WOW!!! Is the $2500 just for the handling for the few minutes or is that money to pay for their airfare, hotel, food, rental vehicle? If it covers all of the previously mentioned, what is the approx. breakdown? How much time is spent with the dog? And is the additional $2500 suppose to be a bonus of some sort for the handler if it goes select? Are those average fees for a "name brand" handler at a National? One more question :-)) ....is this the norm for any breed? Colleen Donnelly * always learning * ================== It doesn't really matter where the national is located, as long as our handlers want $2,500 to show a special, with an additional $2,500 added on if your animal goes select (I don't get that - isn't that the point of showing a special?), entries are never going to be huge. There's a limited number of us (and I'm not one of them) that can afford to pay those kind of fees to show at a national. And, with selects now limited to 10 - and those who go select most likely to be a professional who is charging those rates, then the prices are only going to get worse. The people running this club, and the people who want to run this club, are the people who can pay those rates or the people who charge those kind of rates. It's not a healthy thing for our breed - or at least for what we like to do with our breed. Just look at what is happening in the german style venues where it is an inclusive - not exclusive sport. Participation is growing, not shrinking. I myself am very close to walking away from our specialty ring. The politics are disheartening and the cost to participate alarming. I don't know how we fix this - but if I'm close to throwing in the towel (and I'm pretty hard core) then just think how hard it is to attract and keep newcomers who will show our breed in the American specialty ring. Laurie Pruett ============================================================================ 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 ============================================================================ GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG BREED BETTERMENT REGISTRY The only way to understand & estimate the nature of the dog is to study his whole development. Such a task requires a sympathetic, dog-loving observer, who tries as far as possible to enter into the innermost mind of the dog, and who will know how to short-circuit all his purely human points of view. --Max von Stephanitz __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ============================================================================ 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 ============================================================================