French's German Shepherds breed and whelp each litter with a unique, peculiar and particular mindset. We treat each litter as if each litter was the only litter we will ever have, or as if each litter is the last litter we will ever breed... With that thought process in thinking, we breed, whelp and treat each puppy in a litter with special conscientious care! There are already enough breeders who consider their dogs little more than manufactured commodities. Read Should You Breed Your Dog... When remembering a "A Dog Is Man's Best Friend," we understand our dogs are living beings worthy of our respect, care and concern. We promote the reputation of the German Shepherd Dog as the "most versatile" of all working dog breeds to the general public.
French's German Shepherds is a small hobby breeder. We also consider ourselves "Preservation Breeders." Preservation Breeders breed purebred dogs according to a breed standard for health, temperament, performance and conformation with proven pedigrees, using experience and genetics as a guide. We do partner with higher quality Commercial Breeders and other Reputable Hobby Breeders.
We are
based in South Central Iowa with a breeding program for sound,
appealing, healthy German Shepherd dogs for Show, Performance, Service,
and Working Abilities. It is an honor and privilege of
partnering with other highly respected kennels, owners and
breeders of high quality Show, Performance and
Working German Shepherd Dogs
throughout the United States. Our goal is to breed
intelligent, obedient, confident dogs with good health and great temperaments, capable of
high level Performance and Conformation. Read the
AKC’s Guide to Responsible Dog Breeding...
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We are members of the
German Shepherd Dog Club of America and as ethical breeders have signed the Club's Code of Ethics. We breed according to the
German Shepherd Dog Club of America Breed Standard.
Most all our dogs or their parents have competed in German
Shepherd Dog Club of America (GSDCA), National and
International sanctioned
German Shepherd S.V. events, as well
as American Kennel Club
(AKC), United Kennel Club (UKC),
and International
All Breed Canine Association (IABCA) sanctioned Shows and
Performance Venues.
A Total Dog displays many abilities in function, temperament, and structure. Our Total Dog philosophy places an emphasis on dogs that can show and perform in multiple venues utilizing multiple disciplines, such as displaying the gait appropriate for their breed type while in the show ring, and then using that superb construction to effortlessly to compete in performance activities. A sound, well-bred, well-adjusted dog can easily transition from the conformation show ring to a performance event. Venues as agility, herding, rally, obedience, scent detection and tracking, IGP (IPO/Schutzhund), lure coursing and weight pull are typical performance events. A Total Dog has the looks to excel as a proper specimen of its breed, while also having the brains and ability to perform athletically in a variety of sporting venues.
Why Choose Breeders
Who Show and Title Their Dogs?
HEALTH: Certifying that your breeding stock is health tested in accordance with the recommendations of their breed’s
American Kennel Club (AKC) Breed Parent Club.
EDUCATION: Promising that you will pursue AKC-provided or AKC-approved continuing breeder education so that you stay educated on the best breeding practices, including advances in canine health.
ACCOUNTABILITY: Agreeing to comply with the AKC Care and Conditions Policy, including inspections by the AKC, and promising to share health testing and continuing education documentation with AKC.
RESPONSIBILITY: Accepting responsibility for the health and well-being of the puppies you produce and for complying with all laws regarding the ownership and maintenance of dogs.
TRADITION: Upholding the AKC’s tradition of breeding purebred dogs that are happy and healthy.
View French's German Shepherd H.E.A.R.T. Certification.
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Perhaps one of the best benefits about getting a dog either from us or through us, is our private dog owner community of the French's German Shepherd family. We welcome our new dog owners and introduce them to each other online, including owners of our different lines. Those who own our dogs connect, befriend, share, communicate, and support each other even though they live all over the country. As a community of breeders, we are always just a text message, phone call, or an email away to answer questions.
We take responsibility for the dogs we breed and provide support for our owners because we love the German Shepherd breed and what we do. As members of the German Shepherd Dog Club of America, we have access to some of the most knowledgeable people in the world for German Shepherd Dog. If we do not have answers to questions, we can contact someone who does! Because of our scrupulous breeding practices, our dogs are great around children.
Before our planned breedings, we often require both parents to be titled, proven in competition and not have major faults. Both parents then must pass Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) Health Checks, and be temperamentally sound before they can even be considered breedworthy. We continually try to improve our lines and better the Breed. We also conduct a Brucellosis Test before breeding whether natural or Artificial Insemination (A.I.). We do NOT consider either parent "breedworthy" simply because purebred dogs are sexually fertile and can either sire or whelp a litter of puppies.
We do not use a breeding dog just because we personally and subjectively like its type, think it is attractive or because we love it. Rather, we objectively include such factors as health, titles in proven competition and if we can improve the breed and our lines. We as Hobby Breeders are not a large commercial kennel and prefer not to place our dogs in kennels. German Shepherd Dogs are herding dogs that need exercise and bond to their owners. We much rather prefer the dogs we place live with their owners as members of their families. Read more about how to distinguish different types of breeders.
French's German Shepherds voluntarily practice a form of the "German Model" of breeding. In Germany, breeders must adhere to rules, involving a Show Rating, a Schutzhund Title, an Endurance Test, and an acceptable Hip Rating on each dog being bred. The German SV has strict, mandatory Breeder and Breeding Standards to protect the integrity of the German Shepherd Dog. Each litter must be inspected and visited by a Breed Warden.
