Another in a Continuing Series of Reports by the Shiloh Shepherd™ Breed Founder
 

After having heard rumblings of more splintering among the “TSSR” for several months, and with the knowledge that this may be my last opportunity to see what these various groups have been producing (since they obviously are all splintering off), I chose to attend the Cherry Blossom Classic again, so that I could add a more detailed updated report to this series.

Unfortunately, I had no idea of what to expect, and therefore had not prepared myself for the onslaught of hatred that was being poured out on me. Maybe it was just fallout from all of the stress that these people were already dealing with? Nevertheless, I kept getting a strong urge to check my hands for possible signs of leprosy.

As I arrived, I noticed a few dogs in various parts of the stadium, but it seemed as if the “camp” was missing. Normally the “Shiloh people” gather in a large happy “family” group that is very impressive! Not this time! It didn’t take me long to see that various factions seemed to be “huddled” in small groups sprawled all over the Show Place Arena. Despite the fact that nearly 30 dogs had been entered, the only time that you could see them in a group was when they had to gather at ringside.

The remaining time each faction seemed to be doing their best to hide their dogs in crates so that I couldn’t get any close up shots! You would think that they would be excited and proud to “show off” the best that they were able to produce? After all they have continued to insist on calling these dogs by MY name—so why were they trying to hide them from me?

Although I tried to be as non-invasive as possible, I had no choice but to walk closer to the ring (spectator section) in order to get a few shots. During that time, the handlers were doing their best to cover their dogs’ heads with their hands or bodies, making it almost impossible to get an honest clear shot. Since this was an indoor show, the lighting just wasn’t sufficient enough for me to take any high speed pictures (because they just wouldn’t let the dogs hold still long enough while waiting at ring side) thus I had no choice but to resort to turning on the flash so I could get a few quick shots of these dogs in order for you to see what they looked like. Of course, once they realized that I was going to get some pictures despite their diversionary tactics that angered most of them all the more. In the meantime, Karen was high in the stadium bleachers using her high-powered zoom lens to pick off a few shots at will from her vantage point.

At one point Ms. Yonavick (former registrar for the SSBA and now a recent proponent of Patti’s TSSR registry [sic]) yelled out to me stating that I was nothing but a “Pain in her a—“ because I was trying to take a few pictures of her dogs! Someone also asked John to have me removed from the grounds (even though Karen and I paid $40 to enter for the two days, as did the other spectators who were freely taking pictures of many of the breeds). Of course, he was extremely nice, and offered to give me photography lessons LOL and promised to find and send me one of  the ARBA books, since they were sold out! Nevertheless, I left the aisle and went to the other side of the ring, at which point the ring steward approached me, informing me that I was “disturbing the dogs” and had to stop taking pictures.  I took a good look at the dogs, and they didn’t seem to be disturbed by my presence, so I must assume it was their owners that were being stressed out.  I wonder why? What could they have been trying to hide from me?

The next show I attend, I will just bring a camcorder so that I can record all the action!

I must admit that I did talk to a few “friendly” “splinters”  that have been around for a long time, and are fed up with all of the politics they have had to deal with since they left the ISSR. These people should be considered political veterans because they were among the first to join the ISSDCr movement in 1998, officiated on various committees and have had first hand experience with the NSBR, USSDCR, SSBA and now, the TSSR—all within the past 6 years. It may seem like it took them a long time to wake up and smell the pizza, but at least they did wake up! Once they firm up their new plans it will leave the TSSR with only a handful of “newbies” that really don’t know much of anything about dog breeding! What kind of horrors will they be producing then?

From what I was able to see at this show—when they brought out the “Best” they had to offer—I was not impressed!! Although a few of the dogs still had a little bit of size left, many were extremely small boned—and not even as big as some of the Kings! At one point I pointed out a nice young bitch—that turned out to be a mature male! Yet my biggest concern was with the long “needle nosed” dogs that seemed to be displaying their “new” direction. A few were tall (and leggy) but their heads were so narrow with NO stops! They almost resembled Big Eared Tervs on stilts with horrible tails!

	The only dog in this sea of counterfeit “Shiloh” wannabees that was a good representative of the true Shiloh Shepherd™ Breed Standard was Apollo—but of course he came from two ISSR dogs that were both bred under my direction. If his owner had not “jumped ship” in 98, he would probably be a great asset to the ISSR NB program, since he carries the best of MY dogs in his pedigree. However, due to the present over-inbred situation that plagues all of the splinter registries, using him at stud to any other over-inbred bitch could be extremely hazardous—and out-crossing him to some of the “OTX” sic GSD’s that are presently being used would be even more ridiculous!
Photo courtesy of Apollo's owners
What a waste! A dog like this could add so much to our giant NB Orbit dogs, but he can never enter the ISSR.

