I may always be novice  but here is a novice question that I was wondering:

It seems as the breed gets more popular (among other things) the competition in the show ring is getting pretty tough. There are some nice GSP's out there! Given that, what are the competative chances of a male or female at the lower end of the standard for height but still firmly in standard. I know there is alot to a whole package, more than height, but if a male is 24" or just shy, but very nice and typy or a female is 21"-22" they appear much smaller than much of the competition. Do they still have a good shot at being competative or are you working against the odds.

Thanks.

I am a big advocate for breed standard. My foundation bitch is 22 inches and it took a while to finish her. The problem wasnt her size, it was the amount of equal quality bitches in our area. We all shared the points every week!  That being said, if you have a class dog, it wont matter as much as if you have a special. I have a male that is 24 inches. He finished quite easily but the one time he was entered in breed, he looked so tiny. It shouldnt matter, but in that area, i hate to say it does sometimes. As a breed we are going toward too  much bone and too much size. unfortunately.