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Real German Shepherds "vom Rosenhof" By Fred Lanting |
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Kennel history and breeding philosophy |
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It all started in 1985 with
“Do-re-mi” 
(more pictures)
a female GERMAN German Shepherd so
intelligent, she needed a bigger challenge than just being trained for a simple
CD (training title). So we started asking around and were told about this thing
called “Schutzhund”. When we couldn’t find a training
facility nearby, we started our own
Schutzhund training club
and learned all about tracking, obedience and protection training. But now, as people started to come to the club for
training, they also wanted the kind of dog that was suitable for Schutzhund training, so we had to start breeding and learn
all about American and German show and working bloodlines, temperaments, breed standards, Kör-books, and all
the rest of that rather complex German Schutzhund
system. For a detailed description see "The many different German Shepherds".
Our breeding goal
We used to breed
German Shepherd Dogs with the temperament and
disposition they originally became
famous for around the world; that made German Shepherds the most versatile and
respected breed in dog history. We used to specialize
in breeding along the original ideas of good temperament and solid nerves, to
provide a puppy that is easy to raise and train, and
can become a reliable and trustworthy home companion and personal protector. We NEVER bred AKC/CKC show dogs with their
ugly sloped backs, over-angulated, crippled legs, empty heads, degenerative
inbreeding and bad nerves that make them timid and downright spooky,
nor did we breed Schutzhund competition
dogs with so much high drive that they drive the average dog owner nuts and
need to be kenneled all the time except for training.
Background research
We believe it necessary to properly research the background of the
bloodlines used in breeding, to find as many hidden faults and qualities as
possible, and so reduce the risk, and increase the predictability, of breeding.
That’s why we have a set of over 110 German SV Registry and Breed-Survey
books (Körbücher) going back to 1949, listing all
German Shepherd Dogs registered in
The SV concept
Top quality puppies come not only from many generations of
carefully selected bloodlines, but just as importantly, need to be conceived
and raised in an environment designed to bring out that unique quality that
turns them into reliable, outgoing, unafraid, trustworthy, child loving,
healthy, noble looking, easy going companion and protection dogs. This is the
way breeders in
German imports
Dogs with Schutzhund titles exported from
The grand victor in both events is called a “Sieger”. Thus dogs imported with Schutzhund titles are not necessarily working dogs but most
likely German show champions, and references made to “Siegers”
are usually German show dogs.
Show dogs
German show shepherds can not be compared in any way with Canadian
or American show shepherds, because they have been bred to two very
different breed standards. For instance: the SV breed standard does not allow artificial inseminations or any inbreeding
between relatives, the closest allowable line breeding is 2-3, (meaning the
same dog in a pedigree 2 generations back on the sire’s side and 3 generations
back on the dam’s side) females can not be bred until 20, males 24 months of
age, a breed warden must verify the dam and it’s litter within 3 days after
birth and if there are more than 8 pups, he will either find a foster bitch or
kill the extra puppies, etc. With the AKC/CKC,
anything goes, just send in the registration fee. Inter-breeding between
"German" shepherds and "American" shepherds is the same as interbreeding standard and toy Poodles, it’s
not pure breeding. To distinguish between the two breeds, AKC/CKC bred
shepherds should be called “American Shepherds”, not German Shepherds, because they do not conform to the
much higher (FCI recognized)
SV breed standard. The US Military and Police departments recognized this fact many years
ago and use only imported German working shepherds, they stopped using American (AKC) and Canadian (CKC) bred
dogs years ago.
Our Breed Stock
We used to guarantee all our breed stock to be 100% free of any Canadian (CKC)
and American (AKC) bloodlines and their degenerative inbreeding.
