Seven Generations of My Female Line
updated April 2026
I began with American lines from Von Nassau Kennels in Seattle. I became friends with Ann Mesdag and several times stayed at her house for a week, sometimes longer, learning how to be a breeder. I had my first litter in 1997 and continued to get dogs from her until she retired. In the 70’s a fad began in the American lines which emphasized more angulation in the rear end so as to produce a dramatic side gait. I didn’t like that and, as long as Ann was breeding, was able to get more working-type dogs of balanced conformation from her. By the time she retired in the mid-1980’s, the fad had totally taken over the American lines and I couldn’t find a breeder whose American-line dogs I liked, so I switched to European lines, first a mix of European show and working lines, and eventually totally to European working lines.
The Von Nassau lines had been very healthy, with good hips, and I was surprised by my first few European dogs when they came up with eye problems, heart problems, immune system problems, and hip and elbow problems. I increased the number of health screenings that I did before passing a dog for breeding. Eventually I found a pup who grew up to be a keeper: Glory.
First Generation:
Roche Jaune’s Triumph of Celhaus CD, TDInc (Glory)
9/14/94 – 9/9/02
OFA GOOD hips, OFA elbows, CERF (eyes), von Willebrand’s and hemophilia free (bleeding disorders)
Therapy Dog, registered with Therapy Dogs Incorporated
One of the females I had bought for breeding had a heritable eye condition and I returned her to her breeder, so when a veterinary ophthalmologist began traveling to our region to do eye exams, I began having all my dogs done. At that time eyes were monitored by CERF (Canine Eye Registration Foundation); now OFA does the certifying. The eye exam must be done annually.
Glory was the first one who passed all the tests and whom I could breed, and she produced so well that I have continued her line for six generations of females. Glory was a mix of German show and working lines and was absolutely beautiful. She was also a tease with an amazing sense of humor and would drive me crazy when I tried to get her serious enough to train and to compete for obedience or tracking titles. I always bred her to working-line males and she generously threw pups who were more serious about working than she was but she also gave them her correct structure AND sparkling personality. Her progeny were just plain fun and continue to be so to this day, including an occasional one who is a big tease like she was (though more easily trained). The latest tease to liven up my life is her great-great-great granddaughter (a Lively granddaughter/GloryToo daughter from the LL litter of 2016), Celhaus Love Every Living Thing (“Lovely”). I still miss Glory a lot but I enjoy the vivacity and enthusiastic enjoyment of life in her progeny.
With Glory’s first litter I adopted the German system of having an alphabet letter for each litter, beginning with the A litter of 1997, from whom I kept her daughter, Ashi. I had planned to breed Glory to an Andy Bildsaule son, but just before I left to take her to him, he injured his spine. His owner recommended I breed her to his son, Levi, which I did.
Second Generation:
Celhaus Ashi Armatai CD TD TDInc. (“Ashi”)
6/13/97 – 10/16/06
OFA GOOD hips, OFA elbows, CERF, von Willebrand’s and hemophilia free
Therapy Dog, registered with Therapy Dogs Incorporated
AKC titles: Companion Dog, Tracking Dog
Ashi produced some great pups. I kept her daughters Bunny (Celhaus Hallel) and Joyful (Celhaus Ode to Joy).
The AA litter was such a great litter that the next year I drove Glory all the way to Toronto to breed her to a German import there who was an Andy Bildsaule son. That only resulted in one pup, whom I kept. I didn’t use a litter letter for her but instead named her Jubilee because the Catholic world was in the middle of a jubilee year of prayer to prepare for the millennium.
Celhaus Jubilee CGC CD NA NAP TDInc. (“Jubilee“)
7/19/98 – 11/20/12
OFA GOOD hips, OFA elbows, OFA cardiac, OFA thyroid, von Willebrand’s/hemophilia free, CERF
Therapy Dog (TDInc.)
By the time Jubilee came along, OFA was offering health certifications for heart (cardiac) and thyroid. Thyroid must be done annually.
AKC titles: Canine Good Citizen, Companion Dog, Novice Agility, Novice Agility Preferred
Jubilee had her Companion Dog title and her AKC Novice Agility titles and only needed one more qualifying score to finish her Novice Jumpers title, but she developed spurs on her back (from being such an athletic, body-slamming, hard-playing dog all her life), so her jumping and competing days were over.
