Since I am a Specialty judge, I look at it this way: I look at all the classes the same....period......find the best dog and if it's in the "new" class, so be it....if its good....it gets put up. Yes, there should be a class without handlers BUT if your dog looks good with a handler, you are cutting off your nose to save a buck or two. The truth is that if that handler makes that dog look good, it will win. But to confuse everyone, I have seen handlers really mess up their dogs....THAT IS SAD I try to treat a class the same but a lot of the dogs in Novice and bred-by are just getting experience or the owners think that they cannot compete in Am Bred or Open.....therefore, the Open, Am Bred and 12-18 usually have better dogs and they usually get put up. Just the facts folks! Replacing the Novice class would not be a bad thing but to ADD another class would be very wrong due to the fact that we do not have as many entries as we used to and I believe that applies to all breeds of dogs. Joanna Rand ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2007. 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 - www.showgsd.org ============================================================================