ZZ Litter Background Information

Celhaus ZZ Litter (Mercy bred to Justice)
Whelped June 16, 2023
to the ZZ litter page

Mercy is from my JJ litter.  She is the mother of the QQ and UU litters, both sired by Cantor.  This is Justice’s first litter.

I am expecting some real live wires, full of the love of life, very social and confident, highly intelligent with super working drives and exceptional ball drives.  They will be busy!  And probably noisy.  I’m expecting them to train easily and enjoy working, and to have super noses and the desire to use them.   As for color, we’ll have black sables, bicolors and possibly some solid blacks in this litter. 

pedigree

Sire:  JUSTICE FOR ALL VON BLUMENTAL, CGC, ATD, THDN

whelped 6/4/21

OFA hips good:  GS-112167G24M-C-VPI
OFA Elbows normal:  GS-EL50024M24-C-VPI
PennHip:  90th Percentile (his hips are better than 90% of the 18,753 GSDs they have evaluated!!)
OFA Cardiac:  GS-BCA538/18M/P-VPI
OFA Thyroid:  GS-TH1096/22M-VPI
OFA DM (spinal myelopathy) free:  GS-DM12021/3M-PI
free of bleeding disorders (vonWillebrand’s and hemophilia)
TLI Test normal at 18 months (free of EPI – Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency)

Justice is a very athletic, fast boy who loves to retrieve.  He likes it so well that he regularly steals balls from the others and carries two in his mouth while the other dog is frantically searching for her ball.

He is very social and loving, and is a great hit at the nursing homes.  In fact, he’s a hit everywhere I take him because of his silly, bubbly personality.  That bounciness does get in the way of training at times. He didn’t know how to learn or even to like learning when I got him.  He likes obedience, so I did several classes. He really, really was over-the-top distracted by other dogs – not with any aggression but wanting to play and socialize.  I began to despair that I’d be able to certify him as a therapy dog, but finally last summer he began to realize he could “watch me no matter how many other dogs happen to be breathing nearby.”  We signed up for a CGC (Canine Good Citizen) class.  I figured that would be the test of his readiness to certify as a therapy dog.  He initially was very distracted at the new group of dogs, but quickly clicked into work mode.  He did so well that I signed up for the CGC test.  That would be the big readiness indicator – different place, different tester, different people and dogs.  He did excellent on everything except the heel-past-another-dog part.  The tester gave us a second chance, and Justice was able to (sloppily for sure) manage to stay at my side despite longing looks at the other dog.  He passed!

I then completed the therapy dog certification process and since October he has been visiting the nursing homes.  He completed the 10 required visits to earn his AKC Therapy Dog Novice title (THDN). He is about halfway to his Therapy Dog (THD) title, which requires 50 visits.  His social, gentle nature makes him a hit at the nursing homes, as he lovingly gazes into people’s eyes and leans against their beds or wheelchairs.  At one of the nursing homes, the maintenance man has a mini-Aussie pup which he lets run loose. You never know when or from where the dog will appear.  At first Justice totally lost his mind and continued to look for it after it vanished, but recently he has become able to forget it and turn back to concentrating on the residents – a huge advance in maturity!!

He’s been slow to get the idea of nosework, first because of his over-interest in the other dogs and because he totally fell in love with the instructor, Sue, and flirted with her constantly. For the longest time, she had to stand on the other side of the arena before he could collect himself and do a search.  This winter, though, he has matured a lot mentally and is finally turning into the nice nosework dog I anticipated, since his sire has all kinds of advanced tracking titles in both AKC and Schutzhund.  I am hoping to show Justice for titles in the fall, after a summer of training in different places around time with our nosework group, which will offer him a lot of chances to ignore distractions.

I am looking forward to a mature Justice who will show me all he is capable of doing – and continues to be sweet, loving and a joy to live with.  Life is never quiet with this vocal dog, but his enthusiasm is always entertaining and cheering.

