[yorkielady06]

That is kind of what I am getting at though. How would a newbie or lets say a newbie with a mentor find the lines they have researched and love? If you cannot get it from the source then you get it from a line search and others who have it.
The girl I have that is 6 months old is from some of the lines I happen to prefer. She has been to conformation classes and from there I found my mentor. I have asked her honest opinion of my girl and honest she has been. My girl has a very sweet personality but is "soft" and will be difficult in a show ring. She has a dead level topline, great ear set, bite, stop. However, she does not have much neck and leg. Her lines include Durrer , Pastoral, Fireacres,and Stringers...all in 4 generation pedigree. So with that said, I looked for something with those lines that I prefer and found a boy that has leg and neck and moves like a dream from a reputable YTCA in another state to eventually breed this bitch to if he champions. By knowing how to read pedigrees, knowing lines you like and looking for them, a newbie still is not able to obtain those lines. So you find the next best thing and work from there. That was what I was doing until I found a mentor. Without taking my little bitch to conformation, I may never have had the opportunity to mentor like I have.
So what constructive advice do you have for a newbie in finding a good mentor? Mind you finding a mentor is not easy to do sometimes. I have to drive an hour and a half to my mentor. I could have mentored under a lady right in the town next to me, but thankfully I knew of her reputation after the sale of a puppy, and I have steered clear of of her.
How about a good show potential puppy?

My goal is not just to show someone elses dog to a championship. My goal is to have my own homebred champion, and even more so, my own homebred grandchampion someday.