Why do some people smoke, and get lung cancer at age 40....and others smoke, and get lung cancer at age 80? Why do some people get lung cancer and never smoke? .....We (our dogs included) are part genetics, part environment. IMO, those who want to lay all of our dogs' problems on genetics ALONE have their head in the sand.....Also, those who want to lay all of our dogs' problems on environment ALONE have their head in the sand too....We all must do whatever we can do to breed healthy puppies that live healthy lives.... However if you get too hung up on it, you might as well quit breeding. A litter of 100% healthy pups that live 100% healthy lives has probably never happened. If it has, it's very rare....Thanks to genetics *and* environment. JMO, Cyndi Flautt www.carettigsd.com ===================== ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2010. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Each Author is responsible for the content of his/her post. This group and its administrators are not responsible for the comments or opinions expressed in any post. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================