I have been told over the years that my dog would not do x, y z

Well it has done the lot and very successfully too.  When people say "you cannot do that with one of those, they generally mean THEY have not managed to do it; not that it cannot be done.

The greatest motivators for me have been you can't, you shouldn't, you won't etc

If you kept Komondor, you'd probably struggle to both work and show them - but only because of the nature of the work they do.

Working Koms live in the herd (usually sheep, but they've been known to guard Llama, amongst others) full time, protecting the herd from predators. The coat is often allowed to plate mat, thus forming a suit of armour.  The dog gets dirty and matted.

On the other hand, people who compulsively show their Koms (which are white) will bib the dog when not being shown, tie up the cords (which in a ... say 6 year old dog can be down to the ground), wash and powder the animal.

Same breed, two different grooming styles!

Hi, I have a show bred Springer that works. When I took her to gundog training classes I was met with lots of "oh, a show springer.....that'll never work" but she is a lot steadier than a worker so a lot easier to train. She has also won the heart of the shoots that we go beating on as she is one of the best dogs and by far the best looking ha ha ha (spot the proud mum  )

when my dane was younger, i desperatly tried to find an agility class for her as i knew she would enjoy it- only to be told that 'danes cant do agility'
i finally found a club that competes with 'normal' dogs & also holds giant breed sessions.
& this year Clara won the memorial trophy, the great dane that couldnt do agility won the trophy out of the whole club!!! i was the proudest mummy in the world.
i was also told 'great danes dont swim'- well guess who loves her hydrotherapy sessions twice weekly??
so i agree with you whole heartedly Sarahlou, judge each dog on its individual merits, & well done to you for what you have acheived with your dog!

Sadly we lost Letitia to cancer just before Christmas.    She was one in a million.

She got on fine with the cats. In fact one of the cats is the same age as her and they were best friends as puppy and kitten and played together a lot.

As for how much you should expect to pay for a puppy, I have no idea really. I imagine it would vary. I paid £350 11 years ago.

You need to be really dedicated to training and grooming before taking on an Afghan though. They must be allowed to stretch their legs but can be quite a challenge to train. Shout at them or get cross and that'll be it. They'll be a dot on the horizon before you know it.

Show spaniels [springers and cockers] are like two different breeds.  The show ones will not win field trials.   And those that win field trials will not win shows because looks wise they do not come up to breed standard.

Shipton kennels breed dogs for work or show.  They have show looks but can work okay on shoots.  However they do not have the working drive to enable them to win at field trials etc.  They can be used successfully on shoots or as a rough shooters dog though.  No doubt this can apply to other spaniels too.  They can get by on shoots but will never be the 'cream' of brilliant workers.

Also to be remembered is the nurture debate.    If a dog with potential to be a good hunter/retriever for instance is not allowed to practise this then its potential will not be realised.