We are life time German Shepherd owners and breeders, associating our kennel with a kennel that has superior knowldge in training and breeding. We are of like minds. What is unique about our association , is our knowledge, passion, training experience and equal accesability. Our associate partner is not just a name and money backer. Our associate is an actual participant in all phases: training, breeding, and educating. Our partner actually has extensive experience training dogs. We meet several times per week, to train, work with, socialize and discuss our dogs, and the future of our breeding and training program.
I am an Orthodontic Technician and my fiance is in law enforcement. This breeding program has culminated out of our love for the breed. This is not our source of income as we both hold jobs outside of our home. We keep a limited number of dogs in our kennel and breed only a couple of litters per year. We provide all veterinary care for all of our dogs. I have grown up my whole life with always at least two German Shepherds in our home. I have pictures that I will be adding to our site in the near future from my grandmother's estate and our family album that documents at least 50 years of the German Shepherd dog in our family home. When I was growing up at a very early age, it became my responsibility to feed water, exercise and train our family dogs. I thoroughly enjoyed this and still do. I did not realize the innate talent that I had interacting with our family German Shepherds. To me it was just pure fun. After moving to Alaska, we began training a-new. We were at a huge disadvantage because there wasn't a Schutzhund club where we lived and the nearest was almost four hours away. So, we trained at our local AKC club and for Schutzhund from books and videos. My fiance has been a K9 handler for a several years and helper in the club we joined. He has been trial helper multiple times now over the past few years. We are lovers of the German Shepherd dog and it is our goal to promote the breed as it was originally intended. We are small hobby breeders/trainers and because of this we have more time to focus on quality not quantity. We research our lines before we put two dogs together. We study temperaments and structure before we breed. We could quote you Max von Stephanitz all day, but that would tell you nothing about ourselves. We do follow his school of thought by breeding for the whole dog in mind, body, structure, and nerve. You can look at a pedigree but it will not tell you how the mother is really like. We do not sell our dogs on pedigree alone, however pedigree is important, but as important is the soundness of the sire and dam themselves. Our kennel name is derived from my partner and fiance's last name "Brinke" which IS German, so we felt it appropriate to call this Von Brinke Haus (house) meaning from our house. I would say that we have been breeding for a relatively short time, only being a few years but this has cultivated out of a life time with the breed and knowing what I want, like, and don't want in temperament, body, and structure. I do not consider myself an expert as I am always striving to learn, and there is always more to learn.
I think that breeding practices here in America have done a lot of damage to the temperament of many breeds of dogs, German Shepherds included. We have made our mistakes in purchasing from the b/y breeder and ended up with a spook-bag dog not fit to be allowed around the public. Don't allow yourself to be fooled by the "AKC" registered dog. This can mean very little. AKC is a registry, but AKC does not control the quality breeding, but it appears that AKC is making a concerted effort to improve the quality of breeding by changing requirements of registration. We whole heartedly welcome this change with open arms. We open our doors to serious customers and we screen prospective buyers for their knowledge of the breed, intent and expectations of the puppy and environment the puppy will be placed in. We have turned away many prospective purchasers, based on their lack of knowledge, unreasonable expectations of a puppy without training, and or home environment the puppy would be placed in. That is why our deposit is NON-REFUNDABLE!! Now if you acquire your puppy from a hobby breeder or reputable kennel, this is different. Be prepared to be asked numerous questions about your lifestyle, knowledge of the breed and intentions. The sign of a quality breeder is one who's foremost thought is the type of home they will be placing their puppy in, and also if your knowledge meets the requirements of the pups temperament. This is important in insuring that the pup is going into a forever home. A good breeder will not sell you a high drive working-lines pup if your knowledge does not equip you to handle such a pup. There is a difference between pet quality and working home only pup. Pet quality usually means that the pup is a nice pup but his drives are not quite good enough to be a working dog. There is nothing wrong with pet quality and this does not mean that he will not bark at the door and warn strangers away. This just means that for the sport of Schutzhund or law enforcement, his drives were not adequate. A working pup is very mouthy at your hands, legs, and feet. This we want but a pet home may not be prepared to deal with this type of pup. Just do your research before you buy. The German Shepherd dog is an active breed and should go into an active home. Pick yourself up a couple of books and know your breed before you buy.
German Shepherds were originally bred to be working dogs. Their temperament should be well balanced. It is important to know about the breed/breeders before you purchase one. If you have the opportunity to view the sire and dam, it is a good idea to do so, especially the dam. The pups spend more time with their dam, so if she has skittish tenancies or ill temperament, she is sure to pass that off to her litter. The German Shepherd Dog is an active dog and requires an active family that has the time to dedicate to the training and socialization of their German Shepherd
When I am asked where to find a good dog, I always recommend the purchaser do their research before buying. Sometimes a bargain is not always a bargain. Thousands of dogs are destroyed each year because of backyard breeders and the novice buyer who does not thoroughly learn the breed before buying.
We train in the sport of Schutzhund. Schutzhund is a triathlon of events, and consists of obedience, tracking and protection. Puppies can begin training as soon as they have been fully vaccinated, or you can begin imprinting at home in the safety of your own yard. Training with puppies usually consists of imprinting the pup on what we would like to bring out in the pups drives. We play tug with the pup to encourage its prey drive. We start retrieve play with the pup, and the pups can begin obedience imprinting with food reward, without compulsion (reinforcement). At this stage the pup's training is purely positive with no corrections, and with motivational play. The idea is just to instill the behaviors we want. No corrections are wanted or warranted at this young age because the pup is still learning. You do not want to correct what the puppy has not fully grasped or learned. This would be a huge mistake, and these types of mistakes are hard to over come. The reason is this is a bonding age. The pup is learning to trust you. If you break that trust it is much harder to win it back. Granted there are lines that are more forgiving than others but we are talking about puppies not grown dogs.
Tracking can start right away as well. We begin our pups with a straight track. We stamp out our one foot square scent pad and bait the pad with hot dogs, we then stamp out our tracks placing a tidbit if bait in the toe of each foot print. At the end, we either heavy bait the end of the track or place a toy. When the pup has reached the end we then play and praise. We praise during the track as well to encourage the pup. We re-enforce the such (soook) command, which is German for track. It is great fun for the pup and most pups take to it right away.
Schutzhund was started in Germany as a way to control the quality of German Shepherds being bred. If a male or female German Shepherd is unable to accomplish a Schutzhund title ,and receive its "a" stamp for good hips, then that dog is not permitted for breeding. This helps ensure a well balanced dog is being bred, and weeds out mental instability which can be created by careless breeding practices.
The sport of Schutzhund has taken off in popularity because of its versatility. Many law enforcement officers participate in the sport of Schutzhund, however it takes much more training in protection and other areas to prepare a dog for patrol work, and in most cases dogs that are doing Schutzhund these days would not cut the mustard as a patrol K9.
There is a lot of literature available on the sport of Schutzhund. If you think this is something that you would be interested in, then it would be a good thing to look and see if there is a Schutzhund club in your area. You would have to find out what their local policies are on visitors. Most clubs have stipulations about bringing strange dogs into the training area. They like to make sure that any new dog to the club has been temperament tested and has proof of current vaccinations.
We have a small humble hobby heated in-door - out-door kennel with running water. Living in Alaska we thought first of our dogs health and comfort and even before we moved into our home, we hired a contractor to build the additional attached home for our dogs. They are our companion/home protectors first. Our dogs do not live in squaller and we always welcome prospective puppy purchasers into our home for a visit and to meet the family.
We feed our dogs National !!!
We are current members of Schutzhund USA, and kennel of good standing with AKC.
