Kate your observations are interesting. Before I stopped breeding all my dogs were very closely linebred 2-4 times Nasdaq rom. Other then big ears that were slow to come I never had problems. So I felt safe taking a girl and outcrossing her - Got Zapped. Sally >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Yeah, outcrossing is challenging and we all have to do it at some point or stop breeding all together since we have too much of something and everyone is related. I prefer the outcrossed stud dog that isn't going to imprint himself too heavily on my litters. What I mean is, a stud dog that allows the good stuff to come through from my bitches. After 20 years of breeding, I do not want a dramatic change in type or temperament. What I have is what I've been breeding to achieve all these years. I just want to be able to continue to produce healthy consistent litters according to the standard. Kate ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2008. 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://showgsd.org NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================