Will be near Las Vegas in LHC this week. Can anyone tell me if we can wander in and watch this show. Tickets req? Of all days which would be the most desireable to view.
Any info greatly appreciated.

What is the Seiger Show?

German Shepherd Dog conformation championship, according to German (FCI) rules. Includes both ring gaiting and a protection test.

Pete Felknor

And BTW, the spelling should be "Sieger show."

Despite my usual and barbless sarcasm, I offer these remarks about the Sieger Zuchtschau in Las Vegas.

I could not stand to watch one MORE "working" male fail the protection phase of the examination. This comes from one who 1) attended the show and 2) a former participant in 1994.

Understanding perfectly that this was a conformation examination and not the Nationals or BSP, the bitework was, with a few exceptions, horrible. The judging was honest, fair and consistent, a standard to be expected at an event such as the Sieger show. The helper work was the same; fair, honest and consistent. I will go so far as to say the judging and helper work was flawless. Pronounced in courage and fight drive has taken on a whole new meaning. There were some of the same old kennels propigating beautiful but empty dogs. There was some new blood, obvioulsy following in those same footsteps. I can honestly say that, despite my VERY humble beginnings, I never had nor witnessed a dog actually fear the helper; hackle up and run away from all involved, including the omnipresent photographer.

Certainly, there is a difference in failing to out when called ( a training issue for the most part) and avoidance of the helper in the attack on handler and courage tests. There was a terrible proportion of dogs simply refusing to engage the helper in either phase.

It calls into question several issues:
1. Where, how and under whom did these "working class" dogs obtain thier titles / degrees?
2. Why is this obliteration of the character v. Stefanitz called for allowed to continue?
3. How far will it go before there is no difference between German Conformation Kennel "X" ( I care not to sigle out any one Kennel as my problem is with an aparenty widely accepted philosophy)and Covey-Tucker Hill?

I am guilty also, to a degree. I abandoned the conformation ring for many of those reasons, but am I not too, as a result of my giving it up, somewhat responsible? The judges did, from what I could tell, weigh the work aspect as heavily as they are supposed to. They can only evaluate that which is brougt in front of them. We as working dog people need to lay down our animosity for the "fu-fu" dogs and the attitude that so often comes with them and save our breed. We must campaign the breed standard; in performance and in phenotype. These are the dogs being offered as representitives of our noble breed; the perception is going to be horribly skewwed.

I am going to title my Uran grandaughter and demonstrate her ability to work as well as stand for examination. I challenge those of you with a "show" dog to do the same. Let's fix this before its too late. Our dogs are supposed to be our passion, not possesion.

Thank you for your thoughtful post AZ Trooper.

As someone who has never seen a Sieger Show, can you explain to me what bitework and OB tests are required there? To what extent is performance weighed into the final placements? Are the performance tests merely pass/fail, otherwise not influencing the placements? Or are they weighed as heavily as physical conformation/structure? Something in between?
Thanks

Laura

Az-Trooper,
You convay my thoughts to a T on this issue... I just got done posting almost the same thoughts in another thread , you just say it much better! It's all about the dogs isn't it? Well said man!

Ms. Laura, the protection routine is best and most simply described as the Schutzhund 1 protection routine. The only obedience that is required is the same obedience required in the protection routine itself. The heeling off leash toward the blind for the attack on handler and the outs at the end of the biting scenarios is what I was refering to as obedience. These are all things that can be improved upon with time and effort. The absolute abandonment of the ring when approached by the helper is what I found to be so horrifically upsetting. We all work with what we have and try to improve on it by developing strengths and masking weakness, however, the naked truth was exposed in some when thier total absence of character was exposed. What makes this almost crimial is that these dogs will be bred and allowed to perpetuate the same. In plain English:

shit x shit does not = 2shit
shit x shit + shit2 (squared)

I failed to point out in the previous post to our newcomwers that what I meant by differentiating between a breed show and working trail is this: it is a commonly accepted practice to test the dogs much harder in the course of the workingf trial versus a comformation exibition.