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Siegers of the1990's what a topic. The dogs during the 1990's that attained the Sieger title it must be said had to build on a number of aspects of the breed during this period in its evaluation. What do I mean? As President of the SV Hermann Martin had laid out his stall in terms of his vision of where he wanted the breed to go. It is here we see the development of the modern day Huchzucht lines. The Siegers Uran and Quandowere made a central pin in Herr Martins vision. Close blood related families. To take the breed from diversity of type and bloodline which we had seen under Dr. Rummel; to a standardisation of type and bloodline. What I refer to as Q-Arminius inbreeding, which is really what we see happening today. This is my view. All the Siegers during the 90s are all representatives of Uran or Quando, with the exception of Fanto v. Hirschel. He was the only one who’s bloodline presented an alternative at that time, but in Bob Duff’s article Worthy Siegers Part 1 a less than favourable profile was presented for Fanto. These Siegers from the 90s, this modern Huchzucht line, what did we get ? We got positives and negatives. The standardisation of type is a marked improvement. To view any VA line up from the last number of years at the Sieger show is very impressive. Much improvement in pigment is evident to see. What negatives have we seen? Again this is my personal view; oversize, heavy set dogs, ear problems and character problems. The Siegers of the 1990's brought us these traits. Is the medium size German Shepherd a thing of the past? I know of steps being taken in Germany to try to address this problem, so the next few years shall tell the tale.

After much persuasion from Bob Duff I agreed to put together this article. We are talking about thousands of dogs descending from these 8 Sieger males from that time. In the article Worthy Siegers Part 1, 4 dogs where profiled; Fanto vom Hirschel, Zamb von der Wienerau, Jeck vom Noricum and Kimon v. Dan Alhedy's Hoeve. In my submission the other 4 shall be profiled, Ulk v. Arlett, his son Rikkor v. Bad Boll, Lasso v. Neuen Berg, and Visum v. Arminius. As has been quoted by Bob the greatest achievement that can be attained by a German Shepherd is that of World Sieger, and any dog who has the total balance of structure, temperament, presence and awe inspiring attenuation from the German Shepherd fraternity across the globe is indeed worthy. I would agree to disagree with the first submission on this topic which denotes some Siegers as worthy, and others as not so worthy Siegers. Calling into question the production ability of these great dogs must be carried out with balance, as a Sieger will produce hundreds of offspring, and with that many decedents you can be guaranteed that good ones will pop up. But for me personally what makes a truly great Sieger is his ability in conjunction with the quality of bitches he receives, as we must not forget about the mothers, is to produce the really good ones, and the ability of that line to be an influence over second and third generations, but we should not detract from the unique standing of these influential dogs. So we must keep sight of how we measure the worthiness of these dogs when we are analysing them and make sure that the argument is balanced. If a sire or Sieger fails to leave behind influential sons and thus showing a weak male legacy does that make him an unworthy Sieger? . But if he proves to be a better producer of females, as has been proven time and time again, it is the female, the mother who truly produces the stars. The two sires I referred to above Uran and Quando as the modern pillars of the breed have a strong common denominator; their mother, the grear producing bitch Palme v. Wildsteiger-Land. I rest my case. I will now get off my hobby horse in expressing the importance of the bitch line and concentrate on the main thread of this piece. Siegers of the 90s.

As with all submissions and articles of this type. they are the opinion of the author. In the 1980s I had written a similar piece for the German Shepherd Quarterly magazine which was titled Top German Shepherd of the 80’s and what I have decided to do here is keep the same format that I used then. As I stated earlier the amount of production done by these four dogs was huge and to go into such detail would require me to write a book, and not an article.

So the way you shall find the direction here is as follows. The sire, his parents, and inbreeding, then some detail about the Sieger himself. Then I shall discuss dogs I have chosen to which I fell represent the line well to establish the worth of the influence through the generations, with as much photo examples as I can find, and then finally a summary. With those parameters established lets proceed.

These 4 males make up the entire Sieger line up from 1995 to 1999. To start I will not necessary profile the dogs in their Sieger order, as Rikkor v. Bad Boll is a direct Ulk v. Arlett son, they shall intertwine so they shall be first, followed by Visium v. Arminius, and then Lasso v. Neuen Berg.

