It is
always difficult to begin writing, whether it be a book
or a short article. But this time it feels like I am
trying to push an enormous boulder up a hill. The heavy
weight of tragedy is there, the onslaught having
occurred on the eve of the intended return home of most
of this year’s Sieger Show tour. A dozen happy tourists
piled out of two vans and announced with smiles our
arrival at the last (we thought) hotel on the
itinerary, only to be met with a terribly saddened
hotel manager who directed our attention to the TV on
the counter, showing the crash of the second WTC
plane-bomb. Some initially thought it was a movie, but
she told us “Jetzt!” (right now). Sergeant Dani Lewis
has agreed to write about the sightseeing part of the
tour for Schutzhund-USA magazine, and will have more to
say about the attack and some of its effects on our
group. Therefore, I will return to comments that may
have a slightly less painful echo when read many months
from now.
SIEGER SHOW
This year’s Sieger Show was held in
Düsseldorf again. I had attended an important
Landesgruppen (regional) show a month before the
Hauptzuchtschau (one of several names for the Sieger
Show), and also had noted the winners of the Dutch and
Belgian Sieger Shows as well as other preliminary
events. Putting everything together from those results
plus the quality of progeny classes and pronouncements
from the judges, we can come up with some pretty close
predictions. Thanks to my position as an SV breed
judge, I sometimes get “well-founded rumors” — sort of
insider information from “a friend of a friend”, but
coming to them from the source. The front-runners
before the show were Mack Aducht, Timo Berrekasten,
Esko DänischenHof, Untox Ducati, and perhaps Yasko
Farbenspiel. Mack, a Sieger Rikkor Bad Boll son, had
won several shows and represented the Ulk line; Ulk was
bred by Margit van Dorssen who is from the same city
and local club as SV president and Sieger Show judge
Peter Messler. The fact that Mack was bred by Peter’s
brother really had nothing to do with his success, but
the power wielded by van Dorrsen and Rikkor’s breeder
Hans-Peter Rieker is certainly great. The tremendous
“mover” Timo faced great anti-sable prejudice even
though Messler admires him greatly (his description of
Timo’s progeny in 2000 was positively glowing). It was
pretty much agreed that last year’s Sieger Ursus v.
Batu would not compete, nor would the 1998-99 Sieger
Rikkor. This would seem to leave the field more open
for Esko and Untox (the 2001 Holland Sieger), both dogs
of excellent anatomy but not as strong in color as
Messler wants. In fact, in private conversation with
Peter, and by overhearing him stress deeper coat
pigment to others, I knew that neither Esko nor Untox
would become Sieger. By process of elimination, if
Messler were to bow to the anti-Timo pressure, who
would be left among the better-pigmented front-runners?
The up-and-coming Odin Hirschel son, Bax Luisenstrasse,
had only turned two years in April, so he had not paid
his dues nor established a progeny group, so he was out
of consideration for the top prize, although good
enough to be VA, even this year. Dux Della Valcuvia,
Italian-bred but German-owned, had a very good progeny
class, but his time was not yet ripe. To leapfrog him
over many higher-ranked dogs would have been
unacceptable. He will advance next year, though, I
believe. Mack did not have a spectacular progeny class,
and having placed behind Timo in past years, should not
have past the gray dog this year either. The real
competition to Timo, therefore, came down to the
3-year-old Yasko Farbenspiel. This is a dog very close
to the Standard, though most people would like “just a
little more dog”, such as a large, masculine head like
Timo’s. Yasko is a son of Ursus, but looks more like
his dam’s side of the family, in body style and
strength. He does not have the power and
ground-covering gait that Timo does. He has better
color in his “brown parts” (legs, underside) and he is
calmer in his demeanor. Timo loves to proclaim his
presence by barking almost all the time he is not in
action or posing. A very small comparison to Timo is
that by being less vocal, Yasko is more frequently seen
with his mouth shut and his ears up rather than folded
back as frequently happens when dogs bark.
When the top 70 or so Working Class
males entered the big ring on Sunday, there was
considerable whistling (a mark of disapproval in
Germany) because Timo was up front. This in spite of
applause both at this time and at his courage test as
well as later when he ran. Only a few of us could see
the board at the dogs’ entrance to the arena, where
Yasko’s name was in first slot, and it appeared to be a
matter of deliberate showbiz or political maneuvering
that Yasko was late in arriving for the line-up, so he
could make a big entrance and alleviate the tension in
the anti-sable crowd by trotting past all the other
dogs to take his place at the head of the line. This
fear of gray dogs is very real. Since sable is a
dominant genetic pattern, the Germans generally fear
that a sable (“grau”) Sieger will result in that
becoming the predominant “color” in a few years — that
the breed would be overrun by them. Obviously, this
would mean a shift in economic power centers as well.
