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Pearlinhaus German Shepherds

Our Service Prospect pups that have gone on into life as Service Dogs or are currently doing very well in training. 

See more of our Service Dog pups and pups that are earning their Titles on the sub page "Service Dogs / Title Earners"

(Scroll down to see the dogs and their pedigrees)

DNA list updated 2019 .jpg

Educational information for those asking about all the different registrations out there today (see "About" page under "Tips when searching for your new family pup" ) .....

There are many registries today here in the U.S. We only use AKC as  it is the only U.S. registry (multiple breed registry)  that is recognized worldwide. There are other registries here in the US, but we don't use them. 

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The different bloodlines:

East German, West German, and American lines are all quite different. The breeders of the American and West German tended to focus on show lines and the dogs tend to be bigger, while the East German lines (commonly referred to as DDR) are smaller and the breeders focused on the ability to be worked. 

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We have all 3 lines so make sure to express what you're looking for. The Questionnaire we have will get you started and helps us quite a bit to suggest which pup(s) we think will suit your needs/wants.

Our Dogs

'BOSS'   

As our old boys got older (now 11 and 13 in 2022), we introduced Boss to our lines,

 

"Boss" is.a very large, confident boy, he's playful, fantastic with our kids & grand-kids, intelligent, great prey grip, and solid nerves. His voice will let every visitor know there's a vary LARGE boy on the other side of that door to our home! 

01 Boss collage .jpg
Boss' pedigree w reg numbers on all.jpg

Belle

 She Is a daughter out of our Anja (retired) and by Gunther (also retired). She is a gorgeous female, curious, energetic, playful, and a bit of a velcro, just an over all great dog! Her Dam's bottom side of pedigree is awesome and her Sires bottom side is also nice!

She produces Blacks as well as Black/red-tans when bred to Boss. Beautiful and intelligent pups!      

German Shepherd of Pearlinhaus
Belle's pedigree.jpg

Mina

 is a granddaughter of our own Anja. She has a lot of traits from her grandmother and we hope to see those traits carried down into her pups! Her personality and strengths are  what we look for in Service Dogs, not to mention her beauty.  

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Mina's Pedigree_.jpg

We have A NEW HOPEFUL for late 2025 /early 2026!

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Slide show of some of our dogs'

Grandparents, Gr Grandparents and GrGrGrandparents

(all within their 5 generation pedigrees)

Since Belle is our own out of Anja(Retired) and Gunther (Retired) I've simply added Belle's pedigree connection to those dogs in this slide 

We care a great deal about our favorite breed, it's been a part of our family for several generations now, going back to the 1940s! Because we care,  we carefully select those we keep for breeding. We breed for sound temperament, correct structure and good health. We welcome today's technology that gives us the ability to screen the DNA health! We DNA health screen our dogs for inherited GSD issues (50 GSD issues), as well as non breed specific issues that can affect any dog of ANY breed. the GSD issues include DM  (Degenerative Myelopathy, in the Musculoskeletal category) as well as Neurological issues, Eye issues, Blood and clotting, Immune system issues, predisposed to some cancers,  etc. We run all the tests we can to give our pups the best start possible.

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In today's world, the database to choose from is MASSIVE so there are plenty of dogs to choose from to 'better' the health of the breed, to eliminate the negative issues and thus create a more healthy GSD future!  Some day I hope that all breeding dogs, from ALL breeders of ALL breeds, will ideally come from TESTED parents. (I too, have purchased dogs from impressive bloodlines, but the parents had not had the DNA tests done, only to have the pup fail our DNA health tests). So you see, the bloodlines do NOT always determine the health! The breeder should be health screening EVERY dog that is intended for reproducing, but sadly many don't. There are a lot of people assuming all is good because their dogs come from titled lines ...Well I hate to burst the bubble, but that's not true. The old theory that titled CH bloodline dogs were the healthiest is just not happening. Some of them have issues that had not been found in the past due to the lack of testing for the issues, some continue to throw pups with issues that were supposed to be eradicated by now, but the selective breeding theory simply didn't work to eradicate it. Even the most highly selected breeding dogs still have some of the issues that selective breeding was supposed to eradicate.  Today we HAVE DNA screenings available to us, so I have chosen to use them. Now, to be fair, an otherwise outstanding dog might be just be a carrier, not affected, and will not affect the pups either. but that's what the DNA tests are for! The breeder needs to be aware in order to not breed that particular dog to another carrier! It's really very simple and much safer today if utilizing all the tools we have available now.

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We may not be able to eliminate ALL things, but we CAN eliminate the issues whose "gene" can be tested for. We should always be willing to pick a mate with the specific traits we want, but also be wise about it and careful to not breed two dogs that would cause an issue that we DON'T want. 

 That DNA testing ability was not possible in our past history, so now that we do have it, we  DNA test every dog that is a prospect for a breeding program (and every breeder should, IMO) 

 

In addition to good health, we also strive for family 'minded' dogs, we don't need the super high, extreme drives of one type, nor the lack of proper drive or ability to think through a problem of another type. We want the guarding instinct, absolutely yes!, but not one as "hair trigger" as some can be.

