Just Decided to Become A Breeder.

[Louise Lai]

Originally Posted by lhczth

Louise, the most learning is done through doing though I also did a tremendous amount of reading. The more you do, the more dogs you work, the greater your understanding will be of the breed. Keep an open mind. We all can become a bit blind at times. That is human nature. I think it is harder now because many of those that really knew and understood this breed have died or are not as available.

Good luck.

Reading is good. I love reading, and I welcome any reading material on the subject.

Also, I will find that book. Sounds like a good read.

Also, I don't plan on my dog being used for breeding. He's my first one, and I plan to make all my mistakes on him.

[Louise Lai]

Originally Posted by Freestep

Start at the beginning. Find a copy of The German Shepherd Dog in Word and Picture, by Max von Stephanitz. He founded the breed back in the late 1800's and I believe the book was written around 1920. You can usually find a used copy on Amazon for a decent price.

I found this in ebook format for $9.00. Not bad at all.

[Lilie]

Louis Lai - There are some really good breeders out there. Some not so good. And some that are doing nothing but destroying the breed.

I'd love for you to jump in and get your feet wet. Study. Study. Study. Work. Work. Work. Become one of the really good breeders. The GSD breed really needs them!

[WVGSD]

Louise:

Another suggestion is to join the German Shepherd Dog Club of America. While it does have a lot of photos and show results from AKC conformation shows, it also shows the results of the herding trials, obedience trials and other events in which GSDs compete. I joined when I got my first GSD puppy this year and find that reading the Review each month helps with my breed education.

[katieliz]

hi louise, i have thought about you and your question for a few days now, and have decided that i'm probably biased in favor of not breeding because i'm involved in rescue, and that really isn't fair. i also thought about how the breed does need to continue and how in order to do that there must be breeders. here is my new thought on the subject and it's pretty simple...if you have rock solid, i mean inherently rock solid (even at your young age), character, and a well developed and implemented sense of ethics...then i say learn all you can and go for it. you just GOTTA have character and ethics built in. all the rest you can learn, but don't underestimate the time it will take. really good breeders devote a lifetime. wishing you good luck and kinda regretting my first knee-jerk response. take care.