'm practicing for shows I have him go jogging while carrying his favorite ball in his mouth.  When he was young I was told "he needs to carry", carrying something around while conditioning helps keep his head up.  To get the dog powering from the rear, a lot of people will do weight-pull-like conditioning, like having the dog wear a harness and pull something around for a while.

For the actual show you want the dog to be muscled, able to gait for a long time and not fade, and be lean.  I've seen a lot of judges these days getting really critical about weight.  Many dogs showing out of coat will have ribs visible.  Don't starve your dog but he needs to be in good physical condition and lean weight.

is it manditory for a dog over 6 to be in the veterans class? if the dog still looks good and is able to do the work, can he still be shown in working class.....just wondering....

the dog can still be shown in the working class, there is no limit on age in the working class, the veterans class isn't official

Thanks good to know.  I was wondering that myself.

I saw this dog trial this past weekend.  I would not have guessed he is 7 years.  I think he should be in the working class rather than veterans.  He is big (great condition, but tall and long) and some judges are getting really picky on size, but if you just want to have fun and get a rating, I would go for it.  He has great color, nice coat, nice head and expression, and looked to move well.