I think it is a conglomeration that makes winners. The dog will only be as good as his genes say he will be. How his genes got where they are are a direct link to the breeder, or even the breeder that sold the dogs to the dog you got your winner from. (if that makes sense). A lot of times the great conditioner gets a lot of credit, and that is well deserved, but, the dog has to have the genetic predisposition to do some work to get there. The handler or the schooler can get a lot of credit. Making the call on what is enough for today and let's see about tomorrow is as important as anything else. If there was a hard fast rule that everybody adhered to without a deviation that said, No tooth will be placed in a dog til he is 24 months old. Percentages across the board would go up. Many a failed dog had the life forced upon him too early. And that, will trump the efforts of the most successful breeder, regardless of line or lineage. I doubt there is any right or wrong answers here. The best breeder that campaigns his own dogs and wins will quickly be dubbed with a negative reputation if no one else is winning with his dogs. If the best conditioner condition a sub par game plug to a couple of victories people will say I do not want to breed to the dog, I want to breed to the dog that made the dog. If a guy misses the weight and the dog comes up short it is the fault of the dog and the breeder because his recipe has worked before. It is easy to take the credit but it is so much easier to place the blame. EWO