Bauernhoffen German Shepherds

03/06/2025

We are so proud of this pup from our “O” litter.
While we have titled some of our personal dogs, this is the first buyer to inform us they’ve titled their puppy. They even sent us a rosette/ribbon.
Our puppy parents often become like family, and his parents certainly have.

(I covered the parents names for privacy as they do not use social media).

02/13/2025

This sweet boy (originally known as Opie) from our “O” litter just completed his Star Puppy. He’d hsvd had it dooner but this was an oops litter and thd paternity yestd took a while. Turned out Libby hooked up with Hugo. Thankfully since he was the best match for her.
“Opie” will be entering his first scent trial soon.
His family isn’t on social media, so out of respect I put a cute emoji on his dad for privacy.
We are very proud and know he is destined to great things.

12/13/2024

✨ a crate ✨

ShopCanineAesthete.com

11/04/2024

Our dogs will NEVER be in a shelter. Our contracts say that you can NOT surrender or rehome a dog you got from us without our approval and we have first right of refusal Theo Ruth training or whatever id needed.

This is what it looks like when you surrender your dog to a shelter. This dog was dropped off to the shelter after being in a quiet home, with a bed and a family. This is diarrhea from having an upset stomach. Ever been so anxious to the point where you get sick to your stomach? This is a 24/7 feeling for a dog who has been surrendered. “Where is my family?” “Why am I in a cage?” “Why are all these dogs barking at me…?”

Imagine one day you’re taken from your luxurious life and thrown in a prison like place for no reason. Never to see your family again.

Did you know 50% of dogs who are surrendered to a shelter don’t make it out alive. Pets are a lifelong commitment. Do NOT get an animal if you cannot financially, emotionally, or physically care for them.

This picture is not my kennel. However, EVERY surrendered dog does this at a shelter. They would do it in mine too. It's heartbreaking.

11/04/2024

ONE COOL TRICK TO HEALTHIER DOGS

While there is no scientific evidence that one brand or type of dog food is better than another, there is a LOT of evidence that serious dog illness can be reduced, and that dog lives can be extended, by proper feeding.

And this is NOT new information, nor it is closely held information.

And this ONE SIMPLE TRICK is not just true for dogs; it’s also true for humans, rats, mice, fish, monkeys, and even worms.

This ONE SIMPLE TRICK has extended the lifespan and reduced illness in EVERY ANIMAL STUDIED.

And it’s held true no matter WHAT they ate or WHERE they lived.

Are you ready for this ONE SIMPLE TRICK?

Here it is: EAT LESS.

Calorie restriction ALONE extends lifespan of a population 10 to 50 percent, depending on the animal and the amount of restriction.

This is NOT NEW INFORMATION.

More than 80 years ago, McCay, Crowell, and Maynard wrote a paper entitled “The Effect of Re****ed Growth upon the Length of Life Span and upon the Ultimate Body Size”.

The data presented showed that restricting calories without malnutrition (i.e. not absolutely starving, and keeping up vitamins and micronutrients) significantly prolonged the lifespan of rats.

In subsequent years, experiments with EVERY OTHER ANIMAL studied have shown the same results.

LESS CALORIES MEANS LONGER LIFE AND BETTER HEALTH.

So what’s the data for dogs show?

Just this: Dogs from the same litter, when fed 75% of what their siblings were given, lived 1.8 years longer. Labrador Retrievers who ate their fill every day had a medium lifespan of 11.2 years, while the median life span of dogs on the restricted diet was 13 years — over 16 percent longer.

But that’s not all.

The dogs who ate fewer calories also had fewer expensive illnesses.

At age five, over half the dogs eating a full diet had osteoarthritis in their hips compared to 13 percent of the dogs on a calorie-restricted diet.

At age eight, 77 percent of the dogs fed a full diet had osteoarthritis, while only 10% of the diet-restricted dogs did.

What about cancer? Cancer showed up in all the dogs at the same rate, but showed up two years LATER in the calorie-restricted dogs.

That’s a LOT.

