Planning Ahead (question about breeders)

[ladyfreckles]

I love Viking. I always knew in my heart I'd want two dogs though, and I decided that I wanted a good quality working dog once Viking was 18-24 months. I'm going to get involved in Schutzhund as soon as he's done with his vaccines, and if he does well with that I'll start trying to get involved in agility after he's 6 months (just classes). Training with him is something I absolutely love doing. I know I'm getting a little ahead of myself here, but I love to plan ahead. I try to think through everything before I do it.

There is a breeder I am very interested in and I'm about 99% sure I want to go with them for my next dog. However at the soonest it will not be happening for another year and a half. It may not happen for three years. Part of me is thinking about getting in contact with this breeder and just staying in contact with him throughout the next few years while I'm raising Viking until the time comes. Part of this is coming from the fact that as I've been working with Viking I've learned how much I really love this and have a passion for it (training dogs). I got Viking as a dog that would be balanced, but not too drivey. A dog that, if I decided I didn't want to compete, could be a good house dog that just accompanied me on hikes. Now what I want is solidifying more and more. I definitely want to do a lot more training.

Do you think this is a good idea? The breeder lives quite far from me (he's in Illinois). Obviously before I do this I will see how I like competing in Schutzhund and agility and if I think I can continue to commit to it with a second dog. I thought perhaps about putting off communication until Viking is 6-12 months and has been doing stuff for awhile and I'm still sure I want to continue. The breeder is Bill Kulla from vom Geistwasser.

What do you guys think?

PS: Yes, my fiance is on board with this. First and foremost though these will be my dogs. I take care of Viking. I pay for his food, his toys, etc. I am paying to put him through classes. We have talked about it and he agrees with me about everything in this post.

[Castlemaid]

I think it's fine to contact the breeder now, and start to get to know each other. The better he knows you, the better he'll be able to match you with the right puppy when the time comes.

[Emoore]

Just know that it's entirely possible you might change your mind about what line you want or what breeder you want to buy from over the next couple of years. If you contact a breeder now and tell them, "I'm buying my next puppy from you," would it be awkward if you start having second thoughts two years from now?

[mysweetkaos]

I agree with Castlemaid it could be very helpful to have a working relationship with them well ahead of time....on the other hand I agree with Emoore as well, if you change your mind or are not "thrilled" with them, you wouldn't want to feel obligated to use them...just because you said you would.
One way to go about it might be to see if they have a facebook page...if they do, like it. Follow along with some of their posts, etc. You can learn a lot about them that way. For example one that I've "liked" in the last 6 months I've seen her take in two of her previous dogs, who owners wanted to rehome. She took them in, evaluated and then found good homes for them. Sometimes you get a more accurate depiction of a person if they don't know you're watching them Well that sounds stalker-ish but you know what I mean.

[meldleistikow]

I have heard good things about Bill Kulla. One of his puppies is in the Schutzhund club I have started attending. The dog has a lot of drive and is beautiful.

If you want to go more local, there is a breeder in Snohomish that is awesome. I got a pup from her 9 years ago. I had to rehome him because of divorce, but he was an awesome dog. I had him till he was 2. Very driven. I never did any Schutzhund, but his obedience was awesome because of his ball drive. The only reason that I didn't go with her again is because I am in Minnesota now. She is the type of person you can email anytime and she is good about answering your questions.

Here is her website

German Shepherd Breeder | Police Dogs | Schutzhund | Washington USA | BC Canada

[sddeadeye]

I have talked to several breeders in my search. There are a few that I would be more than happy to work with to get my next puppy. Even if I don't get a puppy from them, those breeders have been extremely helpful in pointing me in the direction I need to go for my next dog. I don't see how it would hurt to contact the breeder you are interested in and start building a relationship with them. If nothing else, they are an amazing source of information about the breed and how to work with the dog you currently have.

[sddeadeye]

There are a couple members on this forum with Kulla dogs or out of one of their sires. I believe Liesje's Pan and Wild Wolf's Hunter (?) are from there. I was considering a litter out of one of their sire's at one time and came across those two in my search of the kennel's dogs. It never hurts to contact people who have dogs from those lines and get their take on them too.

[ladyfreckles]

Originally Posted by Emoore

Just know that it's entirely possible you might change your mind about what line you want or what breeder you want to buy from over the next couple of years. If you contact a breeder now and tell them, "I'm buying my next puppy from you," would it be awkward if you start having second thoughts two years from now?

Yes, that's why I'm hesitant and might want to do something more along the lines of what sweetkaos said. I've been following Kulla's dogs for awhile now and I'm just really impressed with what he has to offer. I actually called him once when I was doing my breeder search and I absolutely loved him but I did not want to risk something too drivey with my first puppy.

One of my ideas was just to keep in touch with him, say that I'm thinking about it, and learn from it/see if he down the road has alternative breeders to suggest.

Originally Posted by mysweetkaos

I agree with Castlemaid it could be very helpful to have a working relationship with them well ahead of time....on the other hand I agree with Emoore as well, if you change your mind or are not "thrilled" with them, you wouldn't want to feel obligated to use them...just because you said you would.
One way to go about it might be to see if they have a facebook page...if they do, like it. Follow along with some of their posts, etc. You can learn a lot about them that way. For example one that I've "liked" in the last 6 months I've seen her take in two of her previous dogs, who owners wanted to rehome. She took them in, evaluated and then found good homes for them. Sometimes you get a more accurate depiction of a person if they don't know you're watching them Well that sounds stalker-ish but you know what I mean.

