From a Kraftwerk / Wane Curry employee - Page 5

I just purchased a puppy from Kraftwerk K9 and so far so good... He came from Basco’s little. He is a great looking dog, very smart, eager to learn... The only thing the vet found on him was a parasite in his stool, but that was taken care of with antibiotics in no time. Other then that he cries a lot, but I'm sure that’s just because he's a puppy. He was defiantly worth the price and I have no regrets...

You cleared up a parasite with antibiotics? 

rgrim84 what did you have to pay for him and what were youtold you were geting for the money just curious to know from someone who has done buisness with him what he says you are geting in a pup for 2500.00 do thet have some training?

Sunsliver
Where are you coming from, How can a breeder be blamed for a dog biting the owner, IT is the owner who first decides that they want a German Shepherd in the first place, If they have any sort of brains they will look up the traits that the dogs process as a whole and what they may or may not do when young or old, That is up to the person buying the Dog whether it be a Border Collie or G.S or any other working Dog, in fact any dog can have these TRAITS, remember they are NOT Faults in the breed
Listen to Mystere she knows what she is talking about, and has mentioned this several times but you do not seem to see the difference

It is the temperament of a dog of any breed, or even cross bred dogs which decides how it will turn out in respect of biting or any other problem, some can be changed in that some will not 100%

many times a dog gets the blame for nipping a child or person when the fault is not the dogs, it is only the end product .i.e the bite,  that people see not what went on to cause the bite

so the Dog gets the blame every time, I strongly advise you to read up more about the G.S Dog if you own one and think more like your dog does, meaning look into the traits of the breed  because unless you can do that you will never fully understand what makes them tick
Steve

Steve1,
You and Nia (Mystere) are 100% correct that it is up to the buyer to do research to know what they are getting in a dog before they purchase it. Too many people, especially here in the U.S. do not do that.
However, I think that what Sunsilver is trying to point out is that some breeders here in the U.S. need to start taking a little more responsibility for what they are selling and, especially, to who they are selling dogs to.
Working line GSD's used to be the "dirty little secret" of GSD's in this country. Few people knew about them and very few were bred. Now they have become, as one friend put it, like Gucci purses. Everyone has to have one.
The unfortunate part is that many, many people own them that probably should not. They are too much dog for a lot of people and too few of these people are properly informed about the genetics, activity level, and exercise requirements of working line GSD's.
They buy them because they were told that they are better GSD's by a breeder and then went on the internet and also heard the same thing. That does not make them the proper dog for everyone. They do bite and the owner needs to understand why.

My belief is that most people where you are, in Europe, are better educated in the differences in GSD types.
There are many breeders here that I could send a friend to who was looking for a Cavalier King Charles and they would walk out of the kennel convinced that they "need" to own a working line GSD. That is not responsible breeding and selling of dogs. It is $$$$ clouding the breeder's head.

My question to many has been this and I offer it again to this forum:
Who is worse, the person that buys the showline GSD, which is not what the dog was intended to be, or, the working line purchaser that does nothing with their dog?
(I should probably start a new topic with this question)

I'm going to address the very last sentence, because I have been thinking alot about that lately.  Schutzhund was created as a yardstick to measure a dogs trainability and courage.  One that was to be used by breeders before breeding their dog to see if it was breed worthy as a German Shepherd(which is a working dog).  Okay, that being said, if you are not going to use your dog for breeding, but are just in it for sport, why is that working your dog anymore than someone doing agility or obedience?

  Working is making the dog do a service, such as herding, protecting it's family (that is a job) seeing eye dog, etc.

  Sure, it is good to do things such as obedience, even tracking,  or playing with a guy in a sleeve, but that really isn't work, UNLESS you are training for LE.  What it is, is sport.  So, having said that I'd say it's worse to buy a GSD that is not the standard in conformation and temperment because you are supporting breeders that are breeding poor quality shepherds and polluting the pool.  My 2 cents.

OGBS
A good Post, Yes, i know what you are saying, and perhaps Sunsilver was trying to same much the same But no matter what the breed, everyone must look up before buying, take Jack Russell's for one breed, you can own a right little terror or you can own a really nice little fellow. It is the temperament of the Pup which will make it what it is, but saying that i really think the way it is handled from a Weaned Pup by the owner will mold the youngster to what it may become, but that does not always work out
I did mention one time a dog who the owner could not handle it bit them and was near on a dog to be put away, i took it from them not having a dog at the time, He took to me and we became good buddies he lived a good long life but was very protective of me but he never bit a anyone else ever again once i got him
I think there is a dog for every person, but the right person does not always go with the dog
Steve

It seems we may have skipped a stitch on this thread. I wanted to share the experience I had at Kraftwerk while I was there with "thezoo". She will be happy to know that many of the directives she put in place are still being used by at least the 2 kennel workers that are still left there from her time. As for the litter she said was "gravely ill" and was given a bad prognosis by the vet, yes, puppies were lost, however it wasn't parvo, the bitch and litter were sent to vet with the express concern on the bitches milk and  told the milk was fine and to leave the pups with the mom....next vet did the test and - Mastitis so the pups were pulled, hand fed by staff and are very sweet little dogs. They currently aren't for sale.
During my time at the kennel it was inspected by AKC, Thurston Co, PETA, and a couple other agency's. Passed all inspections with an AKC rating of 100% compliance. Kraftwerk had a wonderful staff when inspected.
As for the people who purchase these puppies, 99% of them are the nicest people you could ever meet. I miss working with them.
To be clear, this post has more to do with the kennel staff who care for the dogs. Kraftwerk is in the midst of another employee turnover, but to be fair, the people who were there for the last few months loved and cared for those dogs to the very best of their ability and with the exception of the one pup thezoo lost while it was with her, and the pups lost from the mastitis(sp?) issue, no other pups were lost between March and mid-June, at least to my knowledge. Take from this what you will, and I won't guarantee anything from last week forward cuz I'm not there anymore.

$2,500 for a puppy that dog better know how to cook, clean, take the kids to school and back, etc.

That's just down right robbery and then with the training it would come to what? $3,500? Pfff, that's alot for a puppy that is only a potential.

I could understand if it was $1,500 or so but darn that's ridiculous. I saw his web-site for a second before and he has more than few litters I wonder how much he makes in profit? No wonder he can afford helpers, and what not but still I doubt that ALL these dogs get the attention they need, no way.

I am also not surprised by the lack of training with how many dogs and puppies he has. No way can he get the job done and do what he promises he will in training.

People don't be so naive do your research, take your time, make sure you turn every rock, get on messageboards, ASK about the breeder, ask him questions no matter how ridiculous they might sound it will save you down the road. 

Go to your local club or whatever is near talk to the people I am sure they will give yu a helping hand. The internet is huge and you can find anything you want on it. Just because the price are so high doesn't mean that the puppy will turn out to be super dog most of the time when the price is jacked up so ridiculous for puppy is for profit and people trying to make quick money!!!!

I can't stress it enough RESEARCH and STUDY and take your time. Talk to different breeders, seek help, look the kennel up online and see their reputation. Talk to people who bought from them before.

It might sound a lot of work but at the end it will be well worth it for you and your family and the puppy. You will have a healthy puppy from a good breeder who cares and will help you anytime!

Best Regards,