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Gordon Garrett

Gazette Articles

Contents

A Judges Tale 2

About dog shows and the Canadian Kennel Club 3

Clubs and Membership 4

Gazette November 2010 5

Going back 6

Not Just a Beauty Contest 7

I Was There 9

How to Breed Better Dogs 10

Judges 11

Looking Back 12

Mary Vurma 14

More history. 16

Participation 17

Some ideas for the gazette 18

There were more club builders 19

Lost Another Friend 20

Looking through the membership list 21

Nova Scotia again 22

What I Saw at the Dog Show 23

When I get my Gazette 24

WINNING IS NOT EVERYTHING 25

Click on title to go to article.

2

A Judge's Tale

Reminiscing back following from what I was writing in the last issue and my

watching others judge I realized that a Judge must have priorities. Mine has always

been movement as related to the most correct structure; that applies whether it is

German Shepherds or any other breed. Admittedly since that is my priority I have

been known to overlook light eyes, wide set ears, less than exuberant character or

even kinky coats. Other judges meticulously examining heads or stroking over the

body parts and pulling tails appear to have other priorities and they probably had

their initiation to show dogs with some other breed; but they probably still have their

priorities. Some of us find them hard to accept, particularly if they bow to the dog

media practice of full page ads heralding the achievements of big winners that might be justified in making all their wins; but the ads help in achieving more.

Recall when I took up the cause of the White Shepherds that I had thought if

they were to proceed as their own breed they would no longer be able to breed to

colored German Shepherds to fortify pigment and thought they might possibly breed

themselves out of existence; later I dismissed this idea. For a while they were

allowed to show with the rest of German Shepherds and my position caused a

general boycott of other shepherds when I judged. In Manitoba and New Brunswick I

was hard pressed not to put up white dogs because there were little colored German

Shepherds shown. Unlike some other judges I was not ready to crown them. Later

when judging in Ontario, there was a rumor that if they would only show poor

German Shepherds under me, I was ready to put up a “White”

A hot day in Ontario I judged other breeds as well and in fact judged Best in

Show. I had put up a Shih Tzu because I very much liked the way it moved. A lady

who had not won asked for a picture and when she got me alone she really balled

me out, saying, “Every one knows you are going to put up her Standard Poodle why

can’t you share things and put up my Shih Tzu? Of course my answer was that I

liked the other better, but there is no doubt I did really like the Standard Poodle. At

that time there were two wonderful Standard Poodles going head to head winning Best in Shows; one then the other and I really preferred the one she had alluded to.

When it came to German Shepherds there were 17 “Whites” amongst the fifty

odd entered; most entries were in the open classes, no Specials. By the time I

moved them around a number of times I had decided on one male and one female

but when I moved them together the male decided that he had enough and

noticeably faltered. It was a hot day. The “Whites” scattered amongst the placing,

although impressive, could not move with the best colored dogs. The female,

although large, was a great specimen. I put her Best of Breed and Group 1. For Best

in Show there was that Poodle. I thought back to what the lady said and wondered if she was right and I would put it Best in Show.

There was a top winning Boxer, the Poodle and the German Shepherd competing,

All others were “Just there”. Boy did I make them move, many times around a large

ring. As I said in the beginning, movement is my priority and the German Shepherd

out moved the other two and I put her Best in Show. Another Judge owned the

Boxer and when the German Shepherd was shown under her, she didn’t even give her the breed; figures. Gordon Garrett

3

About dog shows and the Canadian Kennel Club

It was one of those shows that limit the entry to 175 dogs, 6 shows in 3 days.

One of the first things noticed was that they had too many judges. As an ex judge, I

know, that a judge does not want to judge less than 100 dogs a day. It is worse

when in every breed there are only 7 dogs. People watching don’t enjoy either, as we

too assess the dogs; imagine entire groups coming in with 21 dogs? In a lot of cases

each breed is represented by one or two dogs and in some cases it will be 2 very good dogs and invariably our latter day judges get the wrong dog.

I say the wrong dog but that is from my perspective that is based on structure

determined by how they move. The male English Setter went over the female a few

times and finally I went over to the handler of the female and asked if they were

from the same kennel, and she said no. Then I asked why the other dog kept beating

her. She said, “It has a better top line and the female carries her ears flat” Well

actually, because the female had a better shoulder assembly determined from ring

side by a longer neck and better reach in front, it didn’t have as high a wither. But it

did have as firm a back, better balance, better rear angulation, and more proper movement from the side and coming; they kept getting the wrong dog.

Don’t get me wrong I really enjoyed the dog show. There was a Great Dane there

that won the Great Dane breed at Westminster Kennel Club a couple of beautiful

Boxers, a great Doberman Pinscher, really good Newfoundland and a Yorkshire

Terrier that had won Best of Breed at the U.S. Yorkshire Terrier National Specialty

from the classes. It did win a Group at this show and the owner did let me go over it,

reminded me of the Yorkie from France I had seen in Cuba that moved like a German

Shepherd. At the Group and Best in Show level the animals were excellent. I was

unimpressed with the 4 German Shepherds in the show. Shepherds stay away in

Ontario. Is it small rings, judges, or maybe because of the limited entry, do they just don’t get in or because they only go to specialties?

The CKC has some problems they should be addressing. At the limited entry

shows handlers get their entries in early and long before the closing date there are

no more dogs accepted. The CKC is apparently satisfied because they get their share

from six shows of around 170 instead of perhaps 3 shows of 350. This is a way of

keeping the hinterland shows going even though they are less competitive and just a

place where handlers can bring lesser dogs to finish Championships. The practice has

spread; they are hurting their own product. It takes the risk out, shows are downsizing to adapt, but it is a sign of diminishing quality.

The present form of permit judging without any feedback on the permit Judge is

obviously inadequate. I contend it is a form of the CKC denying their responsibility to

the exhibitors of purebred dogs to provide capable Judges; tantamount to sending an

applicant for a driver's license out with a car and without an inspector, and if they arrive back safely, issuing a license.

A judge told me he was barred from judging in the U.S. because of a

confrontation with the AKC rep who wanted to discuss his placing. At least the AKC

has this check, we don’t. A video recording of every show, sent into the judges

committee and analyzed would move towards improving the quality of our Canadian Judges. As one exhibitor said,” The American judges are much better.”

4

Clubs and Membership

Thought I would like to talk a bit more about dog clubs and people. At one time

people used to go out to bench shows and sit with their dogs all day, then come back

the next day and do it again. That is where they sold a lot of their dogs. As a student

of geology and geography I am very aware of evolution, everything changes, that

includes clubs and the membership. Was remembering back to the time I started in

the German Shepherd club; don’t think I was even a member of the CKC at the time;

had come from the west coast where I had been quite active with a German

Shepherd breeder and had had a few shepherds but came east to find a job working

with dogs and I did. Found a job with a vet and somehow heard of the National

Specialty for German Shepherds. We might not have called it the National at that

time as the shows were pretty well fixed on the exhibition ball park, it was all

Toronto.

There I was at my first “National”, knew Ch and Grand Victor Vali von Sieghaus

from out west and got talking to Bob Walker, who is now the longest standing

member of the German Shepherd Dog Club of Canada. The list has me starting at

the same time, 1953 but someone had lost the records along the way and they

guessed and guessed wrong. It was 1955 and in the ensuing conversation he invited

me to come to Cleveland with him and his wife for the American National Specialty.

His wife, Robbie was not too happy about him doing that but I went anyway. We

drove all night, Robbie did the driving while Bob slept and we talked; had quite a

different philosophy on German Shepherds but out of the debate we too became

friends. They sponsored me to into the German Shepherd club and also introduced

me to Virginia McCoy of Long-Worth where they had purchased their brood and show bitch.

