Quick, if someone asked you to name the all time greatest German Shepherd Dog in the history of the breed, who would you say? How about if they asked you who the best looking dog of all time was? Want to make a bet that you would name a male dog for both of those questions?
Admit it, when you were a kid and someone would mention the German Shepherd Dog, I bet you would visualize a male dog. I know that I did. I�ve always loved the noble look of this breed. I visualized them as being a masculine, big boned dog with a great big old head. I thought of them as a powerful breed; strong and courageous and willing to defend you with their life! Not once did I ever think of a German Shepherd bitch when I thought about this breed! For some reason, thinking of a German Shepherd brings up a picture in most peoples mind of the majestic male of this breed. Many times if your parents bought a German Shepherd as a pet, nine times out of ten, it was probably a male. They were probably looking for a guardian for their family, but more importantly a powerful protector of their property and valuables.
There�s just something about the noble German Shepherd Dog that makes you think in terms of the males of this breed. On the other hand, if you�re thinking of a lap dog, many times you might think in terms of a female.
When I first started out in this breed, a male is all I ever thought about owning. I wanted a big masculine dog that would turn people�s heads when I walked down the street with him. �That�s right, we�re cool. I got myself a big �bad boy!� I wanted a dog that commanded people�s respect and in my mind, what better way to do this than with a male German Shepherd? That was my mind set then. German Shepherd Dogs equaled male dogs! That was until I was knocked down a few pegs when one of my very first lessons in this breed is when someone told me: �Your kennel is only as good as the bitches you own!� Really? But I loved the males. That might have been true, but unless he was a star, I would be just about the only one that loved him. He would never be used for public stud and would only remain my beloved pet! Boy, that didn�t seem fair at all! I mean after all he had the same bloodlines as his more desirable litter sister! How come it was OK for me to keep her and not him? Seemed like a reasonable question to me at the time.
I was told that if the bitch didn�t turn out for showing, I could always breed her to a top producing stud dog and perhaps get a show quality puppy or two. On the other hand, if I kept her brother and he didn�t turn out, no one would breed to him, except me and that would mean I would have to go out and buy myself a bitch to breed to him. It looked like if I wanted to have any little bit of success in this breed, I�d better learn to follow the advise of those seasoned pros that proved what they were saying was true by keeping mostly bitches in their kennels. However, the few males if any that they owned were all top winning dogs.
I would soon find out the difference in owning males compared to owning bitches! Both sexes certainly have their own unique personalities. I find it very different owning a bitch compared to a male. The majority of German Shepherds that I�ve owned have been bitches; so therefore, the majority of my favorite dogs throughout the years have been females. That said I still miss the males. I find that they are easier to get along with as long as you don�t have females in season! Most of the time they make great house dogs! Very much like the human male, they can be big babies!!! They like to be pampered and loved on and thrive on attention. Most of the time, they're quieter than the bitches.
The female on the other hand has earned her title (and wears it proudly) of being called a bitch and everything that the word may stand for! She is nobility at its best. She may even be the homeliest little thing that was ever born, or even the runt of the litter but don�t tell her that, because she�d never believe it. She�s too into herself strutting around like she owns the place. And if truth be told, she does (well in her own mind anyway)! She rules her domain by either being a showoff looking for endless adoration or ruling with a quiet dignified look to anyone that might challenge or doubt her. With her dark Hershey brown eyes, ears standing strong and centered resting on a fabulous feminine head well there's just nothing more breathtaking!
The bitches are definitely unique in how they view their world. They can be cunning, inquisitive, and sometimes oh so challenging! Living with bitches means there is never a dull moment. There is nothing funnier than when you see a 90 pound male submitting to the 58 pound �Queen Bee� as she steals his favorite toy only to drop it after she gets it. Then she runs over to put her teeth gently but firmly across his mouth to let him know she really didn�t want it at all but to let him know she can have it anytime she pleases! It�s like she�s saying, �I don�t really want it, but I don�t want you to have it either!� Can we say "Diva" here? Hmm��.sounds like some human bitches that I know of!
As far as watchdogs, both sexes of this breed are excellent, but sometimes the bitches can be just a little be nastier than her male housemate! She has to make up for all his bravado so what she may lack in strength, she makes up for in speed! They�re quick and it�s almost like their maternal instincts kick in when defending their human family and property. They�re very purpose driven; not being satisfied until they accomplish what they�ve set out to do. For sheer strength and power, you couldn�t want a more formidable defender than the male German Shepherd. He is not a dog that an intruder wants to find greeting him. But for sheer quickness and agility all the exercise and jogging in the world won�t save the perpetrator from the sheer cunning of the bitch of this breed! If you trespass on this breeds property, their goal is to get you and they�re going to �get you good!�
Living with the male German Shepherd he has learned how to manipulate his humans to get what he wants by surprising them with his �big baby� ways. Those big old brown �cow eyes� that hold you in his stare makes for some �laugh out loud� moments. Few can resist this big macho dog collapsing at your side for a belly rub. The bitch can be more demanding of your attention by moaning, groaning and whining when she feels her needs are not being met. If she were human, this would probably equate to the not so nice label of being called a �nag!� Oh they do keep us on our toes!
