One last thing. What is with this comparison between JRT's and GSD's Mals ect?? Dekka, I get the impression that you have little to no respect for our working dogs. Yes, our dogs get hurt, in real life they can get shot stabbed, break bones, get kicked, hit, and can leave a nasty scar in someone and it takes alot of work to gain control and create a reliable dog. It is definately not comparable. Why cant we all just respect "the working dog"?! it shouldnt matter what venue or who's "tougher"....
There is respect as there should be for all working dogs regardless of size or the job.
Dan and Dana, I saw it on t.v and it was only once and with two of the dogs competing.
Keep in mind I have an eye for lameness, it was trained and honed for race horses and it has served me well also with the dogs.
I was not targetting this kind of work or sport with that question. It's actually one of my pet peeves in agility and other performance sports.
I see far to many dogs that are out of shape, fat or lame in many sports. Although it is becoming more common, too many people are still not treating their dogs as athletes. Agreed all Judges in all these sports are suppose to DQ or deny them to run/compete if the dog is lame but as we all know that often doesn't happen. At least not in agility etc, hopefully its different for you guys.
I think we can agree that those who are at the top of their respective sport typically have it figured out, therefore their dogs often win more and have longer careers. Then there are people who never would seek that level of health care for their dogs and they typically have sore dogs that also compete substandard or with shortened careers. Sad thing is, those folks often lame up at least 2 dogs before changing their mind set (if they ever do).