Jubilee was the most athletic GSD I’ve ever known–unless it was her daughter, Quinta or granddaughter, Lively. When she was just a pup she would jump into the back of a 3/4 ton pickup from which I was shoveling wood shavings, trudge to the top of the shavings pile, and get on top of the cab. She would climb, jump, drill through incredible obstacles to retrieve her toys (the favorite of which is the Frisbee). She loved obedience, tracking and agility. Her tracking was very intense and only needed proofing to be ready to try for her Tracking Dog title. When she hurt her back, I retired her. At 14 1/3, when I lost her, she was still healthy, though arthritis from bridging in her back slowed her down considerably.
Third Generation:
Celhaus Hallel (“Bunny“)
When I did Bunny’s x-rays at nearly two years of age, her right elbow showed asymptomatic elbow dysplasia (usually elbow dysplasia it shows up by 4 months, when the pup is suddenly lame). I spayed her but continued competing with her in agility until arthritis buildup in the elbow started bothering her.
Celhaus Ode to Joy (“Joyful“)
Ashi’s daughter, Joyful was sired by my Dutch import, Caz. Joyful was another great dog and produced fantastic pups, but the one I kept, two-year-old Berakah (Celhaus Berakah) came down with pannus, an autoimmune eye condition that is triggered by ultraviolet light and is thought to involve at least 30 genes. One of Berakah’s sisters, Annie (Celhaus Bonnie Ann) was such an outstanding search & rescue dog that her owner wanted to breed her and have me take all the pups except one she planned to keep. I didn’t want to lose the Ashi line and thought it was a great idea. When she was 3, we picked the stud and did all the health screenings and were ready to breed her on her next heat. Just before we bred her, she came down with pannus. Unfortunately, Caz had sired pups who came down with pannus from every female he was bred to, even though his eyes remained clear up to his death at 14. Even though Chaos, who was Joyful’s and Annie’s sire, sired pups with fantastic immune systems, evidently Caz had a high number of the recessive genes that cause pannus, and gave too many of them to these two girls. Thus, to my deep regret, I lost the Glory-Ashi-Joyful line totally. I was thankful that I still had the Glory-Jubilee line, which led to Quinta.
Celhaus Quintessence NJS, NR, NTO, NC, TDInc (“Quinta“)
9/14/04 – 12/27/12
OFA good hips, OFA elbows, OFA cardiac, OFA thyroid, von Willebrand’s/hemophilia free, CERF, DM Affected, Therapy Dog (TDInc.)
When a reliable gene test became available for spinal myelopathy (a condition where the spinal nerves are gradually constricted so that the dog loses feeling in its hind legs), I had all my dogs tested. This is a condition which is inherited as a simple recessive trait and comes from a mutation in a famous German stud dog. Dogs can either have two normal genes (clear), one normal and one mutated gene (carrier) or two mutated genes (affected). Having both of the mutated genes puts the dog at high risk to develop the condition, though not all “affected” dogs get it. Dogs which have only one mutated gene won’t get it. Since it’s a simple recessive, one can safely breed carrier or affected dogs as long as they’re bred to a dog that is clear. All of the Ashi line – Ashi herself, Bunny, Joyful and Berakah – tested clear, which makes me think Glory herself was clear of the mutated gene. Jubilee was a carrier. Therefore the dog she was bred to, Bianco (“Comanche”) had to either have been a carrier or affected because Quinta came up with both mutated genes. I always bred her to clear males, so her progeny were either clear or Carriers (her daughter, Lively, is a carrier). I’m so thankful this terrible condition is a simple recessive and thus easily eliminated, unlike eye, hip and elbow conditions which are all multi-recessive conditions with up to 30 genes involved. Thankfully, the stud dog I had then (Chaos) was clear. From then on, I would only breed to or purchase stud dogs who were clear since I knew some of my females carried the mutated gene.
AKC agility titles: one leg in each of Standard, Jumpers with Weaves & FAST
I switched to NADAC agility after one run that Jubilee had. In a small ring, she did the closed tunnel, where they have to push through about 8′ of material and are brought to a crawl. That brought her to the corner of the ring so she had to do a 90 degree turn and immediately jump a spread jump – 24″ high and about 4′ wide. I decided that was just too much for a big, powerful dog like a German Shepherd, which is heavy and needs some speed to jump well. Rather than have one of my dogs injured, especially a breeding female, I never showed in AKC agility again.
NADAC Agility titles: Novice Jumpers Superior, Novice Regular, Novice Tunnelers Outstanding, Novice Chances, 2 legs towards her Open Jumpers title, 2 legs towards her Novice TouchNGo title, 2 legs towards her Novice Weavers title and 1 leg towards her Novice Hoopers title
Quinta, commonly known as “Wild Thing”, was the character of the family. She loved to work, begged to train, and got into all kinds of trouble when we didn’t. She was crazy about agility. Her biggest problem was remembering to listen to me and go the direction I indicated, rather than attack every obstacle in sight. When she did remember, she was extremely intense and concentrated, a joy to work, and nearly always took 1st place. She also did extremely well in obedience and tracking but we never tried for titles since trials are few and far between. Quinta was very much like her mother, Jubilee, and grandmother, Glory. She was quite dramatic, very fast and athletic, loved to tease, and had trouble being a “good” girl.
