In my experience being in the house as much as is possible helps with bonding and making the dogs gererally happy about life, themselves, and socialization. But, if you cannot see that they get plenty of excercise they do not make good show dogs. Living with me does not make a well conditioned dog. I send my dogs out for conditioning and, for lack of local majors and good handlers enough for everyone, I left Liddy out, hoping for the majors. Timing is everything..... Kit will be living with the Stiefferman's who are kind enough to take him and give him plenty of both house and kennel time so he can get in condition for the ring. I expect he will also adjust well to their overall life and the horses, as he is a very flexable dog. They tell me Liddy has taken to their lifestyle quite well and has even made a girl friend, something she refused to do with me. If I could get my dogs the space to run and the time to run them, I would only send them out for shows and would probably just take them no matter where. But I have no such space and I am not given to long walks these days. So Kit looks like a pet and will for a bit yet. But when he does get in the ring, look out! Dexter has been a pet all his life. He does not have the structure for much else, but we love him very much. I would be interested to hear more about conditions of dogs when they have bloated. Were they out of shape after having been condiditoned for show but are now retired? Are they being actively shown and conditioned? I worry that many people do not want to admit that their stud was tacked. I have heard rumors about Liddy and Kit's sire having been tacked prior to the breeding, but I will not swear to this or call it more than scuttle-butt. If he was tacked, I would think that anyone considering using him deserves to know this. If Barbara Hammond knew, no one else will ever know, G-d rest her soul. But I worry about over activity and under activity. I worry about general health and my dogs' abilities to do the job they are designed for. I also bless their presence in my life. They make sure I know everything my neighbors are doing and keep the cats on their toes. No one who comes in can leave without hair and slobber, and no one ever come in uninvited. Sheila Sheila of Miami Mernydex GSD's Loving Obedience Dog Training --------------------------------- Yahoo! Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs. Try it free. ============================================================================ 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 ============================================================================