About our dogs

The dogs in our breeding program are dogs we live with and cherish. We see them as family members. All our dogs are house, crate and kennel trained, none of our dogs are strictly kennel/outside dogs. We have a huge backyard (over an acre) so they have plenty of yard to play in. Some of our dogs prefer to be outside more then in and some of them prefer to be inside more then out, just depends on the individual dog. With having over 5 adult dogs we have found it very necessary to have some kennels set up. We have 4 very spacious kennels that our dogs actually loving being in. Since they are not in them 24/7 like some breeders, being in a kennel is not a burden to them. We use the kennels as a safe place to keep our puppies and adult dogs in when we are not home and when they can't be properly supervised. Leaving a litter of puppies loose in a big backyard is just asking for trouble! We also use the kennels to prevent unplanned litters by keeping girls separated from the boys.

The dogs we choose to have in our breeding program do not have extremely high drives, they still like to play ball or go for walks with us around the neighborhood but are generally more calm and easy going in their nature, never hyper. We make sure to choose dogs that have good food/toy drives, which helps in training. All our dogs are naturally protective of our house and family members, I always know when some is approaching the house! They are very confident dogs and know when to be friendly and when not to be.

There is always a dog or 2 with us when we go places, so the dog needs to have a good sound temperament to "travel" with and be apart of the family. We want to produce puppies that make the best family companions but are still capable of doing things like search & rescue, therapy & service work, tracking, competition obedience, agility, etc. Our main goal is to produce German Shepherds with sound temperaments and good health. Intelligent, eager to learn, happy dogs that want to be with you, please you and protect you if need be! We are fully dedicated to improving the German Shepherd breed now and for many years to come. 

You will notice that we prefer dogs with straighter backs and no extreme angulations. We get comments all the time about how our shepherds look like the shepherds of "years ago." People love our shepherds because they don't "walk funny" and their hind ends aren't low to the ground because of extreme angulation. Our dogs also don't have the "roach back" common of some german lines. The temperaments of our dogs are also very "old style." We love the White German Shepherd lines because of their structure and wonderful temperaments and have incorporated them into our breeding program.

All our dogs come from excellent bloodlines that we have carefully researched. Remember that these dogs are also our companions so we do want the best! In most cases we have met all our dogs parents and/or their grandparents so this helps us even more in knowing what types of puppies will be produced. We have all our dogs hips x-rayed before breeding and we will only breed dogs clear of hip dysplasia. Our dogs are fed a high quality food and are supplemented with Ester C. They receive regular veterinary care and are all happy, healthy dogs and it really shows! J

How our puppies are raised

Each of our litters are born in our house, usually in one of the bedrooms. This allows us to keep a close eye on mom and babies so we can make sure everyone gets fed, cleaned and stays warm and to make sure mom is recovering okay. It can be messy (we tarp the whole carpet down), pretty loud and we don't get much sleep for the first couple weeks but we love our girls and want to make sure they are comfortable and happy.

The puppies are weighed, cuddled and snuggled everyday and are put through early neurological stimulation AKA the "Super Dog" program from 3-14 days old. Around 3-4 weeks of age they are moved to the garage/kennel area, however they still come in the house several times a day and each puppy receives daily individual attention as well. They start visiting the outdoors and have fun running around the yard with mom and the other dogs. We provide lots of toys for our pups, including a tunnel that they love to play in. Also around this time we introduce the puppies to “puppy mush” We allow the moms to control the weaning process. We will never take a mom away from her puppies. The puppies learn so much from their mom and they are with her until the day they go home. Usually moms will start weaning the puppies around 4-5 weeks old and that’s where we come in! We feed the pups 4-6 times a day and they quickly learn that food is good! 

The way we raise our puppies makes housebreaking easy and we get many reports of pups “getting it” within a week of being at their new home. We introduce them to crates, car rides, cats, getting nails trimmed, baths and because they are in the house so much they are quite accustom to the all the sites, sounds and smells. We bring over as many people as we can to visit the puppies and with 6 people in our household and a neighborhood full of kids, the puppies get tons of socializing. We have friends and family members bring over their dogs to introduce the pups to other dogs out of the pack.  Studies have shown that the more things the pups are introduced to at a young age, the better off they are and from our experience too, this is true. We also follow "the rules of seven" to see what they are, click here.

We spend A LOT of time with the pups and each and every one of them is special. Because we spend so much time with them we get to know their personalities pretty well! This helps us place the right pup with the right family.