That led to me stopping off at Long-Worth on my way back from the west coast;

ended up staying for five months working there, and traveling the dog shows with

her. When I came back to Canada, the Walkers spoke up for me when I was not very

nice and there were some would have had me thrown out of the club. We also

collaborated on another adventure or two when I leased the dog that I had bought

from them back to them bred to my choice of the Long-Worth stud dogs. It was the

beginning of my breeding. It didn’t stop there though. At my request they brought

on board at their kennel a girl friend of mine, who needed a job away from Toronto

for a while. I later married that girl who was a wonderful partner in my own dog

enterprises. She died of Cancer at the age of 33. My dog breeding was never the

same afterwards. Robbie too died of a heart attack too young and I am sure it affected Bob’s involvement with breeding dogs.

Bob still lives at 251 Stone church Road in Hamilton. He judged German

Shepherds a bit, and he was very good. The last time he was asked to judge he

refused, felt he had been away for too long.

From what he told me, when we talked on the phone, he doesn’t see too well

anymore, sounds like it is worse than my eyesight. I always intend to stop by and

see him but haven’t managed to do it yet. When I was looking at the membership it

brought to mind what a wonderful friend he has been; not just to me but also the

club. In those early days he brought a whole raft of members from the Hamilton/

Ancaster area into the club. Every year they used to have a puppy show on his

property. Other people used to do the same. Why not anymore? It is this kind of

member that builds the membership. Bob Walker was a driving force in the club.

Maybe you too can write of a special person.

Gordon Garrett

5

Gazette November 2010

I just got finished reading my latest Gazette. Am I wrong or are people starting

to respond with submissions; Canadian National critiques, Jack Kilgour’s report on

the Quebec Specialty, both in French and English, (Wow) then the light stuff like

poems that have been there recently with other good stuff, this is all great. But what

struck me the most was the Health Watch column by Fred Lanting. If you haven’t

read it yet, do so. Of course Fred was saying the same thing that I have been saying

for some time about North American German Shepherds being inclined towards

being soft in the pasterns and he distinguishes it from the actual bone malformation

that we don’t seem to run into, at least at the dog shows. He attributes most of what

we see to breeding, even suggests inbreeding. I would suggest that it is more a

result of ignorance put forth as much as anything by a misinterpretation of “our”

standard.

So often I have had this discussion where people have maintained that shepherds

require more slant in the pasterns to absorb the upward pressure on the front as the

foot hits the ground. And like Fred who is also an all-breed judge, observation both

of other breeds and a study of German dogs has convinced us. that over slanted

pasterns are weak pasterns and after hundreds of pictures taken of dogs in motion it

is clear that such dogs are running on their heels, or in other words, rather than the

pasterns absorbing shock they are doing the opposite by laying their pasterns flat on the ground.

In addition as Fred notes, such animals are frequently also the same ones that

run with their hock joint flat on the ground. All this is an indication of loose

ligamentation. The German’s seem to have been aware of this for some time, and I

note that animals with a considerable amount of German breeding do not have the

same problem. In fact it seems ro be easy enough to correct in breeding but first one

has to be aware that it is something that requires attention. First one has to

understand, what is an angle of 15 degrees is as opposed to one of 30 degrees then

realize that we are measuring off the vertical not the horizontal; a 15 degree angle

off the horizontal is defiantly not what we are looking for. Frequently the condition

will be accompanied by not very tight feet.

A lot of this came about during the quest for more and more extreme rear

angulation that for a long time went with hocks wobbling laterally and often cow-

hocks. In today’s all breed shows we do not see too many German Shepherds

anymore but in those I have been to and the specialties, I do not see the poor hocks

going away anymore and in fact the dogs I do see generally impress me; excellent

temperament sound structure and a credit to the breed.

A while ago I got an email from Tom Morgan on behalf of the Board of Directors

asking if I would write the “Breedlines” for Dogs in Canada. I am honored that they

would ask me and have accepted. A year ago I had let my CKC membership expire

which perhaps was dumb but frankly I was not impressed with Dogs in Canada and

the direction they seemed to be going and it was the only thing I was getting from

my membership. So recently I bought a copy of “Dogs” and thought they were now

going in a better direction. I had considered writing something for one of the splashy

dog magazines but thought perhaps they would not like my opinion about how they

have opened the door of solicitation of judges, even though after seeing many of the

dogs featured in person have to agree they are full value. I am looking forward to writing for the German Shepherd Dog Club Of Canada Inc and Dogs in Canada.

Gordon Garrett

6

Going back

Before my November – December Gazette arrived I got an email from Paul

Hudson telling me how good my article was. I hadn’t received mine yet so wasn’t

sure which one it was. The next day there it was my expertise on how to breed dogs.

So many people I come across in my years breeding dogs, including Paul, have bred

more champions than me and don’t remember ever breeding a best in show, but

believe me, I am honored that Paul who for the last few years has not been able to

get out of a wheel chair and, often bed would take the time to let me know the value

of my advice. It felt good to be appreciated. The advice is good and a lot of people

that have taken my opinions and my dogs have gone on to greater rewards with

their animals and what they produced and guided others to do than I. Paul is one of

those as was Mary Vurma, the Smiths, Alex McCrory, Bob and Silvia Clarke, Ann

Marie Leadbeater, Wendy Haddrall and a few more that I can’t recall at the moment. I’m sorry for forgetting,

Even though the advice is relevant there are also bad times when the best plans

do not work out. That is where the constant determination and appraisal of what you

are doing comes in. How many dogs did I give away because the hips did not look

good at 6 months? One of those came back and won groups when she grew up. And

there were those that could and did win but the temperament was not good enough

for me or life circumstances choose one to make the decision to either keep going in

a hopeless situation or start all over again. All those things come into the picture of

what kind of a dog breeder one is going to be, and these disasters do occur more than we might expect. I do enjoy writing and am always open to suggestions.

There is a lady in Saskatchewan, Maria that has her basic stock from Crystaridge

that when in Victoria was always looking at the book I wrote on the History of The

German Shepherd, so I sent her a disk on the book. I notice she has done some

good winning in the last few years. Recently a lady from Allegan Michigan emailed

me asking for what I had written. I now have the book on line so sent it, 2 chapters

at a time; hope she will benefit. She offered to accommodate us if we ever got in the

area. To those that don’t know, Allegan is where Lloyd Brackett had Long –Worth

Kennels where I worked for 5 months in the 50’s..

Had a great talk with Tony and Jennifer Monk at the Barrie show, largely about

horses and Sandy Anderson asked me to join her Face book Jeopardy, which I did.

Then I got a message from Cherry Auclair sending me a picture taken in 1960 where

my female went Best Opposite. I’ll try sending the picture. I still have the plaque

from the show. I’m saying it is not just the dogs that we breed and win or lose with it

is the breed itself we can benefit often by doing something for other breeders or as I

used to say breed enthusiasts. Unfortunately many of the people mentioned are no

longer with us. Another thing I plan to write about, the pedigrees people show me

invariably show five generations of normal hips; can any other breed claim that? Tell

vets to stop knocking our breeds. There are also not so many German shepherds at

shows but a good camaraderie between exhibitors does seem to exist. Hopefully this respect will continue while we are still here; life is short.

Gordon Garrett

7

Not Just a Beauty Contest

I was asked by David, one of the “Boys” in Nova Scotia who have made an

impressive effort to breed better German shepherds, if I could write something on,

“Not just a beauty contest” There are a few ways I could take this subject but before

I do let me talk about Bob Clark. I first met the Clark’s in the early eighties when I

was judging bitches in Winnipeg at the National Specialty show. They had some

impressive dogs that were based around, Ch Nypower’s Cavalier and Ch Mirheim’s

McIver, Their dogs did well at the show and later when I put on a seminar in the

Vancouver area when on a Western Judging assignment, they both came over from

Victoria. Since that time, when I was out west I would cross over to the Island and

visit and Sylvia would often send me pictures of their pups, asking for my opinion.

