That's the issue in a nutshell. I am hesitant to spend the time and money to take my dog to a trial when the sheep are iffy. It is not like at a trial you can have the time to work out the problems working inappropriate sheep will cause a dog. You end up with a frustrated dog, a frustrated owner and a huge bill. And training issues to work on afterwards. If you have ever tried working B or C (open field) with sheep who are not familial with the breed, or worse, have only had bad experiences with your breed, it can make you swear off trialing. Ruth ________________________________ From: Kim McNamara <klite3gsd@xxxxxxxxx> To: "Showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx List" <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, September 26, 2011 8:58 AM Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: National Herding Trial - few qualifiers Interesting thread. I wasn't there and can't say - but I can say I made my decision to skip this year's National herding trial (in part) because back in April the herding chair indicated that the sheep were not accustomed to our breed. Her exact quote: "Ideally, we would love to have German Shepherd Dogs work the stock starting today! If you live near this facility or plan to vacation in Kansas, please let me know so that I can coordinate for you to practice at the Kansaquest facility." As one of my herding trainers says, we with German Shepherds start out with a disadvantage because our dogs are big and scary to most sheep. We have to work hard to show the sheep that the dog is under our control and they will be safe. It would be a shame if our National herding participants had to work with inappropriate stock. Kim - leaving Weds for Topeka. :-) -- Visit us on the web! http://kimberliteshepherds.googlepages.com/ ===========================================================================POST is Copyrighted 2011. 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. Each Author is responsible for the content of his/her post. This group and its administrators are not responsible for the comments or opinions expressed in any post. 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 ; SUBSCRIPTION:http://showgsd.org/mail.html NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================ÿÿ ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2011. 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. Each Author is responsible for the content of his/her post. This group and its administrators are not responsible for the comments or opinions expressed in any post. 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 SUBSCRIPTION:http://showgsd.org/mail.html NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================