Dam:  Celhaus Jubilee Year of Mercy PTN, PTA, PTS, PTM, PTE, AE, NI, NC, NV (Mercy)

PennHip DI’s .33 & .35
OFA good hips:  GS-99354G27F-VPt  
OFA Elbows:  GS-E137971F27 -VPl
OFA Thyroid: GS-TH853/84F-VPI
OFA eyes:  GS-EYES526/29F-VPl
OFA Cardiac:  GS-CA1886/36F/P-VPl 
OFA DM (clear) – free of the spinal myelopathy mutation genes
von Willebrand’s and hemophilia free
free of EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) at 28 months

whelped 12/20/15

UKC Nosework Titles:  PTN, PTA, PTS, PTM, PTE (all five pre-tests) and Novice & Advanced Exteriors, Novice Containers, Novice Vehicles and Novice Interiors.  Nosework is a fun new competition venue derived from narcotics dog training where dogs compete in searching for certain essential oils instead of narcotics.   There are five levels of difficulty (novice, advanced, superior, masters and elite) in each of five elements (exteriors, interiors, vehicles and containers).  Before a dog can compete for a title, it must pass a pre-test to show that it will search for and find that particular odor.  Mercy has passed all five pre-tests (Novice level is Birch, Advanced is Anise, Superior is Clove, Masters is Myrrh and Elite is Vetiver), and has her Novice Exteriors title.  All 2020 nosework trials were cancelled due to the pandemic but she will compete next year for more titles.

I love Mercy’s petite size; it makes her super athletic.  She has great retrieve drive, hunt drive and natural desire to use her nose.  Several of her littermates are doing well in Search & Rescue – as is her mother – and she would have loved it, too.  She has a nice social temperament and is full of the joy of life.  She is SO full of life that I never certified her as a therapy dog – she tends to want to leap into people’s arms rather than sit and greet. 

Mercy is a fun dog to live with and to train, except in obedience – she’s still too bouncy and excited to do very well at heeling.  She attacks whatever we’re doing with zest and enthusiasm, always having a good time.  She enjoys nosework but tends to get so excited that it takes her a few minutes to get serious about searching.  I was very pleased with her at her first nosework trial in October 2018.  At her first attempt at Novice Exteriors, at the morning trial she took 2nd place, finding the hide in 24 seconds.  At the afternoon trial we were allowed to let them search off leash if we wanted (we were the only ones brave enough to try), and she found the hide in 17.9 seconds, which gave her not only 1st place but High in Trial over all the novice exterior dogs.

NADAC Agility titles:   Mercy competed at a local NADAC trial in July, 2018 (the first one we’d had here in years!).  She wasn’t quite ready to compete and I entered her in all the intro level classes (except weavers) mainly for the experience.  She qualified in two Regular classes and one Tunnelers class.  Since then she has fallen in love with the sport and is working at a nice distance and speed.  She as ready to seriously compete in 2020 but all trials were cancelled due to the pandemic, but we’re looking forward to 2021.

Mercy is sixth-generation my female line and 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!!

Maternal Grand Dam:  Celhaus Good Day Sunshine BN, CD, Trailing 1, Intermediate HRD


whelped 6/7/13

OFA fair hips, OFA Elbows, OFA Thyroid, OFA eyes, OFA Cardiac, OFA DM (clear) – free of the spinal myelopathy mutation genes, von Willebrand’s and hemophilia free, free of EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) at 27 months

From Soleil’s owner:  Soleil loves, loves, loves to work. Begs for it.  Learns quickly, and has had me stumped more than once.  The beauty with her is that when it counts, she knows it, and comes through with flying colors.  Sol loves the ball, anything that can be thrown actually, she is a maniac retriever and delivers to hand. She figured out very quickly that delivery to hand almost always returns another throw. On the other hand, if we get tired of throwing stuff for her, a ‘no, that’s enough’ is actually enough for her to go off with her toy and lie down or entertain herself. She does have an off switch. 

Soleil already had her AKC Beginner Novice and Companion Dog titles before we bred her, and Chris planned to compete all the way to an Obedience Trial Championship with her.  However, Chris got interested in Search & Rescue and switched to that.  Sol already has her Trailing 1 and Intermediate HRD (human remains detection) certifications and is working on advanced trailing certifications, though the pandemic caused most group training to be cancelled during 2020 and it hasn’t grown much since.  
Soleil is now spayed so that she can concentrate on training, so the litter Mercy was in is the only one we’ll get from her.  I’m very pleased that Mercy passed all her health screenings so I can breed her and keep Soleil’s great genes for working drives active in my breeding program.