Fourth Generation:
Celhaus Celebrate Life ATD, THDA, CGC, NR, NT, EE (Elite Exteriors), MI (Master Interiors), MC (Master Containers), MV (Master Vehicles), PTE (“Lively”)
11/3/10 – 8/30/23
OFA “fair” hips; PennHip 60th percentile; OFA Elbows; OFA Cardiac; OFA Thyroid; OFA DM (carrier); CERF; von Willebrand’s and hemophilia free; free of EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) at 24 months
AKC titles: Canine Good Citizen, Therapy Dog Advanced
NADAC Agility titles: Novice Regular & Novice Tunnelers. Unfortunately, the agility trials were moved from a site 1 1/2 hours away to one that is 3 1/2 hours distance. I have to drive back and forth each day since I have other dogs at home I must care for each evening, so our chances for more agility titles are low.
Nosework titles: Nosework is a fun new competition venue, derived from narcotics dog training. She had her Novice Nosework, Advanced Nosework and Superior Nosework titles (all four elements in the four levels). She also had Elite Exteriors, Masters Containers, Masters Interiors Mastera Containers titles. And of course, she passed all five pre-tests, which for years were required before one can try for titles in a particular level.
On May 19, 2018 she received the first-ever gift of the Marta’s Alert to IMHA” – Outstanding Professional Alert Award for her totally focused search and clear, sustained alerts independent of me (my dogs are trained to freeze and stare at the hide until I release them).
Lively was a Therapy Dog, registered with Alliance of Therapy Dogs (ATD, formerly Therapy Dogs Inc), and had her AKC Therapy Dog Novice (THDN) title, which requires a history of 10 therapy dog visits, her AKC Therapy Dog title (THD, 50 visits), and her Therapy Dog Advanced title (THDA, 100 visits). Raising five litters unfortunately made her miss a lot of visits. She was a very social dog and was great as a therapy dog at nursing homes.
I usually don’t begin competing with my dogs before they’re two, but our trainer, Sunny, decided to have some evening mini-trials in August of 2011 and I thought they’d be great show experience for Lively, even though she was only 21 months old. The first one consisted of two TouchNGo classes. Lively blew a discrimination on the first one (very common in new dogs) but nailed the second class and got her first Q. She even beat Chaos & Berakah, who missed discriminations in both classes. The second mini-trial consisted of two Tunnelers classes, and all three of my dogs Q’d both times – we came home with 6 Q’s for the evening. Lively decided she, like Berakah, liked competing, so I entered her in the Labor Day trial in Gillette. I had to work one of the four days but we went the other three. Lively had 5 Q’s out of 6 classes the first day, leaving me with my mouth open in astonishment. She had 3 Q’s out of 6 classes the second day, and 3 Q’s out of 4 classes on the last day. When the dust cleared, she had achieved her Novice Regular & Tunnelers classes plus a leg each towards her Outstanding titles, as well as a Chances Q, two Jumpers Q’s, and two TouchNGo Q’s, an amazing haul for a beginner dog. Unfortunately, just when she was ready to seriously compete, the trials in Gillette (only 100 miles away) were discontinued and moved to a facility out of Red Lodge (some 3.5 hours drive each way). Since I have no one to care for the dogs left behind, I can only attend trials where I can drive back and forth each day, so the Gillette trials were doable while the Red Lodge trials weren’t.
Lively spent her life celebrating both her registered name and her call name. She was a fun dog, both to live with and to train. She was a very honest dog and always tried to quickly figure out what I wanted her to do, then did it with enthusiasm.
She would retrieve the ball all day long if I’d let her. She was a great mom and grandmother, very patient and long-suffering with the young ones as they learn respect and self-discipline. She produced very well: I kept two daughters (GloryToo and Spirit), two granddaughters (Mercy & Lovely) and two great-granddaughters (Pascha & Zeal).
