RE: thinking about a dog - impact on contests?
Actually, Tony is only partly correct, we don't invite Tony to contests, we invite Barkley and Tony tags along. ;-) No seriously, I agree with Tony, it is more about the dog and how it behaves than anything else. Certain breeds are generally calmer than others but that is not a guarantee any particular dog will behave as expected. Unfortunately, you won't know how it will turn out for many months.
Woodie