Where do the rumors come in? And how
closely do they approximate or describe what really
happened? We can never be sure of another’s motivation,
only his actions, but… From more than one fairly
reliable source we glean one possible scenario: If
Messler was set on making last year’s VA2 dog (Timo)
the Sieger this year, as is a frequent and logical
procedure), then Herr Rieker was reportedly going to
stymie the move by bringing back the double Sieger
Rikkor from retirement and forcing Messler to again
place him ahead of Timo. Credence for this theory is
found in the fact that Rikkor was indeed entered and in
the catalog. When he did not show up for the courage
test, it was the common buzz that Timo would be stuck
in second place again, and his future as a contender
ended. The only question then was, who was Messler
going to put ahead of Timo? The answer turned out to be
Yasko, who caries on the Sieger tradition of following
the bloodlines (most Siegers seem to be sons or
grandsons of past Siegers), even though he was a little
bit of a dark-horse candidate. Yasko is a worthy dog
and in other circumstances might have universal
approval, but it is a shame that both in the on-lead
and off-lead fast gaiting, he could not pull ahead or
move out of Timo’s way. It is a frustrating feeling
that I can empathize with, having been stuck behind a
less-ground-covering dog before (I won’t call them
slugs as others have). I knew how Gerd Dexel and his
handler felt. Some had asked, was Neptun Bad Boll’s
last-VA a sign to Hans-Peter that his power was
recognized but Neptun would not be rewarded further?
Sort of a reactionary slap? We’ll never know.
Here are the placings in the VA
males category:
Working-class males
-
VA 1 Yasko v Farbenspiel: Ursus
v Batu x Connie v Farbenspiel
-
VA 2 Timo v Berrekasten: Wanko
v Lippischen Norden x Leska v Berrekasten
-
VA 3 Mack v Aducht: Rikkor v
Bad-Boll x Quale aus Wattenscheid
-
VA 4 Esko v Danischen Hof:
Jango v Furstenberg x Una v Oxsalis
-
VA 5 Untox v Ducati: Xandor v
Tronje x Joska v Ducati
-
VA 6 Dux della Valcuvia: Max
della Loggia dei Mercanti x Una della Valcuvia
-
VA 7 Bax v d Luisenstrasse:
Odin v Hirschel x Beaury v Huis Kirura
-
VA 8 Neptun v Bad-Boll: Yasko v
Roten Matter x Eibe v Bad-Boll
-
V 1 Orbit v. Tronje
Working-class females
-
VA 1 Milla v Frutteto: Shanto’s
Xano x Dolli di Casa Piellier
-
VA 2 Yonka v Fichtenschlag:
Shanto’s Xano x Holly v Fichtenschlag
-
VA 3 Enschi v d Piste Trophe:
Jello v Michelstadter Rathaus x Prixi v
Wildsteiger Land
-
VA 4 Betty v Huhnegrab: Kimbo v
Monchberg x Brigitt v Huhnegrab
-
VA 5 Amida av Norden Stamm:
Zoltan v Haus Geltinger x Jenny v Faltor
-
VA 6 Heilei’s Farina: Sasko v
Noriswand x Heilei’s Aline
-
VA 7 Olga v
Poxdorfer-Tannenhof: Pascha v d Jahnhohe x Prixi v
Wildsteigerland
-
VA 8 Karma v Ochsentor: Wasko d
Ulmental x Feli v Ochsentor
-
VA 9 Cesna v Bad Waldle: Valium
v Arminius x Cosmea v Noort
-
VA 10 Relli v Bergmannshof:
Hinnerk v Kiemoor x Hanny vd Schwarzen Zigeunerin
-
VA 11 Anabel v Sofienwald:
Xorro v Klostermoor x Anna v Sofienwald
Top 5 Young dogs males
-
SG 1 Hill v Farbenspiel: Huppy
v Arlett x Dasti v Farbenspiel
-
SG 2 Erasmus v Noort: Yasko v
Farbenspiel x Alke v Noort
-
SG 3 Quantum v Arminius: Dux
della Valcuvia x Only v Wutachtal
-
SG 4 Phausto du Val D’Anzin:
Dux della Valcuvia x Jacky du Val D’Anzin
-
SG 5 Champ v Dakota: Rickor v
Arlett x Vienchen v Arlett
Top 5 Young (Junghund) females
-
SG 1 Ronda du Val D’Anzin: Dux
della Valcuvia x Minnie de Parilly
-
SG 2 Nenni aus Agrigento: Till
v Lechtal x Gusta aus Agrigento
-
SG 3 Nasa v Hochmoor: Till v
Lechtal x Fici v Hochmoor
-
SG 4 Gwendy v d Vallendarer