So no matter what sex you decide upon, living with a German Shepherd is always an adventure. You never know what your day is going to be like with these guys, but one thing is for certain, it�s never going to be boring. They make sure it�s not. They�re just too darn smart for that!
Showing posts with label American bred german shepherds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American bred german shepherds. Show all posts
Friday, 19 August 2011
Monday, 20 December 2010
IS THE GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG A DESIGNER BREED?
What does the average person in America think a German Shepherd Dog looks like? Now clearly I�m not talking about a breeder or a show person. I�m talking about �John Doe� that lives down the street from you. How would he describe the German Shepherd Dog? What would he say he looks like? What would he say about the disposition of this breed of dog? Are we the breeders representing the German Shepherd Dog the way most people think of them? Or have we designed a dog that most people wouldn�t identify as the �average� German Shepherd?
If �John Doe� came to a dog show or if he looked up kennels on the internet, I dare say he would be faced with many different types of German Shepherd Dogs being represented. Just take a look on Facebook at all the breeders and the pictures of their dogs on there. I have never seen such a variety of German Shepherds in one place.
What does the general public think a German Shepherd Dog looks like? I bet if you asked them, a majority of them would probably describe a black and silver or black and light tan dog to you. They would probably describe an ordinary looking dog with a protective type of personality.
I was disappointed the other night when I was watching �The Dog Whisperer� and a poll was taken asking the general public which dogs were the most aggressive breed. I knew that the Pit Bull would be the first dog people would name. However, the German Shepherd was rated as being the most aggressive right under them and then followed by the Rottweiler! It doesn�t look like our breed has such a great reputation! I�d rather them be listed as a protection breed for their family and loved ones rather than an aggressive breed. It really is two different things, in my opinion.
If a person �Googled� the words German Shepherd in the search window, thousands of breeder�s names and kennels would come up. Now if you went on those web sites, many times you would see a dog that looks different from other people�s dogs on their websites. Oh sure you�d see the same noble looking head with his ears standing up straight on his head that most people would associate with this breed. But many times this is where the similarity would end. You�d see many different colors of the German Shepherd Dog�s coat. You�d see short coats and you�d see long coats. You�d see average sized dogs and monster bone sized dogs. You�d see American style German Shepherds and you�d see German style German Shepherds. You�d see light pigment. You�d see deep, dark Mahoney red pigment. They�d be straight backs and there would be roach back dogs. You�d see short backs and long backs. Some would stand straight and look boxy and others would be slopping with their rears close to the ground. This could all be very confusing to "John Doe" for he wouldn't know what the standard for our breed is. All he would know is that they all looked so different.
When one talks about one of �those� designer breeds, are we too not designers of our breed the German Shepherd Dog? If you were to look at the first picture of a German Shepherd when this breed first became recognized and look at it now, you would think that it is a different breed. So indeed, we as breeders have designed the German Shepherd Dog and how it looks today! We changed the whole look to the dog. In many ways for the better, I believe. But we have designed him to look a certain way and not the original way at all. I wonder what the breed will look like in another twenty years or so. Should we be changing the looks of the breed so much? We have a standard, but I see very few dogs look like what the standard calls for. Because a breeder is a designer of sorts, he will have bred for a certain style of dogs. Many kennels have generations of their lines in their breeding program and one only has to look at their dogs to know that this is from their kennel.
Are we all heading in the same direction with the same goal to breed the best representative of the German Shepherd that we can? Or are we all doing our own thing and designing a dog that doesn�t really fit to the standard at all? Take a look at the dogs on some people�s websites or on Facebook. Have we created a designer dog or do they look like the standard set for our breed? You decide!
My rating: Breeding to the standard: (4)
If �John Doe� came to a dog show or if he looked up kennels on the internet, I dare say he would be faced with many different types of German Shepherd Dogs being represented. Just take a look on Facebook at all the breeders and the pictures of their dogs on there. I have never seen such a variety of German Shepherds in one place.
What does the general public think a German Shepherd Dog looks like? I bet if you asked them, a majority of them would probably describe a black and silver or black and light tan dog to you. They would probably describe an ordinary looking dog with a protective type of personality.
I was disappointed the other night when I was watching �The Dog Whisperer� and a poll was taken asking the general public which dogs were the most aggressive breed. I knew that the Pit Bull would be the first dog people would name. However, the German Shepherd was rated as being the most aggressive right under them and then followed by the Rottweiler! It doesn�t look like our breed has such a great reputation! I�d rather them be listed as a protection breed for their family and loved ones rather than an aggressive breed. It really is two different things, in my opinion.