That's a good tip! Right now I follow his site and the Schutzhund club he's a part of to see what their successes and failures are. Kulla lives really close to my future parents-in-law which is another big plus. I can meet with him any time I'm visiting over the next few years.

Originally Posted by sddeadeye

I have talked to several breeders in my search. There are a few that I would be more than happy to work with to get my next puppy. Even if I don't get a puppy from them, those breeders have been extremely helpful in pointing me in the direction I need to go for my next dog. I don't see how it would hurt to contact the breeder you are interested in and start building a relationship with them. If nothing else, they are an amazing source of information about the breed and how to work with the dog you currently have.

[Liesje]

If you're interested in Geistwasser dogs, definitely contact Jen. She's very nice and personable. When I contacted them she added me on her Facebook and then matched me up with a bunch of other people with their dogs, so I could follow their progress. As far as I can tell Jen enjoys keeping track of their dogs, she always comments on my posts about Pan. I think Jen does most of the online communications but if you can talk to Bill he's easy to talk to (I think) and very honest and straight forward.

When we visited they let us see each of the dogs and play with all the sociable dogs and all the puppies that were left (Pan was left with two others, all spoken for just picked up at various times). What I found interesting was that someone had told me something that could be considered negative about one of the dogs, and when we were there looking at that particular dog Bill offered the same exact information on his own without being asked or trying to hide it. I know someone who had contacted them about a puppy from one of this dogs' litters and he was also told up front about the possible issue. I found them to be very honest and transparent, knowledgeable about their dogs and what they produce, with a manageable number of dogs that they themselves train and title. I'm not just tooting the horn because I have one, I had a good impression of them before I committed to the dog and my opinion didn't change one way or the other. I also feel like I can be honest with them about my dog. If I mention a possible problem they are interested and try to help, not ignore me or try to cover it up. They are what they are and people can take it or leave it. Even something as silly as posting the YouTube videos, they will share a whole training session or whole trial routine even if it's not a high scoring routine. What you see is what you get with them and I appreciate that honesty. As with all breeders they have some dogs I love and some I'm not as interested in but when the time comes for another working line dog you bet I would check them out again.

I had contacted Bill and Jen about getting a dog before I even got Nikon (he's 3.5 years now). I was interested in a few of their breedings, but at that time there was no SchH club within 3 hours of my house and my DH and I were on a much more limited budget without a reliable vehicle. I decided to scrap the SchH idea at that point and instead got Nikon (from a breeder I know who had previously given me an adult dog), a show line dog I intended to have as my companion and dabble in just about everything I could. We have done that (the dabbling) but shortly after I got him I was involved in starting a new SchH club which has gone through many changes over the years and last year helped start an SDA club so I ended up doing SchH after all. When I was ready to add a new working line dog, I went back to Bill and Jen when they had a litter I was interested in.

[ladyfreckles]

Originally Posted by Liesje

If you're interested in Geistwasser dogs, definitely contact Jen. She's very nice and personable. When I contacted them she added me on her Facebook and then matched me up with a bunch of other people with their dogs, so I could follow their progress. As far as I can tell Jen enjoys keeping track of their dogs, she always comments on my posts about Pan. I think Jen does most of the online communications but if you can talk to Bill he's easy to talk to (I think) and very honest and straight forward.

When we visited they let us see each of the dogs and play with all the sociable dogs and all the puppies that were left (Pan was left with two others, all spoken for just picked up at various times). What I found interesting was that someone had told me something that could be considered negative about one of the dogs, and when we were there looking at that particular dog Bill offered the same exact information on his own without being asked or trying to hide it. I know someone who had contacted them about a puppy from one of this dogs' litters and he was also told up front about the possible issue. I found them to be very honest and transparent, knowledgeable about their dogs and what they produce, with a manageable number of dogs that they themselves train and title. I'm not just tooting the horn because I have one, I had a good impression of them before I committed to the dog and my opinion didn't change one way or the other. I also feel like I can be honest with them about my dog. If I mention a possible problem they are interested and try to help, not ignore me or try to cover it up. They are what they are and people can take it or leave it. Even something as silly as posting the YouTube videos, they will share a whole training session or whole trial routine even if it's not a high scoring routine. What you see is what you get with them and I appreciate that honesty. As with all breeders they have some dogs I love and some I'm not as interested in but when the time comes for another working line dog you bet I would check them out again.

I had contacted Bill and Jen about getting a dog before I even got Nikon (he's 3.5 years now). I was interested in a few of their breedings, but at that time there was no SchH club within 3 hours of my house and my DH and I were on a much more limited budget without a reliable vehicle. I decided to scrap the SchH idea at that point and instead got Nikon (from a breeder I know who had previously given me an adult dog), a show line dog I intended to have as my companion and dabble in just about everything I could. We have done that (the dabbling) but shortly after I got him I was involved in starting a new SchH club which has gone through many changes over the years and last year helped start an SDA club so I ended up doing SchH after all. When I was ready to add a new working line dog, I went back to Bill and Jen when they had a litter I was interested in.

Oh! So he is from Geistwasser. I've had my eyes on Boy ever since last year. That dog has some serious talent and I'm hoping that when the time comes he's either still siring or one of his relatives is. I'll make sure to contact Jen after I join a Schutzhund club. I don't want to jump the gun too much and find out all Schutzhund around here is awful. I'm actually temped to get people together and start my own team that's actually local because the two nearest ones are both an hour away from the actual city. First, though, I have to meet with all three clubs.

Pan is so gorgeous! This makes me even more sure I want a Geistwasser dog, haha. It's the temperament that counts but some good looks couldn't hurt .