# Breeder Check



## r3tro23 (Dec 30, 2017)

Hey everyone, I'm new here and I'm looking for information regarding Von Der Otto German Shepherds. Anyone dealt with them in the past? If so, what are your personal experiences? Anyone info/feedback will be greatly appreciated. I am looking for a WGSL to add to my family and figured this community can help. :smile2:

Sorry if this has been repetitive, but feedback has only been sent thru PM's.


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## kimbale (Mar 7, 2017)

r3tro23 said:


> Hey everyone, I'm new here and I'm looking for information regarding Von Der Otto German Shepherds. Anyone dealt with them in the past? If so, what are your personal experiences? Anyone info/feedback will be greatly appreciated. I am looking for a WGSL to add to my family and figured this community can help. :smile2:
> 
> Sorry if this has been repetitive, but feedback has only been sent thru PM's.


Hey there and welcome! I have a 10 month old longcoat male from them and could not be happier with him. I actually went with Tia and Dan to SC Regionals a few weeks ago where Wolf earned his VP3. We had a blast! I talk to Tia and Dan all the time, they are great people and very knowledgeable about the breed. One of my favorite things about them is how they love to stay in touch with customers, they want to know how your dog is doing and what y'all are up to. They will also litterally spend hours just shooting the breeze with you and talking dogs. They're both with the Rockwall Sheriff's Dept, so just solid people.

Regarding the dogs, they've got some of the best WGSL bloodlines I've ever seen and for a while there it seemed like Dan was in Germany once a month. They're very involved with training their dogs and work very hard for their kennel. And their dogs have great temperments and they're gorgeous. You can see a lot of Wolf's photos on the picture forum, we are constantly getting complimented on him.

He also has great working capability. We've been doing scent work since he was 4 months and he's like a fish in water with it. We're headed to a scent work trial this weekend and then next weekend we start IPO training with a trainer the Ottos put me in touch with. Wolf was born to track and has really nice prey drive and has been doing well on the rag, and I'm excited to get him going in IPO.

Anyway, definitely recommend the Ottos. Feel free to PM me with any other questions.

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk


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## mego (Jan 27, 2013)

Wonderful breeder. I know a girl who works with them a lot and trains a lot of their pups. If I was looking for another showline I'd definitely consider them.


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## r3tro23 (Dec 30, 2017)

Thank you for your response Kimbale and mego. That was very helpful!

I am considering this other breeder if anyone has had any experience with them, East Point GS. (https://www.eastpointgermanshepherds.com)

I know someone else on here has put in a deposit for them, but I'm still new and can't PM them. Any info will be greatly appreciated!


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## mnm (Jan 9, 2006)

I do not know either breeder, but I have previously watched the video that East Point has posted on their website of their male from the BSZS, and not impressed at all. The dog has shallow bites, chewy grip and is not focused on the helper during the bark and hold, but turning away from the helper to locate handler. The dog almost came to a complete stop then jumped up, to the sleeve shoved in its mouth, for the long attack. My personal thoughts are that if you are going to showcase working ability from the BSZS, it better be good and correct work.

Also their information is a little deceiving, where they state their dogs have Sieger titles, when in fact, they do all have conformation show ratings (and some may be from the BSZS), but not a title of Sieger. Granted they do have some VA1's back in the pedigree, but not on their dogs. Misleading to potential clients. 

Otherwise, they do have nicely bred breeding stock. Guess it all depends on what you want to do with the dog, and who you happen to be more comfortable with. Good Luck.


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## kimbale (Mar 7, 2017)

mego said:


> Wonderful breeder. I know a girl who works with them a lot and trains a lot of their pups. If I was looking for another showline I'd definitely consider them.


You wouldn't be talking about Anna Duke, would you? She's great!


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## kimbale (Mar 7, 2017)

r3tro23 said:


> Thank you for your response Kimbale and mego. That was very helpful!
> 
> I am considering this other breeder if anyone has had any experience with them, East Point GS. (https://www.eastpointgermanshepherds.com)
> 
> I know someone else on here has put in a deposit for them, but I'm still new and can't PM them. Any info will be greatly appreciated!


I know Tracy and have spent a lot of time talking with her about pedigrees, dogs and her pups (you'll find the WGSL world is kind of small that way, lots of people know lots of people.) Never had a dog from her and haven't seen her dogs in person, but she, herself, is a great person. She spends a lot of time with her pups, puts them through a solid socialization program, and likes to stay in contact with her customers. Never heard a customer say a negative thing about her or her dogs. She also does a lot of importing, so if you want a line that she doesn't have, she can probably help you find and get it.