To be clear, NO OTHER FOOD INTERVENTION has been shown to so dramatically increase a dog’s lifespan.

What’s that mean in terms of dog food, no matter what or how you feed?

Simple: LESS CALORIES MEANS MORE LIFE AND LESS ILLNESS.

So what are the caveats?

Just this:

▪️No matter what you feed, your dog will eventually die of something. A lot of the gains in cohort mortality are due to eliminating mortality due to obesity, not absolutely extending the life of the healthiest animals.

▪️Size matters. No matter what you feed, big dogs (as a group) tend to die sooner than smaller dogs (as a group).

▪️Right feed cannot fix wrong breed. While a calorie-restricted diet will probably help extend the life of your dog and reduce veterinary costs, it is NOT an antidote for genetic defect (often due to inbreeding within a closed registry) or morphological deformity (brachycephalia, freakishly long or sloped backs, etc.).

▪️Real world mortality gains in dogs may be less than what we see in the laboratory where the base line is often a "free feed" situation that encourages obesity. In addition, once-a-day feeding appears to extend life the most perhaps by providing a longer period of "fasting" between meals.

Links here >> https://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2022/10/one-cool-trick-to-healthier-dogs.html

11/01/2024

What Is Kennel Blindness?

Choosing an adult sire/dam to start a breeding program? Keeping a puppy from a litter within your breeding program? Buying a puppy to start a breeding program / kennel? All are important decisions that ultimately will have an impact on the future of your breed of choice and the quality of dog you produce. The term “kennel blindness” refers to a phenomenon at which a breeder is incapable of judging or criticising his or her own breeding stock and incapable of realizing that a dog within their program should potentially not be bred.

“The breeder, to be successful, must look his dogs…not only in the face, but in the body, front and running gear. Even to themselves many breeders will not acknowledge their failure when they fall short of their objective…and in an effort to convince others of the perfection of their dogs, [they] convince…usually only themselves.” K. Onsott

Every breed has a standard. This standard is a guideline and has been put in place with the functionality and temperament of the dog in mind. There is no perfect dog. There is always room for improvement. In order to improve we must first recognize flaws or faults and realize the areas at which we can improve. We can then find a complimentary match for our sire/dam and try to correct those faults and in turn better the breed. Below are some characteristics that may constitute somebody as “kennel blind”.

Denial
If your dog is consistently not doing well in the show ring, you blame everything BUT the potential that your dog may be flawed. Bad judges, inexperienced judges, show politics/drama/favoritism etc. Those concerns may be legitimate and validated for some of the results however if this is happening on repeated occasions under different judges, different venues, different organizations etc – perhaps there is a reason for it. That reason is likely that your dog does not fit the standard in one way or another. Instead of placing blame, ask somebody experienced in the breed to evaluate your dog and offer insight. Make sure you accept the potential criticism with an open mind.

Jealousy
The inability to see and appreciate the better qualities in your competitors dogs. If you find yourself only pointing out negative qualities in your competition but never in your own stock, you may be “kennel blind”. Next time you see another breeder with your breed of choice, take a moment to appreciate the good qualities that you notice instead of focusing on the bad ones. This could even act as a learning experience to compare and decide where you can potentially improve. Don’t be jealous if you feel they have better quality dogs than you. Use that as a motivator to improve the quality of your program.

Perfection
Believing your dog is perfect and cannot be improved upon. Such a specimen doesn’t exist. Even what someone may consider the best in their kennel or the best dog of their breed (historically or currently), there will still be something that can improve. Whether that’s conformation, esthetics, movement, temperament etc. There is no such thing as a perfect dog so if that’s what you’re flaunting you need to sit down and have a serious conversation with yourself and with your breed standard.

Nowadays with social media in the hot seat, it seems everybody thinks they have the top dog, the best dog or the perfect dog of their breed. Don’t get me wrong, we all have the ability to consider our dogs “the best” or “perfect” but from an owner standpoint, not from a breeder standpoint. Hyping up your dogs using fire and gorilla emojis does not validate their quality and confirm they are a good specimen to breed. Refer to my “Purebred VS Wellbred” blog for more on that here

Those who may be more susceptible to being “Kennel Blind”:

Small Kennels
If you only have a small selection of dogs to use and you are not working with an outside mentor or breeder (you buy a male and a female in hopes to breed them). When you don’t have much to choose from you may not be able or choose not to acknowledge the issues in front of you.

