8/12/2019 2009 Sieger Show Impressions and Tour Report

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2009-sieger-show-impressions-and-tour-report 1/6

2009 Sieger Show Impressions and Tour Reportby Fred Lanting

For a couple of decades, I have been taking small tour groups (one to threevehicles) on guided tours of Europe, with the Sieger Show as the centerpiece.For those reading about this for the first time, this show is the world’s largestsingle breed dog show, and has competitors from various countries all aroundthe globe. !" background as an S# breed $udge, combined with m" lifetime of activit" in the breed, species, and sport have enabled me to offer the beste%perience of this sort. I predict, e%plain, teach, guide, and introduce. If "ouwould like to have fun and &save and see' along with a group of friendl" fellow

8/12/2019 2009 Sieger Show Impressions and Tour Report

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2009-sieger-show-impressions-and-tour-report 2/6

dog lovers, contact me as soon as possible after the first of the "ear. Email !r. S (*) netscape.com for details on m" nonprofit tours.

In + -, the weather was great. tremendous improvement over the cold rain in + /. 0ut the stadiums have overhangingroofs to keep spectators dr", and the S is a working dog that shrugs off weather an"wa", so wh" shouldn’t its owners do thesame1 Even in the da"s after the 2 da" show (that’s when I take m" groups on visits to breeders, clubs, and regional attractions)we had balm" conditions. 3his "ear, it meant m" folks could en$o" the ride up the mountain in open horse drawn wagons to seethe fabulous 4eu Schwanstein castle in 0avaria that inspired the design of the smaller isne"land one. Some of us climbed the562 steps to the top of the world’s tallest church in 7lm during the weekend.

!" group this "ear consisted of three from 7rugua" (two had been on a previous tour, and I also knew them because I had $udged in their countr" twice), and three from merica. 3hree of the group had never been to a Sieger Show before. 8e flew into!unich, the land of lederhosen and spirit lifting oom pah pah music, walked through part of the big park called &English arden'and then watched the dancing figurines celebrate the striking of the hour in the tower of the immense, impressive !arienplat9building. 3hen we struck out for our hotel in ltenstadt, on the Iller :iver that forms the western border of 0avaria. ;alf an hour’sdrive from the show, it was an economical and pleasant alternative to rooms in the cit".

I’ll mention a little more about the tour before giving "ou the highlights of the showitself. 3his is $ust part of the difference between m" reports (and tours) and others"ou will find on the <net, another being an S# $udge’s perspective on the dogsand action. fter this "ear’s competition, we dipped into a bit of ustria briefl" and

then toured one of the fantas" castles built b" the free spending =udwig, the chief patron of 8agner, whose operatic themes are echoed ever"where in the 0avarianking’s opulent architectural creations. fter that, we en$o"ed the compan" of longtime successful breeders !artin and !aria >bl of 8ildsteiger =and kennel.!artin, who told me he was offering for sale most of his dogs in an attempt toretire, showed us his rooms full of trophies as well as his current dogs. ?ne of these was the ver" handsome 2 "ear old @vo, who is one of those he might bewilling to sell. nother is the e%cellent "oung untitled dog, 0uffo.

3hat evening, after a t"pical 0avarian supper with wild venison and localspecialt" side dishes, we en$o"ed an evening with instrumental music and singing in the 0avarian st"le and language.

3he following da", we visited the small kennels of Aosef and ABrgen Erhard, who alsohave some trul" beautiful dogs, including some outstanding puppies. =unch with them wasat a golf course that would rival some of the best countr" clubs in the States, but with the

lps as a backdrop. ll of rural erman" is ama9ingl" clean and beautiful, but themountains in the distance add even more to the ambience. 3hat evening we checked intothe hotel near the airport. 0ecause of the weakness of the dollar against the Euro this "ear,price inflation, and the relativel" small group to divide m" e%penses amongst, I cut this"ear’s tour b" one da". 0ut we still had a super time with the show, the hosts, and thef ellowship of the travelers. 4e%t "ear the show is in 4Brnberg (spelling corrupted b" Englishand mericans as &4uremberg'), and I’ll probabl" have m" + C group fl" into Frankfurt. susual, I’ll have to brush up on m" erman and Spanish in the weeks leading up to theshow. 3his "ear, I was struggling with switching between those languages and English totranslate for ever"bod". Some of the people don’t speak English, most do not speak

erman, and it made for a lot of laughs.

