So, you want to be a
breeder
Well, not to
be sarcastic, but, do you really have the money, the
patience, talent, the sacrifice and the knowledge?
The GSD is THE most demanding breed of dogs to
breed, when done right as per the German's German
Shepherd rules? Can you and your dogs contribute
to the "Betterment of the Breed?"
Why are you
choosing the GSD? Why not a Poodle or Labrador?
The prices
of the good, worthy of being bred, GSDs are going up
every time I turn around. And just
starting out with an expensive puppy that looks good to
you as an adult dog, isn't simply what works in the real
world.
It requires:
Passing Hip and Elbow certifications at 12 months of
age. That is the least of your expenses at $200
from the vet and another $100 to sent them in to the
Germans. And now there is finally a test to ck the
dogs for the
Degenerative Myelopathy genes.
If they
don't pass, then forget about breeding your pup. I
don't care how good YOU think it looks and how sweet a
temperament it has...
If they
pass, then, unless you are a great quick trainer
yourself of the Schutzhund or IPO sports, you have to
sent your doggie away for it. That, put in
perspective, is going to cost as follows as of September
07 rates:
Shipping of
an adult sized dog minimum rate in Cargo is $1200 One
Way. Remember, your dog has to come back making it
$2,400.--
Schutzhund
Program, consisting of AD (stamina 12 mile run), BH
(basic obedience temperament test), SchH1 [tracking,
obedience, bite work] (for females) Kor (judges critique
and Show Rating) in Euros 2,500, that's
right now about $3,200.--
For males,
to do the SchH3 program, that is nearly double.
Breeding
your female in Germany (when she's finished her
training) to a top rated male, is about $1,400 dollars
right now. With the risk she doesn't conceive
unless you know some one who knows the owner of the
male, so you can get two or three matings ensuring
conception. If you don't, you take a huge
risk. ONLY top rated females are offered three
matings. The other risk, Brucellosis, a
bacterial disease which the Germans don't test their
dogs for. Once a dog has it, its stated as
incurable and your dog will not be able to whelp healthy
litters, death is likely eventually, and although I've
been reading about progress in treatments on the
internet, they have not sufficiently convinced me.
It could possibly infect humans if you handle an
infected dog.
Here an
example of my response to a pup buyer of my F litter who
wants to breed her:
After
I produced the F litter, a lot of things have had to
change. The prices for my dogs have had to go up
quite a bit due to the cost of all of the above, doubled
and tripled depending on the combinations bred,
and I only sell females strictly on
Limited Registration, ie: not to be used for
breeding due to the massive amount of people wanting to
be 'hobby breeders'. This is too much of a
responsibility on breeders such as myself, who, at our
expense and time, try to produce the best of the best,
to then see the bloodlines and pedigrees diluted.
Too much knowledge and expertise of good conscientious
breeders such as myself who pour their heart, soul
and a lot of money into the most demanding dog breed of
all dogs, has gone down the drain creating
debatable reputations for our treasured breed.
Good breeding comes with tremendous
research, and must be an absolute passion for the
breeder, and must never be a one time deal. I
would not even consider breeding any longer except my
dogs are exceptional due to who they are, it would be a
shame for the rest of the world to not experience this.
I am sure Serena is a great
family dog, however, I can assure you I would
never breed her myself due to the problems the F litter
has produced, which I am sure came over the Sire Zyno
vom Bullinger. A young male
brother of Serena developed a brain tumor, you may
recall. He also had substantial temperament issues
early on, (perhaps due to the festering brain tumor)
however, his brother was also more than a handful.
(food, over-vaccinations, environmental
surely might have added to this issue, but a brain tumor
is very rare in dogs)
A sister, Farron, has severe
digestive issues which she will have to live with for
the rest of her life. Because Serena does not have
digestive problems, does not mean she does not carry the
genetic component to pass it on to her offspring.
And Fonni, the female I kept, as
gorgeous as she is, was far too small for breeding and
was also too 'soft' in her temperament to be bred.
Her prey drives were through the roof, thus she made up
there for becoming a great volunteer Search and Rescue
dog. (she would not have qualified for
professional search and rescue)
I also met the other sister Fanta,
who was very sweet, but also too soft, and due to her
being spayed too soon, her structure was 'way off'.