Personal Note: Despite the continuous accusations of “political” nonsense being spewed forth at me over the years, I have stood firm to uphold the ISSR Constitution at any cost!

The ISSR rules were written in ’91, the few amendments that were passed over the years, have always been listed on our web site—and hundreds of members within the SSDCA are committed to upholding our high standards! Period!

It was “Political unrest” stirred up by a few key players that caused the original club split and ushered in the first “splinter” (now defunct) “registry” back in ’98, since that time many others have been formed! It seems like each time there is a dispute within the ranks of the “powers that be” a new registry is being formed. Whoever heard of such nonsense!

Shiloh Shepherd™ History Timeline: the first 40 years | Confusion

Since the Shiloh Shepherd™ is not even a “breed” but still under development, the registry plays a critical part as the “Central Repository for genetic data! It is imperative that accurate data be maintained for many generations in order to establish proper breeding goals! Unless sufficient information is collected, just “issuing” “papers” becomes a totally useless venue!

With this in mind, the ISSR did offer full amnesty to all dissidents in the fall of 1999. Many returned and have been productive breeders within our ranks, helping me to expand our gene pool in order to someday attain full recognition for MY Shiloh Shepherds™ as a genuine established breed! I know that these people must  care about the future welfare of our breed. Obviously this is not the case within the dissident groups that chose to ignore my offer of amnesty and encouraged others not to take it (although they were fully aware of the fact that it would not be offered again) and have proceeded to “do their own various things” for the past 5 years now.

As I continued to mentally evaluate the dogs that these “registries” [sic] were falsely presenting as MY Shiloh Shepherds™, I noticed one dog that reminded me of Pax—he looked just like Pax did 10 years ago! Since his owner did not object to me taking his picture, I told her how I felt about her dog, and that I was disappointed that he didn’t win in any of the shows. I guess the judges must have been told that a “Shiloh” should look like a needle nosed long haired GSD, because that is what they were selecting.

What a shame! I am sure that if this allowed to continue, over the next few years things will only disintegrate even further—soon these dogs will end up looking more like the two King Shepherds, although I must admit, at least they had wonderful temperaments), pictured below.  Maybe they should just try registering their dogs as Kings? After all, their breed founder doesn't seem to mind the hook/gay tails and I had a hard time distinguishing much of a difference! Both groups look like Long Haired GSD's to me, so what difference should a "name" make?

Why don't you take a few minutes to look at the beautiful AKC (properly registered) Long Haired Shepherd  on these pages and compare them to the Best of Breed Dogs in the ARBA group ring? The sable claimed to be a "Shiloh", the dual was registered as a King Shepherd.  You be the judge--what differences do you see?

If that’s the “look” that the oxymorons are striving for, why don’t they just get some ADS?  At least then they would have nicer heads—without those horrible hook/gay tails.

King Shepherd	nonShiloh	King Shepherd	nonShiloh

There are many breeds that should have tails that look like what the splinter Shilohs are sporting; because their breed standard actually requires that type of tail carriage. For example, the Malamute, Akita, Tibetan Mastiff, Ovcharka and many others would actually appear to be faulty if they didn't carry their tails proudly over their backs!

The magnificent Leonberger is another beautiful large working dog that looks great with such a tail set, but it just doesn't look "right" on a Shiloh Shepherd™!

Real Show Quality Shiloh Shepherds™ do not carry their tails like this! Please take a moment to read my Broken Hearted Breed Founder Redux article and take a look at some ISSR dogs!

In conclusion, I must admit that during the two days I spent at these shows, aside from getting the “cold shoulder” and a few venomous “looks” most of the owners did not verbally attack me, and a few of the “old timers” were actually very nice to me—except for Christy’s outburst, the only person that actually threatened me with everything in the book was Patti Schaffer.  Her confrontation was quite nasty and not worthy of being repeated here! Obviously she either cannot see any faults in her dogs, or doesn’t know how to eliminate them. In either case—from what I saw this weekend, I truly sympathize with the poor suckers that will be misled into buying one of these faulty pet quality unregistered Long Haired GSD pups  because someone duped them into thinking that they are getting a real Shiloh Shepherd™.

If you would like to see more pictures taken at this Cherry Blossom please click on our large collage that we have prepared for you.