8/12/2019 2009 Sieger Show Impressions and Tour Report

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2009-sieger-show-impressions-and-tour-report 3/6

nd now for the show itself. If "ou have read m" predictions on the <net, "ou will be aware that I was &darn close in m"educated guesses' in spite of man" absentees due to sale overseas (mostl" Dhina) or retirement. !" prognostications arebased both on m" personal observation of gait anatom", and on how the dogs have performed in the past. For those who arebreeders or prospective pupp" bu"ers, I am listing the current hip rating ( uchtwert) in parentheses behind dogs’ names. 3helower, the better or safer. In the 5 s is preferred, but close to - or above represents increased risk of d"splasia.

Entries and attendance were still down from man" previous "ears because of the world econom", but Europe is better off than merica in this regard, and is bouncing back earlier. 3he show was noticeabl" better than last "ear, and in a much betterstadium.

Frida" is the longest da", with lower ranked dogs between C+ and +Gmonths’ age competing in four scattered rings, and the adults doingtheir protection Hualification tests in the large stadium (divided b" ascreen so females and males, respectivel", can’t see the bitework goingon b" the other). For those purists in the sport, and those who want toknow the true performance in order to add that to the calculation of which dogs are better to breed to or linebreed on, this is the mostimportant part of the competition. t smaller shows during the "ear, onl"the beaut" contest portion is seen, and that is not enough to base suchdecisions on.

0ut even in spite of this supposed safeguard for the integrit" of the breed, man" unworth" dogs sneak past

this intended barrier, because the performance $udges will freHuentl" &pass' with a & ronounced' rating somedogs that should fail or get a &#orhanden' (passing but not ver" good). nd the $udges who are doing theindividual conformation $udging in a location far from the bitework (the" are the ones that will rank the adultsthen and in the ne%t two da"s) are not able to see the actual work. 3herefore, the" cannot consider a poor performance when the" grade the dogs b" beaut".

=ast "ear, with onl" CJJ adult males, there were +C &working' (open, adult, titled) males who were either 3+ &#orhanden'(barel" sufficient, but to place at the end of all the others if the" sta"ed for that part of the show) or 32 &4icht enBgend'(insufficient courage and not eligible to return for the beaut" gaiting competition). 3his "ear, there were JJ in those twocategories combined, out of +25 presented. 3hese figures have more meaning when "ou reali9e that in + /, CGK of thesemales were 32 or 3+, but in + -, a whopping +2K &failed' (with both of these categories being failure in m" demandingopinion). It was with a sickening feeling that most of the crowd watched and waited for decent performances. 3hese statisticswere somewhat offset b" the larger numbers of working line dogs entered, well received b" the crowd, and doing fairl" well this"ear.

nother disappointment that I have voiced before, is the e%cusal from further competition, of dogs whose owners decide thattheir chances of making a big splash with a super placing have been diminished. 3his belief could be based on how the $udgehas placed the dog before, or comments made on this da", or other reason. 3he owner might feel it is better for stud servicereasons to pull the dog than to receive a placing further back than he believes the dog deserves. It used to be the rule that sucha withdrawal from continued competition on the weekend reHuired a veterinarian’s statement that the dog was sick or lame, but

that route was so corrupted that it was misused or practicall" abandoned. ?n the otherhand, there are man" &working lines' dogs whose owners $ust wanted their bitework tobe seen b" thousands of people, and who didn’t want to waste the time tr"ing to get ashow placing behind CJ other dogs.

3his "ear, the crowd missed the chance to see the group gaiting and placing of suchf avorites as Furbo degli chei (5/), Ilbo ;oltkLmper See (5/), a% Intercanina (/C), and3iras :oten Feld (5G), for whatever reasons that were given. 3heir absence after the

bitework and &individuals' is one reason m" forecast on placings was not Huite as

8/12/2019 2009 Sieger Show Impressions and Tour Report

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2009-sieger-show-impressions-and-tour-report 4/6

accurate as it could have been. lso, I do not keep up with who has been sold to Dhina, or retired from competition. Still, I hit themark prett" closel". educting the absentees, I had predicted this orderM #egas du ;aut !ansard (/J), @erom ;aus Salihin (//),@ukon 0astillie (/6), and Nwantum Nlostermoor (- ), and I was &spot on' with these first four. I also said that 3uareg 0ad 0oll(52), the well pigmented Schicco Freiheit 8esterholt (-+), :emo Fichtenschlag (5C), 7stinov :>merland (/+), Dlinten;oltkLmper See (5J), igger El9mBndungsraum (5C), and an$o Nirschental (- ) would do especiall" well, and the" indeedplaced #CG, # 6, # 5, #C, #/, and #C , respectivel". # means the top several of the # dogs, these letters standing for#or9uglich (E%cellent) and #or9uglicht uslese (E%cellent Select).

