Goldenhaus k9? Any opinions?

[BlackGSD]

Just the fact that they say they are expecting black, bi-color, and "maybe sable" puppies from a black sire and black and tan dam is enough for me to look elsewhere. IMO anyone that is breeding should know about color generics. (You can NOT get sable puppies from this breeding. They should KNOW that!!)

The lack of OFA ratings is also a DEAL BREAKER in my book.

[dawnandjr]

I find it interesting that in the database, no photos of dams, or when they were born. So we dont know at what age these bitches are being bred. FOUR litters on the ground at the same time!!! Did I read that right??? No titles on their dogs (I dont think titles are the be all end all, but how do they know what they are producing without doing some sort of "test"?) Link to the SV, but no dogs have hip scores from the SV. What was the point in putting the SV link on the website? I like to sometimes call breeders and pretend I am ignorant and ask questions I know the answer to, just to see what they say. You would be amazed at how many people put things they hear, read or see on others websites, just to "look good" or "sound good" to someone else.

[gsdgirl2003]

I heard about this thread through the grapevine and came on here to defend this breeder (and myself as well.) I talked with my good friend who owns the Golden Haus K9 kennel to find out what happened. He is currently not able to come on here himself because he closed his account with his internet provider (because of their price hikes) and is looking for a better internet provider.

1. I'm the owner of Urman (Urma Quartier Latin) and it is my comment that he is almost full brother to Bazi Urbecke. It's a phrase that I've used because it is simpler than going into the technical description of his pedigree that is more than 3/4 the same as Bazi's. No, I never did finish Urman's training to get him titled like I wanted to, my bad for lack of money to do so. But my ideal is the kind of dog that is Universal Sieger quality like Bazi is.

2. The website is most certainly a work in progress, my friend works a full time job plus takes care of a working farm, his dogs and his family. If his website isn't beautiful and top quality then it's because he's more concerned that the time he spends with his family, dogs and farm is top quality.

3. He has OFA'd past dogs that are now retired or over the rainbow. He was frusterated with some of the OFA's process and especially because OFA certification is no gaurantee that dogs will not be dysplastic. Despite dozens of generations of canines being a stamped or OFA'd there are still dysplastic dogs. That being said, Golden Haus does x-ray their dogs, x-rays are now taken by an OSU board member
veterinarian (who also does Westwood kennel's dogs (they also do not OFA or a-stamp certify)) who is more experienced than most of the veterinarians used by OFA to read x-rays.

4. The color comment was an accidental oversight, he knows the color genetics of GSDs and did not mean to put that there. He had been trying to update the website in the middle of the night, exhausted, when that happened. He did not realize that mistake was on there until I talked to him.

5. Reliable DM testing is a fairly new thing, Golden Haus does plan to have their dogs DNA'd for this soon.

6. Golden Haus takes great care of their dogs, their biggest concern is the daily quality of life. The dogs get a lot of running and play time in the fields and woods. Their diet is often supplemented with the eggs and meat that they raise themselves from their free-range pasture animals. They have a large family to provide excellent socialization and one-on-one time with dogs (taking walks, obedience training, etc.)

7. In the past, he showed dogs, he belonged to a DVG schutzhund club (before it went through very rough times from it's president/head trainer passing away) He has owned very soft dogs, very hard dogs, dogs with extreme drive. After decades of experience he has come to appreciate a moderate dog with strong loyalty, willingness to please and brave without being rash the best, and that is what he breeds for now. In the time that I've known him I've seen him to retire dogs or rehome to pet homes dogs who didn't meet his expectations for character or structure. So even if he doesn't look like the best breeder online or on paper, I personally know that he is one of the best because of his character and the character of his dogs.

[gsdgirl2003]

I forgot to add in response to Dawn, the dogs on the database are ones that I put on there myself for my friend since I knew how to do it and he hadn't done it before. Yes, the information is incomplete because when I did it I didn't have all the info sitting in front of me nor have I taken the time yet to finish them.
As to the ages of his current breeding females, they are all 2 and 3 yrs old. Only one of them is not a dog from his own breeding. His other girls are retired and those who didn't make the cut for his breeding program have been rehomed to pet homes. Only one of his current breeding females has had a litter before (that would be Abbie, and she is 3 yrs old.)