If a person �Googled� the words German Shepherd in the search window, thousands of breeder�s names and kennels would come up. Now if you went on those web sites, many times you would see a dog that looks different from other people�s dogs on their websites. Oh sure you�d see the same noble looking head with his ears standing up straight on his head that most people would associate with this breed. But many times this is where the similarity would end. You�d see many different colors of the German Shepherd Dog�s coat. You�d see short coats and you�d see long coats. You�d see average sized dogs and monster bone sized dogs. You�d see American style German Shepherds and you�d see German style German Shepherds. You�d see light pigment. You�d see deep, dark Mahoney red pigment. They�d be straight backs and there would be roach back dogs. You�d see short backs and long backs. Some would stand straight and look boxy and others would be slopping with their rears close to the ground. This could all be very confusing to "John Doe" for he wouldn't know what the standard for our breed is. All he would know is that they all looked so different.
When one talks about one of �those� designer breeds, are we too not designers of our breed the German Shepherd Dog? If you were to look at the first picture of a German Shepherd when this breed first became recognized and look at it now, you would think that it is a different breed. So indeed, we as breeders have designed the German Shepherd Dog and how it looks today! We changed the whole look to the dog. In many ways for the better, I believe. But we have designed him to look a certain way and not the original way at all. I wonder what the breed will look like in another twenty years or so. Should we be changing the looks of the breed so much? We have a standard, but I see very few dogs look like what the standard calls for. Because a breeder is a designer of sorts, he will have bred for a certain style of dogs. Many kennels have generations of their lines in their breeding program and one only has to look at their dogs to know that this is from their kennel.
Are we all heading in the same direction with the same goal to breed the best representative of the German Shepherd that we can? Or are we all doing our own thing and designing a dog that doesn�t really fit to the standard at all? Take a look at the dogs on some people�s websites or on Facebook. Have we created a designer dog or do they look like the standard set for our breed? You decide!
My rating: Breeding to the standard: (4)
Thursday, 2 December 2010
THROWING IN THE TOWEL
There has been unrest in the German Shepherd Dog community for quite some time now. I suppose it�s not unlike the unrest in the rest of the country. But I feel it deep down in my bones. It�s like there is something in the air that we breathe. A general state of unhappiness perforates that air. You can�t touch it. You can�t smell it. But nevertheless it�s there.
Like most of you I have access to communicating with the rest of the German Shepherd Dog community through e-mail lists, Facebook, and the good old fashioned way of on the telephone or in person. People are not as enthusiastic or excited about a new litter or a show coming up like they once were. Negativity has replaced hopefulness and the anticipation of a �new star� that is born. Some breeders are closing shop or at least cutting way back. The days of the big show dog kennels are becoming a thing of the past. More and more breeders are devoting their time and effort into helping with the rescue efforts. Some people just enjoy their dogs by training them for obedience work and then others still are just enjoying them as their devoted and loving pets.
When Specialty clubs close their doors and it becomes harder and harder to find a major pointed show, many people have become discouraged and don�t want to put in the extra work looking for a major. It�s almost like the German Shepherd community has taken a nap. Will they wake up and prosper and shine again? Or will they find other things to take up their time? Oh their love for the breed will never waver, but perhaps they have discovered that there are other ways to enjoy their dogs that they never did before.
Well known kennels tell me that they don�t want to show anymore and I laugh looking at their success record questioning their decision. But the last laugh is on me. They�re serious. When they tell me that they can�t even sell their top show puppies because there isn�t any show homes, then I realize that they are very much serious. What�s the sense in putting thousands of dollars into a breeding and you don�t have the show homes to sell them to? For some of these people they are now using local stud dogs or the ones that they have in their own kennels. It�s become a thing of economics and it�s forced some breeders to rethink their breeding programs.
Baby Boomers are now hitting their senior years and in some cases it has forced some to look at their priorities a little bit more. Let�s face it, housing and feeding a kennel full of dogs is expensive. And let�s not forget the wear and tear on our aging bodies. Even if we do age well, we�re still not like when we were in our twenties. And if you are not breeding these dogs like you used to, then you are spending lots of money to keep them comfortable for the rest of their lives. Many wisely decide to find loving, forever homes for their dogs rather than have them waste away in a kennel all day long. It has brought some people to their knees making the decision to let some of these wonderful animals go, but economics helps make that decision a little easier for them.
I have a few personal friends that have changed their view on breeding and showing dogs. All have been successful in their own ways��some in very big ways and others in smaller ways, but successful nevertheless. When I hear the words like, �It�s no longer any fun� or �Nothing excites me anymore� I immediately think that this is just a phase that they are going through. They�ll lay low for awhile and come the spring, �show dog fever� will hit them once again. Hey maybe that�s it. It�s the winter time and some people do tend to become a little more melancholy during the long, cold winter days. But I�m assured by them that no it�s not a seasonal blue period in their lives. It�s almost as if they are looking for greener pastures to explore. Some of them are all �showed out!�
The other thing I hear an awful lot of is the lack of support from the established breeders and exhibitors towards the �younger version� of themselves. Without a welcoming community for new people to come into, I�m afraid a hostile environment will only leave them cold and leave them never walking back into a show ring again. The days of noses up in the air, �I�m better than you,� has died a slow death and right along with it the very community of the future of the show dog. It can�t exist without the people needed to support it.