Fifth Generation:
I bred Lively to my Chaos (Jagerstadt Chaos von Celhaus ATD THDA PTN, PTA, Elite Regular Outstanding, Elite Chances Outstanding, Elite Tunnelers Superior, Elite Jumpers, Superior Touch N Go) three times. From the GG litter I kept:
Celhaus Gift of Glory ATD, THD, CGC, NI, NC, AE, PTE (“GloryToo“)
whelped 6/7/13
OFA “good” hips; PennHip 90th Percentile (Distraction Index .25 left and right hips); OFA Elbows; OFA Cardiac; OFA Thyroid; OFA DM (carrier), OFA Eyes; von Willebrand’s and hemophilia free; free of EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) at 29 months
Therapy Dog, registered with Alliance for Therapy Dogs (formerly TDInc)
GloryToo, named after her great-great-grandmother, whose call name was Glory, lived to use her nose. She showed that drive practically from birth and as soon as I decided to keep her, I started allowing her to search for the nose work scents after I had trained the big dogs. She was often quicker to find the hides in the house than the adults who had been training for months, so I knew I had a special pup here. She had her Novice Nosework title (all four elements), Advanced & Superior Interior and Exterior titles, and all five UKC Pre-Tests.
She was not extremely ball driven but enjoyed her morning play sessions as one-on-one time, though she really perked up if she has to hunt to find the ball when it had bounced across a fence or into the snow.
GloryToo was a Therapy Dog, registered with Alliance of Therapy Dogs (ATD, formerly Therapy Dogs Inc) and had her AKC Therapy Dog (THD) title, which requires a history of 50 therapy dog visits and her AKC Therapy Dog Advanced title (THDA, 100 visits). She was a very social dog, very affectionate, and a great therapy dog. She particularly enjoyed the Reading dog program we did at the children’s library and Tongue River Elementary. She had an engaging, sometimes silly personality and just burst with the joy of life.
Also from the GG litter, sold to a friend in Nebraska who offered me the chance to get a litter out of her, is
Celhaus Good Day Sunshine BN CD SAR certifications: Trailing 1, Intermediate Cadaver (“Soleil“)
OFA “fair” hips, OFA Elbows, OFA Cardiac, OFA Thyroid, OFA DM (clear), OFA Eyes, von Willebrand’s and hemophilia free, free of EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) at 24 months
I bred Lively twice to my Quasi (Quasi vom Geistwasser BH AD ATD)
From the ii litter I kept:
Celhaus In Love With Life ATD, THDX, PTE, SE (Superior Exteriors), AV (Advanced Vehicles), EI (Elite Interiors), MC (Master Containers), AHD (Advanced Handler Discrimination), CGC “Spirit“
born 1/22/15
OFA “fair” hips, OFA Elbows, OFA Thyroid, OFA DM (clear, free of the spinal myelopathy mutation genes), OFA Eyes, von Willebrand’s and hemophilia free, free of EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) at 24 months
Spirit received a very good PennHip rating: DI’s .18 & .31 (only .01 out of their excellent range), though OFA didn’t like her hips. I redid them in May 2018 and she received a “fair’ rating. From her excellent PennHip rating one would expect her to get a “good” OFA rating, but they seem to do their own incomprehensible thing at times.
Spirit competed for Nosework titles until arthritis in her feet forced her retirement. She loved it! Nosework is a fun competition venue derived from narcotics dog training where dogs compete in searching for certain essential oils instead of narcotics. She has her Novice and Advanced Nosework titles (passed all four elements at both levels), Elite Interiors title, Advanced Vehicle title and passed all five pre-tests (were required before a dog could compete for titles).
She also has her Novice and Advanced Handler Discrimination titles, which are different from the other titles because they search for a glove of mine rather than an essential oil. In Advanced, one of the boxes has a glove scented by the judge as a distraction.
Spirit also has her Canine Good Citizen title.
Spirit was a Therapy Dog, registered with Alliance of Therapy Dogs (ATD, formerly Therapy Dogs Inc) until arthritis forced her retirement in the fall of 2025. She has her AKC Therapy Dog Novice (THDN) title, which requires a history of 10 therapy dog visits. She also her AKC Therapy Dog title (THDA, 100 visits) and her Therapy Dog Excellent (THDX) title, which requires 200 visits. At the time of her retirement, she had done over 300 visits. She is a very social dog and loved going to the nursing homes and doing the Reading Dog program, first at the children’s library, then later at Tongue River Elementary and Holy Name School. She also participated in stress relief visits to the college during finals weeks and visited the fire crew form Colorado when it was here fighting a huge wildfire just outside of town.