Often, I am sure she did not like what I had to say but kept sending pictures and

kept winning for years. Many Champions, top shepherd in Canada and they keep

coming. I was really impressed with many and remember fondly her Best in Show

winning Danny and the son she sent to Australia. Bob was the strength behind

Sylvia. There is no doubt that what they bred had a very big influence in raising the

quality level of German shepherds not only on the west coast but into the interior

and across Canada. I fondly remember walking up the hill on their property, through the trees with Bob, Sylvia and a bunch of their dogs.

Well, in the beginning of the summer, Bob had a sudden attack and died; another

sad note, as another friend passes on. It is not my intention to write eulogies, but

sometimes it just seems right.

Now let me address the issue about a beauty pageant analogy with a dog show.

While in Nova Scotia we attended a weekend of all breed shows and later two

specialty shows. If they are to be regarded as beauty contests perhaps one need

look no further than the heads, with a cursory appraisal of what the body of a dog

might look like; beauty being in the eye of the beholder. Some of these dogs win

because they are cute. Happens often in all breed shows and the ones we saw were

no exception; a quick look at the dogs standing in a row, a whirl around the ring,

another quick look and placing of the dogs. I understand in the wisdom of the CKC

that exhibitors are not allowed to discuss their animals with the judges, a policy

largely ignored by judges but in any case it could be construed as protection for judges.

On the following weekend we had a completely different appraisal of animals. A

Judge from England that I can only remember the first name as Tracy let the dogs

pull their owners around the ring, distracting, never letting us see what they looked

like on a loose lead. but as far as I could see she chose suitable dogs. I was

disappointed not in her results but procedure; would have liked to see what the dogs looked like on their own.

That night we went to the dinner and the judge of the day said little but the

judge of the next day Dr. Morton Goldfarb had a lot to say about how the dogs

should be, and emphasized that fault judging would be wrong. I found his talk

confusing. A person just starting his judging career asked about double handling, he

too had been disturbed during the day. Dr Goldfarb at first dismissed the question

but the discussion took over and went on for the next half hour. He then turned the

mike over to Blois Boyd who went on about how the next generation was not

stepping up and talked about his many years in German shepherds. We all know that

he is the main influence in bringing judges to that show so would have thought it

better if he had played a less prominent role.

In any case I was most pleasantly surprised the next day at the way Dr Goldfarb

handled his ring. He hardly touched a dog that I saw but made them walk and walk

in an effort to wear down the weaker. He had the dogs moving on a loose lead, to

me a seminar in how they should be judged if given the time to assess the dogs

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properly. It was obvious that he was following as near as possible the German

method. He would take each class all together then in pairs moving them back and

forth and around together. He assessed them from what these dogs should be as

working animals. In the open male class he had four dogs, three of them from

Germany and one from Nova Scotia. He described each dog as he was judging them

as to how it was moving and its structural excellence. No, he did not describe what

faults he might have found until the end of the class. It came down to two dogs for

his choice in the open class and from the outside, it was clear that it could be either

one, and he kept them moving, first one in front and then the other. They were

obviously two excellent animals. A little was taken away when he announced that the

one he did not choose had an extra tooth. The last time I can remember someone

describing that as a fault was about 1960 when Dr. Redlich, a dentist, thought it was a problem.

Many of the locals talked later expressing that the winner was too close to those

putting on the show, but I ask, “If the people putting on the show can’t show, where

will the entries come from?” Maybe handlers in the ring should not be directing

judging procedure or their fellow handlers but I would certainly not have questioned

the result. The winner went on to winners and then we had to leave. It was a long

way back to Ontario. It was not just a pretty dog contest, there was much more

going on. Those that do not win should take a page from the people in Nova Scotia

that breed Golden Retrievers; win or lose; they all come out to show whoever will watch the excellence of their breed. That is what we want to show, breed excellence.

Gordon Garrett

9

I Was There

It was the 3rd Saturday in September 1955 at the ball diamond in the Exhibition

Grounds on the west side. It was my first specialty show, held by the German

Shepherd Dog Club of Canada. I had got there by bus from Eglinton Ave where I was

working and living at a veterinary hospital after coming from the Vancouver area a

few months previous. I was real excited as I had been involved with German

Shepherds on the west coast but this was the big one. Captain William Goldbecker

who had written the book with Ernest Hart on the German Shepherd was the judge.

Many of the earlier classes were incidental but I took note of his procedure which

was to endlessly walk the dogs, on a loose lead. Even then the common thing was to

race around the ring. Somehow I found myself discussing the dogs as they moved

with Bob Walker from Hamilton. I had never met him before. He was the vice

president of the GSDCC. I pointed out to him in the open class the dog that I had

met on the west coast and expressed how I thought he was a fantastic dog. I am not

sure whether he agreed with me or not but as the show went on we got more and

more into discussing the dogs. He asked me if I was going to the American National

Specialty in Cleveland held a short time later. I explained that I did not have a car.

That was ok, he offered to take me with him and his wife but it would involve driving

all night. At the time Robbie was not pleased with his generosity but when we did go

it was her that drove all night while Bob slept and her and I discussed dogs all night,

and became close friends.

Back at the show they finally reached the open class; there were a couple of dogs

in there from the States that were by the great German producer Hein von

Richterbach, everyone expected them to be the main contenders but Goldbecker

moved the dog I had talked about up to the top of the line, It was Vali von Sieghaus.

They went on and on and finally went into an open full trot. The other dogs just

couldn’t keep up and he won the class. He went on to win winners dog then

competed with a wonderful moving bitch called Afra von Wormser Weg, owned by

the Collins’ from around St Louis. In the end Vali won and became Canadian Grand

Victor for 1955. I went to the supper after the show and then took the bus back to

my room at the animal hospital. At the dinner Bill Goldbecker talked of the dogs and

spoke of what I was to become accustomed to at these shows, ”The dogs did not

have good shoulders”. I wonder if they are still saying the same thing as in my

travels I have seen a number of dogs that do excel in shoulder angulation.

thinking back, it was before Jimmy Moses started coming to Canada and winning

so often over us. I was also thinking that of all the people that were there, probably Bob Walker and I are the only people still surviving.

I was very pleased to read the report from Donna and Pat Heatherton, I too

remember the shows at Mitzie and Max Frohle’s and Tony and Maria Klienjohann’.

Recently I met Tony and Jennifer Monk at a dog show and we discussed all the old

fun shows, and of course their race horses that I find many parallel things with dogs;

too bad the fun things are no longer part of what we do in the German Shepherd Dog Club of Canada. Gordon Garrett

10

How to Breed Better Dogs

In these two pages I am going to tell you how to breed better dogs. What is

written here you may not believe, that is your option and in that case you might not

apply my advice and consequently you will never know. Recently a friend of mine, a

breeder sent me pictures of two puppies, both standing in approximately the same

pose. Good work and good photography. She asked me to analyze the two and I did.

It flatters me that people will do this and am sure they often disregard my opinion

and that is okay. Sometimes they don’t send me any more pictures and suppose it is

because of that. I am surprised at how many actually do send pictures, not just of

puppies but more mature animals. An Analyses is always sent back; it is something I

have done for years, ever since watching Lloyd Brackett doing this as Virginia McCoy

would hand him pictures at the Long-Worth Kennel house, sounding off good and

bad from each picture.

I got quite good at it through the years and certainly it helped me when doing

the German Shepherd Specialty in Winnipeg back when, and giving written analyses

of every dog judged. It was my opinion right or wrong but no one approached me

and argued with what I had written; even Jimmy Moses studied my report on the

dog he had shown and said nothing. It is something that I would like to see more

judges do. It was simple enough, by just putting a dog outline on duplicate paper;

one copy for me and another for them. There was pressure, just figuring out what to say about each dog.