Ulk was a large, medium strong dog, masculine male of good type, good pigment, high withers, good body proportions, very good angulations of the fore and hindquarters and good length of croup and on the move he displayed a good covering fleeting gait. Ulk was a much improved dog on his sire Yago v. Wildsteigher-Land, who was a very stuffy dog in the forequarters and for me was a disappointing representative of the Eiko.v Kirschental line. Ulk's mother, Dolly v. Arlett, was a Fedor v. Arminius daughter and some traits from this line can be seen in Ulk in terms of type and angulations.

Ulk was no instant success and had a long Sieger show career working his way up the ladder. He made his Sieger show debut in 1992 in Dusseldorf when he was V7 under the then SV President Hermann Martin. In Dortmund in 1993 he made it into the Select group making VA6 again under Herman Martin. In 1994 in Bremen he was VA2 under the new SV president Peter Messler and then finally in 1995 he made VA1 and World Sieger in Hamburg.

For some the manner in which Ulk worked towards the Sieger title is perhaps the correct way, and at these 4 Sieger shows he proved his ability as a good sire as well as an outstanding male in his own right.

Perhaps the most influential son of Ulk is Rikkor v. Bad Boll, but as I will be detailing a section of this article to Rikkor, I shall not comment any further.

The first dog I have chosen discuss here is the VA Male Vando v. Moorbeck. Vando like his sire had a long Sieger Show career, starting in 1995 where he was SG 56 in the JKLR. The following year he was V14 in the GHKLR. In 1997 he was V8. In 1998 he attained the V1 position, and then finally made the Select Group in 1999 with the VA8 position. Vando was very sire typical with good proportions, high withers, good angulations, with good position and length of the croup. His mother was the Sieger Fanto v. Hirschel daughter Merri v. Hirschel, who was also the mother of Zara v. Hirschel. Vando proved not an outstanding sire, but a good one with some positive progeny following him. In the mating of Vando to Lissie v. Kiemoor, the result was the high quality male Hinnerk v. Kiemoor. Again in the his mating to Tina v. Moorbeck, a Odin v. Tannenmeise daughter, came Evi v. Moorbeck, Hanno & Hero v. Moorbeck. In the breeding of Vando to Ulla v. Haus Dexel came the female Saskia v. Altengerger Land, who when mated to Ando v. Altenberger Land produced the outstanding young male from the Ulm Sieger Show 2003 Rocky v.Haus Tepferd. Again when Vando was mated to the Swedish VA female Triumphs Pilar, came the SWE VA female Triumphs Iannie. The mating of Vando to the VA female Wendrina v. d. Kahler Heide came the V male Argus v.d.Backer Heide.

The next Ulk son we will discuss is Nicco v. Arlett. Nicco made his Sieger show debut in 1994 attaining the SG 26 placing in the JHKLR class. The following year in the GHKLR he was v34.

Nicco was a big dog, high withers, good length of croup and good angulations fore and aft. For me his body proportions where not as ideal as his sire Ulk. On the move the dog was both extensive and powerful. His mother was the grey female Soffie v. Arlett, an Enzo v.d. Burg Aliso daughter and also the mother of the top grey female Ussi v. Arlett.

As a sire he has left little behind him in the form of top male sons, but he was a good producer f females, and this is where this part of the Ulk line has left its mark. In the mating of Nicco to Kira v. Baronenwald we see the result of the top placed young female Thea v. Baroenwald SG6 in the JHKLH in 1997 and her litter brother Tony v. Baronenwald SG12 in the JHKLR in 1997 also. Thea from her mating to Hobby v. Glestchertopf gave the highly V rated male Domino v. Baronenwald.

From the mating of Nicco and Dunja zu den Sieben B,urgen a Clicko v.d. Kahler Heide daughter, came the excellent female Vivi zu den Sieben Burgen.

The most highly rated progeny of Ncco, are of course his 2 VA daughters from his mating with Gugia von der Kahler Heide, a Nufo v.d. Wienerau daughter. These females are VA Wendrina v.d. Kahler Heide and VA Woldarona v.d. Kahler Heide.

These 2 Nicco daughters where outstanding females and from the same litter. These were beautiful females of medium size, excellent proportions, superb angles, and excellent on the move. Both have proven to be excellent producers Wendrina in her litter to VA Erasmus v. Noort produced the excellent female Teba de la Ferme Malgre Leau and in her litter to Ursus v. Batu produced the VA male Ghandi v. Arlett and his litter sister Garlanda Arlett.

