The Schaferhunde News
The German Shepherd Dog Club of Greater Kansas City
Founded 1923
Issue - October 2019
BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
2019 OFFICERS
President: Chris S. Kimerer , Vice President: Debbie McHenry , Treasurer: Mike Kennedy , Rec. Secretary: Sally Hamm, Corres. Secretary: Amy Edwards
2019 DIRECTORS
JoClair Gipe, Bruce Hudson, Nancy Kennedy, Pat Robinette, Lynette Stone
Member, Becky James enjoys showing her dogs. Astrid Von Darkwing (Astrid) or nick name, Astrid Earnhardt Jr is just one of Becky's beautiful dogs. Just a young pup, Astrid was born on February 7, 2018. Current titles held are CGC (Canine Good Citizen) and RN (Rally Novice). On October 10th in Lawrence, Astrid took Best of Breed in AKC! Got 100 points in Rally Novice taking 2nd & earned her RN title. Got 192 points taking 3rd in Beginner Novice Obedience earning her BN title.
Becky shared, "Astrid is so much fun to show! She keeps me humble in the ring & always makes me laugh! Hoping to finish the year by earning a couple more titles in Obedience. I just love this young lady!"
Showing a dog is a lot of work but also rewarding and fun. Becky represents the breed and club well in her breeding and showing endeavors.
GSDCA National October 3rd thru 12th, 2019
This year’s National was held in beautiful Loveland Colorado at the Ranch complex. It is a large horse complex with multiple buildings that can accommodate all the multiple venues of a National. Herding and Tracking are the only two venues that were off site, everything else was at the Ranch complex.
Herding started on Oct. 3rd, A,B,C & D courses were all offered and held at Rancho Terra Norte. Agility and Rally started on Saturday as well as Scent work, which had large entries. Sunday was the Tracking Test, with 3 TD and 1 TDX passing.
Tuesday was the Regional Specialty Show with 125 entries. Later that day, in the main Arena, many special presentations were awarded from earlier events. The Top 20 Agility Winner’s were presented as well.
Wednesday were the Futurity/Maturity Finals along with Educational Programs and seminars during the day, the Member Hospitality and the 2018 Top 10 Stud Dog/Brood Bitch Presentations were later in the day in the main arena. It’s always a thrill to watch those top producers in our breed with their progeny presented.
Thursday was the official start of the “National” with the Opening Ceremonies and the presentation of Herding Victor or Vx, and the Tracking Qualifiers. The week always flies by, long days with so many beautiful dogs and all the special awards and presentations, it’s always exciting and by the time Saturday rolls around, one can feel the electricity in the air. This year there were 49 dogs and 51 bitches entered in the Best of Breed competition. Rita Sandell awarded 15 selects on both sides, the results are listed on Foy Trent’s website and will also be published with their pictures in the GSD Review in January.
Several Kansas City club members attended this year’s National, the next two years will be back in St. Louis at Purina Farms, which more of our members can attend.
I encourage anyone that has never attended this week+ long show to put that on your things to do list. It’s impressive to see our German Shepherd Dogs excel in so many different venues and the dedication these owners and exhibitors have to get these dogs to that level.
Many churches in the United States celebrate the Feast of St Francis of Assisi on October 4 each year. The feast commemorates the life of St Francis, who was born in the 12th century and is the Catholic Church's patron saint of animals and the environment. It is a popular day for pets to be “blessed”.
Member Brad Baker and Marco participated in the Blessing of the Pets on Sunday, October 5th at Our Lady of Presentation in Lee's Summit, Mo.
Members Ken and Iryna Sanders attended the 2019 Heartland Police Canine Training and Trials held on October 5th. They had a great time at the Heartland Police K9 competition. Ken and Iryna won the bid for this stainless-steel GSD cutout. Congratulations!
By The Daily Shep
The answer is, some do, some don’t! And this really applies to all breeds of dogs. Whether a German Shepherd will like water (outside of drinking it), really depends on its experience and exposure to water growing as a puppy, and its individual personality of whether it is a water lover or not.
The good news is, if your German Shepherd doesn’t like swimming in or playing with water right now, there is a good chance it can be trained to like water with the right type of training.The two biggest factors that indicate whether a dog will naturally like swimming and be good in the water are:
The breed of the dog
It’s body composition (long limbed, short limbed, tall, small, heavy, light etc.)
Some breeds were specifically bred to be good swimmers or naturals in the water, and others due to body limitations are at a severe disadvantage when it comes to swimming and playing in water.
The Labrador, and ‘Retriever’ type dogs for example were bred to navigate swamps and lakes and retrieve their owners’ hunting spoils.
These types of breed have water resistant coats, webbing between their toes, and generally are strong swimmers. On the other end of the spectrum, there are breeds that for whatever reason – big chests, small limbs, abnormally structured respiratory organs, dogs that get chilled and frightened easily – aren’t very good at swimming or staying afloat! Think Bulldogs, Daschunds and Pugs for example. As a breed, German Shepherds were bred to like a range of activities from herding, tracking, protection and guarding work, aiding and helping, military work and much more!They are naturally athletic and courageous dogs. They certainly have the capability to like water and become strong swimmers, but weren’t bred specifically for swimming.
German Shepherds that haven’t swam much as puppies or have had a scary experience with a body of water (pool, beach etc.), or the hose before might be hesitant around it.If this is the case, there is training you can do to gradually expose your GSD to water and get it playing and swimming in it (and liking it) eventually…
Jose Lemus submitted photos of Moses at an end of summer dog pool party at the Leavenworth, Kansas pool. Moses is one of those German Shepherds that loves the water.
Moses celebrated his First birthday in style.
Taking the Growth Chart to an all new level. Moses 1 year old.
The German Shephard Club of Greater Kansas City Co-Sponsored Howl-O-Ween at Waggin' Trail Park on October 12th.
Members, Jose & Dollia Lemus chaired the event. A huge thank you to Jose and Dollia for their participation in representating the club and setting up for the event.
December 7, 2019
Shoal Creek Golf Course
8905 Shoalcreek Parkway
Kansas City, MO 64157
12:00 Noon- Friendship Hour
1:00pm Fajita bar choice of chicken or beef, cookies and coffee/tea
$22 per person
Join us for our annual awards luncheon and White Elephant gift exchange. Bring a $10 wrapped item to enjoy the fun and laughter!
RSVP: by December 2nd. Mail checks made out to GSDCGKC to Debbie McHenry 8608 N Marsh KCMO 64157
• Tuesday, November 12, 2019, 7:00 p.m., Holiday Dinner, Fried Chicken & Sides, American Legion, Smithville, Mo – Members Free, Guest $5.00, RSVP to Amy Edwards by November 1.
• December 7, 2019, Holiday Awards Banquet at Shoal Creek Golf Course starting at noon for drinks and fellowship with meal served at 1pm. $22.00
• Tracking Trial, Sunday, January 19, 2020 – Smithville Lake