Back to the puppies; when I first started breeding I would actually measure the

bones of the individual puppies with the intention of checking them out again when

they grew up. The problem was that most of them were never seen again and in any

case the material recorded got lost in piles of paperwork. Today it can all be recorded

in a file on computer and can be brought up at will. It can be confidential if you like

and you don’t need to measure; you have a picture. There are some things I am not

going to be able to tell but if you do it enough and retain the pictures you will be

able to compare when the dogs grow up just how close you were to predicting what they would be.

Things like roach backs might be hard to determine but with these two puppies

one had a far better head than the other, a better front, more angulation behind and

from the set of its tail I think it would have a better croup. Both had excellent feet

and it looked like good ligamentation; all this arrived at from pictures. I probably will

never see these puppies when they grow up but the breeder will. If they turn out like

I predicted she will be one step closer to knowing what to look for in future, what to

keep and what to sell.

Of course there are a number of things I couldn’t tell from the picture but she

could; she would be able to tell which one comes closest to correcting the

characteristics she was trying to compensate for. If it was a great sire she had bred

to, which one looks like it carries the features from the dad that she was hoping to

pick up.

The most important thing though is that you keep records, pictures or if possible

videos; this era of great technology is something that we didn’t have, and I am not

making excuses. I could have done a better job, knew what I had to do but personal circumstances combined with my penchant for moving meant too many records lost.

One last thing; as I write this several times I will be going over what I have

written, You as a breeder have to do the same, perpetually examining what you are

going to do and what you have done. I took a course in university called Critical

Thinking. I don’t breed anymore but apply it to my writing; every line is gone over

many times. First time over I saw too many “Is”. Your breeding deserves the same attention; it will make us all better at what we do.

11

Judges

Recently we were doing our limited tour of dog shows – out to the Maritimes and

back then down to Barrie, sitting in the rain for a day in PEI, just missing a major

wind storm that blew away tents, with some stories of bare rescues of little dogs still

in the tents. It also involved our usual sightseeing in places like the Ovens, -learned

later that gold was found amongst the rock cracks we walked over. As I watched

judges assessing dog’s qualities as related to other dogs in the ring it was evident that judges came to conclusions by completely different processes.

The different ways included German Shepherd specialty shows; as some judges

allow uncontrolled dragging of handlers around the ring and others from walking to

very controlled trotting. From outside the ring admittedly my perspective is limited

especially when on hot days judges do part of the examination inside a shaded tent.

One strange thing that does stand out is the trend of judges to pull and measure

tails; judges lose points for this. Broken tails tend to hang lifeless as the dog moves.

hard to disguise as the dog moves and short tails have not been seen for as long as I

can remember so even though that stuff is in the Standard. Tail pullers identify themselves as not quite knowing what they are looking for.

The prodders and feelers are another group. They measure the stop (hope we all

know what a stop is?) check to see if the top of the nose parallels the top of the

head, I don’t mind them feeling for the top of the shoulder blade, checking the angle,

it can confirm what is seen as the dog moves, - if they would only insist the dog

move on a loose lead. Then they meticulously go over the body, hands on both

sides, running down the ribs, stroking over the croup; then comes the tail pulling,

with a sometimes awkward and tentative feel for testicles as they prepare to back

up. If the dog is still standing, both hands feel the muscles, never seen a shepherd

with slipped stifles but the feelers check; rolling rump. These judges, move them

away and back then around a little circle. Many of these dogs strain at the lead or go

into tracking mode with head down and the judge, thinking he or she has to hurry does not give a chance to what obviously is a novice handler with a good dog.

Many times good dogs are overlooked, breaking into a gallop as they go around

the ring just as the judge is looking. Judges have the time, the schedule allows two

minutes per dog. In Canada many of the classes only have a few dogs. And this is

where time can be made up. I used to allow more time for German Shepherds,

sometimes moving two that might be close several times around the ring. One of the

last shows I did there were over 50 German Shepherds and the whole group only had 150 dogs. As I remember, we were right on schedule.

These outdoor shows, - in the heat of the day they line the dogs up under the

tent, in the shade; sometimes they hardly come out, just a quick whirl outside even

placing them under there. One judge that I later determined was pretty good but not

with German Shepherds while judging Labradors stood watching while an overweight

man coaxed his overweight Labrador out of the shade with baby talk, as he backed

up, only to traverse a quarter of the ring and it won.

One all-breed show in Nova Scotia featured German Shepherds straining at their

leads some on hind feet. The Judge put up an unlikely young dog that stood and looked at him with wagging tail. Why not, at least it was well handled?

Gordon Garrett

.

12

Looking Back

Sometimes I look back and think of Bisket, she will always be in my memory.

Guess everyone looks back the same way thinking of that real good one. It was my

wife that named her probably because of her biscuit color but somehow we didn't get

the spelling right. It was a B litter. Really it should have been a C litter but I had

farmed the first litter out to the Walkers because I had nowhere to keep the pups

since I was living in one room in the back of the animal hospital. I got two pups and

farmed one of those out too. It is amazing what some of us have done to breed dogs

.The farmed out female I bred to an American Champion, whose bloodlines fit in and

from that I got Bisket.

She too was farmed out to a farm that was out in the country north of Toronto

and I never saw her until she was nearly a year old. I needed dogs for the specialty

show that at that time was held on the ball diamond in the exhibition grounds. I was

collecting dogs wherever I could .and found her tied out to a barn. I was unhappy

the way they were looking after her so she never went back. I hardly looked at her

except noted she had an ugly head with wide carried ears. In the show she was best

opposite to the best puppy in the show, then I looked at her and so did a number of

other people. Aside from her head she had this amazing gait from the side and was

still true coming and going, her back was motionless when she gaited. Her

temperament was blaw but perhaps the ears enhanced that impression, she was a

different dog when chasing rabbits. I couldn't afford to show often so just showed

her at specialty shows. Remember being at Ottawa listening to the novices deciding

who was going to win and it wasn't her. It was a big open class, and when the judge

motioned one dog to leave the ring all the others followed. Dr. Redlick was the judge

and I took her in She was best opposite sex and got five points. She did the same

thing at the Breeders show with John Sieler as judge, Best Opposite to Ch Rocket of

Cara Mia. Recently Ann Auclair sent me a picture of the two dogs standing on the

podium with the club executives and of course me behind. Boy did I look like a

string bean. I can't remember where Bisket got the next set of points to finish her

Championship. She had a few good litters but some terrible ones; bad bites, floppy ears and such.

Evelyn and I drove deep into Pennsylvania to breed her to Harry von Bolshied

that had all these greet working degrees and more behind from Germany. He was

tough and the owner, Mrs. Fisher had trouble keeping him in an eight foot fence. I

don't remember whether she saw Bisket or not but when we got there we were told

that he was already booked, so we delivered a dog for them up to Erie Pennsylvania

that was several hundred miles away. When we came back we were allowed to breed

her once. From that litter we got Ch Hauschloe's Friederich and Ch Hauschloe's Fly

Kink. I named her that because she had a kinky coat but boy could she ever move.

Friederich was not bred as much as he should have, he too won his first points at

Ottawa under Ernest Loeb when he was 14 months old. Ernie thought he had come

from Germany and was always aware of him, but I had sold him when he was six weeks old.

Fly Kink was bred to Rocket of Cara Mia and from that litter a female was sold to

The Austins who were Mary Vurma's druggists. On my advice Mary leased her for a

litter and I advised Falco of Thunder Rock, a son of Bernd von Kallengarten. Falco

had just gone best of breed in long Island under Dr. Rommel, then president of the

SV. She was the only black and tan in her litter and all the pups were black and tan.

Mary sold a puppy to Joan Ford for two hundred dollars, they called her Abby,

Mirhiem's Abby. Remember that in time she got bred to her father that produced the

great producing brothers Zeus and Zeto of Fran Jo. It makes me feel connected to a great line of dogs.

13

Bisket was shown when she was seven years old and pregnant under Herr

Schnelock who for many years judged bitches at the Sieger show, at our National.

For a long time he had her in front and looked like he was considering her for Grand Victrix but she tired and he went to another .