Spirit is a fun dog to live with and to train. She attacks whatever we’re doing with zest and enthusiasm, always having a good time, loving to learn and delighting to work with me. She excels in nosework and from a tiny pup was focused totally on finding the hide regardless of where we were working. She always wants to figure out just what I’d like her to do and, once she’s done it, she remembers and offers the behavior anytime she thinks I might like it. For instance, one day this spring when she started shedding, as soon as we finished her morning ball session I took her to the old picnic table where I groom dogs when the weather’s nice and worked on her with the Furinator. After that first day, she would run to the table and wait for me. After several days, when we’d gotten rid of all the fluff, she’d seem disappointed if I didn’t want to brush her. Several months later, she checks as we walk back from the exercise area and if she thinks I might head toward the table instead of veering off to the back door, she’ll happily race to the table and jump up to wait for me. As soon as she realizes I’m not heading there, she just as happily jumps down to race towards the house. Whatever is going on, if I want it, she wants to do it.
Spirit is fifth-generation of my female line: Lively is her mother; Quinta is her grandmother, Jubilee is her great-grandmother and the original Glory is her great-great-grandmother. I lost Jubilee at 14 1/3 years of age. Quinta, commonly known as “Wild Thing”, was the character of the family. She died at 8 after unsuccessful surgery for a slipped disc left her in pain. Lively was from Quinta’s third litter, the CC Litter, which was sired by a German import who lived until nearly 14 years old. I took Quinta to him because of his impressive production record and was very impressed when I got to meet him and see him work. Lively was a great mix of the two dogs and I’m extremely pleased with her and with what she produced. Lively is now retired and enjoying training and being a “grandmother” to my litters. Spirit shows so many of the good qualities from her great-great-great grandmother, Glory, and those who followed her: sound temperament, lots of drive, super noses, joy of life, willingness, the list goes on. Breeding tells!!
Sixth Generation:
Soleil’s owner and I bred Soleil to my Quasi (Quasi vom Geistwasser BH AD ATD PTN, PTA) for the JJ Litter. From that litter I kept:
Celhaus Jubilee Year of Mercy SI (Superior Interiors), SE (Superior Exteriors), SV (Superior Vehicles), MC (Master Containers), PTE (“Mercy“)
born 12/20/15
OFA “good” hips; PennHip Distraction Index .33 left hip and .35 right hip; OFA Elbows; OFA Cardiac; OFA Thyroid; OFA DM (clear), OFA Eyes; von Willebrand’s and hemophilia free; free of EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) at 28 months
NADAC Agility titles: We finally had a NADAC trial here in Sheridan in August 2018. Mercy wasn’t really ready to trial but Spirit (who was) pulled a muscle, so I entered Mercy in several runs each day of the three-day trial. She hasn’t fallen in love yet with agility and it showed – she was quite distracted by everything going on around her and would go around obstacles rather than take them. It was great experience for her, though, and we’ll definitely compete next year if Sheridan again has a trial. I entered her in the Introductory Level classes. Intro is a new class since I last competed and is designed to introduce young dogs (and new handlers) to the sport with easy courses and less obstacles in each class. She ended up with 2 legs in Intro Regular and a leg in Intro Tunnelers. You need to qualify 3 times to get a title, so she came home with no titles but some great experience. And we had a ball!
Nosework titles: Mercy has over-the-top drive and originally tended to get too excited to slow down and use her nose systematically in a search, but she settled down and does quite well at trials as she LOVES to use her nose. She has her Novice, Advanced and Superior Nosework titles (all four elements in all three levels), has her Master Containers title and all five of her pre-tests.
Mercy is a lot of dog in a small package, a real dynamo.
I bred GloryToo to Quasi for the LL litter. I had not planned to keep a pup from that litter since I kept Mercy four months earlier, but one pup absolutely insisted that she stay and showed such tremendous drive and desire to learn that I eventually gave in. That is
Celhaus Love Every Living Thing CGC, CGCA, THD, THDA, THDE, AI (Advanced Interiors), SE (Superior Exteriors), SV (Superior Vehicles), AC (Advanced Containers), PTE (“Lovely“)
born 3/24/16
OFA “good” hips; PennHip 95th Percentile (Distraction Index .25 left hip and .24 right hip); OFA Elbows; OFA Cardiac; OFA Thyroid; OFA DM (clear), OFA Eyes; von Willebrand’s and hemophilia free; free of EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) at 25 months.
Nosework titles: Lovely has her Novice and Advanced Nosework titles (all four element titles in both levels), her Superior Vehicles and Exterior titles, and all five of her pre-. She, too, LOVES to use her nose and does quite well in competition.
Lovely has both her Canine Good Citizen and Canine Good Citizen Advanced titles. She is a great therapy dog and does Reading Dog at schools as well as visits nursing homes. She has her THDX title, which requires 200 visits (She also has her Therapy Dog title – 50 visits and Therapy Dog Advanced title – 100 visits).
