the books are only a start. anyone truly interested in the breed would go to many many shows, especially the specialties where the would see a larger entry and, hopefully, more GSD-experienced judges. you sit at show after show, with a catalog, watching and trying to understand. if you don't know why a judge does something, ASK. study pedigrees from the last 25 years at minimum. ask questions. join a club where you meet experienced people and LISTEN. if someone has a litter, go see the pups to learn what people are looking for in their litters. in other words, get out there and experience the world of breeding and showing BEFORE you buy or breed. no one loves to read more than i do and i'll devour any book on GSDs - but, i have to keep in mind that the dogs haven't read the books. think about it. diane Diane Silver-Strasser Silstra German Shepherds _Skatiebug'z_ (http://skatiebugz.shutterfly.com/) The online store for everything German Shepherd and then some! _http://skatiebugz.blogspot.com_ (http://skatiebugz.blogspot.com/) Skater's Blog In a message dated 7/9/2010 2:28:59 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, denwil2007@xxxxxxxxx writes: I don't think I would have arrived any faster had I did it exactly the way the books told me. ============================================================================ 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. 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/ ============================================================================