Ego
You hype up your dogs or a certain dog so much that when or if you notice an issue your ego gets in the way and you can’t admit it. You may get worried about your reputation or what other people think when you announce that said dog will not be bred or said dog is being removed from your program. In actuality this should make you look more favorable as a breeder who is genuinely paying attention and caring about the future and preservation of the breed.

Lack Of Knowledge
Perhaps you purchased a breed without researching or knowing much about it. Perhaps you purchased a sub-par puppy/dog from a non-reputable breeder. Perhaps you purchased a puppy/dog whose temperament is not favorable for the breed. If you don’t know any better then you more than likely will not see the problems in front of you. That may make you “kennel blind” but that can be corrected if you educate yourself ahead of time. Do the research and the work to find quality dogs before you start your journey into becoming a breeder and starting a kennel.

Income
If you are relying on your litters as primary income or you potentially don’t have additional income / are in financial distress, that may affect your objectivity. You may either realize that your dog is not of breeding quality but not have the financial ability to replace it, or you don’t realize at all because all you see are dollar signs. This circles back to your goal as a breeder and the purpose behind why you’re breeding. If you open your eyes to your breed history and breed standard, you’re less likely to run into kennel blindness.

How about those that are * not * kennel blind? These are some characteristics of breeders who do not possess this quality:
· Rarely satisfied with their dogs. Always nit picking, criticizing their own dogs flaws and faults more than others would. Well aware of where they can improve and striving to do so.
· Extremely picky when choosing new stock/ new puppies to add to their program.
· Happy to appreciate and acknowledge a nice specimen within their breed, regardless of who owns it.
· Ready and willing to remove a dog from their program and possibly even restarting from the ground up when realizing the specimen(s) they have may not be the best quality or have questions or doubts about where they purchased the dog from.

So how can we correct kennel blindness if we come to terms with this being our reality?

· Try to remember to keep the focus on the whole dog. Many breeders like to focus on one particular trait that they may become “blind” to other faults that may be arising. For example if you are a stickler for bone but don’t realize that your angulation and topline are going out of whack. We can absolutely breed and look for dogs that excel in our ideal qualities but we can’t lose sight of the whole package. Be careful not to deviate too far out of your standard or you may compromise structure and functionality.
· Ask for help. If you can find a breeder (one who is not kennel blind themselves and who is familiar with the breed standard) and have them do an honest evaluation of your dogs strengths and weaknesses. Accept the critique and keep an open mind. Don’t get defensive. Use it as education and value their opinion. You can ask several breeders and gather the collective critique.

· Be honest with yourself

Kelly McIntosh
Feb 18, 2021

09/22/2024

This is what it looks like around here when it’s time for monthly preventatives.
Sometimes there are vaccines too.
Tonight was flea, tick, & heartworm and a couple microchips.
We do have a few vaccines to do but not tonight.

08/02/2024

https://truthaboutpetfood.com/7-months-later-the-fda-finally-gives-us-information-on-purina/

The FDA report is shamefully sparse of pertinent details.

06/05/2024

This is one of several health reasons why our contracts state that spay/neuter should not be done until after the pup turns 2 years old.

https://www.facebook.com/share/epdkchp9jMj1DVTy/?mibextid=QwDbR1

"The results suggested that … g***d retention during the first 24 months of life—are strongly associated with lifelong avoidance of bilateral CCL rupture…Risk for CCL rupture was not influenced when g***d removal took place after the 24-month developmental period."

CCL injuries are one of the most common causes of pain and arthritis in dogs. Today at 12pm ET we're discussing how to prevent injury and available CCL treatment options.