Celhaus Song of Hope in Hard Times CGC, THD, THDA, THDX, Novice Nosework, Advanced Nosework, NH (Novice Handler Discrimination), SI (Superior Interiors), SC (Superior Containers) (“Hopeful”)
born 4/30/20
OFA “good” hips; PennHip Distraction Index .32 left hip and .28 right hip; OFA Elbows; OFA Cardiac; OFA Thyroid; OFA DM (clear); von Willebrand’s and hemophilia free; free of EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) at 37 months.
Hopeful is a Covid puppy. So many people commented that the diary and photos of the SS litter comforted and cheered them during the hard times of the Covid pandemic, that I decided both her registered and call names needed to reflect how important our animals are to our health and well-being.
Unfortunately, she developed allergies, so I had to spay her.
Nosework titles: Hopeful has her Advanced Exterior, Superior Interiors and Superiors Containers titles. She also has her Novice Handler Discrimination title, which is different from the other titles because they search for a glove of mine rather than an essential oil. She has two of the 3 required Qs towards her Advanced Nosework title. And hopes to get that one in the fall of 2026. She, too, LOVES to use her nose and does quite well in competition.
Hopeful has her Canine Good Citizen title.
She is a great therapy dog and does Reading Dog at schools as well as visits nursing homes. She “sings” when we get close enough to the schools or nursing homes that she knows where we’re going, and often sings to people during her visits. She has her THDX title, which requires 200 visits (She also has her Therapy Dog title – 50 visits and Therapy Dog Advanced title – 100 visits).
Seventh Generation:
I bred GloryToo to my Cantor (Cantor vom Wenner Haus at Celhaus PTN, PTA, PTS, PTM, PTE, SI, AE, NC, ATD, THDN, CGC, NAC), and from the YY litter kept:
Celhaus You Walk on the Wings of the Wind CGC, THD, THDA (“Pascha“)
whelped 4/8/23
OFA “fair” hips; PennHip (Distraction Index .32 left hip and .20 right hip); OFA Elbows; OFA Cardiac; OFA Thyroid; OFA DM (clear), von Willebrand’s and hemophilia free; free of EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) at 26 months
Therapy Dog, registered with Alliance for Therapy Dogs.
Pascha is a therapy dog and does Reading Dog at schools as well as visits nursing homes. She has her Therapy Dog title – 50 visits.
Pascha loves Nosework and should start competing in Nosework trials in the fall of 2026.
I bred Mercy to my Justice (Justice for All von Blumental ATD, THDN, THDA, CGC, NC, NI, NE), and from the ZZ litter I kept:
Celhaus Zeal for Justice (“Zeal“)
whelped 6/16/23
OFA “fair” hips; PennHip 90th Percentile (Distraction Index .24 left hip and .30 right hip); OFA Elbows; OFA Cardiac; OFA Thyroid; OFA DM (clear), von Willebrand’s and hemophilia free; free of EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) at 32 months
Zeal loves Nosework and should start competing in Nosework trials in 2027.
*****
Sires:
SG Zaro vom Dreiberkirkenhain PH1 SchH3: Jubilee’s sire
“A” normal, ZW = 89 (no photo available)
I had been very impressed with the dogs I’ve seen from the Andy Bildsaeule line. Andy was the Sieger of IDM for Police dogs (won the International Police Dog Championships) in 1985. I first encountered this bloodline through Brigitte Brighton in Arvada, Colorado, who owned an Andy grandson, Cliff, and an Andy granddaughter, Otti, both of whom were sired by Alf v. Pfaenderruecken. Alf sired 1998’s 2nd place dog in the Bundessiegerprufung, Nats vom der Bildsauele. Cliff, Otti, and a Cliff/Otti son, Levi, are impressive for their outgoing temperaments, steady nerves, and working ability. (Levi is thus a double Alf grandson and Andy great-grandson.) I really liked the litter he sired out of Glory in 1997 and wanted to continue in this bloodline, but I never thought I’d be able to breed to an Andy Bildsaeule son. However, vacation time coincided with Glory’s being in heat, and I drove 3758 miles round-trip to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to breed to a 10 year old Andy son, SG-Zaro v Dreibinkentrain SchH3 PH1, hips “a” normal. Zaro was a gray sable with superb temperament. According to his owner, he was incredibly obedient and adaptable to any situation, loved children, and would defend his own. His outstanding hardness, high fighting drive and strong nerves showed especially in his uncompromising protection work. He was a Bavarian State Police Dog on active duty before being imported. He is linebred on Racker v Itztal and Sam von Zell and See, and is a full brother (repeat litter) to Alf vom Pfaenderruecken (see Cliff, Otti & Levi) and to Amor v Pfaenderruecken who won the IDM for Police Dogs in 1991 & 1993. He was also a litter brother to Zeck, who placed 3rd in the International Police Dog championships in 1994 with a protection score of 100 points. Zaro sired police dogs as well as dogs who are did well in Schutzhund.
