And that is a hero dog from the get go and should be rewarded as such. But totally different than the guardian clubs official awards. Apples and oranges on this one Ed. You don't have to meet AKC standards to be a great dog, but the breed clubs charge of protecting the standard DOES come with criteria. Molly In a message dated 2/9/2012 12:31:55 P.M. Central Standard Time, edwinx@xxxxxxxxxxx writes: Molly, lets say that same hanging ear, white GSD found a bomb on a 747 Airplane carrying 330 school children on an international field trip promoting world peace, or that same dog saved a platoon of marines during combat?.........we've big enough to understand that not all GSDs live up to the AKC conformation standard ....I would be proud to see your example ( and mine) on the cover of the Review...........there is one problem....I no longer get the Review......this is perhaps the best discussion we've had on this list in quite some time.....Ed Hill ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2011. 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 SUBSCRIPTION:http://showgsd.org/mail.html NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================