Ah, Cathy (and The One And Only), the voice(s) of reason. Folks, read Cathy's last paragraph again for it is a truism. Having personally owned dogs bought AND bred by me (IN THE LAST 10 YEARS) that died from bloat(three 2 year olds and one 5 year old), torsion (a 6 year old), toxic gut (2 puppies and a 6 year old), DM (2), cancer (a 6 year old), and heart attack (a 2 year old), we certainly do have serious health problems in the breed and they are striking the YOUNG. Penny in NC The Farm Dog Forever Hi All, I would like to thank Lanalee for explaining to everyone how the process for changing a breed standard works with AKC as she is absolutely correct. I would also like to advise Norma that the Country of Origin of the Breed, does not rule the breed standard, as that is incorrect, it is the Parent Club in this Country. If it was not, you would not see Akita's with black masks being shown at AKC shows as they are not acceptable under the Japanese Standard. I also agree that before everyone gets their pants in a knot, calm down, this is just a process and it would have to be voted by the membership. Also, we do have a lot more health issues concerning our breed then to worry about something that is only in the exploratory stages. Cathy Kelstar fmurch@xxxxxxxxxxxxx EarthLink Revolves Around You. ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2012. 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/ ============================================================================