Life must go on, like it or not...

I am really just a pet owner who breeds a litter of and on... Breeders are not supposed to get too attached to their dogs, well, this is true from what I have seen from breeders in the show circuit. I am not like that, that is clear. Zuni was brought here to be my pet and our protector and look what happened... An out of control hobby arose.

Super star V20 Lana delivered a healthy litter of pups Sired by Eiko von Santamar on the 22nd of December. Boy is she a great whelper.
It created a sensational line breeding of 3, 3 on V2 (12th in the World) Ultri von der Wienerau.
This means, that on Lana's, as well as on Eiko side, Ultri is the Grand Mother of Lana and Eiko, thus the Great Grand Dam of these pups.

That is probably something I am the only one in the world who can do this, being that not many will have male and female grandchildren of Ultri. A 3, 3 on a male is much easier to accomplish, because the males can produce a lot more pups over their short breeding carreers, but a 3, 3 on a GREAT female, is a needle in a haystack combination. So I am pretty excited to see the pups grow up. Especially the females are of great importance, because from what I have seen is that a line breeding on a great female (such as the result of Zaoa of the Z litter) is that it will (hopefully) in the female pups bring in most of the external charactaristics of the female they were line bred on ie: V2 Ultri.

So we will see what the future brings, whether the females OR the males turn out better in this combination.

Sadness at vom Kerschberger

The saddest day of my life happened upon me on the 8th of October, when not one, but two of my dearest and greatest dogs I will ever have the honor of being their care giver to, passed on.

How likely is it that when I finally was ready to surrender Dian to life over the rainbow bridge, after a long struggle with a paralising disease, that not much than 6 hours later on that day Zuni would contract mesenteric torsion, which is twisting of the small intestines, and could not be saved?

I am not just devastated, but stunned as well. My only consolation is to have been so lucky to have known such Truly great dogs.

Zuni, aka Nolte von der Wienerau, has passed on the best of his genes in several Kerschberger litters that will show in small steps only, but boy, was he able to pass on his incredible character in dogs such as Wolfi, Cody, Luke, Zeuss, Zaoa and Bonita. There are many more, but I am pretty out of it now.

Zuni was 11 years and 8 weeks old, born on August 22nd, 1997, not old enough, not long with me enough, only 8 yrs and weeks. He arrived here at age three on August 17th, 2000. He was in good health throughout his life, though battling arthritis, still loving his walks still and eating well. Slowing down from his crazy self lately, but still the superb Alpha male of this pack which he managed with great tolerance and wisdom. Remaining tolerant to even the peskiest of pups.

What does one do when the love of your life leaves you... I have no clue other than I will honor him and am greatful, so greatful, to have been in the presence of him for this time, have his progeny and two of his grandchildren to keep me smiling some day again. There can only be one Zuni. There is no description of the pain and void in my life. The joy that was given to me by such sheer a crap shoot of having him enter in my life by the way how he did enter in my life, well, lets rephrase that, it probably was not luck nor a crap shoot, but destiny. THAT must be what destiny is. To not only learn so much about how a certain breed is supposed to be, but to learn so much about oneself through greatness like this, that can not be co-incidental. It sets the bar very high.

VA Dian still receives admiring emails from around the world. His greatness will be passed on through his Swedish Best of Breed, Best in Show son Space Tobini and his Russian Champion daughter Avangard Glace. He also has progeny in many more countries, including Argentina, the Philipines, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland. He has joined the historic rankings of the cream of the crop of the German Shepherds, the VA ranks in Argentina and Sweden. (excellent select ranking only extended in the Nationals of each country) I will miss him.

When I left the emergency vet clinic that night after Zuni had just passed, I walked onto the parking lot towards my car. It was dark, and the two light posts covering the parking area instantly went out. My car was parked between the two post. All other lights covering the remaining complexes remained on. I exclaimed HE's SIGNING ME He's OK!!! In darkness I fished my purse out of my car to pay the clinic, and while walking away from the car, the lights came back on... I rest my case, these two were special. ,
Two lights for two dogs for two Greats!
Here a short video clip of each, left is Zuni and below his video is Dian. The white nose is sun protection!
Gina

and the beat goes on

V20 Lana delivered the L litter of pups on the 15th of December 07 Sired by Zuni. Three only, 2 boys, 1 girl. Two for me, and one to sell. This may well be Zuni's last litter, as he's 10 1/2 so I have to be careful with what I sell. All three are very good looking pups. This is "Lancelot" ;) I absolutely want one more Zuni son to raise here and this is him. Zuess is already Five after all. Fiesty and independent he was from day one this boy.

I'm working on some very great future generations, but its hard work and a lot of puzzle pieces to put and keep together this bloodline.

Utica is pregnant by Cody, Zuni's fabulous 100% Wienerau son. She is due on the 20th of Feb 08 with 3 to 4 pups. She never has large litters, some females do, some don't. After this litter she will be retired from breeding and move to a friend who has a German Shepherd and she'll be doing a bit of Schutzhund with her.

Meantime, another incredible female is arriving on the 21st! Which will hopefully insert more of the rare Wienerau bloodline into this tiny breeding program of mine.

The Next Generations

The purpose of any hobby breeder (meaning non commercial and in it for the betterment of the breed) is to perpetuate your own bloodline of choice. Those who have your kennel name on them and to show them and hopefully do well in the show circuit. Realistically this is a tough long road and many people with good intentions, lack the stamina and the money to do so. Therefore, they try to offset the cost of this with selling some of the pups.
There is not one litter wherein all pups are good enough for breeding, no matter what the breed. IF you're lucky, out of a litter of 10 you have 2 or 3 which will qualify to IMPROVE the breed in any of the following ways, but rarely in ALL of these requirements:
Health
Conformation
Character

Health is extremely important, naturally. In a German Shepherd dog, the joints are always nr 1. Today, the German SV requires all pink papered dogs to get hip/elbow approval for breeding.