Will my friends and those others that are leaving the breeding and showing of the German Shepherd Dog behind �come to their senses� again or will their common sense prevail? Will they buy that little red sports car and vacation on Paradise Island spending their senior years sipping on Pina Coladas and partaking of tropical delicacies? Probably not. Will we still have things to talk about now that dogs are no longer a major focus of their lives? I hope so.
Our love for the German Shepherd Dog brought us together and a friendship was formed because of our shared interest and love for the breed. Hopefully that friendship will endure because we truly care about one another. They�ll probably still be German Shepherds in our lives even if it�s one of the �oldsters� lying by our rocking chair, or just the memories that reach out to us from the pages of our photo albums. The dust might collect on the show win pictures hanging on our wall, but it will still be a reminder. We will remember because it was a good time to be in dogs and although the applause has come to a halt, the memories of it still linger in our mind and we remember it was the best time!
From the book "MY SO-CALLED FREELANCE LIFE"...."Since we�re all sh**ing our pants over the current economic situation, this book couldn�t come at a better time. My So-Called Freelance Life saunters its way through the ins and outs of becoming a successful solo professional, whether you�re a newly graduated 20-something trapped in a monotonous cubicle job or a new mom looking for flexible hours. Having accumulated a great deal of experience on the topic, Michelle Goodman (author of The Anti 9-to-5 Guide) leaves no paperweight unturned, explaining how to get started, maintain a budget and schedule, gather/weed out clientele, and legally cover your a**. Goodman includes a bevy of relevant links, contacts, organizations, and advice on everything from negotiating your hourly rate to when to quit working for the Man. While her book thoroughly covers every fundamental career intricacy you can imagine, wit and hilarity are also seated firmly within. (She even quotes Peter Gallagher on The OC, thus actualizing the poetry of my heart.) Not only is this book an incredible guide on how to get started, but it�s also inspiring and oddly comforting. �You can�t hitch your entire creative career on one big break�or one fat failure,� Goodman writes, �you have to keep moving forward, reaching for bigger and better.� It�s a book you will feel compelled to keep in your personal library (probably between your college dictionary and your religious tome of choice), or you can be like me and sleep with it in your arms."
My rating: Retiring from dogs: (1 - 4), Developing other interests: (4)
Like most of you I have access to communicating with the rest of the German Shepherd Dog community through e-mail lists, Facebook, and the good old fashioned way of on the telephone or in person. People are not as enthusiastic or excited about a new litter or a show coming up like they once were. Negativity has replaced hopefulness and the anticipation of a �new star� that is born. Some breeders are closing shop or at least cutting way back. The days of the big show dog kennels are becoming a thing of the past. More and more breeders are devoting their time and effort into helping with the rescue efforts. Some people just enjoy their dogs by training them for obedience work and then others still are just enjoying them as their devoted and loving pets.
When Specialty clubs close their doors and it becomes harder and harder to find a major pointed show, many people have become discouraged and don�t want to put in the extra work looking for a major. It�s almost like the German Shepherd community has taken a nap. Will they wake up and prosper and shine again? Or will they find other things to take up their time? Oh their love for the breed will never waver, but perhaps they have discovered that there are other ways to enjoy their dogs that they never did before.
Well known kennels tell me that they don�t want to show anymore and I laugh looking at their success record questioning their decision. But the last laugh is on me. They�re serious. When they tell me that they can�t even sell their top show puppies because there isn�t any show homes, then I realize that they are very much serious. What�s the sense in putting thousands of dollars into a breeding and you don�t have the show homes to sell them to? For some of these people they are now using local stud dogs or the ones that they have in their own kennels. It�s become a thing of economics and it�s forced some breeders to rethink their breeding programs.
Baby Boomers are now hitting their senior years and in some cases it has forced some to look at their priorities a little bit more. Let�s face it, housing and feeding a kennel full of dogs is expensive. And let�s not forget the wear and tear on our aging bodies. Even if we do age well, we�re still not like when we were in our twenties. And if you are not breeding these dogs like you used to, then you are spending lots of money to keep them comfortable for the rest of their lives. Many wisely decide to find loving, forever homes for their dogs rather than have them waste away in a kennel all day long. It has brought some people to their knees making the decision to let some of these wonderful animals go, but economics helps make that decision a little easier for them.
I have a few personal friends that have changed their view on breeding and showing dogs. All have been successful in their own ways��some in very big ways and others in smaller ways, but successful nevertheless. When I hear the words like, �It�s no longer any fun� or �Nothing excites me anymore� I immediately think that this is just a phase that they are going through. They�ll lay low for awhile and come the spring, �show dog fever� will hit them once again. Hey maybe that�s it. It�s the winter time and some people do tend to become a little more melancholy during the long, cold winter days. But I�m assured by them that no it�s not a seasonal blue period in their lives. It�s almost as if they are looking for greener pastures to explore. Some of them are all �showed out!�
The other thing I hear an awful lot of is the lack of support from the established breeders and exhibitors towards the �younger version� of themselves. Without a welcoming community for new people to come into, I�m afraid a hostile environment will only leave them cold and leave them never walking back into a show ring again. The days of noses up in the air, �I�m better than you,� has died a slow death and right along with it the very community of the future of the show dog. It can�t exist without the people needed to support it.