Friederick who was a dark sable showed at limited shows but did appear when Dr

Rommel judged our National Specialty. Ironically Mary had offered my services to

handle Falco of Thunder Rock. No one told me he was a handful that just did not

want to come with me. Bob Walker handled Friederick that showed as a better dog,

Falco was not in contention, Another black and tan that had been imported by Ernest

Loeb went Grand Victrix, ironically brought over with Loeb on the same plane as the

judge. To many of us there was no question but German judges have not given top prize to a sable, as far as I know and can remember since Klodo von Boxberg

Whether you are now showing or have in the past you too will take pleasure in

thinking back and remembering a special dog, an animal that with me, kept me

going when there were so many disappointments. Breeding German Shepherds is a

great character builder. I am thankful for Bisket.

Gordon Garrett

14

Mary Vurma

Mary Vurma bought a dog from me maybe 40 years ago. She had had bad luck

with a shepherd, and in the next block over from where she lived was this young

shepherd I had sold to the Ashton family that was on his way to becoming a real

special animal and I still had his brother, that I sold to Mary. Unfortunately he

developed Panes (maybe not the right spelling) and they put him to sleep. Mary was

sure not a quitter; I had also sold a female, a daughter of CH Rocket of Cara Mia to

the Austin’s her druggist, and when it was ready to breed, Mary negotiated with me

as to who she should breed it to. I recommended Ch Falco of Thunder Rock, a son of

Ch Bernd v. Kallengarten from the New York area and Mary arranged the whole

thing. From that breeding, for all her work, Mary received the pick of the pups which

I helped her pick out. Here my memory sort of fails me but think her name was

Abby, she grew up and we showed her to her championship, and again time came to

breed her. My suggestion was Champion Lance of Fran Jo. Well from the puppies

there was a roly-poly pup that Joan Ford wanted to pay 200 dollars for and I must

say I was all for it. That one was Ch Mirheim’s Amber that if you look at the breeding

behind her had all the best German and American lines. She was a great producer, especially when bred to her father that produced the “Z” litter Fran Jo.

Mary was one of those quiet people that got things done. She became a close

friend of the Fords which led to other combinations of excellent bred dogs, she

worked hard and became a judge of German Shepherds then went on to become an

all-breed judge. This enabled her to get to many dog shows in which she was able to

view some of the best German Shepherds in North America. And like Mary Southcott had done years before she bred her bitches to the best she could find.

She finally settled Rougemount Drive in Pickering in a spot where she could put

her kennels and there is no doubt that she was blessed with having one of the most

supporting husbands that anyone could wish for. Mirek is a gem. He helped build the

kennels as they moved from one place to another and was absolutely supportive as she worked her way into becoming a most respected Judge and breeder.

When we first got to know Mary and Mirek we were living in Goodwood as I have

described in other articles. Their home became a place that my wife Evelyn would

stop off at when she came to the city, often taking advantage of their shower. We

both had places where we would shower or it was the wash tub for us. It was

actually Evelyn that conferred mostly with Mary about the dogs and the best way

forward in those years and when Evelyn contacted Cancer, I am sure that she gained

immeasurable support from Mary as she stoically went on for two years before she

died. Mary was that same confident to many people as she guided them in their

breeding practices and I am sure personal lives. The dogs and better people are out there that prove that.

So now the time has come; Mary has gone. The news really hit me hard; do we

ever get used to our breeder friends dying? So many times I have rode on the

highway past her place, always thinking I should drop in, but waffling, thinking I

would do it next time. From time to time we would share a few words at a dog show.

There was always a sense that she cared. She will be missed, and no one knows

more so than I that we all must go eventually but with Mary I don’t look at it as

dying but being called to a different dimension. Her soul will be out there.

Perhaps people have noticed that I do not write on people that have died, it is do

hard, but I cannot leave this article without including something on Peter Crawford, I

am not as well versed as with writing on Mary. Peter has also left us; he will be

missed too, but for me in a less personal way. He was so active in club affairs; he did

so much, from writing the Breedlines in Dogs in Canada to running dog shows to

being President of the GSDCC so long that it seemed he would be there forever.

Strangely Peter and I never talked about breed structure or pedigrees or what dogs

15

would be the best to breed to what, he had his other confidents. There was always a

lot of respect and when he had his operation years ago, we that were on the board

at the time became more personally involved, everyone was happy to see him come

through it. Perhaps he knew that it was only an extension of life and he seemed to

live every day like it could be the last.

Often when some of our people, those that have been so committed to breeding

and showing German Shepherds have died I have thought that I should write,

sometimes I have phoned and I did try to phone Caroline after Peter died but was

unable to get through. There will be others as time goes by and sometimes I think

the whole membership is dying off; through the years there have been so many. This

year I am going to try to get to the National, not just to see the dogs but to visit for a bit with so many old friends.

Gordon Garrett

16

More history.

I was thinking back on those days of yesterday and some of the problems we

had breeding German Shepherds. When I bred dogs from my five acres out in

Goodwood there were problems not only in the breed that had to be overcome but

our own personal difficulties. The property had no water so every day when we went

into the 25 miles to Toronto to work we had to fill up plastic bottles with water to

bring home. We did that for five years while we put together the Shepherd Shorts

and every month made our way to somewhere for the German Shepherd meetings.

For some reason German Shepherds and the continuous efforts to breed better dogs

was a life priority that rose above what most people do, like raising a family and

striving for a better lifestyle. The two of us never questioned where we were going,

even when we became three. It was just accepted that if we had to drive a couple of

thousand miles to breed a bitch like we did on one occasion to Philadelphia we simply

did it. Today I see a number of people in the shepherd world doing the same thing, carrying on with the quest for better dogs.

As I look back I see the problems of the breed that were dealt with, patiently and

persistently from one litter to the next, one year of hope, luck and failure to the

next. Hip dysplasia and the continuous changing of the rules was probably the worst

thing the breeders had to deal with, but there were other things that caused many to

give up, such as with the best intentions getting overshot bites, shy dogs, long

coats, floppy ears. There was a period where so many of our dogs threw their hocks

all over the place as they moved as the style became extreme rear angulation. Then

without losing the angulation the rears seemed to straighten out and get better as did the proportion of dogs with “normal hips”, and the other things improved too.

The tendency to show dogs on tight leads created its own breed evolution and

instead of dogs reaching forward to place the foot on the ground where the forward

reach ended, it became common for the forward reach to end in the air, then drop to

the ground, slapping already bent pasterns on the ground. There is no doubt that

backs improved through the years and somehow those overshot bites disappeared.

Temperament went from shy dogs that required conditioning to everything to dogs

that calmly put up with the world. And by and large the dogs seem to be better eaters and healthier.

I have been reading Richard Dawkins book called The Greatest Show on Earth. It

is relative to what we have been doing but far beyond. He would call our breed

changing efforts artificial selection in contrast to natural selection that is done largely

in the wilds. I’m always looking at the wild animals as a guide to where things might

have gone without us, the balanced wolves and coyotes. Dawkins goes into the total

story of evolution, often referencing Darwin, from the tiniest cell to the eventual

evolving of higher forms of life with basic genetic information and explanation of

DNA, covering the perpetual evolution of everything in the world. There are chapters

that I simply skipped but there was so much information that was worthwhile. It is a

book to consider. Again, it reminded me looking back; I think the breeders of

German Shepherds have done a wonderful job of artificial selection as the breed has

evolved into a better breed.

Gordon Garrett

17

Participation

I am going to write about participation. Every once in a while I come up with an

idea that involves German shepherds and I write about it for the Gazette; I enjoy

doing it but always I wonder if there is anyone out there reading what I write. Then

I will get an email from someone that lets me know that there really are people that

do read what I am saying so better be careful. There is a responsibility to present

ideas that are in the interest of the breed, trying to give people something to think

about that will encourage them to be positive about what they do in the interests of

German shepherds. That is how the readers participate; they put their thoughts to

how they will breed the best German shepherds possible. I think every person that

reads the Gazette spends a lot of time looking at their dogs, thinking where they can

breed them to make better German shepherds, where they can afford to show them

and just being delighted with what they have produced to this point.

