Duisburg West Germany

This years Sieger Show (1987) is more about a man than a dog. Most people look for a dog to bring direction to the future of the German shepherd. They expect another Canto or Quanto to appear on the horizon and shape the breed for another 20 years – this undoubtedly will happen – but only because of the foresight of someone that will make it happen.

In my opinion, this man will be Herman Martin. He is the quiet, (almost shy) president of the SV. Mr. Martin has held this position for three years - he doesn’t socialize easily with the membership or engage in the politics as you might expect from the president of a club with 100,000 members.

But instead, he is making changes that are already giving new direction to the breed.

For years I have listened to people talk about the MAFIA in the leadership of the SV. It is said that if you are not a part of this MAFIA – you cannot hope to win. You only need look at Helen Miller Fisher’s article in the Review last years as proof.

In the beginning, one is inclined to believe this argument. I mean it makes sense when the President of the SV judges the males every year at the Sieger show – why not pick your own dog?

My argument against this thinking lies in the first 2 days of the Sieger Show. This is when you watch the schutzhund testing and the progeny classes or Nach Kommengruppen. It’s here where you really see if the president is doing his job.

You get a feel for the current temperament of the breed (in the schutzbund testing) and the strength of the breeding program(in the progeny classes). Mr.Martin’s track record is laid out for everyone to see.

This years schutzhund testing was the best I have seen in all the Sieger shows I have attended. The helper work was strong and fair. More importantly, the quality of the dogs were dramatically better. I filmed every adult male and only saw 3 or 4 dogs run in past years there have been 5 times that number. Interesting enough, was the fact that one of these dogs was last years younghund Sieger Gero v. Fliederbusch. He ended up SG 81 in the adult class (he did not have to do bite work last year – only adult dogs are tested at the show).

Another point to mention was that Urans sons did not look that strong last year in bite work. This was not the case in 1987. Maybe it’s a bloodline that needs some time to mature. He sure had a number of beautiful dogs doing nice bite work.

The improvement in bite work makes a statement that the dogs that are being bred and put up are improving in their temperament. When Mr. Martin first became President – he released a number of Schutzhund judges that were caught handing out titles to dogs that never attended a trial.

He has also taken steps to improve the confirmation in the Schutzhund ring by passing rules that make it necessary for a dog to be registered and Kore Classed to participate in the Bundessieger. To place credit where it is deserved, this years Nach Kommen-gruppen needs to be examined in a different way. Remember that Herman Martin has only been president for three years and cannot possibly overhaul the breed in so short a time.

So we look at the Siegers he has had the most influence over – my feeling is that this should include the 1983 Sieger – Dingo haus Gero (even though Dingo was put up the year before Martin became president)- he had a strong influence on his selection.

The progeny groups of Uran Wildstieger Land, Quando Arminius, Dingo Haus Gero and Eiko Kirchental (the super star of Urans sons) were outstanding. One can know nothing about confirmation and look at these dogs with their sons and daughters and know you are looking at something very special.

Each of these groups had an overall uniformity of type, pigment and movement that placed them above the others. You only have to go back to the (1981 and 1982)Sieger(Natan Peltzierfarm) to remember that not all Sieger’s are capable of producing good progeny groups.
It’s a well proven fact that Herman Martin is one of the best breeders in Germany – with dogs like Quando Arminius; Canto Arminius (the 1978 Sieger), Kanto Arminius, Fedor Arminius, Felix Arminius and many many more to his credit.

His real test as President will be to see if he can improve the number of excellent progeny groups in future Sieger shows. No one builds a breed on one dog or one kennel. The SV guarantees this by only allowing a dog to be bred 60 times in one year – so the task of the President is to provide a selection of good stud dogs for members to choose from.
In business, if you are correct 51% of the time, you will succeed. Most Sieger shows have about 30 Progeny groups – Mr.Martin must set a goal to produce 15 or 16 good groups in future shows. This may take another 5 to 10 years, but my feeling is that he will do it.
There were 9 VA males.

This yeas Sieger was again Quanto Arminius, there was a lot of popular support for the VA 2 dog Eiko Kirchental. These dogs have a lot of the same blood with Quando coming out of Palma Wildsteigerland and going to Lasso Div al Sole through Xaver Arminius, while Eiko goes to Palma through Uran (his father) and Lasso through his damn Xitta v Kirchental. Quando’s had a better progeny group than Eiko’s (Quando’s males were outstanding) and my guess is that this was the deciding factor.

The VA 3 dog was Karo v Asbacher Land, he was VA 10 last year and is a Putz Arjako son. Karo is an excellent dog that will add hardness to the breed going back to Eros v Busecker Scloss. We Americans need to use Putz while we have him available – he is only 6 years old.
The VA4 dog was SG18 last year – he is Orno vom Murrtal out of Sonny Badner Land. The VA5 dog was Rambo Restrauch (Rambo was VA4 last year and the youth sieger 3 years ago) he is a Dingo son.

The VA6 dog is YAmbo Wildesteigerland(last year he was VA 9) - he is an Uran son out of Dixie Klingenhoff – Dixie also goes to Lasso. The VA7 dog was Fedor v.Arminius(he was V2 in 1986). The VA 8 dog was Iso v. Gergmannshof Quando son.
Finally the VA 9 dog was Odin v. Tannenmeise, a Quando son that was youth Sieger last year.
A point to mention is that the V1 dog was Henning v. Noort. He is out of Quando and Esra v. Noort. Esra is owned by Ann Farkas her is the states, again we are luck to have this quality of blood in America. I will be surprised if Henning is not VA next year he was SG3 in last years show.

A surprise was the noticeable absence of Natz v.Hasenborn. Natz was VA 2 last year and some said the possible Sieger this year. He did not have a great progeny group. He was not run in the adult class and I was not able to find out why.

There were only 6 VA females selected: Santa v.Basilisk was the Siegren. Senta is a Quando daughter out of Gora v. Baslisk – she was VA 9 last year. The VA 2 bitch was Palme v. Bad-Boll an Uran daughter that was VA 3 in 1986.

The VA 3 bitch this year is Rica v. Rader-Kreuz a Quino Arminius daughter (Quino is Quando’s brother). The VA4 bitch was Leika v. Schloss Witmar a Kanto Arminius daughter. The VA5 bitch is Ulme v. Haus Dexel and Uran daughter that was Sg 20 last year. The VA6 female was Zambi v.d.Murrenhutte the V6 female last year.

The Youth Sieger (in the 18 to 24 month class) was a Quando son – Enzo v.d. Burg Aliso. The youth Siegren was Pola v.Schornfelsen a Tenno v.Adegola daughter.

The Younghund Sieger (in the 12 – 18 months class) was Fanto v. Hirschel a Tell v. Grossen Sand son. The Younghund Sieger was Rond v. Haus Beck an Uran daughter.

In October I go back to Europe to produce a video on the first competition of the Mondoring (worldring) in Tounie, Belgium and then a video on the Rottwieler Bundessiger in Dortmond West Germany. If you think Schutzhund is a tough sport, have a look at the Ring Sports of Europe some time – they can boggle the mind of a good dog trainer.

Next years Sieger show will be in Bermen, West Germany. If you ever want a beautiful vacation – I recommend Germany in the fall. The travel costs are less than America and it’s like taking a step back in time. There is hardly a Weekend that doesn’t contain some type of major dog show.