Some dogs were not listed in the official tabulation as having been e%cused from competition. 3he slap on the wrist&punishment' of not being allowed to compete for a few months is meaningless, because there are almost no shows in winteran"wa". 3here are several reasons for their absence, not man" being eas" to discover. For e%ample, the ver" nice looking andgood working 3"son N>ttersbusch onl" did the bitework and showed in his progen" group but, reportedl" because of his si9e(1),

the owner didn’t show him.

In females, I listed lisha Eichenplat9 (/J), #iva ;opfenhalle (6-O), Dha"enne NarthLuser =>wentor (/C), and =ea d’7lmental(/-) in that order, which was also close, as the" finished # +, # -, #G, and # 5, respectivel". @ou ma" remember that last "earm" group visited Dha"enne at home after the show. Siegerin this "ear is the #egas daughter 0ella Nuckucksland (/-). coupleof other bitches that caught m" e"e in the protection and gaiting were the Sirio daughter # C !ega ;oltkLmper See (/C), andthe beautiful #6 :omina iste 3rophe (-J).

?ther than the dogs that completel" lacked courage or those that failed to get a &pronounced' (ausgeprLgt) and &lets out'(lLsst ab stops fighting on command or when struggle stops), there are other results with these codesM 3C P lLsst nicht ab,ohne 0ewertung 3S0 (doesn’t out in time, but no problem with the fighting drives)Q and 3G P abgebrochen wegen mangelnder

FBhrigkeit, which means the dog failed to heel all the wa" to the point where the &bad gu"' with the sleeve runs out from the blindto attack them. !an" over eager and less trained dogs $ump the gun, and the" onl" have 2 tries to do it right. 7nfortunatel" therewere a few males who weren’t so controlled in that approach to the first blind, one of which was the strong character dog wevisited a few da"s later, @vo 8ildsteiger =and. 3his beautiful, well constructed ?din son is pictured in the photo appendi% to thisarticle. nd he has a uchtwert of 5/, which is Huite good. ;is problem this "ear was that he was too pla"ful instead of seriousabout the bitework.

I alread" mentioned some of the top winners, and "ou can go to the S# websites for the official listing of all dogs shown, oran" of the private sites that carr" the whole results. ;owever, in this report, I’d like to mention that I ma" have missed a few (onemust visit the toilet once in a whileO) and I wish to comment in detail on some others that ma" not have done as well as the topplacing dogs. So "ou will find here something more than $ust a catalog of winners. fter each Sieger Show, I discuss with m"group these additional observations.

In both the bitework and the "ounger classes, I paid more attention to the males, because

the" have more influence on the breed since the" are bred so much more often, but I saw thework of a few females, too. Forgive me if I missed "our favorite bitch. I would like to have seenlower 8 numbers in most of the top dogs, but it’s alwa"s a balancing act for breeders whowant both good hips and super show results. llow me to first mention some things about dogswith 8s under / before commenting on some that ma" have placed higher in the showcompetition.

:emo Fichtenschlag (5C), owned b" Aosephine Nao of 3aiwan, got # 5. 3wo places behindhim was aul 0ierstadter ;of (55), a handsome ?din son with ver" good upper arm and chestdevelopment. #2 aer ;asenborn (5J) was not ver" convincing in the bites. #G Dlinten;oltkLmper See (5J) did not do good bitework, but got &ausgepragt' (pronounced) an"wa".

eik ;oltkLmper ;of (5J) was #CC this "ear, but watch for this great IlboR:oma son to make great strides in + C , and I’d wagerthat he’ll have a great progen" class in + CC if the Dhinese don’t bu" him too Huickl". 3he ?din son #+2 0allack 9u 8orringer:heinaue looked great and did ver" good protection routines. @oe ;aus Salihin (5J) has a substantiall" lower 8 than his # +

litter brother, did eHuall" impressive protection work, and placed #+5 in the beaut" pageant. lso with a 8 of 5J, the Esko

8/12/2019 2009 Sieger Show Impressions and Tour Report

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2009-sieger-show-impressions-and-tour-report 5/6

Lnischen ;of son #2G ;ero nnacarton (owned b" Irishman atrick 3homas) lived up to his name. !r. 3. also owns the greatIlbo ;oltkLmper See. #+- Dhivas 0ad 0oll (?din son with a great 8 of 56) is promising in both the courage and beaut"departments.