Will my friends and those others that are leaving the breeding and showing of the German Shepherd Dog behind �come to their senses� again or will their common sense prevail? Will they buy that little red sports car and vacation on Paradise Island spending their senior years sipping on Pina Coladas and partaking of tropical delicacies? Probably not. Will we still have things to talk about now that dogs are no longer a major focus of their lives? I hope so.
Our love for the German Shepherd Dog brought us together and a friendship was formed because of our shared interest and love for the breed. Hopefully that friendship will endure because we truly care about one another. They�ll probably still be German Shepherds in our lives even if it�s one of the �oldsters� lying by our rocking chair, or just the memories that reach out to us from the pages of our photo albums. The dust might collect on the show win pictures hanging on our wall, but it will still be a reminder. We will remember because it was a good time to be in dogs and although the applause has come to a halt, the memories of it still linger in our mind and we remember it was the best time!
From the book "MY SO-CALLED FREELANCE LIFE"...."Since we�re all sh**ing our pants over the current economic situation, this book couldn�t come at a better time. My So-Called Freelance Life saunters its way through the ins and outs of becoming a successful solo professional, whether you�re a newly graduated 20-something trapped in a monotonous cubicle job or a new mom looking for flexible hours. Having accumulated a great deal of experience on the topic, Michelle Goodman (author of The Anti 9-to-5 Guide) leaves no paperweight unturned, explaining how to get started, maintain a budget and schedule, gather/weed out clientele, and legally cover your a**. Goodman includes a bevy of relevant links, contacts, organizations, and advice on everything from negotiating your hourly rate to when to quit working for the Man. While her book thoroughly covers every fundamental career intricacy you can imagine, wit and hilarity are also seated firmly within. (She even quotes Peter Gallagher on The OC, thus actualizing the poetry of my heart.) Not only is this book an incredible guide on how to get started, but it�s also inspiring and oddly comforting. �You can�t hitch your entire creative career on one big break�or one fat failure,� Goodman writes, �you have to keep moving forward, reaching for bigger and better.� It�s a book you will feel compelled to keep in your personal library (probably between your college dictionary and your religious tome of choice), or you can be like me and sleep with it in your arms."
My rating: Retiring from dogs: (1 - 4), Developing other interests: (4)
Monday, 15 November 2010
WHEN'S THE LAST TIME YOU GOT GOOSE BUMPS?
Today I�d like to thank Liza (with a �Z�) Minnelli for today�s topic! You see I�m a big fan of �You Tube� and all the many entertaining videos of song and movies. So I was pulling up some of my all time favorite �Oldies but Goodies� songs of my youth. Anyway when you listen to one song, there are many other entertainers that sing their own version of the song. So this is how I came across some of the videos of this phenomenal entertainer.
Liza and I go back many years. You see when I was first married and I got my first German Shepherd puppy, we lived in a ground level apartment. She was a little coated bitch with the most marvelous temperament and had a zest for life. We had a neighbor that lived upstairs that liked to vacuum her apartment around eleven o�clock every night. None of my requests for her to turn her music down made a hill of beans to her. She also had a teenager son who liked to bang on his drums from morning to night. I was very young at the time and a lot more tolerant of annoying loud noises than I am today. So one day I went out and bought a newly released album (yes that�s what they had then�..no CD�s) of Liza Minnelli�s called �Liza with a Z���.I must have heard a positive review about it on the television because I was not really familiar with her music. I was too busy listening to rock and roll.
Anyway I bought the album and became an immediate fan of hers because of her powerhouse voice (truly a daughter of her mother Judy Garland)and the way she interprets a song. And truth be told, I needed her �pipes� to drown out the rude people that lived upstairs. So that�s how I became familiar and very much appreciative of Liza�s music. I liked her so much, that I went and seen her in concert twice. Talk about star power. She �owned� the stage. She gave me goose bumps listening to her!
So my first German Shepherd was either enduring the loud drum practice of a teenage �not so good drum player� or the vocal pipes of an electrifying singer. As I said, she had excellent temperament and was very tolerant of anything that came her way. So where is this topic leading me to anyway?
There are times in our lives that literally give us goose bumps. How many of those goose bump moments have been related to the German Shepherd dog? When was the last time that you watched the National Specials class and one of those dogs took your breath away? Was it the Grand Victor or was it another Select dog that you liked a whole lot better but the judge had a different opinion? Or maybe you were crazy about the Grand Victor that had been chosen and watching him crowned gave you goose bumps.
