Four legs ahead of the competition: German Shepherd show wraps up in Saint John

Nearly 120 German Shepherds are showing off their chops as part of the 2023 German Shepherd Dog Championship and Sieger Show.

It’s the first time it has been held in this region in ten years.

Dave Grant, with the German Shepherd Schutzhund Club of Canada, said the competition is the culmination of a lot of hard work by both trainers and the dogs.

“This is a culmination of five different regions across Canada who had specific trials that they had to enter in order to qualify for this nationals,” he said in an interview. “Now that it’s here, it’s wonderful. Great community, great people.”

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Grant’s favourite part is the comradery shared by those entering the competition and he said the last several years, through the COVID-19 pandemic, have been hard.

“You have people that leave and don’t come back, or people who got into it and then COVID hit,” he said, sharing how wonderful he said it is to see the competition back up and running.

It’s a five-day competition, which began on Aug. 2, through the Fundy Schutzhund Club. Saturday was for the youngest pups from three months to 18 months.

Junger Fisher has been training German Shepherds for more than two decades.

“The German Shepherd has good genetics already. They all have a good food drive, and also the movements for the show as you can see behind me, and it’s also fun for the puppies,” he said.

Judges will look for a variety of things, such as good conformation of the dog, which refers to the structure and overall appearance of the dog.

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Judges will look at angulation, from front to hind quarters, which means the symmetry of the dog’s bone structure and flexibility when moving.

They’ll look at the head, colour and pigmentation of the dog.

And lastly, they’ll look at how the dog moves through the ring and its obedience.

“The favourite part is, for me, actually the puppy class. They are all pets and they are so innocent and they’re just happy to be here,” Fisher said. “When it’s going obviously to the higher classes, then you can see really very strong performances for the dog, how they move and that I would say is the highlight from the working class.”

The show also has competition for protection, tracking and working dogs, which can measure a dog’s preparedness to guard, take protective action, and to work through high-pressure environments.

The show continues on Aug. 6 with the working class taking to the ring — hoping to be four legs ahead of the competition.