February 14, 2001

What was your opinion of the German Shepherd that was in Westminster last night (2-13-01)?

Full Question:
What was your opinion of the German Shepherd that was in Westminster last night (02-13-2001)?
Cindy
Cindy Cindy's Answer:
The name of this dog was Champion Mt. Maple’s Bewitched at White Oak.

During the judging of the herding group, the announcer said that this bitch was found tied to a tree. In my humble opinion there was probably a very good reason for this! Give me a break, do you think that someone is going to take a really nice dog and tie it to a tree and leave it someplace? The people who left that dog knew exactly what they were unloading.

This animal was scared senseless, did anyone other than me see the fear in her eyes? My house cat has better nerves and temperament than that dog does. In fact my cat would have probably liked being in the ring.

In addition the dog is missing a molar, you could see the hole where the tooth should have been when the dog was gaiting.

Now I understand that the AKC allows animals to become champions when they have one missing tooth - but isn’t it a little stupid to allow a dog to represent the breed at Westminster with a missing tooth? On the other hand maybe that dog was the best the German Shepherd show people had to offer - that would not surprise me.

What I think is a shame is that every one of these GSD’s that are AKC breed champions (or AKC show dogs) are all looking for the exit door because they think the “boogie-man” is right behind them, while most of the hunting breeds and even many of the herding breeds have animals that look like they have stable temperaments and are comfortable in the ring. Could the problem be with the German Shepherd Dog Club of America and the crap dogs they propagate?

If anyone wants to know why these show dogs cannot be police service dogs or do sport Schutzhund work, they only need look into the eyes of that dog in the ring at Westminster last night.

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Expert Dog Trainer Cindy Rhodes
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