NASS commentary - Page 4

Sorry preston, if you are talking about the sable girl at the very beginning of the females the name is not correct!!!  Though I agree with your over all assesement of the show... :-)

Gayle Kirkwood writes... 

"somewhat curious field layout....", 

"FYI, many very strong dogs don't look terrific on weaker, less imposing helpers. "

I almost missed this comment in your post, which appears to be a crucial point.  Please explain to me what you consider a "curious field layout".  This is a mystery for me, as most clubs have a standard layout of blinds, whether permanent or temporary, as well as jump and A-frame.  What makes a field "curious"? 

Also, would you please clarify who you consider "weaker, less imposing helpers"?  It's clear from your post that you believe that a dog will not show his/her best against an inferior helper.  I admit that I am a relative newcomer in the Mid East region, and it would be helpful to know who you, as an established breeder, would label as "weaker, less imposing helpers". 

I am always eager to learn.

Yvette

Oh, darn it, I almost forgot yet another issue... before I would agree to accept any "challenge" from anyone, I will request a level playing field... both dogs must be HOT.  I freely admit that I don't have thousands of $$ to ship a dog to Germany (or elsewhere) to pay for someone to title my dog, even to SchH1.   Furthermore, I do not have the cash to pay a top trainer to come to my club/property and train my dog, nor the $$ to pay for private lessons. 

Therefore, if I am "called out" by anyone, please bring a Handler Owned and Trained dog that has perhaps never seen any helper besides a "weaker, less imposing helper" and let's begin with a test of temperament... can I suggest a real life scenario rather than a predictable training circle? ... perhaps the Monogahela National Forest, at a roaring stream crossing in the Otter Creek Designated Wilderness Area?  ... or perhaps the Dolly Sods DWA to sniff out unexploded ordinance?  Most of the bombs have been identified, but if any additional threats could be removed, ... never mind these "sport" events.... now that would be a true service to mankind!

Yvette

KCzaja,

Bravo for you to bring a HOT dog to a Sieger Show and place well!  What a refreshing bit of news!  Well done!

Do you have any idea how many dogs at the 2007 NASS are HOT?  I had made an inquiry in an earlier post, and I find it hard to believe that the last HOT dog that placed VA or V was in 2003.  That was 4 years ago. 

Surely many of these dogs, which are considered "cream of the crop" by their breeders/owners/agents have also been trained and titled by their own loving hands, yes?

In fact, I would love to hear of the foreign born dogs that were sent to the USA to be titled, and then returned to their native soil to their breeders/owners/agents.  SchH has been alive and well in the USA for 30 years.  I'm tired of hearing of US dogs being sent to Germany to be titled.  When will the Germans start sending their dogs to the US to be titled?  Now that would be a fine bit of news to hear!

Yvette

SchH Babe

As I wrote in an earlier post, I trained my dog Santo von der Neuen Welt and titled him from BH to SchH3 myself. No famous trainers like T Floyd or Michael Kempkes. Just me.  Because my dog received his titles at WDA events, even though each trial was with an SV Judge, USA would not award me the HOT title since they were not all earned at USA events, even though I am a member of USA.. Santo's SchH3 protection score under an SV Judge who in Germany was a police dog instructor  for 30 years was 98.  Ask anyone or helper who has seen him, he hits hard and bites full, alas, he does not always out like at last year's NASS.

But if you mean Handler Owned & Trained (HOT), then Santo von der Neuen Welt who went V-4 (the highest placement at the NASS for a dog with unknown and American born and bred parents) is a HOT dog.

Also Santo was not show trained or shown by any of the top handlers from Germany, Europe or the US. He was show trained by me and handled at the NASS by my son Skyler.

Ray Silvertrust

Impressed   with the bitework of  TJ............?   you make a fool of yourself.... that this dog has SchH 3 is a Joke

Congratulations to all.  There were many fine dogs but I admit, I am very impressed with Santo and the fact that he is HOT.  That is quite an achievement for the owner, handler, trainer and last but not least breeder of this dog.  It just goes to show that a good dog will always stand out with a committed and dedicated owner.  Congratulations to the owner and breeder of this fine American bred dog.  That is awesome!

I think the show went well for the most part. Just 2 grips...