Conformation: This is important because it usually pertains to what the dog was bred to do.
Hunting, Herding, Swimming and such.
In the GSD it is connected to the athletic workability, stamina. Therefor, structurally they must be of the standard.
The cosmetics, such as color, eye, coats (long or stock coated) teeth, are important but secondary.

Character: in a GSD the dog for breeding must be confident, character outgoing and strong and have courage.
Be a trainable dog. If a dog has weak nerves, this dog will pass this on in some of the pups, especially if its the dam who raises them.

Schutzhund therefor is building a GSDs resume. This is the German's three phase sport for protection, training and tracking which all dogs have to pass. In addition, the dogs for breeding must be hip/elbow approved, DNA registered, and Critiqued by a judge. This is called the Körung.

In short, a lot of money and time is invested in these dogs. The German Shepherd dog is still the most demanding breed for any breeder to be in IF IT IS DONE RIGHT.

The Next Imports...

I then was able to purchase Joga and Uschi vom Klebinger Schloss. Joga was 6 and never conceived, which was a darn shame as she is a daughter of VA Odin Hirschel and V2 Ultri vd Wienerau. But, she had erratic heat cycles and bled too much and was spayed for her health and found that she had cysts in her uterus.

Uschi and I have quite a history together. I obtained her at age one WITHOUT her papers from her owner. It then took a YEAR to get her papers from the German Schäferhunde Verein and 'socalled' and self-proclaimed scam artist heir to the vom Klebinger Schloß kennel of Germany. It was quite a fight of manipulation and intervention of the SV to get her papers, but resistance was futile and in the end, I succeeded to obtain her registration papers and here we are FOUR years and a half years later!!! THAT is how much I believe in this fabulous female and her incredible bloodline. To boot, Uschi is line bred 2, 3 on 12th in the world Ultri vd Wienerau. Its simply UN beatable!

Mind you, at one time, I almost gave up on the system, but I plugged on. There was a lady with a 25 acre property, who wanted to adopt her in exchange for me being able to breed her still when I wanted to, but that didn't work out after a while, I went and picked Uschi back up as I got cold feet when the woman became demanding and wanted Uschi spayed suddenly. I was afraid she'd spay her behind my back and that was a chance I wasn't going to take.

Uschi, though at age FIVE, I still decided she was so worth it sending her to Germany for her SchH training. Even if its only litter and I get only one female out of it, it is worth it to me.

In spring of 2004 I was able to bring VA Dian vom Baronenwald to the USA.
A gorgeous male and a great find. (now retired)
He is the son of VA1 (italy) Hobby vom Gletschertopf >>>>

After that purchase, I was able to bring in Gina vom Trossbachtal. The daugther of one, if not THE best producing male in the GSD world, called Hobby vom Gletschertopf. And half sister to VA Dian vom Baronenwald. And with her came Utica vom Lehnhof, the daughter of another superb producer, Zeppo vom Klebinger Schloss and Gina Trossbachtal. Here pictured is Gina T.

Out of Gina x Zuni I kept GiGi, a fabulous old line world look she has. Because both Sire and Dam are from the late 90's she is so special. All the over sized - breeding mishaps of the time during 97-06 happened when judges started favoring the more massive masculine looks, thereby letting over-sized dogs in the breeding programs, with as a reaction. Over -sized dogs. The SV has become strict again and the standards have to be adhered to again. GiGi however, had one litter with difficulty whelping, loosing three pups, and that is unacceptable. I can't have a female in C-sections for each litter. So, she was spayed and adopted out to a great home.

Out of Dian and Utica I have "hellonlegs" Hermania vom Kerschberger. A handful of super drives dog which could easily become a police dog. She never walks, only runs. And, its best that she carries something (prey) in her mouth or she is looking for trouble with the other females.... (yes, picking a fight for dominance). Hermania is sold to a k9 department due to those drives.

Then came another great find. V20 Lana vom Klebinger Schloss (by now you are seeing the name vom Klebinger Schloss again and again) Simple explanation: Lorenz Stroble, the breeder of vom Klebinger Schloss, was very good friends with Walter Martin. The breeder of the Wienerau Kennel. Lorenz bred under the Wienerau kennel name under guidance of Walter Martin until Walter died in 1996. Which was something Walter Martin did with many 'unknown' breeders. Thereby, helping them with his knowledge of the 'stamping' process. (=what a dog passes on consistently to his offspring) Walter was an extremely jovial kind and generous man. He 'gave' dogs away often and created a lot of goodwill because of it. He was the most prolific breeder of his time with a 50+ year resume!

Back to Lana.... I was able to bring in Lana in the spring of 06. She was pregnant by V11 Xaro d'Ulmental, a fabulous male, but not my first choice, of course. I was not the one who had control of that breeding. And only because of his lack of immediate Wienerau blood was Xaro not my first choice. He is a gorgeous male. However, I will be up against that at some point, so I must seek out the Wienerau Type, even if they lack the pedigree. Xaro is not that type, but gorgeous he is. I kept one female pup, Jexi, who now has returned from Germany with her Schutzhund Title as well, together with Uschi. The female is much of her mothers type, but smaller, which is a good thing, as Lana is a on the upper size of the standard.

In breeding German Shepherds, we must stick to the standard size or the working ability is lost due to over-sized frames.

And now, V19 (29th in the World) Stella vom Trompetersprung arrived in March 08. Daughter of VA4 Oduscha vd Wienerau and VA8 Ghandi von Arlett.