Questions and Answers

Are all German Shepherds the same?

A lot of people assume if your dog is a DNA tested pure German Shepherd Dog, even maybe AKC registered German Shepherd, that its the same as any German Shepherd. Sadly, that is not the case. Many years of careful breeding and health testing makes a huge difference in the health, temperament and conformation of the dog. Over the many years we have worked with American and European dogs and found a huge difference in the dogs health, bloodlines, and consistency.  Our dogs are family members first and foremost, and are carefully selected European dogs from top performing and producing bloodlines. We strive for consistency, healthy, strong, well balanced dogs with great conformation and temperaments. Our dogs are A/OFA hips/elbows and fully Embark tested (embark tests over 230 health conditions including DM). Fun fact, two of our current 5 German Shepherd dogs scored OFA excellent ratings on their hips. On OFA's website you can find breed statistics, and only 4.7 percent of German Shepherds have scored excellent. 

Are German Shepherds smart?

German Shepherds are very smart and with proper training and socialization can be trained to do so many amazing things. 

How big are German Shepherds?

Most males mature to around 80-95 pounds and females 70-80 pounds, in good condition. 

Do German Shepherds need a lot of exercise?

German Shepherds do need daily exercise. If you have an open area available to you, they absolutely love going for walks in the country, playing ball, and romping around with their doggy friends.  We walk our dogs several times a day, off leash, out in the country and they have a great time romping around together, chewing on toys,  exploring and racing each other around the land while we walk with them. Its very important for their mental and physical health that they do get exercise daily. The breed was bred for herding sheep- ShepHERD, among many other things, and they do have a good amount of drive and desire to work. More or less depending on the bloodline or dog themselves.  That said, they also absolutely love coming inside afterwords and snuggiling on their favorite doggy bed, when they aren't busy following their owners around the house. - haha. 
However keep in mind, growing puppies do NOT need excessive amounts of exercise, its hard on their growing bones and joints, 20-30 minute short walks and playtimes are great, younger puppies require less of course. An 8 week old puppy is not going to be able to walk a mile, and its not great for their little bodies either. But some daily exercise is important for puppies mental and physical health too. As the puppies grow you'll find they'll be able to do more and more.

Do German Shepherds make good house dogs?

German Shepherds are very loyal and need to be with their people. They make wonderful house dogs(with proper exercise), and would love nothing more than to be by your side. Many of our families even take their dogs to work with them and they absolutely love it! They do not make good outside dogs, they want to be with their people.

Do German Shepherds shed?

Yes, they do shed and they can shed a lot. Some German Shepherd dogs more than others but they typically shed a bit all the time, and blow their coats twice a year and at that time shed out a lot of undercoat. We have found regular baths and drying with a grooming blower works best to get that undercoat out, which helps a lot with the shedding. Also feeding a healthy diet, like the raw diet, and regular brushing helps keep the loose hairs down.  If you have a longcoated German Shepherd, regular brushing is a must to keep the hair from matting.

What is the raw diet?

We have been feeding the raw diet for many years now and our dogs absolutely love it. There are many variations to how you can feed the raw diet, but basically we feed meat, bone and organ, all raw. There are so many health benefits to feeding the raw diet, but some of my favorites include- clean beautiful white teeth! They do not get plaque build up like kibble fed dogs do, and have beautiful white teeth and healthy gums. Their stools are small, and crumble to dust in a small amount of time. The dogs smell better. They don't pickup that same doggy odor kibble fed dogs do. The food doesn't expand in their stomachs like kibble does- so they feel better and have less chances of bloating.  And the dogs LOVE it! Our dogs cannot wait for each meal and snack time and we do not have to fuss with their meals to get them to eat it like on kibble. We have so much fun with their meals and really enjoy how much they love it! Happy dogs!

Whats the difference between a longcoat and a shortcoat?

Longcoated German Shepherds and shortcoated German Shepherds are not that much different.  The longcoats have a bit longer hair throughout, you'll notice their tails are fuller, they have longer hair behind their legs and around their ears, its not a huge difference and some shortcoated dogs can have such beautiful coats they look like a longcoat- except they are missing that longer hair around their ears.  Longcoats do not need to be trimmed, their hair only grows to a certain length and then stops. However longcoats do need to be brushed regularly, or they can matt on their underside, around their ears or elbows. 

Do German Shepherds require a lot of grooming?

Most German Shepherd dogs are good with a simple bath, blow out and occasional nail trim. We recommend using a good dog shampoo and a grooming blower to get the loose undercoat hairs out. Keep an eye on the nails, if the dog has proper feet conformation they likely use their nails and they naturally  stay short, especially the back paws. If the dog does have nails that grow longer then you do need to trim the nails. We start our puppies on nail trimming at a very young age, and they don't mind it at all.  I am happy to show you how to trim nails when you pickup your puppy.

Why do you have a waiting list?

We have been raising Shepherds for a very long time, and most of our dogs now days go to families who already have had a dog from us and want another, or know someone who has a dog from us and wants one like theirs. Our dogs are family members first and foremost, and in order to give everyone proper exercise and attention we only keep a small number of dogs. Our goal is not to produce puppies. We strive for consistency, healthy, strong, well balanced dogs with great conformation and temperaments. We want to give our puppies the best start possible, so we only breed our dogs when we have ample time to give to the puppies.  If you are interested in one of our puppies we suggest getting on our waiting list and we will keep you updated on future puppies. We do not ask for any money to get on our waiting list.  We do require a small deposit to hold a puppy once the puppies are born and final payment is due when you pickup your puppy in person.

How much do German Shepherd dogs cost?

If you have spent some time researching, you'll find that German Shepherds prices are all over the board.  Some can cost as much as 5 figures. There is so much work and time and cost involved in training, titling, health testing/clearing and working these dogs in Europe, not every dog makes the cut, not everyone gets the title/clearance,  it not easy.  Yes you can spent 5 figures on great Imported German Shepherd dog and if you can afford to, great! There are some amazing dogs out there.  I know that however prices many great families out of the market. We have imported some very expensive dogs over the years but our goal has never been to price great people out of the ability to own a great dog and the most important thing to me is making sure our dogs have great families who love them, not the price. That said, breeding great dogs is expensive, and though I would love to be able to give our dogs away for free, I obviously cannot afford to do that either, so we do our best to keep our dogs as affordable as possible, currently our pet puppies are priced at $1862.63 plus MN sales tax, which comes out to $2000.  Breeding/show prospects are $2500 including sales tax. Yes you will find most breeders puppy prices are double or even triple ours with dogs from the same bloodlines, with the same or similar guarantees.  That however is not the most expensive part of dog ownership. Food, vet bills etc, cost more. Its important to make sure you are financially stable and prepared for the unexpected before you bring home a new family member.  If your not quite there yet, theres nothing wrong with waiting for the right time.