Organized by German shepherd Dog Club of America in Dallas under the tutelage of Mr. Bernd Weber (SV Breed Warden) and Mr. Wilfred Tautz ( SV Training Director)
As the weekend winds down and some of us sit in airport terminals to find flights back home, I just wanted to reflect upon this amazing opportunity afforded to a select few by the GSDCA for which I’m eternally thankful and feel privileged.
The GSDCA, for the first time in my involvement in the sport that spans almost three decades, made a consorted effort to get its working and conformation judge program to be established to serve its SV membership, under the eye of Mrs. Ileana Nogueras, GSDCA VP and chair of the SV committee. This is a first of its kind event where we were fortunate enough to have the tutelage of Mr. Bernd Weber (SV breed warden) and Mr. Wilfred Tautz (SV training director) from Germany, with an exhaustive opening presentation from our own DOJ, Mr. Wendell Nope.
This was almost a week long event with intensive study and presentations followed by Q & A and comprehensive tests taken by the participants.
Any program is only as good as the people involved. The goal of the GSDCA has been to identify the highest quality individuals in the sport with extensive background in their respective niches to build the program to be the premier judges program in North America, and I’m sure only the best from this elite group will eventually get through, for the benefit of the membership.
A special thanks to the GSDCA SV office Liason Dr. Irina Sushko who has tirelessly worked behind the scenes to make this program a reality, from logistics to catering to keeping up the schedule amidst flight delays, technical issues etc. Thank you also to Rachel Rhodes and her diligent team at the hosting club in Forth Worth Texas for taking care of all the other details, making your club members available and providing the dogs for evaluation for the trial and show portion and for being just an overall great human. Thank you to Jennifer Aguilera for helping the judges with translations every single day. Was great seeing you after so long!
What a great time to be involved in the sport, when your club makes an effort to cater to its entire membership with the zest and passion I’ve never personally witnessed before. From the bottom of my heart, Thank you!
