Wonderful Post! If this artist doesn't belong to our National club maybe after working on the illustration and working closely with our club board and other members she will also learn more about the American show line GSD and maybe if we treat her with respect and an open mind she will do the same with us and our dogs. I appreciate and love the fact that we are all so passionate about our dogs, our club and our standard. However sometimes this passion gives the appearance of an exclusionary club that wont allow new people, thoughts and ideas. What better way to show off what we are so proud of and educate the people who aren't fans of our dogs. In this instance Linda may come away from this project not wanting to have an American Line GSD of her own but I bet she will have a new respect for them and us if she is treated respectfully and with an open mind in return. What a wonderful massive public education opportunity! Both ways. Beth -----Original Message----- From: showgsd-l-@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:showgsd-l-@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of InquestGSD@xxxxxxx Sent: Sunday, March 13, 2005 11:13 AM To: InquestGSD@xxxxxxx; showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] However I have been away from the list for a week, and I can only say Thank God! I am trying to catch up with everything and I just decided to give up. There is no way you can make everyone happy all the time with all your decisions. So, we are left with trying to do the best we can. I have a really good example: Since I moved to Texas five years ago I've had a terrible time finding a good hairstylist. Out of desperation there was a time I even cut my own hair. Please don't do this at home. Two weeks ago I gave in and try this new girl, who is fresh out of school. What's the worst that can happen, right? Well, her english was not very good, but she listened to what I wanted and put her heart into it and I walked aways with the best hairstyle I've had in many many years. Was she a fan of my "style" (did she own my kind of dogs)? NO Did she understand what I wanted? YES Was she able to interpret what I wanted? ABSOLUTELY Maybe Linda Shaw likes German Dogs better. Good for her. I like a good GSD no matter what the pedigree says. But I do believe the illustrations were pretty good. Were they perfect? Show me perfect. We can't even agree from one weekend to the next on what a perfect dog is, we all believe we own them. Ask Evan. He'll tell you. But she put a lot of pain into looking for the many types that reflect our breed, within the standard. Colors, ears, tails, I saw everything addressed. Some drawings needed a little bit more size, they did look a little Corgi......It was addressed. Some heads needed to be a little more masculine. We even addressed not making them so masculine they looked like Akitas. Done. When showing faults some tails needed to look a little more hook. Done. There were things that needed a little bit more, and things that needed a little bit less. Done. Done. But the essence of the goal of the project was there. There may be some shows, or Futurities, or a good new movie being release the weekend of the next board meeting. If you can, plan and attend. Become involved. I hate to think that many members that only have The List as a reference are only listening to the negatives and not giving themselves the opportunity to see things for what they truly are. So you can't make it to Utah? I am sure that if you were to write polite an intelligent and concerned email to John, Lana and Linda, were you express your views and any questions you may have they will answer to you. I know because I tried. ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2005. 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://www.showgsd.org ============================================================================