Our Breeding Program
Our breeding program is about far more than just producing puppies—it’s a process with many moving parts. We continuously adapt and evolve, along with the advancements in science and technology. It takes years to determine if a dog will join our breeding program or remain a valued member of our pack. All of our dogs live alongside us in our homes—we don’t use outdoor kennels. This close, daily interaction allows us to truly understand them on every level. We observe their temperaments, how they handle stress, resolve conflicts, and engage with the world around them. By knowing their strengths and weaknesses, we can make the best breeding decisions and continue to prioritize temperament and health above all else.
Health and Well-being First
The cornerstone of our breeding program is our commitment to the health and well-being of our German Shepherd Dogs. We meticulously screen our breeding dogs for genetic predispositions and health issues, ensuring that only the healthiest dogs contribute to future generations. This includes hip and elbow evaluations, cardiac exams, and DNA testing for breed-specific disease risk factors. We send DNA samples from each dog (and some litters) to the industry leader in canine genetic health screening. They screen for over 270 genetic health conditions and genetic risk factors for allergies, along with the 12 most common German Shepherd genetic disease risks. They provide valuable insight into traits like coat color and body size. We periodically test dogs through a second reputable company to confirm results. As scientific advancements are made in physical and genetic testing we include these tests in our standard testing regimen for breeding dogs. Our breeding males have regular health evaluations and our females are examined prior to breeding, throughout pregnancy, and after whelping. We do not over breed our females, and all dogs are spayed or neutered upon retirement from our breeding program.
Prioritizing Temperament Next
After health, temperament is our top priority. Knowing so much about each individual dog in our program plays an essential role in pairing dogs to maintain the desired temperament in their offspring. Our goal is well rounded, well adjusted family, companion, and service dogs with excellent health. For working dogs that can also thrive as a family pet we need to maintain a certain level of drive in our puppies, without it being too high for the average family. We feel we have found the perfect balance of DDR, Old American and West German lines in our puppies. We lean on the East German line with it’s endurance, athleticism, work ethic, and intelligence, and bring down the high drive and intensity with the stable nerves, clear and steady temperament, and easygoing nature of the West German Line. Built for companionship, the almost stoic, gentle but protective, and extremely loyal Old American line has proven to be an amazing addition to our puppies, creating versatile, well rounded dogs. We breed them to have these traits in their blood but it doesn't end there. Our puppies are raised in a loving environment, exposed to various stimuli, like early desensitization, ENS, ESI, and they are socialized from a young age. This ensures that they are well-adjusted, confident, and ready to become valued members of your family or exceptional service animals. It takes hours and hours of pedigree research, years of trial and error but the result is worth all the work and the proof is in the amazing and dependable temperaments, and health of our puppies.
Secondary Traits and Standards
Health and temperament are paramount, and If we cannot ensure the absolute soundness of these two critical aspects, we simply don’t move forward. Once we are confident in these foundations, we can explore the potential physical traits our pairings may produce—such as coat length, color, and pattern. We appreciate the importance of adhering to breed standards and we work to produce dogs that embody those standards in body shape, size, and color. At the same time, we’re dedicated to maintaining genetic diversity within our program. Recognizing how crucial diversity is to long-term health, we work to preserve recessive genes whenever it can be done responsibly and without compromising the health of our dogs. The availability of canine DNA testing has changed the way we make breeding decisions. In the past, breeders often associated certain color mutations with health risks due to negative outcomes observed over generations—largely a result of the common practice of inbreeding. Today, advanced genetic testing gives responsible breeders the ability to breed pairs of dogs in a way that promotes genetic diversity and excludes harmful gene combinations while allowing for a variety of coat colors and patterns. With these tools, we are able to breed dogs that are not only healthy with sound temperaments, but also with unique coat colors and patterns—qualities that were once unfairly labeled as faults or unhealthy.