Maternal Grandsire:  Quasi vom Geistwasser BH AD

whelped 10/24/10

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)

I was very lucky to acquire Quasi in July 2014.  Quasi was nearly ready to try for his Schutzhund 1 title when I bought him.  I’m was going to try to make the drive to the closest Schutzhund club (250 miles one way) often enough to learn how to work him and try for his “1″, but an injury sidelined me and I just never was able to make the commitment. 

He had great hunt drive, loving to use his nose and searching very intensely when his ball takes a bad bounce and he has to find it.  He showed that same desire to use his nose in nose work classes. 

Quasi began nose work classes two months after I got him, and did great.  We started with 2 other dogs in the class, had 3 sessions and then one dog got very sick and the other quit coming, so after a couple of weeks with no classes, Jody, the instructor, suggested that I join another class.  That class had been working since February and the dogs are already doing 3 scents (birch, anise and cloves) plus searching for multiple hides around the room.  At that time, for the first several months we did only one scent (the first one is birch) and you worked in a series of three-draw plastic storage containers so that the dog learned to hunt systematically and to stay on the scent when it found it.  There was only one hide per turn so they learn to stop when they find it.  Then you added anise and they worked the boxes to find two hides, one of each scent.  You didn’t usually add cloves for quite a while, once the dogs are searching outside areas and vehicles for the first two scents.  Quasi’s first introduction to anise and to searching for two scents in each of his turns to work was at that class.  He picked it up right away.  Then Jody began hiding scents away from the boxes and he figured that out right away.  The second time we went to that class, Quasi found all three scents no matter where they were hidden, in every turn.  PLUS he already stayed on the scent until I told him that was enough, better than the others did.  He didn’t find the scents as fast as the others, but he worked systematically and, when they weren’t in the boxes, on his own figured out to look at each end of the set of boxes in the general area.

Quasi did great in nosework and passed all his pre-tests.  I had planned for him to compete for nosework titles.  Since only one dog can be entered I each nosework class, the girls can’t compete if they’re in heat, pregnant or lactating, and we only have 2 nosework trials a year (spring and fall when often one of more girls are in one of those states), I concentrated on getting the girls’ titles and letting the males, who can compete any time, wait for their turn.  Unfortunately, he hurt an elbow and we were unable to fix it, so I had to put him down in November 2019.

Quasi had great retrieve drive.  He also enjoyed learning, showed a lively curiosity about everything new and was always willing to please.  I had a lot of fun training him.

He was fun in any kind of training and passed those traits to his progeny.  He also gave his pups a very sweet, affectionate nature and lots of personality and drive.  He was also a very social dog, with superb temperament that he passed on to his progeny.

He was also a very social dog so I certified him as a therapy dog.  He loved the nursing home visits.

See Quasi’s page

Paternal Grandsire:  Ulysses of Sapphire Mountain Cadaver 2, BH, FH2, CGC, TD, TDX, H.O.T (Toby)


Hips/elbows: OFA good/normal, PennHIP 70th percentile (DI’s are .32 & .35), 
OFA eyes: clear, OFA DM: N/N

Toby is a medium sized (75#), very dark sable male with nice conformation, who moves very well, and is very athletic and agile.  He is very strong in all phases of work but settles well in the house.

He is very intelligent and picks up on training quickly. Toby excels in tracking/trailing and has never shown any desire to leave a track until it is finished. He is very determined and exact in his work and it shows. He has a very strong desire to work with his handler for whatever reward could be given but prefers his toys. Any toy will do. Toby has strong prey and defense.

Toby trained for a while in search and rescue for Montana – in trailing, cadaver and avalanche. He was certified in Cadaver, level 2, under tri-state standards. He has also his AKC Canine Good Citizen test (CGC) and his AKC Tracking Dog and Tracking Dog Excellent titles (TD & TDX).  He was entered in a VST (Variable Surface Tracking – city tracking) test when covid hit and everything shut down.  Toby also has the Schutzhund BH title and FH1 & FH2 (first and second Schutzhund Tracking Dog) titles.

Toby is a blend of strong Czech and West German working lines, including some very nice West German dogs.  The lines behind Toby are healthy and drives are good.  His sire SG Basko von Grunheide is titled SchH3, IPO3, KKL1 and was the Fundy SchH Club Trial Champion 2011. At the age of 3, Basko qualified for the World Universal Championships!

