Lee "The reason you feel this way is because of how you defined performance." No I feel this way because I have my retired Ch. Catahuola lying by my side, high point dog in hog bay trials & coon trials, comformation ch titled in 4 registerys. He has bi-lateral dysplacia. in his 1st 3 years no one knew it but my vet & myself. You could not see him limp or gate poorly, he could walk 3-4 miles w/o fatuge. Now in his last years my eye tear up watching him struggle walking. All because I bought into the "working is everything BS" years ago. I'll discuse the topic at lenght but ,don't tell my what my reasoning is. "When we breed the best performing animals to the best performing animals, in time all weaknesses will be removed while at the same time all strengths will be passed on. " That premise is flawed. Without the aide of medical evaluation one is just rolling the dice. By time you've realized your stud is producing cripples he's past his breeding prime and all you've accomplish is to breed more cripples. I can understand that breding mindset in primative culture or in remote areas of the world. There's just no excuse not to take advantage of moderen medical test ti produce excelllent dogs. Without a strong & correct (to the breed) bone structure, temperment , drive courage are worthless.