The purpose of this website is best described in my mission statement:
To improve the genetics of the working German Shepherd Dog in the United States by importing, training and breeding German Shepherd Dogs worthy of Max von Stephanitz's vision. "The breeding of shepherd dogs is the breeding of working dogs; and this must always be the aim, or we shall cease to produce shepherd dogs."1 and the German Shepherd Dogs chosen must show"...joy in work, devotion to duty, and to master, mistrust and sharpness against strange and irregular things, docility and obedience, teachableness and quickness to understand, and in addition, immunity to weather, uncommonly acute senses with gifts for retrieving and seeking, assisted by his special gait (going to and fro), by which he leaves nothing unnoticed and unsought wherever he may be. From such natural talents, to which must be added precociousness, physical and mental, everything can be developed"2
On Importing::the dogs and bitches chosen to be imported must show a proclevity of producing progeny that follow the phenotype of the true working German Shepherd Dog.
On Training:: the purpose in training is to show the trainability of prospective stud dogs and brood bitches to be used to improve the genetics of the German Shepherd Dog. This is done through the tool of titling the dogs and brood bitches.
On Breeding::the purpose of breeding is to produce progeny that will continue to improve on the genetics of the working German Shepherd Dog in the United States. With this purpose in mind it is desired that natural rearing techniques and raising of the German Shepherd Dog in close cooperation with the breeder produces a dog suitable to any work desired in the service dog: ie: Law Enforcement, SAR, Military Dog, Seeing Eye Dog , Personal Protection, Schutzhund, or family companion. To this end Prairie Shepherds has joined with Sapphire Shepherds to bring the best of breeding to the German Shepherd Dog in the United States.
I will be adding to these pages as time permits to bring more information to this site. So please check back often.
We are pleased you have chosen to view our web site and learn more about the qualities and histories of the Czech Border Patrol German Shepherd dogs and DDR German Shepherd dogs. We hope you enjoy visiting our pages and appreciate these dogs as much as we do. I would like to thank MVDr. Zybnek Divis formerly of the Czech Border Patrol and now with his kennel Aritar Bastet, the DDR Legends website, and Ramona Helmer of Sapphire Shepherds for graciously allowing me to use information from their web sites. A thank you to Malcom B. Willis who has allowed me to quote from his genetic masterpiece The German Shepherd Dog –A Genetic History of the Breed and last but not least a special thanks to Yvonne Hecht for background research and who has spent countless hours trying to help me understand pedigree research. You can reach their sites from our links page.
Reference for quotes above of Max von Stephanitz
v.Stephanitz, The German Shepherd Dog in Word and Picture,Second American Edition, 1994, Hoflind Publishing Ltd., quote 1 page 380, quote 2 pages 337-338.