As Dawn says herself, titles are not an end all. Both Golden Haus and I have experienced dogs with titles or seen dogs being 'tested' to earn their titles and have seen and known dogs who got titles that they never should have.
I came very close to buying a schutzhund titled dog once (because she was such a 'good' price) only to see that dog "worked" and she couldn't work, gun-shy and refuse to bite a sleeve, half-ass obedience and refusal to pick up or carry the dumbell. I've had my dog TT'd and much to my dismay seen a dog "passed" who was terrified of the gun shot and walking over the chainlink on the ground (his handler practicly dragged him over it.) These things happen so often, a dog looks good on paper because it has "titles" when the judges should have "failed" them all.
Golden Haus dogs are well tested on their own farm. With rambunctious grand children, taking the dogs for rides in the farm truck or in the car for errands. He will know if one is gun shy or not since guns are shot plenty of times each year on the farm (hunting in the woods behind the kennels, target practice in the fields in front of the kennels, shooting the groundhogs raiding the gardens or the european starlings raiding the bird feeders.) The dogs are acclimated to all kinds of surfaces and situations around a farm. Skittish, fearful or overly aggressive dogs don't last long on a working farm with a big family.

[Emoore]

Originally Posted by gsdgirl2003

Golden Haus dogs are well tested on their own farm. With rambunctious grand children, taking the dogs for rides in the farm truck or in the car for errands. He will know if one is gun shy or not since guns are shot plenty of times each year on the farm

Testing your own dogs on your own property with your own family is no test at all. I don't know anything about the kennel and have no bone to pick with them, but the above statement is just silly. Going for a ride in the truck, going for errands, and being around family kids that you're exposed to on a regular basis are not temperament tests. Also, as has been belabored many times on the Schutzhund forum, any dog can be acclimated to gunfire if he's exposed to it enough.

My older dog is very weak-nerved but can pass any of those "tests" with flying colors.

[onyx'girl]

Having all the ducks in a row should be done prior to breeding or why bother to breed, unless it isn't about the dogs?
I don't get that excuse for not doing OFA's . There is a reason for the database. Of course it doesn't guarantee hips on what is produced, but certainly should be done thru A stamp or OFA if you are breeding!

[cliffson1]

I really like the genetics of the stud, Nemo, Rene was a fabulous working dog that I saw perform at the Mid-Atlantic Regionals where he took second place. The motherline of Nemo is excellent also....they should indicate something about the hip status of Nemo.....I don't care if they have X-rayed and offer to send copy of x-rays to perspective client, but you have to have something.JMO

[gsdgirl2003]

Just to be clear, the words in my posts are mine, not Golden Haus'.
Watching the dogs' reactions to regular, every day farm life isn't an official test, I know. But a person who has had dogs for a long time and has worked dogs in different venues can tell when their own dogs have a faulty temperament problem or not. Yes, having official titles/tests recorded on paper can "tell" other people the dog has a good temperament or not, but it's been my experience that whats recorded on paper isn't always true. Like Emoore says, a dog can be acclimated to gun tests, and then they will pass the temperament tests even if the dog's true nature is gunshy.
The same goes for OFA; there are countless cases of dogs receiving different ratings on each x-ray when they've had multiple x-rays taken of them and sent in to OFA. I've personally known people who have had this problem. Take x-rays of the dog when it's 24 months and OFA says the dog is borderline, take x-rays again at 30 months and the dog is OFA good. Dogs with a2 or a3 stamps get OFA'd good or excellent while dogs with a1 stamps get OFA fair or mild.

I wonder how many of you would like to bash the Westwood kennel? They don't OFA or a-stamp, they simply have the x-rays taken by their vet who is highly experienced in reading them. They keep the x-rays and have them available for people to look at. They don't put titles on their dogs, although they do buy titled stock. And yet they have an extremely solid bloodline and are considered a very reputable breeder. Golden Haus does the same thing.
Nemo is a wonderful dog with an extremely good pedigree, just as are their other 2 stud dogs. All 3 males are from older, very solid, well known Czech working lines. All 3 are sweet, huggable, courageous, tractable dogs.

[cliffson1]

Gsdgirl2003,
Don't get too upset....lol....many of the things that people are harping on are because these things are the only way they can assess the quality of the dogs or pups. I saw the same things you wrote about in your post, started to comment....then said Nah...let it go. Nancy does have a nice breeding program and she has forgot more about health issues than I will learn in my lifetime....I don't know Goldenhaus, but I can see that they have some nice dogs with the odds of having good pups as good as as any good working kennel. I happen to know a lot of the lines and dogs and don't see any red flags that are self imposed....so good luck to them and their dogs.JMO

[Emoore]

Again, I don't know the dogs in question or the breeder in question. They may have fabulous dogs; just wanted to point out for others who may be new and looking for a breeder that riding in the back of the truck to town and playing with the grandkids aren't really sufficient tests of character for a breeding dog. In my opinion, nerves are the #1 issue facing the breed right now and a breeder who isn't actively breeding for solid nerves is doing the dogs a disservice. This breeder may have a way of selecting for dogs with great nerves (like decades of experience) but many breeders out there who breed dogs that are "good with the grandkids and doesn't bite the mailman" are producing faulty-nerved dogs.