[Jeannie]

Anna.. I bred German Shepherds for many years... as well as border collies.... however, I've owned (rescued) a few purebreds and mutts as well... we trained them for the handicapped at our expense.... we fed, trained, vetted and housed them until we found a suitable human for them, then we would specialize train to suit the individual. ......the only thing we asked for was that they pay for spay or neuter and shots.... Would you believe some people balked at having to pay those charges? They had no idea what the cost would be to have a dog specially trained....( around $8,000).....

Word spread rapidly and we were offered dogs by breeders who had too many dogs...or people that couldn't keep their dogs.
You would be surprised how many bad breedings there are out there.. People who don't know what they are doing, but just breed with no regard to temperament or health.

We kept ownership of the dog....so that in the event that the dog was not treated properly, we could remove the dog. Also, we kept in contact with all those that had one of our dogs, so that we could do brush up training...or train new things. It also was a way to help the person work the dog in its tasks.

If people would on realize that having a dog is a life long commitment, that owning a dog means you are responsible for its behavior, health and well being, and just as importantly to train it to be a good citizen.......and it's not a disposable item like tissues...

We used to do seminars in the park. The first session was without their dogs.. It lasted 2-3 hours.. and it was jammed packed with information on behavior, health, feeding, caring for, housing of, etc. My partner and I had our dogs with us...we usually took about 6 dogs...4 shepherds....and 2 others...