Bianko vom Leerburg (“Comanche”): Quinta’s Sire
OFA GOOD hips, OFA elbows
Janet Wilt’s Comanche was a Search & Rescue dog, certified in Avalanche, Water, Tracking, Wilderness Rescue and Cadaver. He was also certified as a narcotics dog (4 odors), evidence and building search. She now has a Quasi/Lively son from the ii litter (brother to my Spirit), whom she also named Comanche and who is a SAR dog as well.
See Janet’s Search & Rescue group, Jackson Hole Independent Search Dog Teams, www.jhsearchdogs.org.
Kway vom Posthorn SchH3 (LGA) KKL1: Lively’s sire
High Protection (97 V) at the 2007 Americans,
“a” normal hips HDZW 66, free of EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) and of the Degenerative Myelopathy gene.
According to his owner (Bill Kulla), “Kway participated in two research studies that are working to identify a genetic marker for EPI and DM, so that one day we may eliminate these devastating diseases from our breed.”
Other quotes from Kway’s website, www.kulladogs.com:
Kway (pronounced “Kwhy”) is the expression of his world class bloodlines: son of Asko von der Lutter and grandson of Aly vom Vordersteinwald. Asko was the 1998 Bundessieger and 2000 WUSV World Champion and has proven himself as producer already. At the past three BSPs, Asko had more sons shown than any other dog. Aly was a close second.
Kway himself is a true all-three-phase dog: tracking is deep-nosed and methodical, obedience is fast and animated yet precise, and bitework is extremely strong with full, hard grips. Kway is balanced in the protection work and brings his natural aggression to the work for strong guarding. Through all three phases, Kway is a dog that is in true harmony with his handler, and their strong bond is evident on and off the field.
Always pronounced in courage; in Kway’s breed survey special mention is made of his exceptional temperament.
Kway is linebred 5-5 on Urs aus der Hopfenstraße, and he carries the black recessive.
Bill reports that Kway loves to retrieve and is good with everyone. He also is good with other dogs, including small dogs, and enjoys nurturing puppies. I really liked him when I took Quinta to be bred in 2009. Kway had been retired for two years, but put on a beautiful obedience demonstration for me.
Jagerstadt Chaos von Celhaus ATD THDA PTN, PTA, Elite Regular Outstanding, Elite Chances Outstanding, Elite Tunnelers Superior, Elite Jumpers, Superior Touch N Go (“Chaos“):
sire of GloryToo & Soleil; grandsire of Mercy and Lovely
3/23/06 – 2/25/18
NADAC Agility titles: Superior Novice Regular, Superior Novice Weavers , Superior Novice Chances, Superior Novice Tunnelers, Superior Novice TouchNGo, Superior Novice Jumpers, Superior Novice Hoopers, Open Regular, Open Chances, Open Tunnelers, Open TouchNGo, Open Hoopers, Open Jumpers, Open Weavers, Outstanding Elite Chances, Outstanding Elite Regular, Elite Tunnelers
Chaos retired from agility competition and began training for Nosework titles. Unfortunately, by the time UKC, which took over all nosework titling from United Nosework, began allowing nosework trials again, Chaos was aging to the point he didn’t like traveling and spending hours at a trial, so he never got more than the first two pre-trials. I lost him to cancer barely a month from his 12th birthday.
Chaos was a Therapy Dog, registered with Alliance of Therapy Dogs (formerly Therapy Dogs Inc.). He has his AKC THDA title, which requires therapy dog 100 visits. He had many more in his 9 years as a therapy dog, but the newly instituted AKC titles require 300 visits for the next title. Since I normally have 5 or 6 of my dogs certified as therapy dogs at any one time, they take turns doing visits so no one is going to get a title higher than their advanced title.
OFA Fair Hips, PennHip 70th Percentile, OFA Elbows, OFA Cardiac, OFA Thyroid, OFA DM (free), CERF, von Willebrand’s and hemophilia free, free of EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency)
Chaos had a rock-solid temperament and steady nerves. He was very social with all ages of people and was an excellent Therapy Dog. Chaos came from herding lines and would have loved to herd, but the only herding competition opportunities in our area are reserved for border collies. Both his parents were working stock dogs on farms in North Carolina. I like to incorporate dogs from herding lines in my breeding programs because of their high bidability. They truly want to work with the handler, and Chaos was no exception. He was extremely fun to train because he checked constantly to be sure he was doing what I want.
