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Ron Halling and Zephyr's Adelaide Princess Win Obedience Grand Victrix at the German Shepherd Dog Club of America Centennial National Specialty Show
Ron receiving the Grand Victrix Award at the GSDCA National October 11, 2013,
with his dog Zephyr's Adelaide Princess ("Addie")
Ron was also awarded a trophy from the White German Shepherd Dog Federation for Highest Scoring White GSD at the GSDCA National October 11, 2013, with Addie
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Ron Halling with Addie doing off lead
healing in a trial at the GSDCA National October 11, 2013
  
Ron doing Brace with Addie and Reilly at the 2013 GSDCA National. He took first place!
Ron being awarded the Obedience Grand Victrix Award
at the 2013 GSDCA National with his GSD Addie.
An awesome feat and history in the making!
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UCD, URO1 Kaiser von Bungarz, CD, RD, THD, CGC, HIC, ASCA CD, RA, TT, TDI, ATD
When my folks adopted me, I was my mom’s pick of the litter – and I had many littermates.
Since that time, I got to be with them all the time, even when they went off to some vacation resort.
In my first four month, we went to the Ozarks twice, for a week at a time, to Square Dance.
My folks were intent on ‘socializing me’, so among others they took me to an event with all German Shepherd Dogs, the WGSDCII National Specialty Show. That’s when it all started. The friendly people there included me in their activity and I was in the first ever dog show for me and my folks. What a fun thing to do.
And then the miracle happened – they said I was the Best Puppy – whoa!
As soon as I was six month old, my folks took me to Obedience classes were I learned to become a Canine Good Citizen. (It recently became an AKC title)
I love people, big or little. My folks say that some strangers are afraid of me and it is important for me to be well mannered, so I have been going to school to learn all kinds of things and to follow instructions.
Additionally, I was tested and passed the Temperament Test and Therapy Dog evaluation.
I really had fun when my folks took me to an AKC show where they had sheep. Several judges certified me as having Herding Instinct – YES; I am a German Shepherd Dog.
My papa had registered me with the AKC, UKC and ASCA. We learned to perform the various Obedience Exercises and Rally Exercises/Signs according to their respective venues.
Together we entered Obedience Shows and Rally Trials.
My folks are very happy that I earned Rally titles and
the Companion Dog title in all three venues.
With my Obedience – and Rally experience I also learned and performed the routines needed to earn various Trick Dog titles.
My mom is a retired school teacher and librarian. She took my papa and me to a local Elementary School to serve as Therapy dog. The little children read to me and everybody seems to love it – we go there every week and they still want us to come more often.
Last year I received the American Kennel Club’s Therapy Dog title.
The school gave me a BIG toy last summer and I play with it a lot – also tried to chew it up, but not much success yet – tough job, even for a big boy like me.
On over-night, out of town trips, my folks always take me along. I am a very good traveler. My family takes me on nice ‘Nature Walks’; we go out into the community to socialize; some time ago, my folks introduced me to the fun sport of AKC Tracking. We got away from it, lately; however I understand that we will pick it up again.
Not bad for a household pet;
Don’t you agree?
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WGSDCII Altered CH. Genesis Brenna UDX9, OFA H/E
I would like to introduce to you Altered CH. Genesis Brenna UDX9, OFA H/E and her owner, Susan Holland. Susan and Brenna recently participated as a team in the National Obedience Invitational (NOI) held December 15-16, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. NOI is an AKC invitational only event as the title suggests. Top obedience dogs from around the country come together for this two day event striving for the prestigious National Obedience Champion award. It is a long, grueling two day competition requiring each team to compete in 8 different rings per day with 2 to 4 exercises performed per ring. That means that every exercise is done twice each day. The group Stay Exercise is also required. At the start, the dogs are grouped according to height for ease of setting up jumps, etc. The exercises are mixed up so that each team must be prepared for whatever exercises are called for. With their equipment in hand, the teams must wait ringside throughout the day ready to perform. This is not a time for rest and relaxation but rather a "wait and be prepared" area of expectation.
It is a great privilege to be invited to NOI but of course the dog must earn this particular offer. There are three ways dogs are selected for this event. The top 25 dogs are invited based on Obedience Trial Championship points (OTCH) earned from the previous year starting July 1st to the current year ending June 30th; also invited are the top 3 dogs of each breed ranked by OTCH points; additionally dogs and their handlers can compete in Regional Obedience Competitions held throughout the Untied States. Brenna and Susan qualified through a regional competition and that was a long journey in itself.
