I'm looking to purchase a german shepherd and the website i found brairwoods german shepherds looks very attractive. has anyone purchase from them and if so how was your experience please share?
2007-03-07 16:32:37 · 15 answers · asked by LORDOSOO 1 in Pets ➔ Dogs
I have never purchased a dog from them, but I thought that I should let you know to make sure that any puppy that your purchase comes from parents that have been OFA certified with either an excellent or good rating (anything else means bad hips). I looked at their website and I could not find any OFA information or health guarantees on the puppies. GSDs are extremely prone to hip dysplasia, and the bigger the dog the worse the hips are (generally).
2007-03-07 16:47:21 · answer #1 · answered by iluvmyfrenchbulldogs 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I have never purchased from them.
However, I'm looking at their website right now and there are a lot of things that are raising red flags in regards to their breeding program.
The first red flag is that this breeder is purposely breeding dogs that are outside of the German Shepherd breed standard. The dogs they are offering are oversized, and a number of them are long coated. Both the large size and long coats disqualify these dogs from ever being shown or titled in conformation.
The breed standard for GSDs specifies that females should be between 22 and 24 inches at the withers, males between 24 and 26 inches, and that the coat should be a double coat of medium length. The dogs with "feathering" (long hair) around the ears on the Briarwood site are long coats, which is a fault.
The second thing, aside from the fact that the dogs are outside the breed standard, is that the breeders apparently don't know what constitutes a healthy dog. The site is bragging about the dogs' weights - however, every single Shepherd pictured on that site is overweight. GSDs are not supposed to be fat - they're a working herding dog.
Third, I see absolutely no health information or titles on any of the dogs. A responsible breeder will give you OFA on hips and elbows of both parents of an upcoming litter and will give the same information on adults that are for sale.
A responsible breeder also does not breed dogs that aren't titled either in conformation (showing) or, for working dogs, have working or sports titles on them. If you look at sites of other breeders selling German Shepherds you will see an abundance of Schutzhund titles - it's because the GSD is a working dog, and a Schutzhund title shows there's working drive in the dog, and that it has a sound temperament to do the work it was bred for.
I would say - stay far, far way from this "breeder".
If you want a nice working line Shepherd, try Eurosport K9 http://www.eurosportk9.com/ or Leerburg http://www.leerburg.com/knl1.htm
If you want a nice show line Shepherd, try Haus Juris http://hausjuris.com/
If you want a companion dog, try a local Shepherd rescue - they can find you great dogs that will be wonderful in your family. There's a big German Shepherd board at www.germanshepherds.com (click on forums) that has a rescue section and people will help point you to a rescue that's local to you!
2007-03-07 18:08:28 · answer #2 · answered by Abby K9 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would stay away from a breeder that is intentionally breeding for this kind of size. I did go on the OFA website and saw that they have OFA'd some dogs. There were only like 22 dogs listed and they claim that they have been breeding since 1981. That says that they have had dogs flunk OFA or that they have not OFA'd everything. On the OFA site, they have only OFA'd hips on every dog listed. I did not see one OFA on elbows!!! A German Shepherd is not supposed to be this large. Contact me through my profile and I can try to get you in touch with some breeders that I would recommend for a dog. Let me know what you are looking for, specifically bloodlines. I will tell you that I took in a 16 month old boy a few weeks ago, he is East German Working and West German show. He is 28 inches and 120 pounds. This boy is a big lazy ox! I was surprised that he is so large out of the breeding he is out of. I have a 5 year old DDR male that is related to him, and my 5 year old is 27 inches and 95 pounds. To me that is a big boy. The other one is huge!
2007-03-07 22:22:19 · answer #3 · answered by bear 2 zealand © 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No I have not but I would steer clear of anyone breeding oversized GSD. There is a good reason that the breed standard doesn't ask for oversized dogs. I'm also concerned that there are no health clearances listed for these dogs. It is a bit strange that they do not list the dogs' registered names either. They also do not say that they offer any kind of contract or guarantee. Personally, I would run from these people. If you e-mail me, I can recommend some very good breeders of GSD with health certs, correct structure, and performance and/or conformation titles and you will get a contract/guarantee. You could ask on the pedigree database for GSD about this breeder but be prepared for some nasty people. Still a good place to get information though. You could also ask on the yahoo group I listed. There are owners and breeders who may know about this breeder or they can recommend one for you.
