Wildhaus Kennels
Working German Shepherd Dogs
Michigan, USA
My name is Chris Wild and, like many, I grew up with German Shepherd Dogs. Thanks to my parents, a lifelong love of German Shepherds was instilled in me early on and, for me, there has never been any other breed. Now, together with my husband and fellow GSD lover,
Tim, I have a small breeding program in rural southern Michigan. Here we enjoy raising and training our dogs for participation in various dog sports and working dog activities, developing and maintaining an exceptional breeding program of working bloodline German Shepherds, and above all sharing most every aspect of our lives with these
wonderful dogs.
We have been actively training and titling our dogs for many years, and while schutzhund/IPO is our primary pursuit, we also participate in UKC Dogsport, Service Dogs of America, Rally, Obedience and Tracking. We value these activities as sports and breed tests for working GSDs, but most importantly as enjoyable and challenging hobbies to share with our dogs. We have trained and titled several dogs in several venues, and also have experience in the training of police K9
tracking, patrol work and drug detection through assisting several law
enforcement officers with the training of their canine partners, and raising and
imprinting young dogs to be placed into service with the Michigan State Police.
Our true love of the German Shepherd Dog stems from living and working with
them, and the bond that this builds between dog and handler. Our dogs are far
more to us than just breeding stock or dog sport partners, and we enjoy them
first and foremost as members of our family. All of our dogs live in the house
with us and enjoy life as our constant companions.
We consider ourselves to be "hobby" breeders as unlike many large commercial kennels we do not make a living off dogs. Our breeding program focuses on
quality not quantity and we only have a couple of litters a year. We put a great deal of time and effort into planning our
breedings, often spending months researching dogs and pedigrees. All of our
breeding dogs are titled and health screened, thus proving themselves of good
health and structure, sound temperament and nerve, and strong working ability before they begin their breeding
careers. Breeding partners are selected very carefully based on the positive impact they will
have on our own bloodline and on the German Shepherd Dog breed as a whole.
Comprehensive testing of our breeding stock and diligent research and planning, combined with our small in-home kennel
environment that allows us to provide all of our puppies with a great deal of
personal attention, socialization and early imprinting, ensures that our pups
have the best possible start in life.
At the same time, this does not mean that a German Shepherd is an appropriate dog for everyone. When asked if they make good pets, the answer is always "Yes, but...". While they are reliable, devoted and enjoyable companions, German Shepherds, and the working lines in particular, need owners that are experienced with dogs, lead active lifestyles, and enjoy involving their dogs in all aspects of their lives. These dogs are highly intelligent and have a strong, inborn desire to work with their owners and utilize their natural drives. While this makes them highly trainable, it also means that they are not couch potatoes. In addition to regular physical exercise, these dogs also need clear, fair, consistent leadership, mental stimulation through training, and quality one-on-one time interacting with their people in order to be happy, well adjusted and well mannered companions. If you want a laid-back, low maintenance house pet, a German Shepherd is not for you. If you want a dog that will work tirelessly for you, be your constant and faithful companion, defend you and your family with its life, let your children crawl all over him AND you have the desire and ability to properly raise, socialize and train your dog and ensure that his needs for mental and physical exercise are met, you have come to the right place.
We breed only top quality German Shepherd Dogs from European working bloodlines.
You will not find any American or European show line dogs here. Our goal as
breeders is to preserve the fundamental characteristics of the German Shepherd
Dog, and promote the traits that make this breed great. We do this by only
breeding dogs with proven working ability, superb nerve and temperament,
excellent health and sound physical structure. The German Shepherd Dog is a
breed that can do anything, and we strive for this in our breedings.
Much of our involvement in schutzhund/IPO and other dog sport venues stems not just from the enjoyment we get from participating in these activities, but because they
also serve as superb tools for
evaluating breeding stock. Schutzhund was originally designed as a breed worthiness test for the German Shepherd Dog, with the express purpose of weeding out
those dogs that did not exhibit proper nerve, character and working
ability and removing them from the gene pool. It is still used as such in Germany,
where puppies cannot be registered unless both parents are titled in schutzhund
or herding. This requirement that the dog first prove itself a good
representative of the GSD prior to breeding, as well as pass strict tests of health and structural evaluation, is a major factor in why the
dogs of European bloodlines are generally considered to be of better quality than those of
American stock, as the American breed registries like AKC have no requirements for breeding beyond both parents being purebreds; no health or temperament testing is required.
Today, while not a perfect evaluation, schutzhund (now called IPO) remains one of the most stringent and comprehensive methods for ensuring that the German Shepherd Dog breed remains
true to its working heritage. The schutzhund requirements for a dog to be
proficient in tracking, obedience and protection work in order to earn a
schutzhund title also ensure that the breed remains the all around "Jack of all
trades" working dog that it was intended to be. This training provides important
knowledge as to the dog's temperament and abilities, and helps separate dogs who
possess the proper characteristics to be an asset to the breed from those who
should not be bred.
Because we believe that the more varied and comprehensive the training and titling a dog undergoes the better, in addition to SchH we also train and title our dogs in a variety of other venues including SDA and UKC Dogsport tracking, obedience and protection and AKC and UKC obedience and rally. We also put them through nationally recognized temperament testing with the American Temperament Test Society and AKC's Canine Good Citizen Program. Taking our dogs to widely different environments to have them objectively evaluated under vastly different standards and programs by judges with varied backgrounds, provides not only more activities to enjoy with our dogs but also significantly more knowledge about each dog's core temperament to assist us with breeding decisions. With this in mind, we require that all of our breeding dogs
are titled in multiple venues, as well as hip/elbow certified and health screened, before beginning their breeding careers.
From a breeding standpoint, while titles are fundamental measures of breed worthiness and provide an official record of achievement and objective evaluation, that is only a part of their merit. Even more
important from a breeder's perspective is what is learned about the dog along the way. It is the time spent together working and training toward that title that is the most valuable when it comes to evaluating temperament and working ability, and in this sense the journey to a title is even more important than the title itself. With this in mind, we choose to raise, train and title our dogs ourselves, rather than purchase already trained or titled dogs, or send our dogs off to have breeding titles put on them by professional trainers. All of our current breeding dogs are second or third generation products of our breeding program and Handler Owned and Trained (HOT).
This can be a slow road at
times as each and every title obtained represents a large commitment of time,
energy and money. But it is well worth it. A thorough training program that pushes the dog's limits is the
surest way to bring to light all that lies in the depths of a dog's personality,
and schutzhund is without a doubt one of the most comprehensive and stringent
training programs out there. Through the training process, we become intimately
familiar with each dog's strengths and weaknesses and gain a thorough knowledge
of his or her individual traits and working ability, which in turn helps us make
good breeding decisions. Thus we are able to ensure that pups from our kennel
will be true to their working heritage, and able to carry on the
legacy that has made the German Shepherd Dog the most popular and versatile
breed in the world.
Dogs from our breedings are excelling in schutzhund/IPO, agility, competitive obedience, herding, law
enforcement, tracking/trailing, search and rescue, farm work and personal protection, while at the same time
serving their families as trustworthy, loving and devoted companions. There is no
better dog in the world than a good German Shepherd Dog, and that's what you
will find at Wildhaus Kennels.
