Shiloh Shepherds - Page 1

R not GSD's ... for complete details, please go to http://www.shilohshepherds.info/siteMap.htm

Mrs. Barber you are the "Founder" of this breed Correct ? Well I have this to say to you, I am not impressed!!! I manage an animal shelter and have had the untasteful duty of cleaning up your mess lately, I have had to Euthanize 3 of your dogs within the last 6 months all of them with crippling joints, swollen to the size of a standard softball. One of them was 1 year old. I see mixed dogs every day and there is nothing special or magical or anything else about them, They are what they are and they are sometimes, sweet, loving, gentle, cuddley, onry, cantankerous, down right mean, and a gammet of other descriptions. But no matter what a mixed breed is made up of, It is still just a mixed breed ! Does not make it a bad dog... Does not make it a good dog... Just a Dog! But none the less a dog with feelings, pain, suffering, hunger, overheated, too cold, and again a gammet of descriptions, Point is they FEEL and shame on anyone to "Create" a "Designer" breed for they're own pocket lining purposes. Over and over I have read blogs about your dogs and over and over I hear the heartache of owners who suffered with they're dogs through displasia and a number of other issues, And over and over you defend yourself and continue to torture dogs and owners. Come do what I do then defend yourself !!!!!!! You come here and sit with the heartbroken owner as they sob on the floor with they're dog after I have given PEACE, I cry everytime... Do YOU ??????

EchoMeadows, you have my sincere appreciation for the work you have taken on; it is not an easy thing you do, but it's quite easy on the breeders who continue to churn out puppies without any real thought as to what will happen to them in the future. They don't have to hold a perfectly healthy adult dog, whose owner failed to properly train it when it was younger, when it has to be put down because the shelter is at maximum capacity and no one's claimed or adopted the dog for several weeks...that's left to you, and I know you make the passing as easy as possible for the dogs by holding off on the crying until they've made their crossing. As I said when this subject came up several months ago--when I want a dog that *sort of* looks like a GSD, but is a cross of some or many other breeds as well, I'll go to my local animal shelter and *adopt* such a dog. I damn sure won't pay thousands of dollars to someone who *intentionally* produces mixed-breed dogs under the pretense of calling them 'a breed'. Same goes for the Labradoodles and Goldendoodles and the rest of the 'designer' dogs.

Hexe, Your words are so kind, Thank You for that so much, Some days it's nearly unbearable to face the public, and most days I find myself chewing on ignorant people who come to the shelter and wish to adopt a chihuahua because they have a cute terrier mix at home they want to breed it with, GOD what is wrong with these people ? Can they not see the loosing battle I fight every single day ! Irresponsible Morons who just want to sell the pups for 100 bucks, Good Grief I put 3x's that amount into each pup I raise before it hits 8 weeks, Vaccinations, Microchip(that I am 2nd contact on), registration, Feed, Supplements, Vitamins, Health Checks, The list goes on. These fools have no clue! I am quickly burning here I think, I am honestly not sure how much longer I can continue this, I seem to have no impact, only in that you are correct, With every animal that must be euthanized I am very cautious to ensure the dog is comforted, craddled, Praised, and honored ! I do cry later only for the dogs peace, I know my loosing it would cause them great distress which would mean I am not doing my job. At least if I can hold on I can be assured these animals will no be forgotten and will not suffer! Again Thank You for your kind and encouraging thoughts, and I certainly appreciate that you would consider a shelter dog, They are good creatures and someone, sometimes an Idiot made it happen on purpose with no thought or care what happens to them "After the Sale"! That is the frustrating part!

Echo, I went to your website...I think that your dogs look like nice pets but NOT breed worthy. Why are you adding to the shelter population yourself? I looked hard but I couldn't find any of your "eco-meadow's" with any titles? It seems like you are a complainer like other byb's who want the bucks for yourself. You bitch at others for doing essentially what you are doing. Have you heard the word "Hypocrit" I think you should love those dogs but not breed them. Mel

EchoMeadows, People like the "founder" of the Shiloh have no conscience. So do not waste your energy. She does not care. She is only a legend in her own mind. I have done GSD rescue for the past 10 years. In one year, when I had a good job, I spent more than $21,000 on vet bills on dogs I had taken into the rescue program. I simply can not do that any longer. In those 10 years I have placed more than 400 GSDs, but had to turn down hundreds of other dogs who might have made good pets for someone. The bottom line is one must be able to set limits to do rescue of any kind. You are seeing reality. Most people, including most on this board, do not give a damn about the thousands of unwanted animals. Breeders of all kinds, including those who fancy themselves responsible, produce way too many litters for the number of APPROPRIATE homes that exist. Responsible owners are not as plentiful as we would like to think. Others do just as you mention concerning breeding mixed dogs. When I say "no, you can not breed your dog to my dog", they simply find another dog owner who gladly allow it. I recently had a moron want to breed his poor example of a GSD to one of my GSD males, and when I said no, he went and bred her to a lab in the neighborhood! Another person with a GSD I personally knew to have a poor temperament has had litter after litter and the owner approached me wanting to use one of my males as stud. I said no. But it never ends. I own a boarding kennel and too many people come here telling me they have not neutered or spayed their pet because they want to breed it. Most are mutts, and many of the purebreds are very poor examples of the breed. That includes dogs who have seizures or have other major health issues. The reasons given for wanting to breed show a complete lack of understanding of their own breed and a lack of ethical concerns. It is discouraging to say the least. And what you will find is that the people who are in the breed organizations do not give a damn either. AKC promotes breeding. None of the breeders in the state I live in donate time, effort or money to any rescue. But they sell litter after litter after litter. Some in my state breed more than 10 litters a year, though they hide it as best they can from the authorities. Others import huge numbers of pups and breed too. There is even someone in our state who breeds 25 plus litters of American line GSDs. There is another person I know who breeds litter after litter of "designer" dogs, who all live in poor conditions until sold. Get it? They do not care. It is about money and that is it. These people exist in all breeds. Those of us who care are outnumbered and all that can come of rescue work not tempered in reason and limitations is a broken heart and spirit. So you have to find a way to be more callous, as hard as that sounds. And enjoy your own animals. You can say nothing to people like the shiloh person which will make any difference. She does not care. Good luck.

