Just Decided to Become A Breeder.

[Louise Lai]

Thank you, Jack's Dad. I'll find it.

[GSDElsa]

Good luck in your quest! You are in the right from of mind planning on learning from this dog and absorbing as much information as possible and then seeing where this crazy GSD life takes you. Sounds like a great 10 year plan if you can keep on track and find some great local people to help guide you!

[Louise Lai]

Well, I think the breeder I got my puppy from might be willing to help guide me a little. She's in my club.

And thank you for your positive wishes. I'm a biology major, so I understand genetics and all, I just need to get more familiar with the specifics of dog/GSD breeding and such.

[Liesje]

Originally Posted by Jack's Dad

I think the thread Lies posted is pretty much useless. Sorry Lies.

No worries, I didn't actually read most of it, it just looked like the same questions.

[katieliz]

(imho)unfortunately too many people are breeding german shepherd dogs already. maybe in 10 years something will have worked out, but in general the breed is full of health and temperment issues, and kill shelters and rescues are overflowing with shepherds needing help. there are definitely ethical breeders out there that you could learn from, but the sad reality is that there is an endless supply of shepherds needing homes out there, and more than enough people breeding already.

no breeder bashing here, just a hard look at the reality of the situation. and, as i began with, jmho...just remember please, that you are responsible for every single one of those little lives you arrange to create. thanks for giving it careful consideration.

[x11]

apologies for being disparaging. just seen the hurt and its hard to forget. does not mean you will be anything but an awesome ethical breeder as i hope you will be.

go slow and good luck.

[Louise Lai]

I know there are a lot of puppies being bred, but it seems to me that there is always a high demand for well-bred puppies. I want to get involved in rescue, too. But I really don't want the only GSDs available, the only GSD that everyone sees and knows, to be the results of a backyard breeder or puppymill out to make a quick buck.

And apology accepted, x11. I understand. I'm just trying very hard to do this the best way possible.

[katieliz]

louise, do you know which lines (german show, german working, american show, czech/ddr) you're interested in, apologies if i didn't see it...i am the first in four generations of my family to not breed, takes a long, long time to know your stuff, it can be difficult and heartbreaking and it can cost you lots and lots and LOTS of money. if you do it right, it must be your life's work. imho.

[Louise Lai]

Originally Posted by katieliz

louise, do you know which lines (german show, german working, american show, czech/ddr) you're interested in, apologies if i didn't see it...i am the first in four generations of my family to not breed, takes a long, long time to know your stuff, it can be difficult and heartbreaking and it can cost you lots and lots and LOTS of money. if you do it right, it must be your life's work. imho.

Well, mine is German Show, but I'm really interested in Czech lines. And most things worth doing take a lot of time and effort. I understand there's a lot to learn, and I'm trying to get started so I don't get too over my head in the future.

[ohdev]

A good, and interesting, place to start right now would be learning all you can about the genetics of our breed, and how to read a pedigree. There's tons of threads on how the structure of a pedigree can make or break the dogs you produce, and how even the placing of an individual dog on one can shape the progeny. The people here are very knowledgeable and can teach you a lot, I suggest reading a lot of old threads and searching for certain terms as well and soaking up everything you can, that's what I've been doing!

Oh, and get familiar with the breed standard from the SV as well I'd say. It'll help when reading critiques of dogs, there's a great illustrated one by Linda Shaw.

THE ILLUSTRATED STANDARD OF THE GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG

I think your age is an asset really, I myself am 21 and I think it gives us both much more of a chance to really experience and learn as much as we can about these dogs, and to reach out to those older and more experienced to make sure we learn and do the right way. My favorite people to learn from on here include Cliffson, Chris Wild, Christine from Blackthorn, Carmen (Carmspack), and Lisa Clark (lhczth), just to name a very few! I also follow the Alta-Tolhaus group blog on Blogger, it's amazing to see the variety one breeder can produce, and really shows you how versatile a well thought out, and carefully bred GSD can be.

Get as much exposure to as many dogs as you can, look at their training if you can, examine their pedigrees if you like something about them, look at their father and mother, and their progeny if there are any. Ask lots of questions too! I think the most important part is to get out there and work with as many dogs as you can, but you'd already on that track since you've joined a club.

Good luck!