One of the emails I got was from the president Bob Stevenson asking me if I

would like to write an article for The Canine Review for a special they were doing on

German shepherds in November. Without hesitation I wrote back agreeing to do the

article. That set in motion a bunch of other emails as I wrote people all over Canada

and the U.S. digging up information as to what to put in this article. Here is where

participation really applied; I was looking for information as to where each one

thought the German shepherd stood today and pictures, but the pictures had to be around 1 MB in size.

The pictures that came in were largely smaller so I had to ask for others. Sandy

Anderson had a picture that went blurry when I enlarged it so she sent me another

that was near what I needed. Fred Lanting sent me notes on hip Dysplasia and

where he thought it and the breed stood today. A phone call to Dave Westwell gave

me his perspective on the differences between working German shepherds from

Europe and the American breds being shown in our specialties. Susan Godek who

judges a lot of specialty and all breed shows in the States and Canada, (she did one

in Nova Scotia that particularly impressed me with her way of judging and had

commented on it) sent me her opinion as to how the dogs were that she had run

into, noting that some would act perfectly during temperament testing then act up when being gone over.

As expected many people did not respond but I got positive feedback from people

in Nova Scotia, sometimes with pictures, from Wendy Haddrall in Ontario, from

Sylvia Clark from Crystaridge in B.C. and from Nadine Pequin, owner of a futurity

Victor in Quebec. So whatever comes out in the article, whether you agree or not

and hopefully you will find it positive, I want you to know that it is the result of

contributions from German shepherd people from all across Canada and the United States? It was a pleasure putting it together.

Gordon Garrett

18

Some ideas for the gazette

At the same time as I received my last Gazette I received the membership list. I

studied the list to see who might still be with us, one way or another. Very sad to

see that Marg Anderson is now listed without Fraser; Fraser was a great credit to the

breed and indeed the country when he served in the Royal Navy. His tales of serving

on, as I recall small torpedo like boats during WW 11 were fascinating. He was a

credit to the German shepherd as a breeder and the club, serving for some time as

President but also being responsible for bringing numerous people into the club and mentoring them as breeders.

Mentoring, that was what Jack Kilgour wrote about and tying it into the list I see

a number of people that have been responsible for bringing other people into the

club and also guiding them along the way as to where to breed their animals. I also

read about the attempts to increase the membership which of course would make

the specialty shows held throughout the country and the futurities more meaningful.

I also realize some people are no longer on the list but still active in the dog world,

they should not have got away. Bringing all this together; I propose that we extend

life memberships to more people that have done their time, have been a credit to

the breed and deserve recognition; it will bring more in, increase membership far

beyond what we give.

Here are some I noted. Ingred Wauro has been a member since 1963; she was a

great trainer, part of a demonstration team, and an inspiration to other trainers and

went far beyond the usual to breed better dogs. Marvis Kilgour has been a member

since 1983, I’m assuming she is the mother of Jack Kilgour and that in itself should

qualify her for life membership, she has produced a judge, but she also has produced

good German Shepherds and no doubt has brought numerous people into the club.

Sigred Appelt from Thunder Bay, a member since 1982, I see all these other

members from Thunder Bay and guess she has been responsible. Ona Steffenson

was a member back when I was president and was the moving force getting the

National to B.C at that time, now we have a lot of members there. Darlene and

Hartley Smith have been members since 1972. I sold them a dog a way back when

and they went from there, breeding to the best and have been mentoring other

people including the breeder of last year's Futurity male and female winners as well

as others before them. Then I see Blois and Reda Boyd who have been breeding for

50 years and put together all the Nova Scotia specialties as well as bringing

members time and again into the club. Don’t forget Sylvia Clark out on Vancouver

Island who has bred many many Champions and has been a member with her late

husband since 1984. Right above on the list is Maureen Charlton, a member since

1983. And don’t forget Georgina Clark, a member since 1984. There are a couple of

others that have done yeoman tasks, Les Salowski on membership forever and

Sherry Greenbury who puts the Gazette out regularly and with as much quality as we

can feed her. Gita Kleinhert has been a member since 1974, judges obedience trials

all over the country but is most certainly a promoter of the breed. I am sure there

are more worthy people. It is so important that when these people stop breeding and

exhibiting they do not stop singing the praises of the club and the breed. It is where the CKC falls down.

They are the people that will bring us new members, new exhibitors and just the

simple thing of making them life members will pay untold dividends. It will give them

joy to realize they have been recognized and that joy will spread to other likeminded

people. Why do you think Mary Vurma kept exalting the greatness of the breed and

the club and why do you think I keep writing about it. The club would not let us let

go.

19

There were more club builders

After writing the piece on Bob Walker, I thought back to the early days when I

first joined the German Shepherd Dog Club of Canada. At first I didn’t realize there

had been a separation of loyalties within the German shepherd fraternity. The

German Shepherd Breeders club had been formed amongst the separatists. Bob

Walker would know what the disagreement was about, eventually a lot came back.

Mary Southcott, a judge of both obedience and conformation appeared to be the

leader around which the loyalists gathered. She was the dominant breeder;

invariably breeding to the latest Canadian Grand Victor. Years later she gave me all

her records; when studying her pedigrees it became evident that she was on a progressive path until she too was exhibiting and selling big winners.

Grouped around her were the people that taught obedience, headed by George

and Edna Lucas. Edna also was a shepherd judge. They did dog training classes at

the Fort York Armory, a huge facility that enabled them to train huge numbers of

people with dogs. Many got their obedience start there. It financed specialty and

many other club activities. Early on there was controversy over trainers holding a

tracking trial, spending eight hundred dollars in which there were only a few dogs? It

took a bit of explaining, and it was I that asked the questions. It did not endear me to the trainers group.

Tony and Maria Klienjohann came from Germany with their German dog, Ch

Clown von Haus Kleinjohann. Clown was aggressive and had bitten at least one

judge when shown; however as a producer he produced excellent temperament,

something that was lacking, we had too many shy dogs then. Later I bred to a

German dog that had similar breeding, looking for the working character, but

sometimes too tough for family companions. The OPP that were just starting to use

dogs snapped them up.

Mitzie and Max Frohle had a shelf of land overlooking the Humber River where

Max built a magnificent Swiss type home. German judges often stayed there. The

grounds were relatively flat and became a breed survey and puppy show site as well

as an outdoor training area for a demonstration team led by Glen Johnson, who had

inherited the leadership of the obedience division. Glen also spurred on the tracking

and wrote a book on it. Paul Hudson was a member of that demonstration team. I

had sold him a dog from German breeding that had a problem, he would growl at

judges. I didn’t know it but that dog had many things that we needed. Alex and Joan

McCrory got their start with the Walkers; they moved to Ancaster where shows and training were held at their place.

When I started, Nellie Corser, another friend of Mary Southcott ran the little

newsletter called Shepherd Shorts for don’t know how many years. She was always

trying to get rid of it and I was always volunteering to take over. The paper was put

out on stencils. Finally they let me have it and the paper became the controversy.

With my wife Evelyn, Grace Probert, an excellent outsider trainer and new members

Bob and Pat Savink we put out the Shorts every month for five years. It was my

editorials that raised storms, particularly with the obedience trainers. Paul Hudson

came to work it with us and after five years took it over. It was the forerunner of The Gazette.