Melody_Gray. you sure have a set of big balls. you probably never met Echo nor her dogs and yet you're trashing her dogs, saying that they are pet quality and not breedworthy. YOU NEVER SAW her dogs so what makes you have the right to decide if her dogs are pet quality or breedworthy? Have you even went to the "Training days" page or did you just quickly stumble onto the site without actually viewing the entire site? As far as titles... Yes a dog should have a title before breeding but that does not make any dog breedable... It doesn't show a true picture as some people rush thru titling on a dog just to sell it off for a higher price... the folks in germany does that alot... I gotta give credit on Echo... at least shes not breeding those crappy roach back dogs that you normally would see in germany (trust me this is becoming a huge problem in germany) before anybody make a comment take a look at this http://showcase.netins.net/web/royalair/pasttopresent.htm very sad to see, really. Melody.... Do you mind if you send us your site... you obviously have better dogs then Echo... would LOVE to see what your dogs look like :)

Melody, I would love to see your dogs as well, But noticed you forgot to give the link. Several of our dogs are in Sch training to achieve Titles soon, Twister goes up for BH in October and Shc 1 this fall yet or next spring. Sitka this spring. Pistol for BH this spring. All others are babies that are too young besides our 2 breeding females now, Who are out of Titled parents and very breed worthy, Excellent Temperaments! correct structure, great drive, what else makes breed worthy please do tell ? The females were not titled because the people we got them from were not interested in Titles not my fault ! They are not mixed bred mutts, They are contributing to the breed with they're extremely SOLID Temperaments, Confidence and correct structure, personally I thought that's what breeding was about making improvements, Perhaps I am mistaken. I did not go out and buy Titled dogs, I am doing that hard part myself Thank You, So hipocryt NO I think not. Just because I let my dogs in my house and allow them to be part of my family does not give you the right to critisize me, Though I do expect not to be taken seriously by the majority of GSD Breeders for that reason, Frankly I don't care, I love my dogs they are part of my family, and guess what I don't contribut to the problem of overpopulation, You obviously did not spend enough time on our website READ ON Melody get your facts strait ! We microchip all our pups and our contract states that our pups come back to us if ever the purchaser can not keep them, Also we are 2nd contact on the chip so if someone decides to ignore that fact we would be contacted to retreive the dog if it ever ended up in a shelter. We also rescue GSDs and find them good homes. Do you make these efforts too ? Please don't attack me, You don't know me. You've never met my dogs seen them in person, You can not make that determination that you made by looking at photos, IF you can then YOU should be the only person in the world breeding GSD's because an eye like that who can evaluate all dogs from photos is priceless ! Please share your website as well I would like to see your dogs, and see what you have to say about them and hear your reasons for breeding, I enjoy things done well, Melody. I do not enjoy seeing animals suffer ? I am at a total loss as to how you could promote this Shiloh thing by kicking me in the teeth. Mitch

Hodie, Thank You for your encouragement and I want to personally Thank You for the work you do in RESCUE, Thank You Thank You Thank YOU !!!! Your an angel! We will someday make a difference I have to blind myself into beleive that. I will continue as I know you will too, Your Heart and Soul Shines through in the care you put into rescue's. Thank YOU again. M Brittany, I agree dogs should be titled... But we are getting there, No we did not go out and purchase "Quick Titled" dogs, We are doing the work ourselves with a club here locally and we are working hard for what we are soon to be acheiving, I am so proud of Twister and myself quite frankly, We have had so much fun preparing for his BH and Sch1 I am on pins and needles for it, Because We have done it Noone else, This is my blood, sweat, and tears that nearing producing the fruit of the labor. Thank You for your earlier post, I appreciate it. Mitch

Many GSD breeders on this board like to fool themselves into believing that their "well bred" dogs will never find their way into rescue. Rescue dogs are not their problem. No one would ever pay thousands of dollars for a dog and then dump it in a shelter, would they? The unwanted GSD's are mixes or junkyard dogs with poor temperaments bred by BYB's and puppy mills. Think again. Take the time to surf through some of these rescue sites, petfinders for example. Look at the pictures of these dogs and then you tell me that some of them did not come from "breeders" in the US and Europe. Where did the mixes come from? The cabbage patch? Shame on those of you who do not support your local GSD rescue efforts. Rescuing a breed you love is the hardest thing anyone could ever do, it is heartbreaking and, most of the time, not very rewarding when the efforts are underminded by those who should instead be stepping up to the plate and helping. I am grateful for people like Hodie, Echomeadows, Hexe who clean up other's messes 24/7. They not only talk the talk, they also walk the walk.