AKC/CKC bloodlines are believed to have over 50% Hip Dysplasia (25% of dogs ex-rayed and well over 75% of dogs
not x-rayed, which often have a very severe form of Hip Dysplasia). German bloodlines rarely if ever get severe Hip
Dysplasia and are known to have no more than 10% Hip Dysplasia (in Germany, all dogs MUST be x-rayed), down from
17% in recent years (SV Zeitung 1994), due (in part)
to 30 years of mandatory HD screening, as well as generally leaner, more
sensible dog foods and more exercise (in Schutzhund
training clubs).
All our breedstock has at least one,
sometimes several hip certificates, either from OFA or OVC (
If you see a CKC registration number in the pedigree of our breed
stock, it's there because we have no choice, the CKC is the only registry in
Canada, and under international rules, all puppies must be registered first in
their country of birth, before they can be transferred into another registry.
It’s only a technicality, and as you can see, all our breed stock was born in
our kennel and sooner or later came from
Puppies
Our puppies used to (see below for reasons we no longer breed) be expertly
raised and carefully socialized like Guide Dog puppies. We started training and
exercising our puppies when they were 3 to 4 weeks old, and had them house
trained, well behaved and come on command when ready for new homes at 7 weeks
of age. Unfortunately, experience has taught us that some puppy owners do not
follow-up with proper puppy raising methods, thus wasting our efforts and
sometimes wasting a perfectly good puppy, so we have to insist that you own and
have red at least one of these books: “Making Friends” by Linda Colflesh, or “Good Owners, Great Dogs” by Brian Kilcommons, before we will place one of our puppies with
you. (It works, because the books are fun to read) In addition, you will
receive an information package, including our “Puppy’s first day”, which was written specifically for our type of breeding and overrides
the book in some areas, to help you better understand working bloodlines and to
raise the dog you really want. Also please note our “Puppy/Dog Adoption Agreement provisions” below.
Matching
We used to (see below for reasons we no longer breed) individually mark our
puppies as soon as they start to move, so that we can easily observe each
individual puppy for temperament and disposition. To ensure the puppy’s
happiness and your satisfaction, we must ask you to fill out a “Puppy Adoption
Questionnaire” that will help us to match the pups
temperament to your family situation, expectations, and needs. When visiting,
please bring as many family members as you can (including pets), to help us in
selecting the best suitable temperament puppy for your very unique home
environment. (Please always make an appointment before visiting a breeder).
Health
Our pups used to (see below for reasons we no longer breed) be wormed at
least once, tattooed in their right ear, and vaccinated at least once before
being released to a new home. You used to
receive a complete health record detailing all wormings and vaccinations for your veterinarian, plus a
schedule of future required vaccinations, a written 2 year guaranty, detailed
puppy raising instructions and other important information on feeding, dog
foods, exercising, socializing, training, health care, how to select a good
trainer and veterinarian, etc. Latest research has shown that the added calcium
in Puppy Food causes Hip Dysplasia, but most people
still recommend it, including many “professionals” such as some breeders and
veterinarians. Because Hip Dysplasia is found mostly
in domesticated animals (it has almost never been found in wild animals), we
raise our puppies in the most natural setting possible (no ill informed
basement raising), with lots of visitors and
opportunity to exercise, explore, tumble and play.
Pink Papers
Under international rules, any puppy must first be registered in its country of birth before
it can be transferred to any other registry. And since the CKC is the only
registry in
It is for the above reasons that we feel very strongly that no one should
support such a useless bureaucracy by using it. Anyone insisting on getting CKC
papers with their puppy shall pay us an extra $ 200.-
"stress fee" for forcing us into having to deal with that senseless
worthless, sinister and misguided CKC bureaucracy.
Our Puppy/Dog Adoption Agreement provisions:
The owner hereby agrees to:
·
have the
puppy/dog examined by a qualified veterinarian within 5 days after adoption.
·
provide full
and preventive medical care as scheduled and as may be required in the
future, including yearly checkups and booster vaccinations, etc.
·
raise and
socialize the puppy as outlined in “Puppy’s
First Day” (comes with the puppy) and the book: “Making Friends” by
Linda Colflesh, or “Good Owners, Great Dogs” by
Brian Kilcommons (available in book stores).