For more information on the German Shepherd style of herding see
https://www.german-shepherdherding.com/herding-with-nicky/.
https://www.german-shepherdherding.com/large-flock-sheep-herding-ii/.
https://www.german-shepherdherding.com/the-large-flock-herding-dog/.
Quasi vom Geistwasser BH AD ATD THDN PTN PTA PTS PTM PTE (“Quasi“):
sire of Spirit, Mercy and Lovely
OFA Excellent Hips, PennHip 90th Percentile, OFA Elbows, OFA Cardiac, OFA Thyroid OFA Eyes, OFA DM (free), von Willebrand’s and hemophilia free. TLI Test normal at 47 months (free of EPI – Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency)
Cantor vom Wenner Haus at Celhaus PTN, PTA, PTS, PTM, PTE, SI, AE, NC, ATD, THDN, CGC, NAC (“Cantor“)
3/24/16 – 7/15/24
Sire of Hopeful and Pascha
OFA Good hips: GS-99355G24M-VPI; PennHip Distraction Index .37 left; .42 right; OFA Elbows;
OFA Cardiac; OFA Thyroid; OFA Eyes; OFA DM (spinal myelopathy) free; free of bleeding disorders (vonWillebrand’s and hemophilia) and EPI
Cantor was a therapy dog, certified by Alliance of Therapy Dogs, and had his AKC Therapy Dog Novice (THDN) title, which requires 10 verified therapy dog visits.
He was working on his AKC Therapy Dog title (THD) which requires 50 verified therapy dog visits, when Covid hit and closed down all the nursing homes. I didn’t renew his therapy dog certification when the nursing homes reopened to visitors because he just didn’t want to stay quiet long enough for good visits with the residents.
Cantor LOVED agility and did extremely well in training. For instance, he learned the weaves in 6 sessions, including being consistent in finding the entrance to the set of 12 weaves from all angles and at great distances, no matter where I happen to be positioned, which is unheard of. We showed a few times and he showed a great desire to be a distance dog and received lots of compliments, but I had to quit doing agility because my feet got bad.
He competed in Nosework for a while, obtaining his Superior Interiors, Advanced Exteriors and Novice Containers titles, but when we had to quit agility, he decided nosework was boring and began refusing to indicate the hides in trials, so we quit that, too, though we continued training for fun.
He produced easily-trainable dogs who could work in all areas (SAR, competition in Schutzhund, Nosework, Tracking, Rally, etc.), service dogs and therapy dogs. He produced particularly well with Lovely.
OFA “good” hips; PennHip: 90th Percentile (his hips are better than 90% of the 18,753 GSDs they have evaluated!!) Distraction Index .24 left; .24 right; OFA Elbows normal; OFA Cardiac; OFA Thyroid;
OFA DM (spinal myelopathy) free; free of bleeding disorders (vonWillebrand’s and hemophilia);
free of EPI – Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency at 18 months
Justice for All von Blumental ATD, THDN, THDA, CGC, NC, NI, NE “Justice”
Zeal’s Sire
OFA “good” hips; PennHip: 90th Percentile (his hips are better than 90% of the 18,753 GSDs they have evaluated!!) Distraction Index .24 left; .24 right; OFA Elbows normal; OFA Cardiac; OFA Thyroid; OFA DM (spinal myelopathy) free; free of bleeding disorders (vonWillebrand’s and hemophilia); free of EPI – Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency at 18 months
I really a male, Toby, when I bred Spirit to him (MM litter). A breeder bred Ghidorah to my Cantor and had a nice litter. I liked both dogs and was pleased when she told me of the breeding, of Ghidorah to Toby. I ended up purchasing Justice from her “J” litter. I brought him home the day he turned 10 weeks.
Justice is a sweetheart but was VERY slow to mature mentally, preferring to be a comedian. He has nice drives and, once he developed some work ethic, showed some nice nose and retrieve drives. Once he decided he really liked nosework, I began trialing him. He has his Novice Containers, Novice Interiors and Novice Exteriors titles.
Justice has a VERY sweet and loving personality, and is crazy about people, which made him a perfect candidate for therapy dog work He is certified by Alliance of Therapy Dogs, and has his AKC Therapy Dog Advanced (THDA) title, which requires 100 verified therapy dog visits. He currently just visits nursing homes, but I may try him next year in a school.
His first litter (the ZZ litter, from Mercy) was WILD from the time they opened their eyes. They had LOTS of drive and energy, and little desire to control them. As they mature, they have become able to focus those drives and have turned into nice working dogs. His other litter (the AA litter, from Lovely) was also VERY busy but weren’t quite as wild.
Unfortunately, I got allergies in pups from both breedings, and when I tested Justice, found he also has allergies, so I neutered him.