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Originally Posted by lblax  and i believe it is vurtually impossible to have a dog that excells at both and the few that do are misunderstood by there owners and never make progress in either venue |
Sorry, would have to disagree, strongly, with you here! Having had 2 Rottie males that have excelled both in show and their respective working venue (as well as having success in other venues in which I competed with them) and having 2 more that are well on their way, I know well that they exist! And I would not say that I, or anyone else, "misunderstood" them!
While I would agree that many are quick to think they have a work and/or show litter based on titles buried 3 generations back in their pedigree, I also believe that there are many more "work capable" dogs out there than one might be led to believe by the numbers actually working. I base that on dogs that I have actually seen as I travel around the US that, I believe, are being underutilized.
Why they are underutilized, especially in the working venues, can be attributed to a wide variety of causes as we have discussed before. I am "lucky" because I am single and have an income whether I am working or not so can dedicate myself to working and showing my dogs (just gets a bit limited when I am not working!). But even in my case, I do not currently have access to my sport of choice with my dogs so I am doing something else with them.
Others could be limited by time - let's face it, showing doesn't take a whole lot of time when compared to the working venues! - finances, family obligations, availability of training and yes, sadly, even interest. It remains incumbent on those of us that love our Rotties as a working breed to do all we can to excel in our working venues, to showcase those successes and maintain the heritage that gave it to us.