I am very proud to announce that TWO Dallas kids (who are also both breed champions) finished their Herding Started Titles this weekend! CH Naiyala of Crestview HSAs TC had a beautiful controlled run to earn a THIRD place in a HUGE Started class (full of mainly Border Collies!) on Saturday. Nala saw sheep for the first time last August. She earned her PT in December, and now has finished her HS as well! We moved her up to Herding Intermediate on Sunday and she ALMOST Q'd there! She had without a doubt the most difficult set of sheep of the day. The stock handler even asked the judge if she could change sets because the working stock dog couldn't settle the sheep. The judge decided to let Nala try and she did AWESOME. She worked this set of sheep like a PRO and altho she just missed qualifying (by just 1 point at the Y chute cause of the nutty sheep), she showed how awesome she can herd and the kudos that she received afterwards from the other herding competitors was better than any green ribbon! Even with the nutty group that we got, she was controlled & quiet and by the time we got through the Y chute, she had settled them down and drove them & finished the course beautifully. CH Caisson's Unconditional Surrender HSAs OA AXJ NF also had a beautiful run (5th place also over many border collies!! :-) ) to finish his Herding Started title on Saturday. Yankee just started herding in November and was not ready to try Intermediate, so much to his distress, I helped work the started class and he sat out on Sunday :-) I am very proud of both of these dogs...they worked their hearts out this weekend and were a good showing for German Shepherds. They were the only two GSDs at the trial and I can't tell you how many people came up to both Dania & me talking about how nice it was to see beautiful German Shepherds, especially ones that were such awesome "working" dogs :-) Julie Degen _www.caissonkennels.com_ (http://www.caissonkennels.com/) "A well-balanced German Shepherd has a title on both ends!" P.S. Just a side note...my border collie, Radar, worked HIS heart out for 3 days solid sorting sheep, setting sheep out, etc., for the test classes as well as both A & B courses. He was a PERFECT little working dog and thought he'd gone to herding heaven. Instead of getting 2 minutes in the ring competing, he worked 8 hours on Sat & Sun (as well as getting things set up on Fri). We may love to beat the black & white dogs with our GSDs, but I do appreciate and love my little one, too ;-) **************It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms and advice on AOL Money & Finance. (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolcmp00300000002850) ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2007. 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 - www.showgsd.org ============================================================================