·
treat the
dog humanely throughout its life and that, except for short periods of time,
the dog will not be chained-up, nor will it be totally confined to basements,
garages, or nonresidential buildings.
·
give
the breeder first option to repurchase the pup before placing it anywhere else,
and consult the breeder before spaying/neutering or breeding the dog.
·
wait with
spaying/neutering the dog until it is at least 18 month old, to give it a
chance to mature properly.
·
permit the
breeder or his agent to examine the adopted dog and its living quarters during
the 2 year guaranty period.
Failure to fulfil the above provisions
shall constitute a breach of this agreement and may result in the repossession
of the puppy/dog.
Our Puppy Guaranty
The puppy may be returned for a full
refund within five days after the day of pick up at our kennel or delivery to
an airport, on condition that we be notified first
and that the puppy be delivered in person and at the owners expense.
Shipped puppies come with our veterinarians health
certificate, but may also be returned for a full refund within 5 days after
shipping at the owners expense.
If the pup’s ears are not standing up when it is 5 month old, the owner must
contact us for advise. We will replace a dog for soft
ears only if we have been notified of this condition when the pup was between 5
and 6 month old.
Should the dog come up with any genetic defect that makes it unfit as a
companion dog before it is two years of age, we will replace it with another
puppy.
If the dog is to be replaced under this guaranty, we must be notified
immediately after the condition was discovered. The dog may have to be returned
to us before it can be replaced. All shipping expenses will be the
responsibility of the owner. There are no other implied or intended guaranties
or warranties on our puppies except as stated above.
This guaranty is void if the provisions of the adoption agreement are violated,
if the puppy was adopted for selling or under false pretense,
or if the dog was bred before it was 24 month of age.
My reasons
to stop breeding:
Compared to the rest of the world, the AKC and CKC have
created a uniquely north American pet environment in which irresponsibility is rampant, mostly due to the
total lack of quality preserving rules/information/breeder education and the way the AKC
and CKC
'systems' are set up. Any jerk can
be a "professional" dog breeder (or trainer) over night, no
questions asked, just send in the fee. Naturally, this irresponsibility has
spread, like the disease it is, to all professions that have anything to do
with the North American pet industry, including most trainers, pet food
manufacturers, and even a majority of veterinarians. I can no longer support
such a system by participating in it, and I am ashamed of my ignorance for
having done so in the past.
I would have to be speaking out of both sides of my mouth,
on one side sweet talking to puppy buyers, while on the other side tossing
those perfectly innocent living and breathing puppies I have caused to come
into being, into such a brutally neglectful and mind and body crippling
environment. And then to say: "I am trying to improve the breed" is
either a fantasy (a typical sign of severe 'kennel blindness'), and/or an
excuse to continue making money (greed), thus supporting
the old AKC/CKC sloppiness by using their registry. That then is:
irresponsibility trying to look like responsibility.
Over a 12 year period of breeding GSD, I have produced over
400 puppies, many of outstanding breeding potential, but only a handful is
being used for breeding. Almost all of my "young and hopefuls" were
devoured by the north American AKC/CKC "system", many to the advice
of local veterinarians such as: "it's mandatory to fix them at 6
months" or "spaying/neutering ...will definitely improve the
temperament" and/or "...will solve your dog's obedience
problems", and "...will help to solve the North American pet overpopulation problem". What
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There still are some good
breeders that use my (or very similar) pure German working lines.
If you are looking for a 'REAL' GSD, see 'Real GSD' approved kennels
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Copyright 2001 Fred Lanting, Canine Consulting.
Mr.GSD@juno.com. All rights reserved. Please
view his site Real GSD.
NOTE: A well-respected AKC and Schaferhund
Verein judge, Mr. Lanting
has judged in more than a dozen countries, including the prestigious FCI Asian
Show hosted by Japan Kennel Club, the Scottish Kennel Club, a Greyhound
specialty in