Toby’s Dam, Brook of Sapphire Mountain TD (AKC tracking dog), is a brood bitch for the Sapphire Mountain kennel.  Brook’s littermate is a multiple-certified Search and Rescue dog for Montana. Brook’s pedigree goes back on both sides to many search and rescue, SP/PS (police service), and level 3 Schutzhund dogs. It is worth noting Brook brings in through her dam, Ajsa Bohemia Rom-Pan, the male Ary Z Valskeho Udoli: SchHA, ZM, ZPO1, IPO1, SchH3, ZVV2, ZZZ, ZZP1, ZVP1, RH-E, RH-FLA, RHTA. This male competed 6 times in the international Search and Rescue Dog (IRO) examinations while still being a very strong Schutzhund competitor. Brook’s sire was Rocky Venusina sopka CGC, ZVV1, SchH2, IPO2.  Rocky’s sire was Tom z Pohranicni straze SP-PS (Czech police dog), ZVV1, OP1, and was the winner of the 1999 International stud dog show in Bratislava.  Rocky’s dam: Hobby venusina sopka FH2, OP1, IPO3, IPO -FH, Czech National Participant. UM’ CR’, CATC (CZ). World FH Championships Tracking, Finland, 2003. Hobby placed 7th out of 200 participants with a score of 186! High score that day was 197. World FH Championships Tracking, Slovakia, 2002. Hobby placed 10th with a score of 180, highest that day was 193!

Toby is a littermate to the following dogs:
Ursa: TD OFA: Fair/normal
Uma: CGC, SAR live find, SAR moving object, IPWDA Human Remains Search-Water OFA: Good/Normal
Uzziy: PennHIP 70th percentile

Paternal Granddam:  GHIDORAH OF SAPPHIRE MOUNTAIN BH (Ghidorah) 

OFA EYES, OFA good hips, OFA DM carrier; PennHip 40th percentile (DI’s .46 & .46), OFA elbows

Justice’s breeder gave me no info on Ghidorah, whom she brought to Cantor to be bred a couple of years ago.  She had a nice litter form Cantor, including a female who went to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Maternal Great Grandsire:  Jagerstadt Chaos von Celhaus PTN & PTA, O-EAC, OAC, S-ECC, S-TN-E, EJCOJCOWVS-NAC, S-NCC, S-TN-N, S-WV-N, S-NJC, S-TG-N, S-HP-N, ATD, THD-N, THD, THDA
3/23/06 – 2/25/18

See Chaos’ page

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.)

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. 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.

See Chaos’ page
For more information on the German Shepherd style of herding see
http://www.german-shepherdherding.com/herding-with-nicky/.
http://www.german-shepherdherding.com/large-flock-sheep-herding-ii/.
http://www.german-shepherdherding.com/the-large-flock-herding-dog/.

Maternal Great Grand Dam:  Celhaus Celebrate Life S/N, PTN, PTA, PTS, PTM, PTE, EE, MC, SV, EI, NR, NT, ATD, THDN (Lively)

whelped 11/3/09

NADAC Agility titles:  Novice Regular, Novice Tunnelers.   Unfortunately, the agility trials were moved from a site ninety minutes away to one that is 3 1/2 hours one way.  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.

UKC Nosework titles:  Elite Exteriors, Master Interiors, Master Containers, Superior Vehicles, PreTest-Elite (all 5 PreTests).

At our first Nosework Trial in May 2014, she received the first two titles in Exterior Searches, NNE1 (where they search for Birch Essential Oil) and NNE2 (where they search for Anise Essential Oil).  On July 1st, 2014, the United Kennel Club took over nose work from its originating United Nosework organization, so those titles are now NE & AE.  They did not allow trials until after they have incorporated all the information of every dog that titled under United Nosework.  Lively continued training in the interim and will compete for more titles as trials are held.  She was retired and spayed in the spring of 2017 so now she no longer misses trials due to being pregnant or raising pups.

Lively was a Therapy Dog, registered with Alliance of Therapy Dogs, until I retired her at age 11 due to arthritis.  She has her AKC Therapy Dog Novice (THDN) title, her THD title (Therapy Dog), which requires 50, and her Therapy Dog Advanced (THDA) title, which requires 100 visits.

