a crazy thought.... Bitch owners are not asking about litter problems observed with a stud dog's breeding because they think baaaad genes come from males. I certainly hope the bitch owners are not that stooopid. ;-) ok, maybe some are. I think bitch owners ask about problems simply because the stud dog has produced more litters than their bitch. AOE Select Ch Fluffy CD PT has a breeding history. It's been documented that when bred to a coat, there were no coats and when bred to a black there were no blacks. Everyone understands it takes 2 to make a coat or a black. I don't think breeders then turn totally stoopid & think mega esophagus only comes from males. It's not that he is personally responsible for the genetic makeup of every puppy in the litter... it's just that he has more experience making puppies. I'm hoping the above average GSD breeder knows her bitch's family history, even if the bitch herself has never been bred. She knows her bitch's grand dam whelped a litter with cryporchids when bred to Ch Zippy, and a multi CH litter with Ch Spot. The bitch owner is trying to determine what the history is in the potential stud that is outside her familiarity. Or maybe the bitch owner is just a trouble maker who delights in grilling stud owners & then trashing the stud over coffee with friends.... ;-) Diane ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2004. 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 ============================================================================