Importing German Shepherds - Page 1

Hello everyone, I need help when it comes to importing! How do you go about importing a dog without getting jipped. I am looking at a female in Germany and I want to purchase her, the breeder says she is going for her xrays next week and that she is healthy. The dog was previously with another family but they didn't treat her right but she is healthy now. I'm not say this breeder is a bad person I just want to know how to make sure I get what I am paying for as far a healthy dog, with the sv pink papers, and the 'a' stamp. Also how do you go about obtaining documented ownership of the dog? I would greatly appreciate the information Thanks

Don't even go there. Your story is already building for a unhappy ending. Why not look for someone in your own area where you could interview the breeder and see the dogs. Just because you are getting it from Germany does not mean you are going to end up with a good dog. They have problems to.

After attending my first NASS this past weekend and paying a lot of attention to the entries and where they were bred, I can honestly say, IMO, many of the dogs bred on this side of the ocean are every bit as good as those from Europe. I don't want to mention any specific kennels, but if you look at the show results on the Mittelwest website, you can easily see which Am bred dogs placed well. A high placing is not a guarantee of a great dog, but it does give a good indication of what a specific kennel is producing. You might even be lucky enough to find a good Am breeder within driving distance. Not saying I'd never import a dog, I might if I had a ton and a half of references from very happy buyers. I'm just suggesting that you should be able to find a good one in this country if you do your homework and demonstrate an honest interest in wanting to do it the right way. No good breeder wants his or her best dogs going to someone who is only going to play around at being a breeder. The dedication needed to do right by this breed does not come cheaply or easily. Good luck............

If you would email me privately, gimme10mins, I will be happy to give you some information which might help.

If you do not know what you are doing and do not have contacts in place that you trust and know from experience, you will be making another post here, about 4 months after you send your money overseas, bawling and complaining. If you MUST have an import to make you whole and complete in this life, find someone that you know and trust, to do it for you. There are a lot of breeders here that offer the same product, just don't have the Pink SV paperwork(which is misunderstood by a lot of Americans). I even have the German deworming medication, that I bring back to the USA, so I can tell you the only difference between the imports and some you get here is "their place of birth", and who is the governing body for registration, which is where the paper work comes in(AKC vs SV Pink paperss)

If you have already made your mind up to do this yourself, and are just putting out feelers to see if everyone will support you, I have but one request. When the deal goes bad, please advise us in detail, so we can all benefit from a good rolling on the floor laugh. Someone else I know here, did this, after I volunteered to go over AT COST ONLY and bring him back a dog. He chose to do it himself and told me after a while of solitude that he had gotten SCORTCHED!!!!!!! This aint going to the mall, down the street, Brother! Keep(LOL) us posted!! Stephen

gimme10... Hi! If I remember well, you're a complete novice with GSD's. You have asked, don't mind if I say so, some very amateuristic questions on this board. I have recommended you at that point in time to get some books, and start studying. I also said, joining a gsd-club would be paramount, and you would learn a lot from the people joining in there. Now I would follow Stephen all the way. If you don't have a person you can fully trust and who can step into that breeders/sellers world to check on everything, leave your fingers off. You'll get badly burned. Watch out for brokers. They will charge you "little fees" for shipment, you'll end up paying way too much. Remember: People on this board warned you!! And don't you come back crying now!

Listen to what everyone is telling you! I have imported several times and was VERY lucky....so I never expected a problem. The last dog I purchased I got SCREWED big time!! All because of my stupidity to trust a fast-talking, REALLY convincing, crook! Don't do it unless you know someone in Germany who can personally go to the breeder, look at the dog, and handle the paperwork/money exchange for you!

gimme10mins, Why do you need to import? theirs lots of responsible breeders here in the USA (if your from the USA). If you want a nice working dog to do schutzhund I would pick Molly from the vom eichenluft kennels. Shes very good at what she does... If you dont believe me.. go to her website at http://www.workinggermanshepherd.com/ and click under studs... it takes courage with honesty to put up your homebred dogs to be included with your breeding program.. not everybody does this, simply because they are doing so poorly on their goals in improving the breed, IMO. If you want a typical showline to start showing... go to mittelwest. Look at their record. Don't think because you get pink SV papers that the dog is going to be good. I've known people and had people walk towards me with horror stories of how they spent thousands of dollars on their imports and the dog ended up being afraid of their own shadows, or cowards down when theirs a Tstorm and how the dog is suppose to be a SchH3 but acts like it hasn't been trained before. Just remember... the folks in germany doesn't sell their best dogs... only their weak and useless dogs... unfortunately people here in the USA will pay anything to get a german import and the germans loves it because thats more money in their accounts. The best thing you can do is to go to a GSD club and start learning.

Thank you everyone for all of your imput and remarks. Some were helpful. Others were rude but hey that is how some of you operate. I really appreciate everything. I will continue to post my novice questions because I feel that one of the purposes of this board is to help inexperienced people. However, thanks again for everything.