TNX for your thoughtful response BUT not sure how old you are or how long you've been doing "it all" S.&R., K9, working dog sport, tracking, herding, obedience and/or other venues and/or "show" --- I never had an import dog up close in the lines I used in my breeding program except the first bitch I had. AND I was very pleased at what I did with the my program because I used U.S.of A. dogs after she died at 15 yrs. of age. Yes they did it all and some were true heroes beyond reason. Like I've said for some ailments, bloat in particular, what and when you do what you do in the daily care is what counts, though the genes have a lot to do with stuff, but it's the same with all breeds. English Bulldogs are expensive because most all of them begin with a C section because of the facial build of the dam. I NEVER had a bloat case in my 40 some years of breeding, showing, training and boarding of all kinds, even horses, though I did have a couple cases of colic but they were not fatal ones. If you study hard and long enough you can come up with some superb GSDs in our country. Sorry to disagree with you, but I just happen to feel that experience is a good teacher. OK I'll go back to lurking and hope I'm not opening up a can of you know what since this REALLY IS MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION! TNX Norma no L ----- Original Message ----- From: <tsaligsds@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: "Norma Ramey" <gsdramey@xxxxxxx>; "AA GSD List" <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 8:47 PM Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: AKC Investigating Shipping Policy Change OK, to the public........ because she is strong WUSV level working lines. And, yes, there are some wonderful bitches here but lets get real....... when you want a Grand Victor you don't breed to German working lines and when you are looking to breed a working dog for international competition you don't breed a show dog.  Keep in mind I own German Shepherds, regardless of country of origin, I own and breed, what I like for specific purposes.  When I wnat a show line puppy I breed show lines and when I wnat a working dog its off to working lines I go!!! Suzanne ----- Original Message ----- From: "Norma Ramey" <gsdramey@xxxxxxx> To: tsaligsds@xxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 9:02:35 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: AKC Investigating Shipping Policy Change Ah, Suzanne, since you ARE sharing this import information with folks in the U.S. of A., would you please, tell us, "in the public" just exactly why you "imported" a dog when I do know there are some very wonderful bitches in the good old U.S. of A.?  TNX.  Norma ============================================================================ ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2008. 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. 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@xxxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================