although some significant percentage of the 1000 odd dogs would already be titledSteve Amrein said:So if you use Eds # of 1000 dogs and take the 50-60 titled dogs = 5-6% :
Dang Ed, just when I thought I had a chance you go and knock off 2-3% sheeshEdA said:although some significant percentage of the 1000 odd dogs would already be titledSteve Amrein said:So if you use Eds # of 1000 dogs and take the 50-60 titled dogs = 5-6% :
Steve Amrein said:.... the numbers do take a bit of the fun out of it. ....
'scuze me but I love that. Too often it looks like us owner/trainers are discouraged from our goal. I do love where this thread has gone, but my original question was how do the competition dogs compare to the show dogs in numbers. Does what we saw at Westminster really represent a majority of the "active" retriever folks?Granddaddy said:Steve Amrein said:.... the numbers do take a bit of the fun out of it. ....
Want to take the fun out of it or make it even more of a challenge? Take the top 20-25 FT pros in the US, deduct all the dogs they field title or train that receive amateur field titles, then look at how many field titles there are left for the rest of us that train & handle our own dogs. :shock:
OR
Look at it another way, consider what an achievement it really is for an amateur to train and handle his dog to a field title much less a nat'l title. :wink:
I belong to the St. Louis Golden club and while the "club" puts on a field trial I would guess quite a few members have never even seen a FT. I also know that when FL. hosted the specialty a few years back I talked to the FT chair who had yet to see a FT until the event. She did a great job and was impressed by the dog work. As far as the golden specialty goes The last few I did not even go to the host hotel that the confirmation compitition was held. Lots of other stuff ,agility obidiance and I am sure some other stuff that I may have missed.2tall said:'scuze me but I love that. Too often it looks like us owner/trainers are discouraged from our goal. I do love where this thread has gone, but my original question was how do the competition dogs compare to the show dogs in numbers. Does what we saw at Westminster really represent a majority of the "active" retriever folks?Granddaddy said:Steve Amrein said:.... the numbers do take a bit of the fun out of it. ....
Want to take the fun out of it or make it even more of a challenge? Take the top 20-25 FT pros in the US, deduct all the dogs they field title or train that receive amateur field titles, then look at how many field titles there are left for the rest of us that train & handle our own dogs. :shock:
OR
Look at it another way, consider what an achievement it really is for an amateur to train and handle his dog to a field title much less a nat'l title. :wink:
What you saw at Westminster has absolutely no relationship to working retrievers in any form :!:2tall said:Does what we saw at Westminster really represent a majority of the "active" retriever folks?
