Opinions on litter & breeder? - Page 1

Hello everyone,

I got many great recommendations in my last post. Many have great dogs but most were very far away and I would like to stay relatively local.

Has anyone interacted with this breeder? They look to be very small / home based which I like, but that means there is not much online info..

http://www.wundergsd.com/planned-breedings.html

Diamond x Eli:

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/dog.html?id=1953178-diamond-diva-von-schraderhaus

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/breeding.result?father=338419&mother=477289

Thanks!

kennel does not appear to work and prove their stud animals in any meaningful way so how can they support their claims of temperament etc.

i do not like kennels that rave on so much about the appearnce of their dogs and throw words like czech and DDR which is manily BS marketting.

they do appear to have healthy dogs, some nice dogs in the peds eg lord etc but how they combine in that mating i will leave fo the more knowledgeable.

possibility of a healthy active pet of decent quality.

i would not support the breeder based on the BS marketting and lack of actually putting any meaningful working titles on their own dogs, that's just me.

they seem more the kind of buy some nice males and females let them hump each other, create a website and viola, german shepherd breeder, happens a lot.

they seem happy to ride on the coat tails of other breeders by breeding names but not putting in the work themselves.

I missed the other thread. Do you want a working pup or a pet? You'll open up a world of possibilities if you don't stick to buying local. JMHO

Thanks VK4, you kinda hit on all of my reservations about them. I like a small operation but at what point is it too small; aka amatuer. 

I am looking for a working line for a family companion. (Not my first rodeo - I know what I am getting into) with medium drives.

I liked the pedigree especially the female. I frankely do not care about titles of their dogs, but I do understand your point. I like that the pups will be around their small kids in their home and not in a kennel for the first 8 weeks.

This family seems to have the same philosophy/ situation as myself. They have working line GSDs as members of their family. 

They have one litter a year, which makes me comfortable that they are not in it for the income...

What I like:
They use bitches/studs out of good ancestors
They test for HD/ED/DM
They only own 4 or 5 dogs ( only one brood bitch ?)
They seem to take good care of their dogs

What I don´t like:
They don´t train and title their dogs = no proof of working abilities

On the other hand in the USA nobody is forced to title German Shepherds prior to breeding - most of the breeders don´t title their dogs...

I´d try to visit them, and take a look at their dogs.

FenderBender, in my country ( Germany ) at least 99% are "amateurs", almost all of us do have a regular job, but a lot of us are able to breed good dogs.

Amateur was probably the wrong word to use. I like that they are small but they dont really have any kind of reputation (good or bad). Luckily they are ony 30 miles away so I will be able to meet them and their dogs in person before comitting.

Sounds good to me - keep us updated!

small scale operation is not a problem for me, i think the future of the breed lies with the small time enthusiast with a day job, ie educated people that are financially secure enough to support their dog habit to a high level of competition/work and enough experience and intelligence to make good decisions based on that work/sport experience. when they strt relying on litters to support their own income usually means quality goes down and pandering to the market and hype goes up.

what area did you say?

if i may suggest, driving a few hours, or even interstate to open yrself to more quality possibilities is an option you should not write off. good breeders supply the same after sales service no matter if you live next door or in another continent. for a 10-15 year investment i certainly would pack the fam in the car and spend a evry weekend for a few months driving around the country looking at dogs, you will gain precious networks, make new friends and start to tune your eyes and ears into who is full of sh!t and who is not, what quality looks like and what it diesn't look like, what a well run operation looks like and what a puppy mill looks like.

please do not block this option for yourself, see it all as much as you can and then start to write a short list and go back again.

it took me about 2 years. thousands of miles and hours and some interstate flights to get what i wanted, some people buy from other countries staright from the internet.

it is buyer beware in this pool of sharks.

Location is North Texas.

100% agree VK. Not ruling anything out and no distance is too far. This litter will not breed until March, so I will be able to meet the breeder and parents before they even breed.

Open to any suggestions in the general region. I have a long list of breeders to research around the country

Next on the agenda is to contact Germelhaus and ask their opinion. (I get the impression they are highly respected). My dogs sire was from Germelhaus and I think they will know exactly what I had in my last dog, and will therefore know exactly what I am looking for in my next one.