To avoid getting a highly intense GSD, a family must do some research and make sure they are getting a family bred dog if their intent is to have a family minded dog... It just makes sense, right? For us, the Family GSD is the perfect fit for us. Due to the different personalities within each litter, please let us know what your expectations are and we'll help you to pick the best fit for you and your family. **There are occasionally the intense "working type" pups due to their bloodlines, and those will be recommended for the experienced homes only.

Remember, our goal is a healthy, well balanced, strong structured Family and/or Service Dog. We strive for that perfect fit!

Some of the traits we strive for.

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1st is mentality: In my quest for the Independent Thinker, I've learned a great deal from studying the vast amount of information that the German Shepherd expert, Schafermeister Manfred Heyne, 13-time winner of the SV-Bundesleistungshüten has given us.

And 2nd is physical form:  The old style form that you see below is what we strive for

(these old style dogs are not streamlined, nor curved back, or small boned dogs)

They're very strong and sturdy

With the goals we have in mind, I tend to lean towards the beliefs of the most successful herding expert:  Schäfermeister Manfred Heyne  http://www.german-shepherdherding.com/the-genetic-origin-of-the-breed/  (It's interesting that that link appears to have disappesred. I have found other sites that have the information though. It's a hard find, seems to have been buried, but if you look up "A Visit With Schäfermieister Manfred Heyn" you should be able to find it. Here is another link, although not as focused on Heyn as the original link: https://germanshepherd.me/history-of-the-german-ddr-shepherd/ 

Here is an exerpt from that interview with Manfred Heyne  ; “…….In Germany: These dogs are expected to work independently without disrupting the sheep in the graze.  To develop dogs like this — dogs that work reliably, diligently and independently, yet willingly obey the shepherd’s commands — one must establish a special working relationship — a working relationship very unlike the relationship often seen in the obedience trial ring or in other command/control sports  ………My experience as dog handler for the past sixty years has brought me to the point where I can now state “Obedience is genetic.” 'Obedience is genetic ─ there is no heritage more valuable than this . . . . And what has the SV done with it? ─ for the past forty years at local club training fields handlers are heard loudly shouting commands at their dogs despite the use of electric shock collars and other training methods.............”

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There is much more to learn from if one wants to do some hard leg work of research, to read the articles on this amazing man, so I hope all who that find this interesting can find it. It was written by one of the last people this wonderfully talented and vastly experienced man mentored, a person by the name of Ellen Nickelsberg who now has this awesome mans bloodline after his passing..and his passing is a loss for us all because he was a BRILLIANT man with a deep love and unsurpassed talent with this breed. He did forge his own way though! He did not agree with those that evolved within the show ring and their the modern CH dogs. He had tried a few of the top dogs in the world and found he couldn't leave them to tend the sheep alone, they only worked by command! Yes, they followed his commands but were no good when left to their own, and he needed "independent" working dogs, able to be left with the sheep if need be.

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But anyway, Self thinkers are the ones we look for as well.  They should know the difference between real threats and games. These dogs are smart, they know a game when they see one, and they know real danger when they sense it, as they should! We don't want ours attacking for the fun of it! .... Our dogs have all shown their protective side, (and come under QUICK control when I tell them to and when I let them know "I've got it" )  but they won't bite for the fun of it, and because of that they are amazing when it comes to serving and protecting the family unit.

 

Here's a great example of "intelligent disobedience".... A Guide Dog for the blind: If that dog is given a "forward" command and it obeys without thinking, regardless of the dangers of that command, it could end in death as they both get hit by an oncoming car.... It takes quite a bit for a dog to intelligently disobey commands. They are obedient, but smart as well! So early training is recommended! These are highly intelligent dogs and they need that training, in fact they will flourish under it!

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Here's a little bit of info on the basic structure of the GSD history and currently. While we strive to keep the proper old style of form, faults will sometimes crop up no matter the bloodlines we choose, but when it does come up, we remove the parent from our program.

** ( All these photos were found with a public search using Google)

So do your research, learn the difference in today's structure and the old structure, know the difference between DNA'd "Stud dog" and DNA "Health Tested". One is a simply a number assigned by AKC to frequently used stud dogs, and the other is a health test, for one or many possible inherited health issues. We test for 150, 50 of which CAN affect the GSD.

 

So find a responsible breeder that strives for the 'best of the best', someone that focuses on quality rather than quantity, on bettering the breed's health, is educated in the breed, it's history, it's health, and is willing to answer all your questions and guide you through the process. There are many of us out there, so a little bit of research and a lot of questions should get you to the right breeder of the most wonderful family dog your family could ever have,

The beautiful German Shepherd! 

Feb 2019 month of snow Presentation1.jpg
Pearlinhaus German Shepherds

2019 brought us an unusual amount of very fast & deep snow that had us all snowed in for a while....and even the dogs were feeling it!

Even though we complained about being stuck in it a lot, it is kind of cool and I've got a LOT of good photos from it!
Old Style Family German Shepherds of Pearlinhaus
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