First off, I just got back from our local club meeting to find all of these reply's and I must say, I am so appreciative by the many responses my thread caused...it means a lot to know so many of you "know"...that we DO CARE and yes it always matters and it is VERY personal ~ I have to also let you know...I was not looking for pats on the back but trying to paint a picture for those who don't know and think we are all alike in bad ways. Although I can't speak for others; I was not only talking about us, there are other great teams out there that hold my respect highly~ That's why we end up in the winners circle together, try to beat each other, find our weak points, strong points and do what we need to do in the ring to win for our clients. Usually, once out of the ring...we are all Xing dogs together, grabbing a bite to eat together, having a drink together but mostly sitting talking dogs together, sharing experiences, stories and laughing about what asses we made of ourselves at various times especially watching old Bob Lindsay Videos...FUN TIMES~ The other side of the coin is in Bad Times and when we loose one of our own, have tragedy or a personal issue usually the first one's to call is our opponents...the world can't be that cruel, you have to believe they do care...and they do. This game is like life, if it's too good to be true, it is...an unknowledgeable "Johnny Come Lately" inexperienced in the care of dogs...will unfortunately learn at the expense of others...and give others a bad name. The few of us who do know...will stick up and go out of our way to change the thoughts of the negative and turn them into a positive. Our passion for dogs is strong and we can't let our sport die. What would the world be like without a German Shepherd Specialty? A dog show? One word, Boring... Thank you for listening... Donna Donna M. Calabrese Aramist German Shepherds aka The Girlz From companion - working - champions - Grand Victrix's...we have it all www.girlzofaramist.com and to now travel at 2 star prices at 4 star accomodations, the best airfare guaranteed www.aramistTravel.worldventures.biz ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2008. 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://showgsd.org NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================