HISTORY OF THE CLUB
In late 1947,a small group of German Shepherd Dog enthusiasts met somewhere in Nottingham,amongst them founder members Mr Sid Greaves and Mr Phil Duffy(These gentlemen passed away February 16th,1968 and January 16th,1994,respectively).The outcome of their meeting was the formation of the Midland Counties Alsatian Club,which was registered with the Kennel Club on January 1st,1948.
The aim was to instruct members in Ringcraft,Obedience and Workability,so this highly intelligent animal takes it's rightful place in the dog world.
You may have noticed that the foundation club was called the Midland Counties Alsatian Club,the name "Alsatian" was allegedly chosen for the breed after GSD's were found by English soldiers in the French province of Alsace-Lorraine after World War 1,and subsequently brought back to England.Understandably at this time,a great many people were sensitive to anything bearing the name "German"
In those early days the branch suffered from difficulties with training venues from time to time,even negotiating with Nottingham Police force!!Eventually though,in 1960 training started at Bilborough,near Nottingham,where the club trained for over 30 years.Present day training takes place at the superb venue of Warren Show Ground,near Hucknall.
The first Breed Shows were held indoors.The first record we have of these shows are two entries in "Our Dogs"newspaper,one for February 16th,1952 and the other for July 11th,1952.The venue was St.Catherine's Hall,Anneswell Road,Nottingham.This show was judged by K.E.Hargraves,had 12 classes and attracted an entry of 108 dogs.The judges comments of the show were quoted as "I very much enjoyed my visit to this well run and happy show,where all seemed to enjoy themselves and pull their weight.The quality was exceptionally high Quite up to championship show standard,and the dogs temperaments were excellent".
Following in July,the second report was by judge of the day Mrs G.A. Barrington and the venue this time was the Drill Hall,Beeston,Nottingham."I was pleased to judge again at this clubs well organised show,I was most interested to note the uniformity of type,evidence of the excellent work done for the Breed in this region".The dog winning Best of Breed in this show was Arno of Glenvoca.Many top breeders came to participate in the Midland Counties Alsatian Association shows.On Saturday 21st May 1966 at the Derby Drill Hall.Nottingham,the Midland Counties proudly held it's first Championship Breed Show.The judges on that day were Mrs M.E. Tidbold(Males) and Mrs.G.M. Barrington(Females).The winning male was Mr.T.E. Weston's 'Terrie of Brinton'(Champion Archer of Brinton x Zena of Brinton) and the winning female was Mr.C.Allan's 'Shootersway Perephone'(Champion Atsan Impresario x Shootersway Lucretia of Stranmillis),
The Association has always tried to obtain the best judges for it's shows.The search for judges has stretched across to Germany and on one occasion the S.V Relations Officer,Herr Reitzel was invited to officiate at one of our shows.During his stay Herr Reitzel was given an Association badge which he promptly wore.A few years later a member of the Midland Counties was attending the S V Show in Germany and saw one of the officials wearing an Association badge.This member approached the official and politely asked how he had come by the badge.Herr Reitzel introduced himself and related the story of how the badge had come into his possession and how he always wore it with great pride.
Ever since the formation of the Midland Counties it has always been an aim to show dogs,especially the German Shepherd Dog in the most favourable light to the public.Unfortunately,dog ownership is influences by "fashion" and the GSD, although still popular is not as numerous as it was.This has influenced the club to adopt mixed breed obedience in order to remain viable.A recent initiative by the Kennel Club to promote responsible ownership was"The Good Citizen Scheme". From Bronze onto Silver and then Gold.Advanced obedience training also takes place at our club.
In May 1997 our long serving Predident,Stan Hopps of Nottingham died after an illness.Stan became a member of the Association soon after it was formed and remained a staunch Nottingham member .He never ceased to be a mine of information on the German Shepherd Dog and was a great inspiration to all who knew him.He worked tirelessly for the Association and his guidance was readily sought by all .The Executive Committee felt a deep sense of loss in the department,Stan was looked on as an "Elder Statesman".The August 1997 Breed Show was held as a Memorial to Stan and his family was at hand to present awards.The show was a great success and it was a measure of respect that Stan commanded that one show that should have been held on the same day as the South of the Country which was cancelled,as a majority of the competitors had entered,but made it clear to the organisers that they would not be attending,but would be coming to Belper to the Memorial Show.
On the day of the Memorial Show it was discovered that a former President of the Association had died.This was Tom Bailey.Tom was President form 1960 till he resigned in 1968.He was one of the first "working men" to own a dog that attained 4 C.C's in one year,his dog was "Cip of Lynrowe".
Also in that year ,Dorothy Dean of the Derby Branch died.She had been with Derby from it's creation and both she and her husband Eric did much work for the Association.In September of 1997 an Obedience Show was held as a Memorial to them both.The show was a resounding success.
It is sad to think that these three very experienced Association members are no longer around.It would be nice to imagine that they are looking down on us with great pride.