# Breeders in IL/IN (10 hour radius from central IL) area?



## Corbyn (Jan 5, 2019)

My partner and I are starting our search for a GSD. I am a former Manchester terrier breeder (involved in earth dog, obedience, conformation, and was active as a junior handler), but I have no contacts nor know who is a good breeder of GSDs. We just recently got our first dog together (a pembroke corgi), and we would like to add a second before he is past the age where he will enjoy having an overactive puppy bouncing all over him. He is currently 6 months old, and he loves playing with bigger dogs because he is far too rough a player for small dogs. (His usual playmates are a husky, a GSD, and an oversize aussie). He would really benefit from a playmate at home, too!

I do basic obedience training myself because of my background with dogs. We do plan on doing performance sports with him. I am pegging him for agility, but we plan to pick whichever is the best fit for him. We would like to do the same for a GSD, if we get one. There is a local training club which does agility, flyball, and rally, as well as competition obedience. I don't necessarily care that a dog I get be the best at performance sports. I just want to have fun and be able to give my dogs a good time and a good energy outlet with us. 

Colour, sex, and coat is not important. I can handle grooming a long coat if an oops pops in a litter. Show line or working are both fine. I prefer ones that are not overly huge, preferably parents on the lower side of the standard, but that is hardly a deal breaker as long as the dog is well-bred. Puppy to young adult are all fine, though I know adults they might be more expensive rather than less. 

What IS important is that the dog be healthy, well-bred, and have an excellent temperament. My husband has an animal-assisted psychotherapy business which our corgi is currently in training for, and we would like our GSD to also be involved. They must be stable and calm temperament, not anxious, friendly with people and other dogs, etc. Obviously early socialization is very important from the breeder, as well as parents' temperaments, and we would do the rest from when we got the pup.

We rent in a pet-friendly house, and of course we will discuss fully with our landlord prior to even going on a wait list. This is mostly a preliminary search for breeders to begin communication with while we talk to our landlord (he likes to know what breed, age, etc. are most likely before making final approval). We have no intention of moving from here until we are ready to purchase a house of our own. Our house is large (two story) with a very large yard, but we don't let our dog out without supervision anyway. We have a pretty decent amount of time at home between the two of us, as my partner sets her schedule and I can do some work from home. At least one hour long walk/jog a day is normal, and a second walk if needed. Plus regular playing, and of course quality snuggling time. Our pets are most certainly our family.

Price is a factor. $2000 is likely our limit. If this is not doable with our needs, please let me know, and we will look at other breeds which may be a good match. I am especially partial to GSDs due to their intelligence, loyalty, and temperaments (plus past experience with GSDs!), but obviously we need to find the right dog for our fit AND our price range. We can travel up to probably around 10 hours for the right breeder, but we would prefer closer, of course. We are located in Central Illinois. We would be looking no sooner than summer most likely, as that will give us time to save up for purchase price, a second crate, money for vaccines and emergency fund, etc.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

lhczth on here is a breeder in your area.
Quellwasser is another

If you want to travel or have a puppy flown in then
Warkonhaus is in State College
Sitz von der hose and Olgameister in Marion NY

If you do a google search with the site name and breeders, you will find a ton of threads.


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## GypsyGhost (Dec 29, 2014)

For WL breeders, I’d add Feuergarten in TN if you are willing to travel a bit. Alexis is awesome to work with. @GatorDog on this forum. If you are interested in ASL lines at all, maybe PM @WateryTart. She might be able to guide you to some good breeders in the general area.


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## Corbyn (Jan 5, 2019)

Thanks for the responses. Do these recommendations include price limitations on our end? As I mentioned, if what we need is simply not doable within our budget, we would rather know before we really begin our search. Average GSD prices we searched I am sure include poorly bred ones from BYB type breeders, so we are taking them with a very definite grain of salt.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

2000 will get you a nice working line puppy. You should talk to the breeders directly about what they charge.


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## WateryTart (Sep 25, 2013)

I do not think you are that likely to find a high quality American show line puppy in this area of the country for less than $2000-2500. While I am not familiar with all of these breeders’ pricing structures, I would expect to pay $2500-3500 for a puppy from any breeder I would recommend to you.

That being said, I would strongly urge you to do your research and buy the puppy that best fits your needs, regardless of line type. Don’t let the price tag make your choice for you. Money can be saved over time if needed. Having the right dog is priceless. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Auf der Marquis has a nice litter on the ground now, all males. The breeder is located in SW, MI. https://www.aufdermarquisgsds.com/
I highly recommend Wildhaus kennels in SE, Michigan, though they don't breed often and the upcoming breeding may all be reserved.
(German Shepherd Puppies For Sale in Michigan, by Wildhaus Kennels )
IMO, flyball can be pretty hard on a GSD's structure. I personally would not seek out the breed if wanting to compete in that sport. There are many other sports the breed excels in.


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## konathegsd (Dec 3, 2016)

Vom amwolf is in mazon. My pup is from them and he is extremely stable, well bred, solid nerve. He is good with all dogs and strangers. He is a medical alert service dog in training so I needed an incredibly solid dog. He is rather large though for 8 months old.
I drove from CA to IL to get this boy


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Corbyn said:


> We do plan on doing performance sports with him. I am pegging him for agility, but we plan to pick whichever is the best fit for him. We would like to do the same for a GSD, if we get one. There is a local training club which does agility, flyball, and rally, as well as competition obedience. I don't necessarily care that a dog I get be the best at performance sports. I just want to have fun and be able to give my dogs a good time and a good energy outlet with us.


I started out in flyball by taking a for fun class at a shelter and was hooked! Halo absolutely loved it, and would clearly excel in the sport. Five years later she had her Onyx award (20,000) points and had been up to the #19 ranked GSD of all time in the North American Flyball Association. She would still be racing if she hadn't developed degenerative myelopathy shortly after her 8th birthday. Her last tournament was March 2017. We lost her in June.  

My recommendation is if you want to try a flyball class (and you should, if offered, it's tons of fun!) but your training club just dabbles and doesn't race in tournaments, look for a flyball club nearby for further training. Some of the early foundation stuff is fine with a general type training facility but the box turn needs to be trained by people who know what they're doing in order to be as safe for the dog as possible. 

My puppy Cava is starting her flyball training, but I'm being very conservative and taking my time. She was 8 months old before I began going to practice, and for the next 3 months we just did short recalls on the flat (no jumps), working on having her drive to me for her tug, and adding other dogs running side by side and from the opposite direction. At around 11 months old we introduced jumps, but we're only using the 6" bases so it's more about working on striding and teaching her to stay in the lane than any actual jumping. I'm not going to start training the box turn until April, when she's 15 months old, in order for her bones and joints to develop. Once she's old enough and trained sufficiently to enter her in tournaments, she will still only be going over jumps that are 7" to 9" high, unlike agility. In flyball, the smallest dog racing on each team we enter sets the jump height for that team.


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