Woldarona v.d. Kahler Heide in her litter to Warro v. Larchenhain produced Fosby v.d. Kahler Heide and in her litter to Leif v. d. Noriswand produced Quasi, Quo, Quoll v.d. Kahler Heide.

Idol v.d. Jahnhohe was the result from the mating of Ulk to the outstanding Uran v. Wildsteiger Land daughter Marit v. Wildsteiger-Land. She was a top class producing female and also the mother of the VA male Karly v. Arminius. However in her litter to Ulk she produced Idol, and his litter siblings Ina V3 GHKLH 1997 Sieger show under Helmut Buss, and Isis v. d Jahnhole, another outstanding litter, these 3 animals where of great quality.

Idol was a large, strong dog, good head and expression, a nice clean overline, good angulations fore and aft. Like his father Ulk he had nice croup length and good body proportions. At the Sieger show in 1996 he was V18 in the GHKLR under Peter Messler and again in 1997 he improved on that placing by attaining the V6.

As a sire Idol was a little disappointing in terms of quality in depth, however he did produce some outstanding stars and these animals have breed on exceptionally well projecting this line from Ulk to modern times. In terms of sons Idol had some good representatives to name. One must consider, Vax v. Arlett SG 46 in the JKLR class in 1999, Indo v. Laabermoos SG 15 JKLR in 1998. But to be balanced Idol only had one truly outstanding influential son and he came from the pairing of Idol to the highly V rated female Ultri v. d. Wienerau, a Zamb v.d Wienerau daughter. The male in question is Pascha v.d. Jahnhohe and also his litter brother Pan v.d. Jahnhohe,

Idol von Jahnhohe

Pascha von der Jahnhohe

Off these 2 litter brothers Pan was a disappointing sire, a lovely dog, but no progeny worthy of denotation. Pascha has provided to be influential; he was SG 2 in the JHKLR of 1998, V16 GHKLR in 1999, and V6 in the GHKLR of 2000. When you compare the photos of Idol and Pascha above one can say he was sire typical. Again big, but a very expressive male, and for me a better dog than his father. As a sire he has been very positive. From his mating to Angie v.d. Amperauen, an Ursus v. Batu daughter, and also the mother of the VA Nero v. Nobachtal, came the highly rated you male Merlin v. Nobachtal SG 14 from the JHKLR in 2001, and his litter sister Mini v. Nobachtal who is proving to be an excellent producing female for the v. Team Fiemereck kennel.

The young male Eskan v. d. Noriswand SG was a result of Pascha when paired to the VA female Aminda av Norden Stamm. Eskan was SG 34 in the JHKLR in 2002. When mated to Querena v. Wildsteiger-Land we see the V rated male Jonny v. Schienbachtal. The VA Jango v. Furstenberg daughter Pamina v.d Piste Trophe mated to Pascha, gave the beautiful highly rated young male Wotan v. Poxdorfer Tannenhof SG12 in the JKLR class in 2002. Raven v.d. Noriswand was the result from the pairing from Pacha, and Kluni v.d. Noriswand. Raven was SG6 in the JHKL in 2000, and V21 in the GHKL in 2001 making him Pascha's most highly rated son.

Pascha, was also a sire of some outstanding daughters. To cover just a few lets look at the mating of Pascha to Keika v.d. Noriswand, a daughter of Eros v. d. Luisenstrasse, came the VA female Raissa degli Arvali, VA 9 in 2002. From the pairing of Prixi v. Wildsteiger Land to Pascha, came the lovely Olga v. Poxdorfer Tannenhof, VA in 2001, and 2003, and she is also the mother of Perle v.d Jahnhohe SG 4 in 2003, from here mating to Wallace aus Agrigento. The daughter Celly de ca San Marco was a VA female in Italy in 2003, she was a daughter of Pascha to the Zito v.d. Noriswand daughter Evy de ca San Marco. In my opinion Pascha v.d. Jahnhohe is without question Idols best son, but Idol also had some good daughters. We see from the paring of Idol to Xeca v.d. Kahler Heide a daughter of Dax v. Haus Lach, the beautiful VA female Sezana v.d. Kahler Heide, and her litter to VA Dux della Valcuvia produced the highly rated young dog from the 2002 Sieger show Mischale v.d. Kahler Heide. Since her importation into the UK has produced very well in her new kennel of Shotaan.

