Who We Are & What We Do
We raise and train German Shepherd Dogs.
We breed, raise & train AKC registered German Shepherd Dogs. I train & compete with the dogs we breed. My main purpose in breeding is to improve the breed and I take great pride in the quality of puppies I produce. My females are ones that I’ve raised from a puppy, trained & titled myself. The puppies are raised in the house, kennel & fenced yard and going outside to go potty on the grass. They’re socialized with other adult dogs, adult people & children. They are vet inspected and UTD on vaccinations, and worming. 1-year health guarantee & are ready to go to their forever home at 8-weeks old.
Genetics Are The Key
The pups I’ve been producing have had excellent temperament, getting along well with strangers & children as well as being non-reactive to strange dogs. I actively train my dogs in Schutzhund (German for Protection Dog). Schutzhund has 3 phases: Tracking, Obedience & Protection. You must have the obedience taught to the dog before you’ll be able to handle them in protection. My breeding females will all have at a minimum: BH in United Schutzhund Clubs of America (USCA) which includes obedience, nerves & temperament and Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Certificate in AKC. The CGC also tests the dogs in obedience, nerves & temperament.
In addition to excellent temperament, my dogs have clear heads, intelligence, stable nerves and high drive (both ball & food drive). This is really a requirement for the puppy to be able to be trained successfully. With the high food and ball drive, when you instruct your puppy to do a command (like: Stay, Sit, Down, Come, etc.) you mark the successful behavior with either a word command like “Yes” or use a clicker, then you reward the puppy with either food or throwing a ball a short distance & let them retrieve it & bring it back to you. My pups have been successful trained in PSA, IPO/IGP, service dogs, personal protection dogs, Police K-9 Officers as well as family pets. Their owners have all been very happy with their dogs.
Why is it important to have these drives & characteristics in you new puppy? The food & ball drive are important for training your dog. These dogs also have a very protective instinct. If they sense that a family member is in danger, it is not at all uncommon for the dog to put itself in harm’s way to protect the family members. I’ve had one of my puppies jump a 4-foot chain link fence to protect the children that were playing a short distance away when he saw a strange dog running at the children. He fought off that dog until the police arrived to take the stray dog away.
Health Testing
I have my dogs health tested & certified for Hips & Elbows through Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA). This helps to ensure that the puppies will have the genetic disposition of not developing Hip Dysplasia or other crimpling joint diseases. I also have them certified as DM Clear/Normal.
How I Raise My Puppies
4 Weeks Old
I start keeping them outside in my kennel with a large doghouse. I have them go outside to go potty on the grass first thing in the mornings and again around 9:00 pm at night before they crash for the night. We also let them out several times throughout the day to let them go potty on the grass & play in our large fenced in back yard. They get socialized with my children & grandchildren (great way to get them to come visit). I also expose them to my large dogs who all run loose in the back yard. This helps them to get used to larger dogs so that they don’t get scared and/or defensive later when they see a strange dog with their first owners.
6 Weeks Old
They typically are not going potty in the kennel; they wait to get let out to go potty on the grass. After 6-weeks old, I start taking them for walks (all together as a pack) around our 1-acre pond and around the woods to build their confidence & sense of adventure.
8 Weeks Old
They’ve been wormed twice, vet inspected & had their first round of immunization shots. Now, they’re ready to go to their Forever Homes.