GSDs: ‘Let down and victimised’
THE KENNEL Club’s threat to withhold CCs from German Shepherds
unless conformation problems and the practice of double handling are
addressed has been called ‘more dictatorial than
democratic’.
Breed council chairman John Cullen, speaking on behalf of the GSD
Partnership, told the KC that they felt ‘let down and
victimised.’
The KC is refusing to allocate CCs to German Shepherds for 2012 because
it has concerns about the breed’s conformation – it has
cited touching hocks, length of the second thigh and exaggerated
toplines – and ‘unabated double handling.’
The KC has said that before CC allocation is confirmed, discussions
must continue to ensure that ‘acceptable plans’ are in
place and that moves are being made to resolve matters.
The KC’s views were set out in a letter from Kathryn Symns, its canine activities executive.
DisappointedIn reply, Mr Cullen accused the KC of passing its duty of care to the
breeders and of blaming them for issues which lay firmly with the KC
and the GSD community as a whole.
“We were very disappointed at the tone and timing of the letter,
and we found its content to be more dictatorial than democratic in its
threats to withhold CCs for 2012,” Mr Cullen wrote. “This
kind of statement only makes our task more difficult in persuading our
members that the way forward is discussion with the KC.
“Despite this, at the recent breed council meeting, members gave
a mandate to carry on working in partnership with the German Shepherd
Dog League and British Association For German Shepherd Dogs to improve
the health and welfare of the GSD in conjunction with the KC.”
Mr Cullen’s said that the KC’s concerns regarding unsound
dogs and double handling were matters which should be dealt with by the
KC, judges and breed club members.
“The GSD community has been in a dialogue on how we can deal with
KC judges promoting unsoundness since the first time it was raised by
the KC in November 2008,” he said.
“At that time we were faced with sparse and anecdotal evidence, leading to the revising of the breed Standard.
“The KC initiative of issuing judges with instructions on how to
deal with unsoundness and double handling is simply not working; that
coupled with the mixed messages we are getting from the KC field
officers – some very positive – at our shows is perhaps why
we and the KC find ourselves in this unsatisfactory situation.”
InitiativesAt its meeting on July 25, the breed council debated a number of initiatives on how to deal with these issues.
“For your information, an initiative was presented to the KC in
April 2009… on how we deal with some of the fundamental issues
in the letter,” Mr Cullen wrote to the KC. “At that meeting
it was presented to the KC that the GSD community is prepared to
organise a seminar/symposium for championship show judges and breed
clubs, like we used to seven or eight years ago, to discuss
unsoundness, and now double handling, with the aim of coming up, with
the KC, with some new and more effective ideas over and above the
unsatisfactory current attempts.
“This is a joint problem and not one which can be managed by the
KC issuing threats regarding allocation of CCs. The only way in which
the problems can be satisfactorily remedied is with the GSD community
and the KC working together.
“Of the initiatives brainstormed in the limited time the clubs
had to debate the issue at the breed council meeting was one that, with
the agreement of the KC, there should perhaps be introduced some kind
of judging of the judges with regard to promoting soundness in the ring
and the far more effective and consistent control of double handling
– perhaps with some compromise or change of the current
rules.”
Mr Cullen said that interpretation of the rules by KC field officers, judges and breed clubs was inconsistent.
“This leads to the exhibitors and our clubs not really knowing
what to do,” he said. “I am sure you are familiar with some
guidance given by field officers such as, ‘It’s OK to walk
but not run’, ‘It’s OK to rattle keys but no
horns’, ‘Static outside attraction is OK’ and so on.
“These mixed messages might have been appropriate on the day of a
show but under analysis do not help. What will help is if we come up
with a review and produce some new, safe and workable rules with the
KC. Taking CCs away is not the answer.”
He said the idea of holding a symposium proved that the GSD community was taking action to address the problems.
“We will discuss adding backlines to the symposium agenda but all
our clubs are firmly of the opinion that we do not have a problem with
them,” he wrote, saying they were presented
‘continually’ with ‘unsupported, subjective and
anecdotal views’ on the subject by the KC.
“We ask the KC to issue us with all the evidence of the health
problems it considers might be a consequence of the alleged
‘extreme backlines’ of dogs in our rings today.
“We believe there is no evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, which
supports your subjective view that the GSD backline is dipped or
roached. For every photograph produced to make a point there are 20
more to counter that point.”
MandateAt the breed council meeting it was agreed – with two abstentions
– to give a mandate to the GSD Partnership to continue to work
with the KC on improving health and welfare in conjunction with the
Accredited Breeder Scheme.
The partnership has asked the KC to meet to discuss the proposed agenda
and terms of reference for a GSD symposium for judges and breeders; the
alleged issue of judges promoting unsound dogs; how to stop/revise the
current rules and confusion regarding outside attraction; and an ABS
scheme for German Shepherds.
Thu Aug 02, 2018 3:35 pm by Lorz
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cos i havent got a clue what it's all about