Anyone that was at the 1985 National Specialty show surely can agree with me that that year�s Grand Victrix Ch Lynrik�s Kristal gave all the spectators a �goose bump� moment. She was handled by a very young and talented Leslie Dancosse. Kristal�s leash was dropped when Leslie took a minor misstep and the bitch continued to gait around the ring as if Leslie was still attached to the end of her lead. I�ll never forget it or the roar of the audience at watching this little bitch perform her little heart out. She was indeed what a Grand Victrix should be.
What about when you have a new litter and they start to gait across your backyard. One stands out from the rest. One begs you to �look at me����keep me, you�re not going to regret it.� She stops and sets herself up without any training to do so. She takes your breathe away. You run to the phone and call the stud dog owner and tell him, you have a future Grand Victrix in your kennel!
Perhaps you�ve entered one of your dogs in a performance arena and he got a perfect score. All your hard work and training paid off and you were beaming with pride at the athletic abilities of your dog being realized. He looks up into your eyes as if to say, �We did good mom!� And indeed, he has!
Maybe you are one of the hard working, unselfish rescue workers that are called upon time and time again to help the �unfortunates� of our beloved breed. You could write a book about all that you have witnessed. You are not in it for any rewards or blue ribbons. You�re in it for the most simplest of reasons. You just plain old �give a damn!� Your reward is seeing another German Shepherd rescued and placed into his �forever� home. When a dog is down to his last day in the shelter before he�s getting ready to meet his maker and you walk and sometimes literally run into the shelter just in time, well damn if that isn�t a �goose bump� moment, I don�t know what is!
Your child loves dogs and he would love to become more involved with them so he helps groom them, he helps train them and then he asks you, �Mom can I show Duke myself in the ring? Can I please Mom?� Well your chest swells with pride at your child�s request and sure you�ll give him the chance to show his own dog. When he takes his feet into the ring for the very first time and he looks in your direction and sees you clapping for him, his eyes light up and a smile escapes his lips, you just know that you�re watching a �handler in the making!� You bet it�s a goose bump moment!
Having a senior dog that can barely walk because he�s crippled with arthritis respond to a medicine or supplement that puts a new spring in his step, gives you hope for your old guys later years and this too is a "goose bump" moment.
The pride of German Shepherd ownership or any dog for that matter brings along with it some very special �goose bump� moments. From the wet, sloppy kiss planted on the new baby in the house, to the guardianship of that baby, to looking out the window for little �Johnny� getting off the bus��..all �goose bump: moments. It is not after all, just about the show wins, it�s about truly living each day with these exceptional dogs. To miss a moment with them means you may have deprived yourself of one of those �goose bump� moments. All you need to do is pay attention��its coming!
Liza and I go back many years. You see when I was first married and I got my first German Shepherd puppy, we lived in a ground level apartment. She was a little coated bitch with the most marvelous temperament and had a zest for life. We had a neighbor that lived upstairs that liked to vacuum her apartment around eleven o�clock every night. None of my requests for her to turn her music down made a hill of beans to her. She also had a teenager son who liked to bang on his drums from morning to night. I was very young at the time and a lot more tolerant of annoying loud noises than I am today. So one day I went out and bought a newly released album (yes that�s what they had then�..no CD�s) of Liza Minnelli�s called �Liza with a Z���.I must have heard a positive review about it on the television because I was not really familiar with her music. I was too busy listening to rock and roll.
Anyway I bought the album and became an immediate fan of hers because of her powerhouse voice (truly a daughter of her mother Judy Garland)and the way she interprets a song. And truth be told, I needed her �pipes� to drown out the rude people that lived upstairs. So that�s how I became familiar and very much appreciative of Liza�s music. I liked her so much, that I went and seen her in concert twice. Talk about star power. She �owned� the stage. She gave me goose bumps listening to her!
So my first German Shepherd was either enduring the loud drum practice of a teenage �not so good drum player� or the vocal pipes of an electrifying singer. As I said, she had excellent temperament and was very tolerant of anything that came her way. So where is this topic leading me to anyway?
There are times in our lives that literally give us goose bumps. How many of those goose bump moments have been related to the German Shepherd dog? When was the last time that you watched the National Specials class and one of those dogs took your breath away? Was it the Grand Victor or was it another Select dog that you liked a whole lot better but the judge had a different opinion? Or maybe you were crazy about the Grand Victor that had been chosen and watching him crowned gave you goose bumps.
Anyone that was at the 1985 National Specialty show surely can agree with me that that year�s Grand Victrix Ch Lynrik�s Kristal gave all the spectators a �goose bump� moment. She was handled by a very young and talented Leslie Dancosse. Kristal�s leash was dropped when Leslie took a minor misstep and the bitch continued to gait around the ring as if Leslie was still attached to the end of her lead. I�ll never forget it or the roar of the audience at watching this little bitch perform her little heart out. She was indeed what a Grand Victrix should be.
