Conformation. Should I bother?

[Asche-zu-Staub]

hey everyone. Stauba is supposed to be bred by the breeder I got her from in the future (I get the joy of raising her pups!) in order to preserve her line. She will have the one litter and then be spayed. I plan on getting her a tracking title, she's doing great, even though she is early on in her training, beforehand. I was doing reading on conformation and It says its not to compete but to rate her against what her breed should be. Did I take that correctly? I don't want to show her, we are aiming for search and rescue one day (though to me she is a pretty princess!). I'm just not sure if a conformation would be good for her to have because of her future plans, or if its just for the yuppie yup american over-angulated show dogs.

[Andaka]

That would depend on the style of show. The SV or German style of show gets you a rating as compared to the standard. An IABCA show would as well, tho they tend to use AKC judges. An AKC or UKC has you competing against the other dogs in your breed, with UKC being more laid back and will usually reward a German line dog more than an AKC show would.

[tkarsjens]

While conformation can be political, the ultimate point of it is to see how the dog compares to the breed standard in use for that particular show. In AKC and UKC they may give 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc but the placements indicate which dog is closest to the ideal dog in the opinion of the judge.

In my opinion, I would never breed a dog (or be involved in a breeding) unless I knew exactly how that dog compares to the breed standard. I don't know of a better way to do that than to show the dog in conformation. Showing in conformation exposes you to many different experts and you can learn a lot from them and about your dog.

Personally, I won't breed a dog without a conformation title of some kind. I also don't breed without a performance title, temperment test and health clearances either.

Tracie
www.atlaskennels.com

[Asche-zu-Staub]

Originally Posted by tkarsjens

Personally, I won't breed a dog without a conformation title of some kind. I also don't breed without a performance title, temperment test and health clearances either.

Tracie
www.atlaskennels.com

working on her tracking now for a tracking title, is that enough? All of her pedigree are SchH. I wont be breeding her personally, and all of her breeders dogs have titles, so I dont want to have stauba to have a litter and be untitled. Have to wait on age for her health clearances. It wont be for a while, i just want everything perfect for her and am getting as much preparation as i can to make sure its done right (I research hours a day, and have learned so much on this forum!) Many of my breeder's dogs have gone into police work exc and I dont want to mess it up by doing this wrong :-(.

Where is a good place to get information on conformation and conformation training? I live in the New Hampshire sticks and am not really sure where to go.

as you can see by this stack, i could clearly use some help haha.

[tkarsjens]

A tracking title is awesome and kudos to you for pursuing it. I think that's great. As far as her pedigree, I don't care nearly as much about what the parents and grandparents very titled in as I do what the actual dog was.

So I guess what I would say is, what is your goal in breeding her (and even though her breeder is involved, if you're raising the litter you're responsible)? What breed standard are you breeding to?

If you can figure out those things, you can have an idea how to evaluate her for them. For example, if you said you wanted to produce puppies for showing in AKC, then I would say well you better get her AKC championship to prove she is of that quality (and maybe a performance title too to prove temperment). If you said you wanted to produce puppies that could do Schutzund, then I would say you should try to title her in Schutzund and perhaps do a breed survey. Does this make sense what I am saying?

You show (conformation or performance or sport) to prove that a dog has certain qualites that you want to pass on to the pups. So you have to know what qualities you want to pass on in order to know how to evaluate the dog.

The answer about conformation depends on the answer above - because different organizations cater to different types of GSDs and thus breeders with different goals. So I wouldn't point you at a resource on how to show AKC conformation if your goals say you should be showing at a German style conformation show.

Hope that helps.

Tracie
www.atlaskennels.com

[Asche-zu-Staub]

Originally Posted by tkarsjens

So I guess what I would say is, what is your goal in breeding her (and even though her breeder is involved, if you're raising the litter you're responsible)? What breed standard are you breeding to?

Tracie
www.atlaskennels.com

My goal in breeding her is to learn through the experience, while producing high quality , healthy pups. I'm not sure that I would want to be a professional breeder, but I am being mentored by one and could use the knowledge and experience to continue on if I chose to. I will be breeding to German working line standards.

So i most likely should get a SchH title...the breeder is sending me some information on a local SchH club so i could start getting involved. She says even if I couldnt do full schH I could work on other types of training here, though she was very excited that I am willing to go all the way with it.

I've sent an email to the local humane society, they offer agility classes, want to see if i can get her enrolled in that too, but it seems I've missed the cut off date...

I have a feeling once I get her into conformation, She'll pass with flying colors :-). Now my issue is finding one in my area...I'm not going to do the AKC, too many frog dogs upset me :-(. UKC seems much better, though I hadnt known about them until being on this forum...what would I need to register her with them (just pedigree info or do her parents have to be in UKC like it is in AKC?)? My breeder still has her paper work, I'll have to check with her...I'll have to get back to you with updates when they happen, but this help means so much to me thank you!

[Andaka]

I'm not going to do the AKC, too many frog dogs upset me :-(.

Hey now, no need to insult us just because you don't like us. Not all AKC show dogs are over angulated.

[Asche-zu-Staub]

Originally Posted by Andaka

Hey now, no need to insult us just because you don't like us. Not all AKC show dogs are over angulated.

lol no meaning to offend. I just saw that part dog part frog video and was sad :-(. I've seen very beautiful ones as well, i just wish over angulation was a disqualification.

[tkarsjens]

Originally Posted by Asche-zu-Staub

So i most likely should get a SchH title...the breeder is sending me some information on a local SchH club so i could start getting involved. She says even if I couldnt do full schH I could work on other types of training here, though she was very excited that I am willing to go all the way with it.

I've sent an email to the local humane society, they offer agility classes, want to see if i can get her enrolled in that too, but it seems I've missed the cut off date...

I have a feeling once I get her into conformation, She'll pass with flying colors :-). Now my issue is finding one in my area...I'm not going to do the AKC, too many frog dogs upset me :-(. UKC seems much better, though I hadnt known about them until being on this forum...what would I need to register her with them (just pedigree info or do her parents have to be in UKC like it is in AKC?)? My breeder still has her paper work, I'll have to check with her...I'll have to get back to you with updates when they happen, but this help means so much to me thank you!

Sounds great! I think looking into Schutzund would be awesome. Agility is one of my loves, so great you're looking there too.

As far as conformation, based on your goals I would look at either UKC or at German conformation shows. I don't know much about the German conformation shows although I have atteneded one. They are very interesting and your dog earns a rating.

I can tell you more about UKC. If your dog is AKC registered, you can do a single registration with UKC. The info is here United Kennel Club: Single Registration

Then you can look at the UKC web site for shows near you. UKC is very "user friendly" and easy to get in to. People and judges are very helpful getting you started.

Tracie
www.atlaskennels.com