Chairman’s Forward

Another warm welcome to one and all to this the second British Sieger.

Once again the committees of the WUSV Working Group (GSD League of GB and the British Assoc for GSD’s) and the GSD Breed Council have been working together to arrange this event for you. Just by the nature of having three different bodies involved in the organisation brings its own difficulties and also uniqueness which makes it a special event to organise.

There have been setbacks throughout the year, not least in identifying and securing a suitable venue. By working together as a team though, in the end, we have been able to provide what we hope you will all agree, will be a well organised and enjoyable event.

This year you will have seen the introduction of compulsory identification i.e. Tattoo/Microchip and also the introduction of compulsory Breed Surveys for the over 24 months. This, as can be expected, has met with some opposition. In the UK wheels turn notoriously slowly, change can be threatening, to some. However, we feel even if we have to take a step back, eventually these requirements will be viewed for the long term benefit they will achieve for our breed in this country.

The next step, at some point, will be the introduction of working qualifications. We are still some way off but it has to be said, encouragingly, each year we can see more and more breed people becoming involved with the working side throughout the UK. Over the next year the WUSV Working Group will be looking to draft an ‘implementation plan’ for consultation as to the time scale for the introduction of working qualifications. This will enable us to give everyone plenty of advance notification of the future compulsory requirements.

We welcome back today our two SV Judges from last year, Herr Heinz Scheerer and Herr Reinhardt Meyer. This year these judges will be judging the opposite sex to last year, with the addition of the 12-18 month classes. We also welcome the renowned Mr Percy Elliott (Vikkas) and Mr Gavin Black (New Zealand) who will be judging the puppy female and male classes respectively.

A big thank you goes out to Graham and Wendy Stephens of Arden Grange, our main sponsors and also Moncaster Wire Products for their continued support. Also thank you to our class and special prize sponsors. A special thank you to all our committee members who have worked hard throughout the year, particularly Carole Lister and Sheila Rankin. To all the volunteers on the day – stewards, photographers, particularly the British GSD Training Society for their offer of help at their training ground (your venue today) and also for taking care of the catering, you are all very much appreciated.

All that is left for me to say is that I hope you all enjoy your day here at Liverpool & St Helen’s Rugby Club, may you appreciate the lovely dogs entered, who are the result of dedicated breeders/owners, committed to moving our GSD World forward. Thank you and ‘Good Luck’ to you all.

Brigid Fahy Newlands- Chairman Sieger Event 2006 & Event Manager