When and Where did you Start ?? - Page 1

OK maybe this has been hashed before but thought I would ask anyway, as if it were hashed before I missed it. You all know I am fairly new to the Breeding end of GSD's but have done rescue for 15 + years. So am very up on health issues, temperament issues, and so on. don't have titled dogs yet but are working on it. What I would like to see is everyone post... When they started breeding... Where did you get your start... ie another breeder, a friend, a relative and so on. Did you start with Imported Titled dogs only... Did you start with untitled and work up to titles... Most important Question ? Do you remember when you started ? Do you remember those who helped you by giving sound, solid advice ? And if there were any words of advice for us "Newbies" Would you be willing to offer it ? ( I think most of you are great about that by the way and it's appreciated ) I will now say I look very forward to hearing responses and see how we can all HELP each other improve on the GSD as we have all vowed to do so when we decided to take on the responsibility to become "Breeders" Thank You all in advance.

KYLE, Apparently your a brave soul... I love your response and appreciate it very much ! I was so looking forward to seeing more people comment on the subject but have not seen anything in a few days. I hope more will, Thank You again.

Hello Echo Meadows, Well, I too am a newbie, not having one litter yet (of Shepherds) but I breed Goldens, and have been for 6 years. I am buying my first Working Line puppy from Chip Weiss of Cimmerian German Shepherds, he is excellent about providing information, as he has trained with top Europe and American trainers and breeders. He's been breeding Shepherds for 15 years, and before that he bred Shepherd x Wolf crosses, so I trust he knows his stuff. The link to his website is as follows: http://cimmeriangermanshepherds.com and the BEST way to contact him is by phone, as he is easier to contact that way. He focuses on breeding the DDR/East German lines, and has two Pohranicni Straze females, which are both excellent dogs, and gorgeous to see in real life! GOOD LUCK, Krista blueskyekennels@msn.com

Well I will share the good, the bad and the down right ugly. I started back in 1998 with a long hair puppy "Gezemo" that was bred by a guy that had three shepherds (American). His name was Bobby. Ended up getting the father. Met a lady - Evelynn and bought my first female. Read every book on the shelves of the book store about German Shepherds (sad trueth is there is not enough for beginners). Had my first litter of 14 (lost one) spent 4 weeks straight bottle feeding, helping out the mother. Breeders that I was around did not OFA, title or anything! I learned from them (this is the ugly). I had produced 13 litters all on contracts and I can honestly say over 80% of those puppies were on spay and neuter contract (still have all my contracts). I have had my fair share of HD (which is not surprising) but made right by the owners. Since 2005 I have benn by the book I have spent $$$ on working lines . My dogs are OFA. DNA, working on titles and showing. I found out the hard way breeding is not all that. I preferr training presonally. I personally think buying a title dog being a new breeder is wrong. Raising a puppy and training and titling (what ever titles you are in to) take a lot of work, sweat and tears. You learn the hard way and really get inside what it is really like. There are breeders in my area that had came to me for pet puppies and got pet puppies. We had a couple come back with mild HD (enviroment jumping at early age/over wieght or genetic one will never know) but lost friendship over it. But they learned how import it is to OFA and now they are breeders. They use parts or the whole contract of mine. So in a way I helped them learn. So if I was going to give advise this is what I would say " find breeders all types - all breeds "listen" "watch" and "learn" hear the horror stories, the heart breaking stories, the client stories, birthing stories, the HD stories and so on and if you can get hands on think of your self VEY LUCKY!!!. So breeders are VERY HONEST while others well, are not. If you can find one that is will to share cling on for life and learn all you can so you won't make the same mistakes. And ASK questions even if they have been hashed to death new people are always joining.!!!!

Some breeders (sorry late or early depending on how you look at it)

Hi Echo, my name is Ulli Dresbach and i live in Germany. Maybe you have seen my litter announcements. I am proud to say that my B - litter has just fallen last night. So, needles to say .... wow 2 (two) litters...what an experienced breeder !!! Just kidding ;-)!! I grew up around GSD's, my Grandfather used to breed way back when, i was not even able to find out his kennel name ! Never even thought about breeding, always just trained my dogs and trained for other peopel. Was a helper for a period of time, and active in the sport till 1997. Then moved to the US for 4 years and came back to Germany in 2001. Went back into my old job as an paramedic with the red cross. After 2 years something happenend, that i always thought could only happen to other peopel ..... i got sick ! Could not longer work in my field anymore !! That was an wake up call !! Beeing over 40 here in Europe, that is a mayor problem ! Well, long story short ...... fell in all kinds of depressions..... till a sportfriend, who is a breeder, took me to his house and showed me his litter at age 8 days. Now, that was an honour to me and he told me that if i was to start breeding, he would help me. And he did ..... guess what, depressions gone, happier than ever, made a lot of new friends ! Thats how i started, without my friend and his generous advice, i would not have been able to do it. I believe, he does not realize that he did much more for me ! I bought a allready titled bitch, that was a proven producer. That might cost a little more, but it takes a lot of headaches away. Thats how it comes, that i have allready my B - litter. Since i have been around the GSAD world quite a bit, it was probably not as hard for me than it would be for an total newby, but there was still a lot to check out and learn. I also obtained my breedwarden certifacate. Will i share with " newbys " my thoughts and experience ? You bet i will, it will be my pleasure. Hope for you that your goals in breeding will come true. Kind Regards Ulli Dresbach