Hohe: Saber v Steffen Haus x Hexe v Steffen Haus
-
SG 5 Inga aus der
Brunnenstrasse: Vax aus der Brunnenstrasse x Queen
v Bergmannshof
Top 5 Youth (Jugend) males
-
SG 1 Larus v Batu: Yasko v
Farbenspiel x Jitta v Batu]
-
SG 2 Marko della Valcuvia: Dux
della Valcuvia x Simba della Valcuvia
-
SG 3 Quando v Sofienwald: Flex
v Tronje x Anabel v Sofienwald
-
SG 4 Indo v d Bildeiche: Jago v
Danischen Hof x Nixe v Sendling
-
SG 5 Rasko d Ulmental: Esko v
Danischen Hof x Daffy dei Tre Pini
Top 5 Jugend females
-
SG 1 Repetition Amanda: Zycco v
Arminius x Ungana v d Wienerau
-
SG 2 Walhalla v Bierstadter
Hof: Ursus v Batu x Fee v d Breitenauer See
-
SG 3 Lady v d Herdersfarm: Mack
v Aducht x Rena v Wildsteiger Land
-
SG 4 Peppermint Pety v
Deutschherrenhof: Saber v Steffen Haus x Donata v
Isidora
-
SG 5 Perle aus Agrigento: Packo
v Alex x Xena aus Agrigento
One synonym for “politics” is
“power”. A very nice dog was the V1 Orbit, bred by the
judge. It reminded me of another excellent and worthy
dog bred by Peter Messler who had a hard time breaking
into the VA category. Pitt v. Tronje would not have
cost Messler his job if named VA a year or two earlier
than he was. But Messler would have been toppled if he
had given Timo the deserved top title. Still, it may
have been the wisest move on his part to sacrifice one
worthy dog and to keep his job. He has implemented a
number of improvements to the organization during his
tenure, and should be allowed to continue his
progressive leadership. Perhaps it should be enough for
many of us, to acknowledge such tough choices and to
simply consider Timo as Sieger in our hearts — in
spirit though not in name.
You will notice in the above results
that one star is on the rise: the Italian kennel,
dellaValcuvia. Italy probably has the second-largest
and important GSD breed club in the world, and this
kennel is one of several that turn out handsome,
very-well-pigmented dogs in considerable numbers. The
du Val D’Anzin name is another important non-German
kennel, and there are also increasing numbers of Danish
and Dutch names as well. This is truly an international
competition.
Without last year’s breath-taking
Chipsi Herdersfarm, and missing the 2000 VA-2 Cindy v.
Hirschel, the Hündinnen were not as exciting to watch
this year. But Leonhard Schweikert did his usual good
job in selecting beautiful bitches. It is customary for
bitches to make one stab at VA, and then retire to the
whelping box where they can do more for the breed. Here
is where the philosophy in showing differs tremendously
from that in the U.S. where super bitches like the
Westminster-winning Scottish Terrier or the AKC GSD
Mystique may make a big splash at high-profile shows
and rack up a record in BIS wins, but never have a baby
to carry on the genes.
One of my favorite parts of the
Sieger Show is the courage test, especially the males.
All Working-class (24 mo. & up, titled) dogs must
perform the excerpt from the SchH-1 bite work on the
attack from the blind, and the long-distance defense.
There were many more prepared dogs this year than at
last year’s shameful showing. Showdogs must receive
regular refresher work after they earn their titles.
The tougher standards, while still not ideal, are
working. This time, there were fewer dogs given
“Pronounced” who were really worth only a
“Vorhanden/Present”. Some dogs’ sires could be guessed
(I kid you not) by their guarding style, and those who
read my last year’s comments would understand what I
mean. All Timo sons I saw, with one marginal exception,
earned their Ausgeprägt/Pronounced rating. Untox, Esko,
Mack, Yasko, and other top dogs did very well in the
bitework.