What about when you have a new litter and they start to gait across your backyard. One stands out from the rest. One begs you to �look at me����keep me, you�re not going to regret it.� She stops and sets herself up without any training to do so. She takes your breathe away. You run to the phone and call the stud dog owner and tell him, you have a future Grand Victrix in your kennel!
Perhaps you�ve entered one of your dogs in a performance arena and he got a perfect score. All your hard work and training paid off and you were beaming with pride at the athletic abilities of your dog being realized. He looks up into your eyes as if to say, �We did good mom!� And indeed, he has!
Maybe you are one of the hard working, unselfish rescue workers that are called upon time and time again to help the �unfortunates� of our beloved breed. You could write a book about all that you have witnessed. You are not in it for any rewards or blue ribbons. You�re in it for the most simplest of reasons. You just plain old �give a damn!� Your reward is seeing another German Shepherd rescued and placed into his �forever� home. When a dog is down to his last day in the shelter before he�s getting ready to meet his maker and you walk and sometimes literally run into the shelter just in time, well damn if that isn�t a �goose bump� moment, I don�t know what is!
Your child loves dogs and he would love to become more involved with them so he helps groom them, he helps train them and then he asks you, �Mom can I show Duke myself in the ring? Can I please Mom?� Well your chest swells with pride at your child�s request and sure you�ll give him the chance to show his own dog. When he takes his feet into the ring for the very first time and he looks in your direction and sees you clapping for him, his eyes light up and a smile escapes his lips, you just know that you�re watching a �handler in the making!� You bet it�s a goose bump moment!
Having a senior dog that can barely walk because he�s crippled with arthritis respond to a medicine or supplement that puts a new spring in his step, gives you hope for your old guys later years and this too is a "goose bump" moment.
The pride of German Shepherd ownership or any dog for that matter brings along with it some very special �goose bump� moments. From the wet, sloppy kiss planted on the new baby in the house, to the guardianship of that baby, to looking out the window for little �Johnny� getting off the bus��..all �goose bump: moments. It is not after all, just about the show wins, it�s about truly living each day with these exceptional dogs. To miss a moment with them means you may have deprived yourself of one of those �goose bump� moments. All you need to do is pay attention��its coming!
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
LIFE WITH SKIPPER - GUEST WRITER - KATHY SATER-PARTCH
If any of you would like to share your stories or pictures with me and would like to see them on my blog, please forward them to me for my review and perhaps we can get them here as well. So here is Kathy's beautifully written heartfelt story. Enjoy!
Life with Skipper
1967 � 1975
Kathy Sater-Partch
Hold on to the memories of our animal friends. Let your heart reach out and touch the things that happened to those we loved so dearly. Take a deep breath and make a carbon copy of your feelings. And then ask yourself, �Why are these memories so important?� Think about where these thoughts have taken you. It is often on a journey of pride and laughter, but also one of worry, sighs and tears. The experiences of living with our animal friends can happen in ways that are unexpected, wild and fast. These endeavors, positive and negative have greatly enriched my soul.
Skipper was buried on his place in the year of 1975. We now believe without question that his spirit still roams that place he so dearly loved and protected.
Let me go back in joyful memory to when Joe first brought Skipper home to me. There had to be no other person in this entire world as happy as I was at that moment. Since I was a very small child, all I could see were dogs and horses. Some years later it was Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, Bullet and other famous canine friends I loved so much. Even though both of my parents were raised on farms, neither one of them wanted to continue to have animals after they married. All I cared about as a child was anything that had fur on it. No dolls for me. Dogs and horses were my greatest love. As the years went by with my parents, I did have the privilege of a few cats, a bunny, fish and turtles. Weekly visits to my grandmother and grandfather�s farms brought me much joy with their dogs and other farm animals.
I have to smile. Some years after Joe and I married, my mother and father then got their first German Shepherd Dog, a puppy they named Kelly. I guess it just happened for them. They were at the right place and time, and Kelly picked them for her new family. She was a beautiful black and silver. Mother and father were blessed with this stunning, healthy, good tempered companion. They experienced many fantastic years with Kelly. As she lived her life, she gave much joy to many. I truly believe each and every animal born is a blessing for those who love them.