Bear2Zealand, I also looked on the OFA website and did see dogs with this kennel name. However, we do not know that these dogs are in their breeding program. They could have been purchased from the breeder and OFAed by the owners. Because there are no registered names on the breeder's website, we cannot tell if it is one of their breeding dogs or if it belongs to a puppy buyer. I would assume that at least some of the dogs are the breeder's own dogs but assumptions are not something to purchase a dog with. They could also be dogs in their foster program and the foster owners may have had the x-rays done because they wanted to, not because it was a requirement before the dog went back to the breeder for breeding/whelping. It also is good to remember that dysplastic results are not necessarily shown. The owner has the option to not have the results posted if they are bad and many don't even send them in if they know the dog won't pass.
Abby-K9, you are right. These dogs are F-A-T! I was shocked to see how fat they were. Even dogs at a show weight (heavier than working weight) are not that fat. These poor animals are being kept overweight just to make them seem larger than they are. That is wrong on so many levels.
2007-03-07 17:06:23 · answer #4 · answered by Erica Lynn 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
German Shepherd Rescue Michigan
2016-10-07 02:29:19 · answer #5 · answered by chappel 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I do not have any experiences with them but I do have a suggestion. Depending on how much you are willing to spend you might want to check into www.banffyhaus.com. They are a small kennel in Ostrander, Ohio (near Columbus) that breeds and imports German working line German Shepherds. They have a couple of litters a year and also offer partially trained older dogs. I have a 10 month old male from them that I will be doing Schutzhund with. The good thing about the German bloodlines is both parents have to have Schutzhund working title and have to have A-stamped hips in order to breed and have the litter registered. Since they have to have a working title this means they are of sound temperament and A-stamped hips are perfect hips or as close as it gets.
2007-03-07 16:59:54 · answer #6 · answered by Grace 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Giant German Shepherds
2016-12-14 07:32:11 · answer #7 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
On time-honored, mallies are smaller than a GSD, lighter in build, much less wellbeing subject concerns, severe preypersistent, decrease threshold to preypersistent, much less of an "off swap", and often worse nerves/extra gentle than your time-honored working line GSD. i like the saying that a malinois is largely a small german shepherd on crack cocaine. i does not get a mally till you wanted to genuinely artwork the canines each and on a daily basis. in case you're extra into having a kin puppy which you additionally can do schutzhund with in the weekends, or a canines which will shield your loved ones against an interloper yet carry out inclusive of your babies in the process the day, then a GSD might win arms down. some mallys that i've got met are very, very sharp and a legal accountability to very own. %. your breeder heavily.
2016-09-30 09:13:15 · answer #8 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was going to purchase a puppy at the end of July 2015 from Brairwood. I sent my deposit to hold the dog of my choice (chosen via pictures). But after repeated attempts to get history of the bloodline as well as any OFA information, things began to fall apart. Every time I requested specific information, I received things like 'how to potty train your puppy' or 'how to stop them from chewing' Phone calls were never answered. So I finally sent a mail telling her that my request are reasonable and that any person wanting to purchase a AKC puppy has the right to that information. I promptly received a email that this was no way to start a owner/breeder relationship. Then she stated she was mailing back my refund.
Again phone calls went unanswered, and now emails went unanswered. We did get our money back, but it appears to me that not all things with this kennel are on the up and up.
Including not letting you see the pups before pickup date,
mother/father not at kennel to be seen
no paperwork
required prepay with out seeing dogs.
I would recommend finding another breeder if possible.
2015-08-04 08:35:50 · answer #9 · answered by Jim 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Quick glance at their website.. the fact that they breed ' oversized shepherds ' suggests that they don't care much about sticking to the standard. The standard isn't there just for ' showing ' it is what the dogs are supposed to look like, and be like. Dogs of certain breeds are certain sizes because that is the best size for their bones etc. Too big is not good, and oversized is worse.
2007-03-07 17:22:46 · answer #10 · answered by DP 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