OFA “fair” hips, PennHip 60th percentile (DI’s .39 & .35), OFA Elbows, OFA Cardiac, OFA Thyroid, OFA DM (carrier), OFA eyes, von Willebrand’s and hemophilia free

free of EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) at 24 months

Lively produced three litters when bred to Chaos and two litters bred to Quasi.  She has produced some excellent Search & Rescue dogs as well as competition dogs (agility, nosework, etc), service dogs and therapy dogs.  She has tons of drive and in her youth would retrieve a ball all day long.  She’s a nice medium size and very athletic.  She’s also a fun dog to live with and, especially, to train.  Her pups typically excel in any kind of training and approach it with enthusiasm, yet they can also serve as service dogs, which asks for a much calmer, quiet dog that concentrates on assisting its owner with any disabilities the person has.

See Lively’s page
See Lively March 2020

Maternal Great Grand Sire:  Kway vom Posthorn SchH3 (LGA) KKL1 High Protection (97 V) at the 2007 Americans

“a” normal hips HDZW 66
whelped 9/9/00 –lived to be 14
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”) was 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 was a true all-three-phase dog: tracking is deep-nosed and methodical, obedience was fast and animated yet precise, and bitework was extremely strong with full, hard grips. Kway was balanced in the protection work and brought his natural aggression to the work for strong guarding. Through all three phases, Kway was a dog that was in true harmony with his handler, and their strong bond was evident on and off the field.

Always pronounced in courage; in Kway’s breed survey special mention is made of his exceptional temperament.

Kway was linebred 5-5 on Urs aus der Hopfenstraße, and he carried the black recessive.

Bill reports that Kway loved to retrieve and was good with everyone. He also was good with other dogs, including small dogs, and enjoyed 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.  He was five days from turning nine years old but sure didn’t look it as he heeled, ran and jumped. 

Maternal Great Great Grand Dam:  Celhaus Quintessence NJ NR NTO NC TDInc (“Quinta”)

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

AKC agility titles:  one leg in each of Standard, Jumpers with Weaves & FAST

OFA hips (good); OFA Elbows; OFA Thyroid; OFA Cardiac; CERF; also tested EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency), von Willebrand’s and hemophilia free.  In December, 2007, Quinta received her Health Award Certificate of Recognition from the German Shepherd Dog Club of America.

Quinta was a Therapy Dog, registered with Therapy Dogs Inc. (now Alliance of Therapy Dogs).

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.

See Quinta’s page 

Maternal Great Great Great Grandsire:    Bianko vom Leerburg (“Comanche”)

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.

Maternal Great Great Great Granddam:  Celhaus Jubilee CGC CD NA NAP TDInc.

7/19/98 – 11/20/12, made it to 14 1/3 years!

OFA GOOD hips, OFA elbows, OFA cardiac, OFA thyroid, von Willebrand’s and hemophilia free, CERF

Jubilee was a Therapy Dog, registered with Therapy Dogs Inc.

She 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’s her daughter, Quinta or granddaughter, Lively.  At 14 1/3, she was still healthy, though arthritis from bridging in her back had slowed her down considerably.  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.

See Jubilee’s page

Maternal Great Great Great Great Granddam:  Roche Jaune’s Triumph of Celhaus CD, TDInc (“Glory”)

9/14/94 – 9/9/02

OFA GOOD hips, OFA elbows, CERF, von Willebrand’s and hemophilia free

Glory was a Therapy Dog, registered with Therapy Dogs Incorporated (now Alliance of Therapy Dogs).

I originally began in American-line German Shepherds, the old lines with lots of European influence – before they were ruined by the fad for extreme side gait.  When the breeder from whom I got my dogs for years retired in the late 1980’s, I decided to switch to European working lines.  Unfortunately, the first several breeding prospects from those lines that I bought failed all their health screenings.  In fact, they introduced me to new problems in the breed – genetic eye and bleeding conditions – so I increased the number of health screenings that I did before passing a dog for breeding.  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.  With her 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.  That was such a great litter that the next year I drove her all the way to Toronto to breed her to a German import there who was closely related to Ashi’s sire.  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. 

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 more serious working dogs than she was but also 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).  I still miss Glory a lot but I enjoy the vivacity in all her children and their enthusiastic enjoyment of life.

See Glory’s page