Again, I was very thankful for being able to view the dog show by streaming video from my computer. I thought that today was a very exciting day to kick off the official start of the conformation judging at the GSDCA National Specialty show in Ohio. I thought the quality in both males and bitches was very good. We saw some beautiful animals in the Futurity/Maturity finals. Again, I will not be naming the dogs that I saw as it’s up to their owners to do their bragging and I don’t want to take away their rite to do so. But I will comment on some of them without naming them. I will also comment on what I thought about the judging.
Today we had two judges. In the regular classes, Ms. Gloria Birch judged the dogs and the bitches were judged by Mr. Lee Brown. For the Futurity and Maturity classes the judges judged the opposite sexes than they did in the classes. I thought that both of them got their better ones up front. They also had their own unique style of judging. Gloria definitely pushed temperament more than Lee did. This is not to say that Lee didn’t look for good temperament. They both did. It’s just that Gloria really pushed it. If she thought an animal had questionable temperament, she would go back to the dog time and time again. It didn’t change the dog’s mind. They still didn’t want her touching them. The more she pressed, the more they resisted. If Lee seen poor temperament, he didn’t make a big deal about it. He just eliminated them from any placement. I saw a couple of dogs be excused. However, over all temperament was very good for such a large entry.
In the male classes, most of the time I agreed with what Lee put up except in one class. I knew as soon as I saw this particular dog walk into the ring, that this was Lee’s type of dog, or at least the type that I’ve seen him put up in pictures in the Review or on the lists. Although a very deserving dog, he wasn’t my type of dog because I felt he had more rear than shoulder which made him look unbalanced when he moved, plus he wasn’t enough dog for my liking. However, I wasn’t judging and aren’t the owners happy about that. Still the dog was a quality animal and one his owners can be proud of and again, I didn’t get to see the dogs up close and personal as Lee did. Now Mr. Brown’s Best in Maturity Dog (again in my opinion) was OUTSTANDING! I’ve read about this dog and his wins before, but when I seen him today on the video, I was very impressed. I think he is what the breed needs. He’s very masculine, balanced front to rear, nice coat, excellent temperament and a very good mover. It’ll be fun to watch this one in the specials class. Also a beautiful sable bitch that Lee put up was dripping in breed type. She is just the type of sable bitch that I love. She was plush and beautiful.
One of Gloria’s 1st. place puppy winners was a beautiful black and tan stallion youngster. He too I read about winning at many of the recent shows. He had beautiful breed type, masculinity and easy, flowing motion. I think this one is heading for many more wins for his owners!
I was glad to see some of my friend’s dogs competing and winning. Congratulations to everyone. I think the breed as a whole has a lot to be proud of. The breeders seem to be doing a very good job of producing some beautiful breed type and correct motion. OK, this is short and sweet………..looking forward to the next classes over the next few days.
My rating: judging: (4), quality of dogs: (4)
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