I dunno...I disagree. And I think it would bring out a whole new calibre of training. Look at obedience dogs. Open and Utility exercises are done entirely off lead. Sits and downs, off lead. Figure 8, off lead. Recall, off lead. Heeling pattern, off lead. Seems a little silly (and stodgy) for AKC to state such a thing. Why bother with obedience then. People SHOULD teach their dog more than just how to gait ON a lead. They should learn how to do it off lead too! Whether you show that way or not is another kettle of mush, but to even HAVE that training can be an advantage, should you ever take a spill and your dog gets away from you. - Jackie In a message dated 7/8/2006 1:15:59 PM Central Daylight Time, Rbuffdogs writes: off lead would certainly be "losing control" ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2006. 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 - URL temporarily deleted due to AOL issues ============================================================================