3he ;ill Farbenspiel son # 2 @ukon needs more training re the self controlled &out', but had ver"good hits on the &bad gu".' ;e also might be a little too deep in chest (and I noticed that in several of his sons this "ear). u% Duatro Flores might be a little better in that regard. 3he #egas son # / 0o$an

endler (/6) did ver" good work and looked ver" impressive in stance and gait. In Frida"’s protectionphase, one of the standouts was uck 7rbecke (-6), who at (ama9ingl"O) nearl" ten "ears old, put onan impressive piece of work in the defense and attack. ;e never has placed high in the conformationcompetition, and was pulled after the bitework this "ear. 3he rko 0ut$enter =and son #C- 0runo#ierhundert ;ert9 (/C), a handsome dog with ver" dark mask, showed great courage and enthusiasm.

Idol son #C2 3aboo 4ordteich (- ) showed e%cellent work overall. u% Duatro Flores son, 4e%%;artis 0ohemis (5-), did beautiful work with trul" hard hits. ;e was one of several &showline' dogsgiven special recognition for e%cellent bitework, others being # J ?ber 0ad 0oll, #+2 0allack, #G/Filou ucati, #G ;illson thaba, Sieger #egas (did a trul" great Sch; routine), and #-G 7nto% Freiheit8esterholt.

0a9i 7rbecke offspring (the adults) did ver" well in bitework and all looked ver" uniform in the progen" group. ?utstandingamong them were #-/ slan 0elle mber (/ ), who showed e%cellent training, did not take re bites or nibblesRchomping, andnever turned to look over his shoulderQ and #+J Frodo =angenbungert (/-). ?ne 0a9i son, #65 #igu (/-) did not deserve the&ausgeprLgt' he was given. Incidentall", his brother #alof $ust won #+ in rgentina’s !ar del lata (=andesgruppen) show and&best attack' troph". s e%pected, ;ill Farbenspiel offspring did admirable work, such as ;illson (-+), #/- Falco 0onne atte(-J), # 2 @ukon, and #6J 7rbano 7rbecke (//).

?ther miscellaneous comments on performanceM 3he work b" an$o was goodQ that of #egas son Dronos d’7lmental (-C)e%cellent (but he was then pulled)Q # G Nwantum (- ) was a happ" worker with great anatom" and reddish pigment. #C 7stinov:>merland (/+) did good work for a uantum rminius son (and half brother to Sgr. amp). 3he #egas son re% 8ilhelmswarte(/G), bred b" a Sch; trial $udge and owned b" a wealth" fancier, did poorl" in the courage test "et got both &ausgeprLgt' and #+Qhopefull" his performance will improve ne%t "ear. 3he well trained #G- anish dog Narat’s Fedor (//) had wonderful attitude onthe field and at ringside his great parents are iko oldenen weig and Narat’s ?ll". iko also was sire of the good working#6- Indro. #5J Tambo :oten Feld (5+) was impressive in the work, as was :Bdiger !ai’s u% Duatro Flores son #G2 tlas0ierstadter ;of (-6, unfortunatel"). 8e missed odalis 3ino this "ear because he tore a ligament in a rear leg.

s usual, the better performances were mostl" done b" the working lines dogs, but the" were also better represented in theprogen" groups, kennel groups, and the show competition than previousl". 3he ones that impressed me the most were #JG Aavir v. 3alka !arda (with a fabulous 5 8O) and his sons, #C++ idane v. Nammberg (5C), #C+G @ack v. Nammberg (5 ), the darksable and super worker #C+J A.A. v. 3rauntor (56), and daughter #CC/ Dhini v. Ecke (5 ). 3here were man" other, "ounger dogsin his progen" group, and all with happ", energetic temperaments. I suspect the" will also prove to have admirable uchtwertnumbers, too. Aavir could be considered the star of Frida"’s show. ;is intense and enthusiastic $umping straight up during the

bark and hold, while barking in the face of the helperRattacker, e%cited the crowd. ood topline, though he could have takensome fewer steps in the gaiting. idane actuall" tore the sleeve off the attacker on the &long bite' (running attack down the field).@ack thrilled spectators with his incredibl" long (and accurate) !alinois like fl"ing leap to hit the attacker on the long bite.

