Castlebrook Shepherds,
has been my dream since I got my first German Shepherd, Mitzie, when I was 12 years old. She was so intelligent, trainable and very social, yet my protector several times when it was appropriate. I am now 53 and have continued my passion for GSD's and animals in general my entire life. I worked as a vet tech for 6 years and a top GSD breeder for 3 years before that. I titled my first dog, Katra in AKC obedience and then went on to dabble in Agility with my next dog Ebonezer. As he grew I knew I had never had such a drivey dog and started his Schutzhund training in 2000. Over the next 2 years I took him to SchH2. Bon was a fantastic dog and many seasoned trainers that worked him commented that he could have been a good competition dog. Although I did not have the confidance in myself to do this, it spurred me on to find out what was behind him that made this German show dog so much better than the average show dog. This research continues today and will go on for as long as I live. Bon inspired me to not be biased against any dog based solely on whether they are working or show lines, but to judge the dog for the dog and then look at what makes him what he is whether that be good or bad. The club I trained with during Bon's training was one of the top "working line" clubs in the USA. Even though we took constant teasing and jokes we learned alot. One of the things I learned was that not every working line dog works and not every show line is just a "prancing pony". This further fueled my drive for research, but it also brought out that foundation, and the level of the trainer makes a huge difference in how the dog works and progresses. In other words: A good trainer can make a bad dog look good and a poor trainer can make a good dog look bad. This complicates and broadens the research field to be a huge on going task. When watching a dog work/play/interact one must take all of this plus the pedigree, and then add in what that dog has/is producing. A large but enjoyable task! Then when choosing breeding partners, I look at health and conformation also. An ideal breeding will have partners that totally compliment each other's weaknesses and accentuate their strengths. Hence I do a fair number of work/show cross breedings. I also do top show line breedings as well as some top working line breedings. Through all of this I keep in mind that the vast majority of puppies will be in "companion" homes, so correct temperament is given a large amount of consideration. I breed to the German SV standards and my dogs have and do win in the show ring. Apollo is my only dog that is slightly oversize, he has so many other fantastic and exceptional qualities that he is still used in my breeding program. He is totally healthy and agile, is OFA Good with normal elbows. Apollo has almost 200 progeny on the ground and I can count on 1 hand how many are oversized. So, overall Apollo is a fantastic producer of healthy, extreemly intelligent, with correct conformation as well as flawless confidant temperament for work or family companions. All of my dogs are social and approachable when I am around. The famous Herr Flinks worked Apollo and Vogue. Here are his comments:
Apollo-"Now this is a show dog I like! He loves the work, hits hard and has powerful full grips"
Vogue - "If all show dogs worked like this I would not have a problem with them!"
I always encourage people to come and meet my dogs and see for themselves!
I'd be happy to set up a time for you to come and visit!
Just give me a call or email!