As I mentioned last year, I realize
that not everybody is retired (every day is Saturday to
me!) and not everybody can schedule his own vacation
time, but if you love the GSD, you owe it to yourself
to see this great spectacle and some of Europe on the
side... maybe also the Bundessiegerprüfung. Life is
short, so enjoy something you’d remember rather than
spend all your time on your knees worshipping the god
of Work. Go to the show or the trial. If you want to
economize and get some guidance, join a small group
that has an experienced person at the helm. Even if you
go for only a few days, treat yourself to the
experience. You’ll never regret it. I never met a
person who said he was sorry that he went to the Sieger
Show in Germany.
The Bundessiegerprüfung
Two weeks after the conformation
spectacle, the Bundessiegerprüfung was held in
Göttingen, a university city in central Germany,
between the industrial and population centers of
Frankfurt, Hannover, and the
Dusseldorf-Duisberg-Dortmund corridor on three sides,
and the Harz Mountains on the east. This was my first
tour group for the Bundessiegerprüfung, and while the
number was decimated by a combination of the recent
terrorism and disruption of flight or other plans and
personal reasons, those who made it had a wonderful
time. If I get a bigger response early enough for next
year’s national schutzhund-3 championships, I will
organize another working-dog-oriented trip. Our 2001
experience began when I picked up enthusiasts and
trainers from the greater Philadelphia area at the
Frankfurt airport. It was no trouble keeping them awake
since one was a Porsche driver and the other had never
traveled as fast before — the autobahns have no speed
limit in many stretches and even cruising along at
100mph, you have to keep to the right to allow the
faster ones to zip past in the “BMW lane”.
First stop was to check in at our
hotel near Stuckenbrock and Paderborn, and meet with
the bubbly Dorothea Twohigg, a German dog owner/trainer
who is a German but learned English from her former
husband, a Brit. Consequently, when she spoke, the
broadest Cockney accent and colloquialisms sounded
humorously odd. She works with the Leistungsrichter
Werner Plöger and the Zuchtrichter Heinz Grottendiek,
all in the same Landesgruppe, and who joined us for
supper and the next day invited us to their homes,
kennels, and clubhouse. Dorothea arranged an
English-speaking tour guide for our walk through the
Detmold castle, where the Prince and other heirs of the
feudal family still live. We still had time to climb
the “Externsteine”, a curious outcropping of massive
rocks that looked out of place in this rolling
agricultural countryside, and to visit the statue of
Arminius, the Teutonic hero who repulsed the Romans
some distance to the Southwest of here. His name is the
Latinized form of Hermann, and many refer to him as
“Herman the German”. The statue’s upraised sword alone
is 7 meters long! A corollary or consequence of his
name is the kennel name chosen by another Hermann
(Martin) who with his brother Walter Martin ruled the
GSD world for many years. The Arminius and Wienerau
names are indelibly etched into the breed’s history and
type.
The following morning was spent
touring the largest police academy in Europe,
NordRheinland-Westfalen, with the biggest and best
police dog training facility you could imagine. My
friend Alfred Macejewski is still in charge, although
he said he would follow me into retirement in a couple
more years. I had lectured here in the mid-1980s, and
was pleased to see some of the original remained and
some new buildings added. My group, which at this time
consisted of Sue Cosby and Marv Sharfstein, were
treated to a video and the various functions and
facilities. A disheartening fact was that while on my
first trip here there were only a few non-GSDs, now the
GSD makes up less than 50% of the dogs being trained,
and the whelping rooms now have only Malinois. The SV
really needs to do something about this, and when I
spoke with president Messler about that at the
Bundessiegerprüfung dinner and opening ceremonies, he
agreed and said it is a hard job. The statistics prove
that the Malinois, on average, performs the police dog
functions better than does the GSD, but this is colored
by the issue of bloodlines. The few GSDs offered to the
department are not of the caliber they need, and the
best in the breed are instead sold to schutzhund people
looking for high-scoring competition dogs.