?ther &working line dogs' of noteM S C ik iegelbornschneise(56). 3he ?ll" rauen sable son #5G ?din toten 4iersarm (/6)who had good enough structure that I would have moved him upman" placings. 3he dark 0 3 #C2 ;utch kalten ;ardt (5G) wasa Huick, happ", e%cellent worker. Sable (the ermans call them&gre"') #C2J ?wen Nlopferle (5C) did impressive work. #-CAakomos =Lngerts (5C) was another sable that sped down thefield eagerl". 3he bi color #C+ ;oogan #orderhain (5/) was big,fast, and did great bitework. 4otice all those low 8s1 3he&perennial' competitor #C2+ err" 8aldesruh (/+) at 6 "ears old

did his usual e%cellent work. 3he super working black #C+6 le%schwar9en Seeperlen (/G) showed e%pert training and drives. 3he merican (0rookline, !assachusetts) #C 9lan etit eanthad ver" good training but a 8 of -C.

3he $udges recogni9ed + males as having outstanding working drives, including Sieger #egas, ik , 7nto% Freiheit8esterholt, @ack and idane with their sire Aavir, ?ber, 0allack, ;utch, 4e%%, Filou, and ;illson. Eight females were so honored,and included Dhini and =ea whom I have mentioned.

s mentioned earlier, I concentrated m" viewing on the adult males, but also saw some e%cellent "ounger dogs. ?ne was theIrok son R Frit9 Farbenspiel grandson from isa Ital", 3aris dei rofeti. ?wned b" iuliano rofeti, one of Ital"’s premier breeders,3aris did not initiall" place high enough ( in the &first group' in his ver" large class), so he was pulled before the final ranking.!a"be ne%t "ear’s $udge will like him better, iuliano hopes. ;e has great strength in bod" and head, dark e"es and mask, andver" good reach (a bit better than his action in the rear).

8/12/2019 2009 Sieger Show Impressions and Tour Report

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2009-sieger-show-impressions-and-tour-report 6/6

8inner of that C+ C/ month male class was Sultan Aahnhohe (55), who stood out "ards ahead of his nearest competition.3his animated #egas son has an e%cellent front assembl", good proportions though a bit stretched and long in second thigh, highwithers, and a handsome head like his sire’s. 8atch for this outstanding dog with # potential ne%t "ear, if the Dhinese don’t gethim first. In third place was another #egas son, !arcus ?ssmann’s 8egas Fichtenschlag (/6) with e%cellence overall, but not athreat to the class leader this da". lso in that class was the ver" promising 0a9i son, S C6 @ello rminius (5C), who could dowith $ust a little more front angulation, but has ever"thing else going for him. I like him ver" much. S + was 4ino v 3ron$e (-5),another Irok son of high anatomical Hualit" but a little lacking in desire b" the time I spotted him. S ++ =u% #alentinientis, a 4ick!oorbeck son owned b" Ernst :uckert but not "et listed in the 8 statistics, has ver" good reach and drive, and good e"e andmask pigment. S G was Sammo di Dasa 0eggiato (/+), an ?ber 0ad 0oll son that ;ans eter :ieker probabl" has great plansfor. 0" the wa", the 8 numbers of "oung dogs is more a calculation of their parents’ records than their own production becauseof their age (too "oung to produce T ra"ed offspring themselves).

In Augendklasse :Bden (C+ C/ months old males), I got to see a few ver" promising future stars. 7da" Aani’s odalis 3inoson, Iceman mur (5/) was S J, and had ver" nice anatom" overall. 0ehind him in 6th position was another well structureddog, the amp son Nratmosen’s 0aroni. 3he ?din son, S CC :it9" 8ustenberger =and, owned b" merican AeannetteNempkes, presented an outstanding outline and gait. Second, third, and fourth in that class were wonderful "oung dogs whoseowners are from Ital", France, and eru.

8hether "our main interest is the enthralling beaut" show, the sometimes e%citing courage tests at the show, shopping for a"ounger dog or a breeder, or to see an interesting part of Europe with an e%perienced $udge guide and friendl" companions, "oumight wish to $oin m" tour. 4ow, here’s the &commercial'M to prepare full", I recommend that "ou get m" book on 3he 3otal S(from me or from the publisher, ;oflin), and if "ou are breeding or curious, think about ordering m" big ; orthopedics book(direct from me).

ictures for this report are in a separate appendi%, and both should be available on selected websites. If "ou did not find thephotos, e mail me for a 7:= where "ou can get them.

Fred Lanting, Mr.GSD@netscape.com