When Judges Get Lost, Breeders Will Too
By Fred Lanting
Denny Kodner has unfortunately given us cause for using mixed
metaphors: she has not only missed the boat, but she has gone off the deep end
in doing so. She should have learned better after 50 years of exposure to the
breed, but her dedication (some would say prostitution) to the not-that-lofty
goal of becoming an all-breed AKC judge apparently got in the way of her
education. Toward the beginning of her career in GSDs,
and even into the 1970s, she was exposed to good dogs, both born in the
But her diatribe this
time (February 2002 column in Dog News: “Attack Dog Events --- Do We Need
Them?”) was regarding the use more than the beauty of the German Shepherd Dog.
And here is where she has even far less insight or experience. It is obvious
she has no understanding of the sport of schutzhund,
much less any experience in it. It is not so much that we are merely teaching a
game when we teach a dog to bite the sleeve; rather we are doing two things:
building confidence and training in one small part of protection utility.
Any normal dog, and
most soft non-confident dogs, can improve in its confidence if it learns that
more boldness and obedience will earn more praise. I have yet to see any dog with
normal temperament (either soft or hard) that cannot become a better canine
citizen through proper training in schutzhund. The
other useful aspect of such training is in perfecting or improving the natural
protective instincts that should be evident in any decent specimen of this
breed.
Schutzhund is a stylized sport in which
elements of protection are added to other useful endeavors
such as tracking and performance-obedience routines. The schutzhund
protection-phase exercise shows us a choreographed picture of a dog searching
for a criminal in hiding places, reacting protectively to an attack on its
companion, escorting the arrested “bad guy” to the Polizei,
guarding and holding by barking until the arresting officer reaches them, and
being under control when told to release the bite.
In this day of anti-gun
hysteria that has infiltrated the
Denny Kodner worried about “how many weapons would be around when
the [owners of] Rottweilers, Dobes,
Akitas, and Bull Mastiffs decide they want to get in
the act.” Dear lady, they are already “in the act! There is an active
coterie of people with Airedales, American Pit Bull Terriers (Amstaffs included), Dobes, Rotties, Schnauzers, Bouviers, Beaucerons, American Bulldogs, Belgian Shepherds (all 4
varieties), and Boxers, “doing” schutzhund. To call
these companions, “canine children”, and family members “weapons” is a mark of
irresponsibility and ignorance that ill befits a woman of her long exposure and
experience. She says, “I want my breed to be recognized as SAR dogs, therapy
dogs, guide dogs, army dogs, land mine dogs, anything but attack dog showing
off at dog shows.” Well, “her” breed (the usual AKC-type, American-lines
example) does not perform in those arenas. Her breed is more often the
fearful, undependable, snipey-nosed, overangulated-in-rear, vertical-fronted AKC Champion” that
has driven untold thousands to either switch breeds or “go German”. If you look
at the pedigrees of those working dogs she lists, you will find the
overwhelming majority are either imports or first-generation American-bred
dogs.
The “attack dog” is an
unfair characterization, as is the claim that we are just “showing off”. In all
three (equal) phases of schutzhund, obedience is
paramount. In tracking, the dog must perform the way he has been trained; in
the difficult and demanding obedience phase the training is obvious; in the
protection phase there is very much obedience required, with far more heeling,
reacting to commands, and dependability than the uninitiated could ever
suspect. The schutzhund dog is not an “attack
dog”, but a sport dog. Some of them are, or would actually be, real “street
dogs” (personal protection or guard dogs) with a little more specialized
training. Quoting now from the purposes of the GSDCA: “…to do all in its power
to protect and advance the interests of the breed … encouraging the development
of working qualities and … to promote its most conspicuous characteristics as
Police Dog, War Dog, Red Cross Dog, and Herding Dog; to encourage therefore all
trial and demonstrations in which those qualities may be shown…” Of
course, we who are in both fields, who try to preserve body type while
developing the dogs’ working abilities and true character, believe that schutzhund training is one of the best ways to accomplish
much of our goals.
Just so you know where
I’m coming from, I am no newcomer to dogs or the breed. My first purebred was
in 1937, my first litter in 1945, and my first GSD in 1947. I was a
professional handler during some of the same years Denny was, and still was
handling when she became a judge. I started judging in 1979, when there were
very few “regular” GSDs left, and the only thing
judges had to look at and compare were the deteriorating types that had
diverged from the internationally-recognized style and Standard-restrained dog.
I have owned and bred both American and German lines (mostly the latter,
especially in the more recent years. I have judged the breed in more than a
score of countries and assure you I know what it looks like around the globe. I
wrote “The Total German Shepherd Dog” (Hoflin.com) and firmly believe in what
that title refers to: a combination of beauty and utility. In fact, I agree
with the founder of the breed, Max von Stephanitz,
who said that the true mark of beauty is utility, and that the GSD is
nothing if it is not a working dog. Schutzhund is a
means of “proofing”… testing… that concept.
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Copyright 2001 Fred Lanting, Canine Consulting.
Mr.GSD@juno.com. All rights reserved. Please
view his site Real GSD.
NOTE: A well-respected AKC and Schaferhund
Verein judge, Mr. Lanting
has judged in more than a dozen countries, including the prestigious FCI Asian
Show hosted by Japan Kennel Club, the Scottish Kennel Club, a Greyhound
specialty in