In Germany litter registration is not even permitted unless the parents have met the SV criteria. This promotes consistent quality of the dogs being bred, and allows potential buyers to review generations of hip ratings, conformation, and working titles. Today in the American Kennel Club (AKC), United Kennel Club (UKC) and other registries, these requirements are optional and voluntary. This is one reason why in the United States, there are so many cheap, inferior, poorly-bred purebred dogs with health and/or with temperament issues.
An American registered purebred dog is no guarantee of the quality of Health, Temperament, or whether it conforms to the Breed Standard. It is interesting to find most people interested in acquiring a German Shepherd Dog usually do so because of the reputation of well-bred, titled dogs. Unfortunately, there are many people who do not like the German Shepherd Dog. This is often because of the bad reputation of the cheap, inferior, poorly-bred purebred dogs with bad health and/or bad temperaments. It should be noted that decent German Shepherds that are not raised in a conducive environment or properly socialized or trained can cause unpredictable behavior.
We believe in the practice and philosophy of "Complementary Breeding." This type of breeding is when one parent has weaknesses in one or more areas, and another parent has strengths in the same areas the other parent has weaknesses. A Complementary Breeding will add to and further establish existing traits and type. In addition, complementary breeding can balance, compensate or breed out weaknesses in the progeny offspring. This is how lines are improved and genetic health issues are bred out of lines.
In our breeding program, we practice a variable of the breeding practice known as "Grading Up" to develop our "Total Dog" lines. We are breeding our titled females to male sires of the highest quality we can afford and obtain. The best females in each generation are then kept and again bred to a top sire from an outstanding bloodline. This is one of the tried and true ways to improve the quality of dogs each generation. Many breeders have started with an average female from a good bloodline and have invested their money wisely in breeding to an outstanding champion stud sire to improve their lines.
We conduct Early Neurological Stimulation on our puppies between ages day 3 and day 16. Both experience and research have dominated the beneficial effects that can be achieved via early neurological stimulation, socialization and enrichment experiences. Our dogs are "home raised with love" socialized at an early age and well cared for in a clean, healthy, physically and mentally stimulating environment.
We screen and zealously vet potential owners because German Shepherd Dogs are not for everyone. We use the Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test at 7 weeks and share individual puppy aptitude scores with potential owners. We pride ourselves on assisting potential owners in making good matches. We microchip all dogs and try to keep of track every puppy we breed and sell. We require signed contracts with a written money-back health and temperament guarantee for purchasers of our dogs. We generally require obedience training as a condition of receiving a dog from us. Puppies usually are placed at about 10 weeks of age. We do not ever want to find any of our dogs in rescues or dog pounds and usually will take back our dogs should owners be unable to keep them. They must be returned to the seller that sold them.
Experience has shown us not to release puppies to owners without initial veterinarian good health checks and any disclosures, dewormings, immunizations and vaccinations. Puppies in our litters are appraised by other professional dog breeders to assist in determining each puppy's purchase price and this is also shared with each potential owner. We provide AKC registration papers, medical histories, pedigrees, books, and a new owner packet for each puppy. We request owners take their puppies to their own veterinarian within a week of placement. Not every puppy is destined to be "Show Quality" and there are often "Pet Quality" puppies available at a discounted cost. The most common "Pet Quality" puppies we have are our coated puppies which is considered a fault in AKC Conformation. Coated German Shepherd Dogs have become very popular and may be removed as an AKC fault in the future.
A message that deserves continual repeating... The internet is full of individuals, web sites, and videos of self-proclaimed experts. We at French's German Shepherds do not claim to be experts, and instead rely on those who actually are the "real experts in their fields" master breeders and highly respected members of the AKC, The German Shepherd Dog Club of America, the USCA, German SV and other similar organizations. There you will find real experienced and knowledgeable people! At French's German Shepherds, we are involved in continuing education and the more we learn, the more we realize what we don't know!
As people of faith, we strive to conduct ourselves with honesty and
integrity. Our word is our bond. We have pleased and satisfied owners who
gladly provide references as to the quality of our dogs. We
don't need sales and marketing strategies as our dogs
sell themselves. Our customers and other breeders often
refer other buyers to us. Owners of our dogs are often
complimented when seen in public. There are few greater
joys as breeders than having happy dogs and proud, happy owners!
We donate German Shepherds to
veterans
struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other
persons with disabilities. We are able to provide this service through
the help of other likeminded ethical owners of stud dogs and
other quality breeders. In 2017 we started
providing Service Dogs for non-military related Persons with Disabilities by
donating 2 puppies we obtained from a high quality Fasano
Winsome litter! Potential buyers know that purchasing our
puppies are helping with our expenses in donating quality
dogs to our disabled American Veterans.
Who would you rely on for canine detection and protection knowledge - sports and club participants in controlled environments never even having bred or trained a "National Champion," let alone a "World Ranked" dog? Or those with Nationally and World ranked and titled dogs and well-bred and trained dogs owned by Special Forces Operators, Veterans, Navy SEALs and Special Forces Canine Handlers and Law Enforcement with proven "real world actual life and death experiences" in war zones and uncontrolled environments?
French's German Shepherds proudly donates dogs and provides support for the non-profit
Seal Dog Foundation.
Fun Facts: In humans, each cell normally contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, for a total of 46. Twenty-two of these pairs, called autosomes, look the same in both males and females.
The 23rd pair, the sex chromosomes, differ between males and females. Dogs are known
to have a total of 78 chromosomes, and can be classified into 38 pairs with two sex chromosomes. In both
humans and dogs, females have two copies of the X chromosome, while males have one X and one Y chromosome.
French's Total German Shepherd Dogs
Information and Resources for the German Shepherd Dog