There is so much more to tell of the early days of the German Shepherd Dog Club

of Canada; so many wonderful people, who are not forgotten. Hopefully others will write of them

Gordon Garrett

20

Lost Another Friend

Recently I lost another friend, the King of Nova Scotia German Shepherds Blois

Boyd died. It was not unexpected and last year at the Nova Scotia specialties he felt

he was fortunate to have survived long enough to see the shows. He had had an

attack not too long before that while attending a dog show down south apparently

surviving by the quick work of Frank Tate. My first memory of Blois was when he had

invited me to judge one of the earlier Nova Scotia specialties, I think it was th first

because I seem to remember excusing one dog and all the others followed it out of

the ring; it was held in a gymnasium I think right in Halifax, then there was another

one, again held inside, where Blois was sitting on the outside of the ring while Reda

was trying to handle a dog inside that was all over the place. I went over to Blois and

told him to sit back so the dog couldn't see him, which he did and the dog acted all

right after that. Can't remember how it placed. Some people were surprised because even then was regarded as the King.

I did several more shows in Nova Scotia and after I quit judging I tried to get to

their multi show weekend when I could. Blois was always there to drive me out to

the kennel or his farm to show me all his dogs. Last time we were driving down the

road and there was a road crew working that had stopped traffic. The first in line was

a dump truck and as we approached Blois didn't see the flagman stopping traffic and

just wheeled around the truck. I mentioned it as we went past but we were already

past so just kept going. We both might have bought it at that time. Through the

years we had some great conversations; he loved to talk about all the great dogs he

had owned from time to time, and there were some real good ones. I remember a

beautiful sable he had bought from, sorry can't remember his name right now, from

the Hamilton area in Ontario. The dog they called Chevy and I placed him Best of

Breed in Cape Breton. A couple of years ago Blois asked a girl called Cindy to bring

her dog over and ask me what i thought of it and of course I told her it had a nice

front and temperament and all the other things I thought were not as they should be.

Blois came by later and said," I heard you trashed my dog?" Well maybe I did

and maybe he wanted her to know the truth without telling her. Anyway the next

year she came back and talked to me again and when she showed a different dog I

commented on how well she had shown it. Blois was symbolic of the people in Nova

Scotia. they are just so warm and friendly. I was going to write about something else

related to dog structure and the way they move but recalling Blois and knowing he

has died have made me sad and not wanting to write anymore today. He was only

less than a year older than me and although we didn't grow up together, we sort of

grew old together. He will be missed and I express condolences to Reda, Paul and

John.

Gordon Garrett

21

Looking through the membership list

Was looking through the membership list that came recently and noticed some

interesting things; the membership is down only slightly from what it was in 2008,

we have members from all provinces in Canada (not sure about Newfoundland but

the people at the Nova Scotia show are good prospects) There are members in there

from the United States from all directions, some have been members for a long time.

All that said it got me wondering where we go from here. Thinking about my time in

Nova Scotia, one person said that if I keep writing my little bits they would become a

member. That person has friends that have dogs that I think would bring other

people in, so I sent her all my Gazettes and hope that she and her friends will join.

Not only that but if she does the puppies that she has bred and sold will be eligible

for the futurities; that should make for a better show next year. Also if my writing

can bring one person into the club, if someone else could commit to writing

something for each issue, their fans might find it worthwhile to belong and it would

make the Gazette better that might inspire others to write in and just comment on

something. It would be even better if some of our American members would

comment. I know a lot of those people know a lot about dogs and their input would be most welcome.

Something else I noticed in the list is that a lot of members came in to the club in

recent years, most noticeably 2009. So hopefully we will be able to hold onto these

people, and the way to do this is to make the club something worthwhile to belong

to. Not saying that the present and past people running things did not do the best

that they could. For several years I was part of that group and aware of the

frustration that goes with constantly keeping things going. It is clear that more people have to share that load.

I notice at the dog shows the frustration shown by those that do not win and can

remember my own frustration in the same circumstances when I knew I had the best

dog. Now I see it from the outside and can see the dogs that don’t win and can still

see the quality that they exhibit. I see the overall improvement of the breed, I

understand that different judges look at the dogs differently and those little things

that make the difference are not always weighed the same by all people. Take note

that I see the quality in dogs that do not win and I tell people about what I see, and

there must be others that see things the same way. And as an exhibitor be gracious.

I watched two top handlers showing in Nova Scotia; class after class they brought

their dogs in, often they didn’t. win and they would have to explain to owners why

not Still they just left the ring with a pat on the back for the winners and on to the

next. If you stay in the game, it is what develops in time… class, without it you just

can’t survive. And the breed and the club need you to survive. To keep you we need

to pat you on the back when you win too.

Gordon Garrett

22

Nova Scotia again

We went to Nova Scotia again, timed so we could see a few dog shows especially

their German Shepherd Specialties. It was not that this is an event that attracts a lot

of dogs but it is a good place just to study dogs. It was not the only reason for going

again, last year we had such a good time it was worth going back and we probably

will again.

What it also does is reveal some of the real problems that are facing the German

Shepherd world and specifically the German Shepherd Dog Club of Canada. There

are a lot of people that breed dogs that do not or get to put their dogs in the

Futurities. Their absence has sucked the life and purpose out of the Futurities, at

least in that region. Remember the Futurities were meant so that people could see

what is being produced from different breedings; it requires that litters are

nominated and representatives are shown. I don’t know if it is happening elsewhere

but it certainly was not happening in Nova Scotia. The entry was pitiful. I find out

that a lot of the breeders there do not belong to the German Shepherd Dog Club of

Canada and that is a prerequisite to nominating litters for the futurities; so that is step one, get these people to join.

I met with a group of enthusiasts while there and we studied a bunch of slides

that I had converted to the computer, they went back about 30 years and more. The

idea was to be able to zoom in on characteristics that indicated various structural

components of individual dogs. If these indicators can be picked up as one watches

the dogs people have a better chance of understanding just what it is that we are

looking for as we watch the dogs move. Then when we combine this with a hand on

appraisal of an individual dog we have even a better chance of determining just what

kind of an animal we are observing. This is all part of understanding just what the goal is, what we are trying to create.

We are not always going to agree. There was a young dog in the Maritimes that

had been winning at the all-breed shows, including a couple of Best in Shows. I

looked at it from outside the ring and thought that it was good value for its wins, but

a number of people were verbally pulling it apart; everything from fading pigment,

weak head, light eyes and a few other things that did not seem to fit. After winning

once again I asked the handler if I could go over her dog and she willingly brought it

outside to show me. It did have a few things that I would like better but not what

they were complaining about. One of my best dogs had a poor head. I think we have

to accept things won't always turn out the way we want. There were a lot of German

Shepherds in their all-breed shows and specialties that were really excellent

representatives of the breed and I was proud of particularly the temperament I saw.

Something open for discussion: My friend the breeder had been to a seminar, I

forget by whom, She was told that front feet should slightly turn out. I disagreed

with this as the best dogs I have seen; nearly all breeds are really true coming

towards us. There is a slight turning in on the follow through of the front legs. The

reason expressed was so the dog could readily turn in any direction. In the wildlife

films I have never noticed this in coyotes or wolves or even the big cats. Now I might be wrong, I have never stopped learning. What do you think?

Gordon Garrett

23

What I Saw at the Dog Show

Writing for the Gazette makes me feel like being home. There is so much in a

month of dog shows in Nova Scotia to write about. I will share more what I‘ve picked

up in later articles. We love it; spent time arguing dogs, picking strawberries,

walking beaches and attending dog shows. The specialties were especially enjoyable

where the dogs from Quebec made an impressive contribution. Their dogs were well

handled, a lesson in how to double handle, their dogs were outstanding and

justifiably won more than their numbers would indicate. A lot of their breeding goes

back to Dallas, and GV Marhaven’s And The Beat Goes On, He has some very

interesting very close breeding back to Hoheneichen breeding. The breedings of

Sandy Anderson and Darlene and Hartley Smith also are blended within the

background. This group is an example of people working together to produce and

show better dogs.

Back home from Nova Scotia my Gazette was waiting in which I had written

about their last year specialty shows; something to compare. I refer also to the

January/February issue of the Gazette where I had written about pasterns. It was

relevant as one German dog was criticized by one judge for having too straight pasterns; ironically another Judge put the same dog up, so we don’t agree.