The Austrian VA, and German V female Xipsi v.d. Liebeswarte is another daughter of Idols to the Kimon van Dan Alhedys Hoeve daughter Xeni v.d. Liebeswarte.

At this point in my profile of Ulk v. Arlett I would like to discuss just a couple of his highly rated daughters. The first female that comes to my mind is the lovely VA female Tatja v. Monchberg. Her mother was Nassi v. Monchberg, a daughter of VA Mark v. Haus Beck. Tatja was SG 6 in the JHKLH class of 1995, and then VA 11 under Helmut Buss in 1996. She was a medium size,strong, dry and firm female, high withers and a lovely topline, coupled with very good angles.

The next Ulk daughter is in my personal opinion his best and most influential. That female is Brigtt v. Huhnegrab. A daughter of Ulk and Angie v. Huhnegrab, a daughter of Zamb v.d. Wienerau. Brigtt was SG 10 in the JKLH class of 1996 under B Norda, and then V4 GHKLH in 1997 under Helmut Buss. She has proven to be an outstanding producing female. In her litter to Kimbo v. Monchberg she produced the VA female Betty v. Huhnegrab, and her sister Blanka v. Huhnegrab. From the litter sired by Esko v. Danischen Hof came the VA female Biggi v. Langenbungert and her sister Babsi v. Langenbungert.

The finial Ulk son I have chosen to discuss is Rickor v. Arlett. Rickor was a big dog, medium strength, good withers, nice overline, with good length and position of the croup. He had good angles fore and aft and good movement.

His Sieger show appearances in the GHKLR followed the following trail, V9 in 1999, V2 in 2000, and V3 in 2001. Also he attained VA2 at the USA Sieger show. As a sire when one thinks of Rickor v. Arlett, his best son springs to mind Champ v. Dakota. Champ was the result of the pairing of Vienchen v. Arlett and Rickor. Champ is a outstanding grey dog attaining the SG 5 in the JHKLR class in 2001, then V2 GHKLR in 2002 and V3 in 2003. Due to the colour ostracizing that exists against grey dogs currently, I feel that this male has not been allowed to reach his full potential at stud. He is currently standing in Ireland and lets hope Irish breeders take advantage of this opportunity.

From the mating of Rickor to Taminia v. Larchenhain came the lovely Atrice von Regina Pacis.

We are now fast approaching the end of my profile of Ulk v. Arlett, but before I go to my summation there are still a few dogs I will squeeze in that I feel are important.

Firstly the Ulk daughter Rubini Jacki when mated to Esko Danischen Hof produced the SA VA male Rucano v. Danischen Hof.

Again we see when the Ulk daughter Xtra v. Arlett is mated to Eros v.d. LuisenStrasse, we get the VA male from 1999 GHKLR Huppy v. Arlett. We then see when Huppy is paired with Dasti v. Farbenspiel, we get the VA male Hill v. Farbenspiel.

The Ulk daughter Karat’s Ronda when mated to Yoker v. Lechtal, produces the VA female of 2000 Karat’s Olly and this female when paired with Sieger Ursus v. Batu produces the outstanding young male Karat’s Yoker.

Conclusion: From the data I have outlined above what can we draw from it: Has the Ulk line been a line of positive influence? Yes. Where do we see this influence? Do we see it from a line up of top sons who also proved to be top producing sons. In my opinion no. Ulk did not produce a son as good as himself, his best son Idol, produced one outstanding son Pascha, but when you analyse the data I have laid out above one can see the real production power and influence here is in the females, the daughters and granddaughters of Ulk . With a number of highly placed young males and females, and a highly placed VA male showing Ulk lineage today, his place in history is established. We see from Ulk; size. A lot of his sons were big dogs, his sons where masculine, overall the type from him was good, and we see an improvement in croup length. One could also say that Ulk was one of the best representatives of the Eiko v. Kirschental line, as he was a much better dog that his sire Yago. That is a matter of personal opinion, but it is my opinion. Like all Siegers he would have received the very top breeding females and we see the influence of the very best of these in some of the breeding results in the profile above, in particular the Arlett and Kahler Heide kennels have had great success. As I stated in my preview our assessment must be balanced and measured and take into account the females and not only the males. On that note I will not pose the question in the same format as has been put before. The question I ask myself has this dog and his line been of value and influence? The answer has to be yes.