When Joe left that early morning the second day of our marriage to search for our first German Shepherd Dog, he had no idea how the day would start or end. When I think back, how could he even think he could just go out and get any German Shepherd Dog to bring back home with him? He knew of no German Shepherd Dog breeders in the area, nor any other source to achieve this goal. But for some reason, when he left the house that day he believed that he was coming home with a German Shepherd. We still reminisce about this amazing goal he set out to accomplish. Joe drove right to a rescue place he knew of not far from our home. When he arrived, he got out of his pickup, and just looked around for a while at the kennels that held quite a few different breeds. Then a caretaker approached Joe and asked if he could help. �Yes, I would really like to find a German Shepherd Dog to take home with me today,� Joe replied back. �It can be a female or a male, it doesn�t matter.� The caretaker thought for a moment and said, �Gosh, at the moment, when I think about it, we don�t have any shepherds at this time.�
So Joe looked around some more and came upon a gorgeous Malamute staring back at him with incredibly intense ice-blue eyes.� Joe really was impressed by his handsome face and large masculine size until the dog did a low rumbling growl at him. �I don�t think you need or want this dog because we have found him to have some serious aggression issues,� the caretaker said in a firm voice. Being a bit disappointed, Joe said, �I�m just going to walk around for a while and keep looking.� The caretaker followed behind. Joe was becoming more aware of what he was hearing in the background. It was loud enough for him to take notice, but not until he was there for some time did he realize the barking and whining was coming from a pump-house not far away. Joe asked the caretaker, �Why do you have a dog locked up in there?� �What kind of dog is that?� The caretaker looked a bit sheepish at that point and was having a bit of a problem finding the correct reply. �Oh yes, by the way, hmmm, now that I think about, we do have a shepherd that just came in and we put him in the pump-house for the time being.� Surprised at the caretaker�s suspicious answer, Joe asked immediately to see the dog. When the caretaker brought the beautiful intact German Shepherd Dog puppy out of the pump-house, it was love right from the start. The dog was very exuberant and, of course, immensely pleased he was finally out of his little prison. Oh yes, this was a weird situation, and Joe didn�t want to ask any other questions except for one more, �How much are you asking for him?� �I�m asking thirty-five dollars,� the man said. �Will you take twenty-five dollars?� Joe replied. And the caretaker said, �Yes.� The young shepherd jumped willing into Joe�s pickup, and off they drove. When I first saw my dog, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I really can�t say to this day why we named him Skipper. The name just came up from what I remember; we both agreed, and that was it. By the next day, the puppy was coming to his new name, Skipper. Life was good.
We continued to share many awesome times together. Joe and I came home one day when Skipper was about a year old, only to find he had totally torn my whole house apart. He ate an entire pound of butter plus bread to go with it. He shredded all my new towels and pillows. There wasn�t one thing he didn�t miss, right down to a favorite large teddy bear my late grandfather Sater had given me when I was a teenager. That bear was totally unrecognizable. I do have to laugh at this now because I saw the remains of the bear scattered all over the living room floor. But the funniest of all, with thousands of bits and pieces lying about, placed neatly in one corner of our living room were the bear�s two eyes and nose next to each other. They were actually making a face all by themselves on the floor. I�ll never forget that. How in the world did Skipper do that?
In May of 1997, just before we made our big move from Minnesota to Arizona, we wanted to drive by our old hobby ranch one more time. We had fourteen wonderful years of great memories there. Joe and I left on a quiet Sunday morning to visit the old farm. As we were nearing the scene of many memories we had left behind, we drove slowly along the old fence line we worked so hard to put up for our horses back then. We were amazed to see that the fence was still standing, but the rusted wire leaned heavily on its weary wooden posts. We finally stopped by the beginning of the long-winding driveway that led to our custom built house and barn. By now, my heart was beating with excitement and along with that, some sadness fell upon me as many memories raced through my mind. The numerous trees that lined the farms driveway were now unrecognizable. Their growth made our handmade archway at the end of the drive look insignificant. The archway, still standing, now had a slight lean due to its period of enduring years.
Within seconds of our stop by the long driveway, we couldn�t believe what we set eyes upon. There before us stood a mature beautiful black and tan German Shepherd Dog. He stepped slowly out of the thick woods. The shepherd just stood there looking at us with his long full tail wagging slowly back and forth in anticipation. He carried a stunning head with black eyes that seemed to look attentively into our souls. This was the exact thing Skipper would do when we would come home, and stop at the end of the driveway to retrieve our mail. It absolutely took our breath away. I looked at Joe and said, "Can you believe what we�re looking at?" �I know," he said with a big sigh. The shepherd, with his welcoming body language, was a carbon copy of our late Skipper. With all the many breeds, coat colors, and gender, how could this particular dog display himself at precisely this exact moment in time?
Many years after Skipper�s death, Joe and I feel that his spirit manifested itself in a way we�ll never forget. Losing Skipper like we did has left a very deep, dark hole in our hearts, and it seems to have haunted us forever. I couldn't stay one minute longer by the end of that driveway. I asked Joe to drive on as I started to shed tears. The beautiful shepherd watched us drive slowly away. I looked back one more time in disbelief as the dog receded into the thick wooded terrain he came from and disappeared.
Treasures of Skipper
Please soften my last memory of you,
For your departure was all too unkind.
Your photos from the past ache in my heart,
A German Shepherd Dog you were so fine.
Glory in all things you accomplished,
Set free your legend to tell.
For you were revealed in your lineage,
And I gloried in their wonders as well.
A spirit so powerful yet lost in a flash,
Brought back in that one special day,
One day meant to be so long ago,
In this memory you�ll always stay.
You were of grand elegance,
A masculine dog hence defined.
My dog of much gentleness and spirit,
A German Shepherd Dog of infinite design.
� Kathy Sater-Partch
My rating: Stories about German Shepherd Dogs: (4)
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