👉If you haven’t joined our subscription group of 2.0 pet parents and want to learn more, just click the link below or head over to the Planet Paws page and hit the blue "Subscribe” button to join our weekly Livestreams + Archives!

https://www.facebook.com/becomesupporter/planetpawsmedia

05/29/2024

FORGIVE ME, MOMMY 😢🐾…
I was there where you left me for two whole days. Sleeping right on the side of the road. I was terrified of the noise from the cars but I did not move.
Last night one of those cars stopped and she got out. She invited me to lunch but I said no. She invited me to come sleep at her house and I also said no. I tried to explain to her that I was waiting for you but she wouldn’t listen. She pulled out a leash and said I couldn’t stay there any longer. I bit her several times and ended up peeing on myself as I growled and cried! She didn’t understand that she was separating me from you! She took me against my will and we drove off! I was so sad because I knew you were going to be worried. We ended up at her house.
I kept screaming hoping you would hear me but you never came. I vomited because of my nerves, feeling so sick. I kept telling her I had to go back because you were going to think I abandoned you when you saw I wasn’t there! I, who love you with all my heart and soul have not stopped crying since we separated a few days ago. I want you to know, I would never do that to you.
I don’t know where you are now or why you stopped the car and left me there. Surely you had something very important to do. Can you come find me now, mommy?
Today I ate because my tummy was hurting. I also slept on a very soft bed. And by accident I also wiggled my tail a bit. I’m so sorry, please forgive me. She’s just being really nice to me. She said I could stay forever. She’s calling me Savannah, but I already have a name. When you pick me up you can tell it to her. You’ll see how surprised she’ll be when you explain to her that this was a big mistake.
Because mommy, you’re coming back for me, right 😢?
Author unknown 🐾🐾

04/24/2024

We do NOT feed our dogs ANY Purina products.

Reports of sick pets have increased over recent weeks.

02/05/2024

We currently have…
One bicolor male, DOB 5/9/23 he is suitable for an active of sport home. He needs to be McCray snd physically exercised.

4 solid black females born 7/16/23
Three of which would be great for any home or possibly service dog or scent work. The other definitely needs a more active or possibly sport home.

One black and tan female born on 7/22/23 she has a string nose and will need to be on an active of working home with physical and mental exercise.

They have stable temperaments and solid structure., they are UTD on vacvines and are microchipped and AKC registered.

If interested in seeing photos or videos of any of the above please message or text me.

11/02/2023

Victor pet food recall.

TOPEKA (KSNT) – Mid America Pet Food is recalling three lots of dog food due to possible salmonella contamination. On Oct. 30, Mid America Pet Food announced it is voluntarily recalling Victo…

10/28/2023

We do not use this brand of feed but will leave the recall notice here for Retriever brand food anyway…

The administration has offered advice and guidance to anyone concerned that they may have been impacted by the recalled product.

10/08/2023

I’m sharing this link so people can understand the difference between working lines and show lines.
The first difference is aesthetics, second is athletics, followed by temperament and drive.
Working lines are well physically and mentally solid and well rounded dogs.
Show lines are bred to be pretty and run around a show ring.
That doesn’t mean that there aren’t exceptions. Yes show lines can be trained to work and if you show on the UKC or other shows then working lines can certainly bring home conformation titles.
Anyway, hopefully this article brings further clarity into the differences in the lines. We here Bauernhoffen German Shepherds breed working lines.

Bauernhoffen & DDR German Shepherds & Puppies serving the Eastern US.

https://kennelclubboarding.ca/pages/working-line-vs-show-line-german-shepherd #:~:text=Working%20German%20Shepherds%20have%20thicker,back%20are%20longer%20than%20front.

German Shepherd Dogs are not just a breed of dog, they are also a functional animal. If you are not yet aware you will understand some of the differences between working lines German Shepherd and show lines. To fully understand, it is necessary to first look at an overview of the history of the Germ...

09/26/2023

https://studyfinds.org/best-obedient-dogs/

Our list of the top five most obedient dog breeds includes all the well-behaved pups that are well-inclined to be fast learners.

09/13/2023

09/13/2023

This test is quick, easy and ESSENTIAL.