Three days of critiques were presented by the judges. Critiques are now being

asked for by specialty shows, and as my permit judge commented, many of the

critiques by Judges were contradictory to what the others said, in a way that mostly

said just nice things. I pondered over a comment on a short neck and well laid beck

shoulder on the same dog. Studying the big Sieger book I notice every judge critique

follows the same pattern starting with the head, then the neck and the shoulder

assembly, then to the overall build of the dog, the topline, rear assembly, gait and temperament. Maybe our judges should follow a similar pattern?

The dinner for this show was most enjoyable; Leona and I sat and traded stories

with Susan and Dick Godek, Michel Chaloux, Janice Armstrong Purnell and her

husband Murray and Brian Reid, an enthusiastic permit student anxious to learn

more about German Shepherds. Later I spent an hour or two discussing dogs and life

with Judge Frank Tate; two old dog men who had crossed swords the day before

over procedure. It was a great discussion and we parted as friends and had breakfast

together the next morning.

Blois Boyd was not well but still managed to get to the show and dinner. Their

kennel supplied about a third of the entries so it was no surprise that they did their

share of winning. Judges were told not to test temperament on puppies, one broke

from a novice handler and attacked another dog; the ring was generally chaos but it

settled down, the doubling had dogs galloping all over, except in the

Futurity/Maturity where Janice Armstrong Purnell appeared to have things under

control. What appeared to be the best dog in the show was mishandled, constantly

misbehaving with a junior handler; it looked like they did not want to win. Still it was

a great three days of shows, where Brian Reid and myself compared our own observations..

24

When I get my Gazette

When I get my Gazette I look it over and wish there were more people writing

about things. I critically examined what I had written that took me back to the time

when we lived on those five acres for five years. It had never occurred to me that

eventually we would have to move. The property was on a hill that the highway

wrapped around; I had hired some well diggers to dig a well but their equipment

only went to sixty feet, so they just left when they had reached their maximum.

Can’t remember whether I paid them or not. Anyway I started digging myself on the

lowest part of the property, down about eight feet and had temporarily stopped

digging. While standing up by the house I saw a Volkswagen whip around the hill and

suddenly take off end to end, somersaulting until it landed right side up down by my

well hole. Evelyn phoned the police and I rushed down to where the car was. I

couldn’t see anyone, but heard a voice.

“Hello, up there, I’m down here, watch where you step” When his car had

stopped he had opened the door and stepped right into the hole. I think we waited

for the police. With some difficulty we got the guy out of the hole, he was drunk

which confused him even more. I never did reach water down that hole and filled the other with garbage.

There were many memories from that place and now many years later, I don’t

have regrets but sometimes wonder how we managed to get by and still produce

some pretty good dogs. It was the same with so many other breeders that came up

with dogs that contributed to the overall improvement of German Shepherds. I was

talking to Harry Watson one time discussing what both agreed was one of the most

beautiful German Shepherds either had ever seen. He had tried to buy her. He was

saying that the breeding behind her was nothing. I had a copy of her pedigree and

was quick to point out, that although her immediate ancestors, father and mother,

were not dogs that we had seen in the dog shows or at least I had not, if we were to

go back behind them there were a lot of dogs that were able to take their place as legitimate pillars of the breed.

It came to mind recently after watching this year’s Kentucky Derby. I had gone

to the Internet to find the breeding on the winner, Supersaver. At first I could find

nothing that would identify this horse as being of superlative breeding; pretty open

breeding. He was limbered on Buckpasser 4 -5, 5 which would mean little to most

except Buckpasser mares had been bred to such as Secretariat; and there was also

Northern Dancer back behind and Seattle Slew and AP Indy; all great horses in their

own right. So the point is as Virginia used to say to me, “It is not enough or maybe

not even necessary to breed together two animals that on paper look good line

breeding; compare the animals and realize that they all go back to just about the same place anyway.”

So that said, I just pulled out a pedigree that someone had given me on an

animal that I no doubt had admired, looking closer I think I remember who the dog

was, she really was very nice and although all her ancestors are beyond any that I

recognize, I do see that in all five generations, particularly the mother and father,

most of the animals have hip normal certification behind their names and at least

within 3 generations there are no common ancestors. So in my last article where I

brazenly told anyone that would read how to breed dogs, if I didn’t say then I am

saying now, that the most important thing you have to work with is the animal you

are breeding. Try to find an animal that will compensate for your bitch that you have

looked at many many times with a critical eye, even if the most desirable stud belongs to someone you do not like; use it..

Gordon Garrett

25

WINNING IS NOT EVERYTHING

Taking time out of writing another book that I am 300 pages into, not about

dogs, I received an email from Jim Engels in Chicago asking if I would read over his

book on police dogs that is not yet published. Said I would then receive another

email asking if he could put my book "The History of The German Shepherd Dog "

on PDF. I answered in the affirmative and before long a copy came back all in one

piece. The pictures were clearer and better laid out and the whole thing looked great

and what impressed me more than anything was that what I had done in the first

place, putting a connection between the Table of Contents and the Chapters was now

working. Meaning that one can click on any chapter and there it is. Haven't even

looked at the book for a few years. I looked in the section where I was comparing

the gait of several dogs, had forgotten that I did that but it gave a better idea of the

debate I had with Wendy on Facebook over the use of the hind end in German

Shepherds. What I said 17 years ago still applies today but many German Shepherd

judges do not see it and therefore the dogs that win are still not right in the rear end.

McDowell Lyon saw it and said that most German Shepherds are sickle hocked

which in fact means they do not extend their hind leg to the full extent. The worst

examples, because they do not extend fully drag their toes on the move forward of

the hind leg. I used to stand at ring side with my high speed camera taking picture

after picture of dogs moving trying to catch dogs in full extension and with all four

feet off the ground. Very few do because the diagonals are not in true parallel sync.

Robert Cole was aware of this and wrote about it often but no one seemed to pay

attention. Jimmy Moses was also aware of it but he was winning most of the time anyway.

McDowell Lyons book was published in 1950 and his bit about German Shepherds

is on page 199. He says "The main thing to check in this case is the hock's ability to

open and provide as nearly as possible a straight line from pad to stifle when the leg

completes the arc of action, particularly at high speed" and I would go further to

include the stifle. Even if you the exhibitor are still winning in the dog show, because

that is what the judge was winning with when they were showing it does not mean

you are producing the best German Shepherds possible. As a breeder it is your

responsibility to always be looking at what is coming out of your kennel with a

thought that maybe you could produce something better. When you go to a dog

show you are only asking for the approval of that judge in comparison of whatever

else is competing against you; and it is an overall assessment, not a specific

analyses of your animal and it is subject to that judge's interpretation of what the breed should be.

In the specific instance of what was earlier discussed both McDowell Lyon and I

agree that the slope off the horizontal of the pelvis and thus the croup should be 30

degrees. If it is 45 degrees that often is the case in order to create a more extreme

rear angle, it is impossible for the dog to follow through and therefore we get the distortion and lack of synchronization with the front and rear legs.

Now I am sure many would disagree with what I have written and that is fine but

don't just mumble that you do not agree; put together a constructive argument as to

why you disagree. I got a letter from a lady from the Czech Republic that had been

to Canada and it sounds like she was at the specialty show. She was disgusted with

our dogs and the puling, dragging way they were being shown. She commented that

they just would not make the grade in her country and felt they would be unable to

work. It is interesting that most of our police forces bring their dogs in from The Czech Republic.

One more thing, in the past when people requested my book I would send it a

few chapters at a time, now it can be had on line in one piece no charge at

26

http://www.angelplace.net/GarrettBook.pdf . I think that should come up blue but it

doesn't maybe I put capitals when I shouldn't. It made me feel it was worth writing it.

Gordon Garrett

Feb 12 2012

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