Hi Do any of the Specialty shows have an amateur class, where people can show their own dogs? When I was showing Arabians we had a lot of professional riders that showed for owners, hard to compete at times, we also had amateur owner classes and over 40 classes. I showed my first German Shepherd this year (Can) and had a blast showing her, we weren't correct on stacking,handling but I had so much fun showing her. I am old and slow ( apologies to anyone behind me) I show Cavaliers usually, quite a difference, a fast walk is required LOL. I know that you need a handler for the specialty ring, I couldn't keep up with her anyway, but if there was an amateur class I know I would enter that. We are doing agility and tracking instead of other shows now, she has her championship and got 3 group 2 placings too, we are quite proud. Anyway just a thought from someone new to showing Shepherds, I realize it would probably add to the cost of the show and I don't know if it could be done anyway, I am still learning my way around the Shepherd ring. Margaret ============================================================================ 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 ============================================================================