sorry Bud...I agree with Laurie..it happens all the time.......Ed Gsdjudge@xxxxxxx wrote: In a message dated 6/5/2005 6:05:48 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, pruett@xxxxxxxxx writes: Some very knowledgable breeder judges allow their decisions to be swayed by who owns the animal, who is standing outside of the ring doubling the dog, who is handling the animal, or who put up that dog (or the judge's dog) last. In those cases, I'm usually just a lurker but i had to respectfullypost an answer to Lauries assesment of why specialty shows are getting smaller. I don't have an answer to the problem but as a judge for 30 years and a german shepherd enthusiast,breeder and exhibitorfor over 45 years, i can only think of one or two instances where politics have influenced a judges decision. I strongly believe that almost all judges are honest and put up the dogs they think closest fits their interpretation of the standard.Granted a lot of times professioal handlers go up but lets face it, most do the time they have the best dogs or the type of dog that they know the judge likes.I've had handlers that hadn't shown under me and didn't know what i liked. THey lost big time but the next time under me they knew exactly what to show and made a clean sweep. That's one reason why they are professionals and get paid.I think it is a lack of knowledge and understanding of our breed standard that causes some judges to make bad decisions not lack of ethics. JMHO Bud ============================================================================ 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 ============================================================================ ============================================================================ 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 ============================================================================