...and deprive themselves of the joy of the training journey with their own dog...

Correct me if I'm wrong here people, but doesn't it seem to be a lack of understanding the general population has of just how special the top dogs are? And it seems to me the breeders shoulder more than a small share of the blame for how the program has progressed. For instance; the first GSD I found, almost every breeder I talked to said "what is it you want to do with the dog? We'll do our best to help you with the pick". My last GSD, 90% of the breeders I talked to said " My dogs will do anything you want, I have x number of dogs left. Do you want one or not?" If I was ignorant (willful or not) of dogs in general I would probably have taken these people at their word, they are after all people that know dogs. Then we have the trainers that seem to support this theory that any dog can be trained for any purpose. And I ask myself, what is going on? I can't remember the last time I simply walked by a k-9 car without the dog going absolutely barking mad.
Those of you in the sport should be asking as well, where are we headed with this. Not all dogs can be titled, most are not fit, and those that are fit for the title of SCH1 or 2 or 3 should be lauded for the special dog they are. Sadly that doesn't seem to be the case these days. Everybody's dream gets to comes true. Except for those of us that care for the breed/s.
So how did it come to this? And what can be done about it?
Randy

The general population is moving toward disdane for any sports where dogs bite.

This is a far bigger concern for the sport and working dogs in general than whether or not show dogs' working titles are legitimate.

My fear is legislators, influenced by well-funded and movitated animal rights lobbyists, will put an end to Schutzhund long before the public develops an appreciation for the sport, or we educate anyone.

The largest organization, which I won't name so this thread won't be indexed by the search engines, is committed to eliminating companion pets, working animals and animals raised for food as a long term goals. They are making in-roads by supporting legislation requiring manditory nuetering and spaying of companion animals. These laws have been passing all over the country with alarming frequency this past year.

According to the attorney in our training group, a dog with an AKC Good Citizen Certificate is better client than a dog with a legit SchH3 if you found yourself in court.

What does all of this say about our beloved sport?

Yeah but this America, I may well get sued because someone stupid enough reaches into the car for my cell phone and finds a GSD instead. Heck people have gotten sued because some burgular broke his leg robbing their house! One woman sued a major well know hospital for their brain surgery, because she lost her esp as a result of the operation! Two true stories! God bless America.
But don't you think that if all titles from SCH. were 'legit', and represented the highest a dog, handler, and breeder could be, it would go a long way toward turning the tide of popular opinion?
Randy

 Quote:

But don't you think that if all titles from SCH. were 'legit', and represented the highest a dog, handler, and breeder could be, it would go a long way toward turning the tide of popular opinion?

Our sports opponents care nothing about the legitimacy of our own titling process. Their misguided mission is to put an end to animal ownership for any reason. I am not making this up.

Today, the city of Louisville,KY is ground zero for this battle where idiots recently passed some of the most anti-pet laws in the country. Louisville pet owners are understandably freaked out and have initiated a legal battle.

http://louisville-pets.com/
http://louisville-pets.com/what_to_do.html

Unfortunately, this is just the begining. IMO, legitimacy of titles is the least of our concerns if our ability to keep and breed dogs is outlawed.

We need to be united against this bigger threat.

Our issues regarding lackluster Sieger Show protection work could be solved simply with some brave leadership from the WDA and USA to significantly raise bar on the Seiger Show evaluation criteria.

With that change, I believe we would be on the road to solving this problem. The first few years would be painful for many, but I think the breeders and the dogs would rise to the challenge.

There is no doubt that if all the titling was taken seriously that the breed would benefit, but who knows about public opinion.

Gary

Gary, I'm curious...with the titling of the Sieger shows, do you find that the majority of the dogs that suck in protection work do so because of issues with inproper training and not taking the time to do correct foundation work or do you find that it is a lack of good breeding?

John,
I'm glad you have what you want in your dog. That is one of the great things about the breed. Some of us want one thing in the breed and some of us want something else. My comment was only to say what is, not what any one dog can or can't achieve, that's up to genetics and training.