Brenna, at age 9 years, has arthritis in both wrists and although mild, Susan thought it best to stop working her over two years ago. She brought Brenna to be seen by a veterinarian that does acupuncture and message treatments. It seemed to be the miracle answer for this dog. Now, you have to understand Brenna. This is a dog that looks forward to work and has always been a steady performer that hardly ever misses a beat or in this case an exercise. She is not overly excitable but extremely consistent and precise. She loves her ball and it has been her motivation for obedience work from the beginning and her reward between exercises or during playtime throughout her obedience career. Getting back to work after her treatments brought back the spark in this dog and a hope for Susan. After several months out of the obedience ring, she was back competing, her first show being a 3 day regional event in Houston, Texas in June of 2011. At regionals a dog must compete and qualify all 3 days and will acquire a cumulative score for the weekend. Brenna qualified in everything all weekend. She ranked 4th out of 44 dogs of different breeds at this Regional Obedience Competition which warranted her invitation to NOI. The following weekend she competed in Longview, Texas at a regular obedience trial once again qualifying both days. The Regional Obedience Competition in Houston was very tough as there were a lot of dogs competing, many being Golden Retrievers and Border Collies. Both of these breeds are known for their high drive and high scores in obedience.
NOI compares to a marathon and the competition is serious. It can be equated to participating in four shows in two days. After a two day drive from Texas to Florida, Susan and Brenna were ready to bring it on. Not knowing what to expect from the other German Shepherd owners, Susan was pleasantly surprised at how generous and supportive everyone was. They did not look down at Brenna for being white but genuinely welcomed and included her for the German Shepherd Dog that she is. There were five teams representing the German Shepherd Dog breed. Besides Susan and Brenna, the other teams were Anne Morrison and OTCH Great Oak's Jaz It Up UDX6 OM7 VER RAE, Phyllis Dobbs and T-Rex Vom Kriegerhaus VCD1 UD VER RE TDX HSAs, Lizanne Kaiser and OV Dante's Vita Nuova UDX3 OM5 GN GO, Shannon Shepherd and OV OTCH Zita Vom Krummenhager See UDX5 OM6 VER RN. All vying for each other, every GSD owner in attendance wanted to see each and every German Shepherd Dog do well. Color did not matter in their eyes, just the fact that they were there representing the breed. What an honor.
Each day started at 9 AM and went well into the early evening hours. All the German Shepherds succeeded well with 3 of the 5 teams making it through all 16 rings without receiving a non-qualifying score in any exercise. (A non-qualifying score (NQ) does not disqualify a dog, the dog just looses points.) Brenna was one of these 3 German Shepherd Dogs that qualified in everything. She was third overall for the breed and placed 59th for the weekend out of 127 dogs total. Not bad for a 9 year old who wasn't expected to make it at all. She was also the oldest GSD there.
Susan has owned white German Shepherd Dogs since 1969 and has competed in many events over the years. First and foremost, they are her family and live in the house with her and her husband. She has never had a problem with their health or temperament. She currently owns three. Susan said that all the dogs at NOI were fabulous and that even though it was a difficult weekend, it was extremely rewarding. This was especially true when, by weekend's end, she realized that Brenna did not disqualify in any exercise! She stated, "It takes a pretty special dog to go through such rigorous competition and not make any mistakes."
Brenna ranked 5th in the German Shepherd Obedience Rankings in 2010 and 6th in 2011. This is remarkable in and of itself and proves her consistency in obtaining a continuous, high scoring status even while competing on such a limited basis. Although Brenna has two legs toward her UDX10, Susan has retired her after the National Obedience Invitational. Brenna is doing quite well and is still happily running around the house and yard with ... what's that in her mouth? Her ball, of course!
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January 13, 2013 - Whitestone's Miracle of Atlas (Mira) earned her Canine Performance Events Enthusiast Agility Trial Champion 4 title (CT-ATCH 4). This is her 5th championship from CPE and requires 280 qualifying runs.
February 23, 2013 - Eclipse's What Happens in Vegas (Luxor) earned his AKC Rally Novice Title (RN)
April 13, 2013 - Eclipse's What Happens in Vegas (Luxor) earned his World Cynosport Rally Level 1 Title (RL1) and his Level 1 Award of Excellence for all scores over 190.
April 21, 2013 - Eclipse's Decadent Obsession (Nadia) earned her UKC Agility II title (UAGII)
May 19, 2013 - Eclipse's Strength of Atlas (Atlas) earned his Australian Shepherd Club of American Rally Novice Title (ASCA RN)
May 26, 2013 - Eclipse's Decadent Obsession (Nadia) (above) earned her Canine Performance Events Level 4 Handler Agility Title (CL4-H)
Atlas and Mira are owned by Tracie Karsjens. Luxor and Nadia are co-owned by Tracie and Donna Beadle.
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