After kennel and clubhouse tours
that afternoon, we drove to Göttingen and found the
stadium, and saw the “draw” where the order of the next
days’ competition was determined. Most dogs had two
events on one day and the other on a third day, some
had one on each day, and some had a day between. The
tracking fields were almost an hour’s drive away by
bus, and we all elected to stay in the two stadia for
the obedience and the bitework, shuttling back and
forth between the two in the intermittent rain. The
vendors’ tents were strategically located between the
two. Last year I admitted I was not familiar with Aly
Vordersteinwald, but I did my homework and looked at
offspring in the intervening time, so I got pretty good
at spotting his sons and a few of his daughters without
the help of the catalog. Aly is famous for great hips
and great working traits, though he throws narrow
heads. Yoschy also did that, as well as the occasional
gay tail. Aly is a dark sable and his offspring are
almost all very well pigmented. Last year’s Universal
Sieger, whose courage test at Bremen knocked my socks
off with its precision and focus, was the Aly son V-109
Camp v Mühlteich, a dog that had scored 296 in his last
trial, a week before an accident that left him with a
limp and damaged soft-tissues in his thigh. Aly is a
Troll bosen Nachbarschaft son, and Camp is linebred on
the great Troll.
This year, we saw wonderful
performances by progeny of well-known dogs: Lewis
Malatesta, Karthago dogs, Aly, Troll, the late great
Yoschy Döllenwiese, Nick Heiligenbösch, Xato bosen
Nachbarschaft, and a few others, including some from
“Hochzuchtlinie” (show lines). I have always observed
that historically there was far more outcrossing in the
working lines, but in recent years the lines have
narrowed, with the above dogs dominating the breeding
and competition. Some very nice performances were given
by 10th-place Quasy Nachbarschaft (Xato son), 13th
place Alf Primsblick (handled by Franz Gugnon to a
96-97-92 performance that looked 3 or 4 points higher
to me in C), Iriac v Ruhbachtal (Xato son who was the
winner in 1999 but 37th this year with 279), the Troll
daughter Cora Märchenwald with 288 because of a few
errors in obedience, Aly daughter Exe Schmiedegarten
with 8th place 288, and a few I missed in the top 15
down to 284 points. A handler from the Youth category
was Bernd Raiser (Helmut’s son), who got 12th and 285
with Drago Mainos. In 3rd with an exciting 290 was
Troll son Rocky Zingelgärten; 2nd was Glenn Hühnergasse
with 290, and the big winner was Bastin Koketal
owner-handled to a 291 by Martin Rappl. Last year’s
Bundessiegerprüfung-Sieger Ernst Weinbergblick failed
with a 91-95-0, but I did not see his protection work
to find out why. To go from first to 122nd out of 124
has to make for a very long drive home, no matter where
the dog lives!
Agility finals were a part of the
Bundessiegerprüfung show, and while our dogs are not
Border Collies, some showed remarkable speed and
jumping ability in this fun team event. Sightseeing
resumed after the Sunday closing ceremonies. I took the
party to a country inn further north, in an historic
feudal town with a dilapidated castle, a war cemetery,
and ancient buildings, finished off with a truly
delicious meal laden with the local special mushroom
variety. The next morning and part of the afternoon
were spent in the city of Goslar on the edge of the
Harz Mtns. and close to the old DDR border, with its
buildings dating back to 1500 having been spared
bombing because the city had been declared a hospital
region, and red crosses had been painted on every roof.
Beautiful chimes sounded at 9 and noon, and
glockenspiel figures came out of a third-floor loft to
proceed in an arc overhead. The Dom (castle) was a
stupendous tour and afforded a great view if the city’s
steeples. Next to that was a memorial to the brothers
enslaved by the Russian and East German Communist
regime.
Evening was spent largely at the
home of Heinz & Inge Balonier, owners of Camp and both
schutzhund judges. Heinz has judged many times in
Canada, and has an invitation to judge in the U.S. in
March, but is afraid to fly because of the terrorist
attacks on America. I tried to convince him to come
because the chance of it happening again is smaller now
that the system is on high alert. I also tried to
encourage the USA team to not drop plans to compete at
the WUSV, but was personally attacked for my opinion by
a couple of people on a USA members e-mail list. My
feeling is that when we stop or severely curtail our
activities, the enemy gains a victory. I appreciate
others’ viewpoints, but I wish they would respect mine,
too.
An interesting side note to the
Bundessiegerprüfung is that the conformation dogs
seldom compete after they reach six years old, but the
usual Bundessiegerprüfung competitor is six or seven,
and some even older. These very healthy dogs are
maintained at peak condition for longer than most dogs,
and are a joy to watch. I encourage all of you, whether
you join my non-profit group or do it on your own, to
attend one of these premier GSD events and as an added
benefit, see some of the world that few Americans have.