 There was mass confussion in the 12-18 months puppies as the show order was changed at the last minute. The female class was already started and then someone comes down to the female ring and says that the males were showing!! Several handlers had to leave their female and RUN to the male ring for the dog they were handleing there.  They did make an announcement about the change, but in the lower ring you could not hear the PA system very well.  The female ring had to sit and wait until the males finished up. I have never been to a show where males run first! This was not the posted schedule and to change it the last minute was not very professional and made some dogs miss their chance to show.

The other grip is that during check in, most were not given their "included" show catalog. Making more than a few pay for a catalog only later to find out they should have recieved one at check in. When that was brought up to the officials their only comment is that "you made a contribution". lol  OK, whatever....

I do not agree with those who are upset about 10 VA's.  There was exceptional quality at this show.  The judge stated that. Let me ask this.... Do you think any of those exceptional dogs should have VA taken away simply because there were so many??? Give the judge credit for his experienced eye and be proud that there were so many quality dogs!

Very good show overall.

Debby

ebinezer052899@yahoo.com

I only got home last night, still exhausted after the long drive, so I will be sharing my thoughts in segments over the next who-knows-how-long. I did watch nearly every dog in the bitework closely, made a lot of notes, coded this year, with my own 6 pt. "max" score for nerves.  I didn't want members of any dog's fan club looking over my shoulder and getting upset with what I wrote as has happened in the past... I am not going to share all the particulars here, just a few personal opinions. I have enough enemies! 

To me, what the dog shows AFTER the out is at least as important as the bites themselves. Moving out of psoitition,  dancing around, looking for or (shudder) moving towards the handler, AWAY from the helper, is always cause for concern in my book, although I concede this can be sue to training issues perhaps 20% of the time as opposed to just poor nerves 80% of the time. Several dogs showed pressure after the outs, clearly due to some last minute "clean up", and a few did the "aus platz" and "aus sitz" (silently) which shows me a trainer/handler who knows what they are doing whether they taught it to keep the dog clean after the out, or whether they taught it to keep their dog from making tracks...

Dogs I gave a full "6" for nerves: (males)

Yacco v. d. Vallendarer Hohe". this dog came fast, gripped full and hard, outed cleanly and guarded convincingly, showed strong, steady nerves after the outs.

Emilio vom Winnloh- as above. Very impressive.

Riccor Salerno- Came fast, hit hard, bit full, considered being dirty, but outed fairly cleanly. Love the deep red and black pigment and dark mask, dark eyes too.

Dogs I gave 5 -5.5:

Santo Neuen Welt, who turned in an impressive performance with good speed to the helper, (no slowing down for this boy) had very decent grips and guarded convincingly, looking the helper right in the face.

Brady vom Kirchenwald- The dog was fine: good speed to helper, full grips... but, sadly, no out. I chalked that up to "pilot error", meaning the handler got a little nervous and used all three out commands too quickly before the dog settled. I was sorry to see this perfectly good dog disqualified. I'd love to have this big, beautiful boy in my kennel... different story next time, I'll bet....

ET v. Sendling- Very nice performance. Good speed, full grips, Good gurading.

Nick Aportel- Very good overall performance, strongly supported by his handler. Not sure why the aus platz, but  if there was a trophy for  "Showmanship", Jochin would have gotten it, (read "ham it up") with t Flloyd a close second, and Christian 3rd. Ha ha ha.

Gorbi Kirchenwald- Watched his practice too, good job on the helper's part cleaning him up without going too far the night before. NIce overall performance. No bark after out, but better than being dirty. Disappointed he didn't finish higher in the ring, but he's only 3 yrs. old and VA is VA. Look for more from this nice young dog in future.

Kuno Aspenhaus- Very nice performance. Fast, clean, excellent guarding.

Jamie Kolbenguss- Another young (not yet 4) male turning in a very nice performance. Spirited, temperamentful, "happy dog." Made me smile to see his joy in the work. Excellent job handling by breeder Christian Lang (who is a damned good helper himself,  BTW)

More later...

Shelley

Well I agree with Shelley about the dogs she listed except for me the best male was V-2 Yash von der Bastillie. Hard into the helper, clean full grips and correct release and obedience.. Excellent long bite, best protection work in the show.