It was the middle of the night Woody.LOL. I was sitting up keeping the heathens from barking at deer or whatever was out there. I have been spending a lot of time working on peoples plumbing because we have been getting out once every 10 to 15 year cold snap with the temps getting below 10 at night and hanging around freezing during the day.
As far as the rest of why I haven't been on the board much in connection with the Natioinals. It may have gotten a bit confusing as I am not the type to participate in events like this that just offer titles and no side betting. Competion is what raises the the bar. I am going only to prove a point. The Airedale Terrier Club of America(ATCA) is the national breed club. They are sponsoring this event. The airedale has all but ceased to exist as a serious working dog under the watch of this bunch of show breeders. The standard is not a working standard and is grossly inhibitive to anything more strenuous than agility, flyball, obedience and conformation. My contention is that, the airedale is, or was, a great working breed before being taken under the wing of the show breeders . I have put up a public notice that while I am there, I would like to get together with some of the show breeders that have realized that the airedale is no longer a viable working breed. They are striveing to correct this by sposoring these Nationals and actually running their dogs in them to test them The purpose is to see if we can find some common ground between themselves and the few working people to strenghten voting power. There are some tough hurdles because the faction controlling the Club also controls the show ring...which will put the showbreeders I want to meet in a tenuous position at best if they want to continue showing. It is a mess, I am not a member....nor am I their favorite person. It is time for a changing of the guard. A lot of people are exposed to my rantings, which I make public and I hope it makes more sense to them than it did to you, Woody.