Yes a correct moving and long striding German Shepherd Dog can move correctly in a small ring Jessica .....just as they can in their kennels or pens or small yards. HOWEVER.....where is the "joy" in seeing the length of stride and correct precision balance and beautiful topline and ground covering stride when they are in the same sized ring that Corgi's or Shelties are Judged in? Of course they can navigate the ring....but the handler must hold them back and with the length of stride a good ground covering GSD has ...they spend all their time in the ring turning........and it is not what I want to see. ......... nor is just the 'down and back' the main feature of a good GSD and what I came to see. Most of us sit ring side and watch the rear of the dog as it goes close to us and up as it makes the turnso we can check their rear action..... or we sit so we can watch them on the coming and going if it is one of the things we are concerned about. We don't need that to be the main course in the judging. BUT.....a great side gaiting German Shepherd Dog that is a tad close going away or coming ( or wide ) or a tad loose in one hock is more than acceptable to most of us.....as some of it even has to do with conditioning. Serious faults can be seen by a good judge from the side AND on the coming and going. Obviously the judge has to make some tough but rational decisions when it is even obvious from the side. ( i.e. dragging toes, flopping croups and tails, rotating stifles or just plain 'egg beater' rears or fronts ) I'll take a loose hock any day to a dog that is 'squeaky clean' but has a bad back or NO GSD side gait to speak of. We can weed out a loose hock easily....but trying to get a great ground covering side gait from parents that "don't".......NAW......<G> They ALL should be able to handle a small ring!! Is it where I want to spend my time looking at a GSD gait and showing my own dogs.............?? . NAW.......<G> Carolyn marhaven@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx www.Marhaven.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Emilie To: spotted101@xxxxxxxxxxx ; showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 7:12 AM Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Movement - My Take - Maybe Controversial for Thoughts To me it is correct structure and dogs who are conditioned and trained that move well and they do need a large enough ring to show the judge what they have.JMHO Emilie ********************************************************************** As I pointed out before, a CORRECTLY made, correctly conditioned GSD should be able to handle a smallish ring - maybe not a postage stamp ring, but an average sized ring. Isn't this breed supposed to be strong and athletic? Which means they should be able to function and move CORRECTLY in all situations. I have to laugh that everyone always talks about how a big sidegait is what wins at specialties... No, actually, based on many of the photos I see in the Review or see at s hows, a dog with lots of flashing legs does well at specialties. Those are the dogs who NEED the big rings to get their legs under them and sort of going the right direction. Yes, dogs with big CORRECT gaits do win, but flashing legs does not equal big gait. And a dog with a faulty down and back can have a big sidegait or lots of action - it's those flexible dogs that have the biggest gaits. Very rarely will you find a dog with a totally correct down and back with a big, long gait. Dogs are typically good on one end or the other and then have the sidegait to go with it. To me it is this flexibility that allows for the big gait... JMHO from many years of watching dogs in all-breeds.Jess M.Paisley Dals (www.paisleydals.com)& The Shepherd Girls (Simmie, CGC, TDI, TC, HIC & Pepper, HIC)Member of: DCA, GSDCA & GTCDC ============================================================================ 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 ============================================================================