This is my perspective on this year’s Nationals, not a reporting of the detailed results. Photos of all the events can be found in the News and Update section on our web site www.micynvpack.com.

Tuesday - The Hospitality Suite. Everyone played nice, then broke up into their factions. Let me coin a term – “GSP religions”. Just like the real religions, we all believe in the GSP standard, but interpret our “stone tablets’ and Bible differently. As Yasir Arafat said, “(On going to war over religion) You're basically killing each other to see who's got the better imaginary friend.” We will argue and fight each other over our vision of the perfect specimen of the breed.
Wednesday - Sweepstakes. The theme could have been - some of the dogs appeared more lame than the handlers. It didn’t take long for crowd to turn ugly. Complaining about the judging, while expected, still happened quickly. Some sharp eyes (fanciers and some from the veterinary profession) commented that there appeared to be a lame dog in the ribbons. Maybe the ugly crowd was right.
Adult Fun Handling. Dr. Ronald Spritzer was surprised when he showed up to judge, and was exposed to the zaniness of the GSP National Specialty Show. Handlers and dogs were in their best costumes this side of Halloween or Mardi Gras. However, Dr. Spritzer turned out to be up for the assignment. The good doctor displayed the personality of a game show host – hamming it up and having fun. He clowned with a clown, directed traffic with a car driven by a French Bulldog, tossed a decoy for a PBGV, and hugged a handler with a GSP and a monkey. Then he hugged her again, and again, and again. If her husband wasn’t getting jealous, the monkey certainly was.
Thursday - Futurity. Non-eventful. Mr. Keith Vooris did an efficient job with no complaining heard.
Friday - NSS dogs and bitches. The Open Bitch class was a tough class; and with full disclosure, congratulations to my wife Cynthia McCracken and Fieldfine DotsGeall v MiCyn for a great job and 3rd place. More about this class later.
The Annual Membership Meeting - Maureen Farley proposed a noble idea, establishing a Friendship Committee. I confess I’m a cynic, but let’s hope it works. My assistance to the committee is to ask the questions: what is your goal, what is your plan, how are you going to measure progress, and how will you know if and when you succeed?
Saturday - NSS Best of Breed. During the judging, the only significant rumbling was about the eventual BOB winner.
But there is hope for the breed! First, there was fun – adult handling. Then there is hope. In my opinion, if there is camaraderie, the breed will prosper and survive. There was talk about a Friendship Committee, but we need spontaneous outbursts of genuine friendship.
Case in point – the Open Bitch class. Cynthia McCracken and Andi Owens were competing fiercely for the blue ribbon. Cynthia and Andi go back a long way, longer than both these ladies would care to admit. Cynthia and I bought our 1st show Shorthair from Andi 30 years ago. But back to the story.

In the final inspection lineup, Andi’s bitch was 3rd and Cynthia’s 4th. The judge made one last pass along the line of bitches, and then rearranged the bitches (the canine ones) again. Cynthia was instructed to move up to 3rd place and Andi to 4th.

As Andi moved in back of Cynthia, she playfully kicked Cynthia in the butt. Andi had this twinkle in her eye and Cynthia smiled knowingly – they were having FUN.

How often have you had fun in the show ring? How often have you competed fiercely with friends, and then enjoyed their success?
We should congratulate these two ladies for being an example for us all, and giving us hope for the future. Quoting our web site – “We will be friends outside the ring, fierce competitors inside, and friends again outside the ring”. Thanks ladies – continue competing fiercely and our breed will flourish.