She recently imported a few pups from some very nice lines. Big fan of Cyrus; and Zlatko is from a nice Furbo line (Wolf is a Furbo grandson and I'm a diehard fan.)


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## r3tro23 (Dec 30, 2017)

mnm said:


> I do not know either breeder, but I have previously watched the video that East Point has posted on their website of their male from the BSZS, and not impressed at all. The dog has shallow bites, chewy grip and is not focused on the helper during the bark and hold, but turning away from the helper to locate handler. The dog almost came to a complete stop then jumped up, to the sleeve shoved in its mouth, for the long attack. My personal thoughts are that if you are going to showcase working ability from the BSZS, it better be good and correct work.
> 
> Also their information is a little deceiving, where they state their dogs have Sieger titles, when in fact, they do all have conformation show ratings (and some may be from the BSZS), but not a title of Sieger. Granted they do have some VA1's back in the pedigree, but not on their dogs. Misleading to potential clients.
> 
> Otherwise, they do have nicely bred breeding stock. Guess it all depends on what you want to do with the dog, and who you happen to be more comfortable with. Good Luck.


Thank you for your input! Would you consider them if my intent for the dog is to do obedience training and some light protection work? I'm not looking into competing. Sorry, I'm just trying to find a good breeder! Also if there are any suggestions of breeders that would be greatly appreciated!


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## r3tro23 (Dec 30, 2017)

@kimbale, I spoke to Tracy and she was very helpful! She answered all of my questions and was very informative. Can you recommend any other breeders for me to look at?


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## kimbale (Mar 7, 2017)

r3tro23 said:


> @kimbale, I spoke to Tracy and she was very helpful! She answered all of my questions and was very informative. Can you recommend any other breeders for me to look at?


I have a few I can point you to. What, exactly, are you looking for in a dog? You're obviously looking for West German Showlines. Do you want to do any dog sports, etc?


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## r3tro23 (Dec 30, 2017)

@kimbale I'm looking to do obedience training and off leash training, and I'm interested in doing some basic protection. I plan to take the dog on hikes and do outdoorsy activities. No show or competitions. Also, pedigrees with a deep red color. Thanks in advance for the help!


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## kimbale (Mar 7, 2017)

r3tro23 said:


> @kimbale I'm looking to do obedience training and off leash training, and I'm interested in doing some basic protection. I plan to take the dog on hikes and do outdoorsy activities. No show or competitions. Also, pedigrees with a deep red color. Thanks in advance for the help!


Got it! I'll PM you some suggestions.


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## WaysGSD (Dec 29, 2018)

We have 4 von der Otto dogs. One is from the 2014 Karson x Xena litter and is an awesome dog. Very healthy, beautiful color, and great temperament. Our second dog was from the 2018 Nix x Sadie litter and had a heart murmur when we brought her to our vet about a week after she came home. We took her to a cardiologist who diagnosed her with mitral valve dysplasia with left ventricular outflow tract obstruction, a congenital condition. Initial prognosis was a lifespan of 6 months, but she has responded better than expected to the medication and vets are now saying she should make it several years. Per the breeder's contract we did get a full refund on this puppy. Our next von der Otto dog was from the 2018 Aaron x Lessy litter. She's a long coat and very sweet, but very stubborn dog. Doesn't have the "willing to please" attitude of our past shepherds, though she is very cuddly. She also has soft (floppy) ears. While being boarded at the breeder recommended trainer's facility, the trainer had the breeder "tape" the ears with cardboard forms. The forms got wet and the ears fell, but we were told we could not take the forms out, we had to wait for them to fall out on their own and then redo them. So when we got the dog back from the trainer she had floppy ears with cardboard forms. We took her to an ear specialist who tried a couple different styles of taping, but ultimately said she did not have enough cartilage for her ears to ever go up. She couldn't say if the lack of cartilage was genetic or from trauma. Our fourth von der Otto dog is Sadie, the retired mother of the puppy with the heart condition. She is also very sweet, but we recently had x-rays done and she has moderate hip dysplasia in one hip. She is a trooper though, and still plays with the other 2 younger dogs. I'm just sharing what we've experienced with our von der Otto dogs and what our vets have told us. I am not in any way trying to breeder bash.


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