After all that came about with the
males' temperament issues, I inquired with the
owner of Zyno what his temperament was. And she
immediately said HE'S AN ALPHA male. I went
through the roof I was so furious. I do not
breed to alpha males, period. She also got
rid of Zyno shortly after this breeding so I can
conclude that she was not happy about something, though
she would never admit that to anyone, and the least of
all, to me, who she talked into breeding my phenomenal
female Aline to. I am convinced now that had
I met Zyno I would not have bred my Aline to him.
Instead, I should have repeated the fabulous A litter,
Zuni x Aline. ;
In breeding, the
Sires (Zyno) pass on their genetics to their daughters
(Serena), thus the
risk is far too great to want to breed a female out of
Zyno. The temperaments can be 'controlled'
by proper training and handling by the right people, but
the genetics can not.
Then the male son out of Paako vom
Baerental, who belongs to your friend is too young,
unproven, untitled, not hip nor elbow rated (nor is
Serena is my guess) his height worries me + he has one
undescended testicle which is unacceptable to use for
breeding. (his eyes are very light, which is an
additional flaw, but the least of the worries he will
pass on. Again, in breeding the SIRES pass
on their genetics to their daughters, not their sons.
This makes for a double strike, as in
Serena's case her Sire Zyno was, in retrospect, not
worthy of breeding and in 'BraveHearts'? (i think was
his name) IF he is the Sire he has not enough worthy
genetics to pass on for breeding... Paako, his
sire, is surely a very nice dog, no doubt about it,
but in his case, a female from that combination would
have been desirable. However, and here comes the
kicker, Paako's Sire, Rikkor von Bad Boll should
have never made World Champion due to a lack of
substance in this male and a lack of proven progeny.
(I can only think of Kevin Murrtal, the Sire of Paako,
and Mack von Aducht, Superious Zathan, however, these
rankings were during the yrs where the VA titles were
bought thus they can not be trusted) (Rikkor was
not masculine enough which was visible in Zyno's
pictures which his owner provided to me AFTER the
breeding, thus Rikkor passes it on in many
combinations)
Therefor in a combination with Serena and
BraveHeart? the line breeding is going to be strongly on
Rikkor as he is the Grandsire to Serena on her Sire's
side. Now you have a triple strike.
A good example of a young male is my
Oreon, a truly fabulous example for a German Shepherd
dog I have here. Great structure and color, superb
pedigree, very clear in the head, working drives
up the kazoo, and yet,
he has only one testicle and was the best working
quality pup out of four males from his litter!
That one undescended testicle denies him to become a
breeder. As it should be per the current rules.
I sold him with limited registration.
As in people (to my opinion), Most dogs are not meant to
be bred. If a breeder is lucky, ONE pup out of
a large litter is good enough, and it takes quite a bit
of experience to recognize which one. A breeder
must emotionally disconnect from the dog and face the
reality that although their dog may be wonderful, it
takes much more to bestow the right to a dog for it to
become a breeder.
The requirements for a dog to be bred
have to be met. Aside from hip and elbow
approval by a recognized organization such as OFA or the
SV, I have added to my contracts that any dog used for
breeding must be tested for the
Degenerative Myelopathy gene.
This is similar to MS in humans. That is IF
I sell a dog with full registration. Pls read the
info as the test is new since July of 08 and therefore
Aline, Serena's Dam was not tested. This may
not affect you, however, its just one more additional
ingredient to improve on our breed. And, it
will affect the future of the dogs one produces and
their owners. In Serena's case, I took
the word of another breeder who did not tell me the
truth about her male, which I will never do again.
Any dog is going to be researched if its owner wants a
place in my breeding program.
There is more, our town is a very
small market for selling pups. Not nearly
enough great homes. I sell most nationwide due to
a lot of work on my part. Here people do not pay
enough for pups, thus you will be stuck with homes that
may spend $500, and those homes, frankly, are the ones
you need to avoid. I know you do not need
the money, but do you want to hang on to 6 or so pups?
It is high risk to sell pups for very little, and
frankly, not worth the work. (when done right) I
quite often do not sell to people when I hear something
I do not like.
The only way to becoming a breeder is
to do it to improve the breed, not to do it for
'fun', (its not fun for the dogs) not to do it for
money, and not to do it for selfish reasons. The
dogs must come first, their health and well being, and
second, the people who end up with them.
Both are the responsibility of a breeder.
Respectfully,
Gina of
Kerschberger German Shepherds
Back to Articles
