Our Philosophy and Ethics

We believe that when we choose to breed one of the members of our family that we are doing so with the intent of protecting the breed, improvement of the breed, and the continuation of the line that we have. Many hours of research, continuing education, training both for us and our dogs, health checks, vaccinations, wormings, stud fees, micro-chips, as well as hip and elbow certifications from Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) go into the preparation of a planned breeding. We do NOT breed just to breed our dogs. Our dogs are our pets. They live with us in our home and they are not caged nor kept separate from our family.

Since 1989, we have only produced 10 litters. When we plan a breeding it is not to produce companions for buyers; rather it is to produce a puppy for us to continue our line for show purposes; whether we show in conformation, obedience or any other arena. Despite many repeated talks with our dams, they still choose not to have one perfect show prospect, but have many puppies in a litter. Thus, we are in the occasional situation of placing puppies outside our home.

We do not just sell puppies. We believe that each puppy must be properly placed in a compatible companion or show home. The process of placing a puppy in a new home is both time consuming and expensive. We must care for the dam and her puppies, including all shots and wormings, interview the prospective buyers, prepare the puppy packets, and have a qualified and independent dog professional/trainer conduct a personality profile of each puppy in order to assist us in placing the correct puppy in the correct environment.

We are a signer of the German Shepherd Dog Club of America Breeder's Code of Ethics and take that vow seriously.

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The Perfect Puppy?

We do not believe that we have the perfect dog for every person. In fact, we refer many prospective buyers to other reputable breeders if that breeder would serve their needs and expectations better. What do we mean by reputable? To us a reputable breeder is someone who is actively participating in some aspect of the dog sport world whether it be conformation, obedience, tracking, agility, therapy work, herding, etc. They have dedicated their lives to this breed, they work with this breed, they spend countless hours training and learning more about this breed, and they are not "in dogs" just to make money by producing puppies.

In our opinion there is absolutely no reason to breed a dog unless it is your intention to keep one of the offspring in order to continue your line and to do what you enjoy in the dog sport world. There are many people out there who say they are “professional” breeders when in fact, in our opinion, that implies a business by the very use of that word. Dogs and puppies are not a business; but a love of the breed. There is no way that any reputable breeder can really ever make a profit due to having to keep puppies that do not sell, the unexpected cost of delivering a litter by cesarean section, losing an entire litter or even the dam herself, the extra food it takes to feed a pregnant and lactating bitch and her puppies, the shots and wormings, unexpected illness of the dam or the puppies, and the list goes on.

We firmly believe that all breeding stock should be OFA’d and pass on both hips and elbows prior to any anticipated breeding. Finally, we do not believe that an imported dog that has an “a” stamp for hips is the same as an OFA certification. Whether you purchase a dog from us or another breeder, please insist on seeing the actual OFA certification for hips and elbows for both parents. Unless the dogs are more than 7 years old, there should be a separate certificate for hips and elbows. Sample of a single OFA Certificate and two separate OFA certificates for hips and elbows.

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Chenoa Puppies

A brief summary of our requirements from prospective buyers and what you may expect from us follows:

In order to convey all the interesting and exciting information to our puppy buyers, after completion of an application, we will schedule an appointment with our puppy buyer at our home when the puppies are about six weeks old. At that time, they will have a placement and socialization period in which they will be given their puppy packets, which includes many articles and a list of books for further education on the care and training of the German Shepherd Dog. Additionally, at this time the prospective buyer can receive information on health, nutrition, training, socialization, humane crate training, and also get many of their questions answered. We feel that by doing this process now, the prospective buyer gets more information in an unhurried environment instead of trying to do it when they come to our home on the day they come to pick up their puppy. Finally, the puppy buyers will have an extended to time interact with all the puppies and their dam.

On the 49th day of age, a qualified, independent dog professional/trainer comes to our home and performs a puppy personality profile/test on each puppy (please follow this link to view the puppy test). This test has eight different tests that rate the overall trainability, play drives, prey drives, noise tolerance, sociability, excitability vs. easiness, dominance vs. submissiveness, hardness vs. softness and overall general personality of the puppy as it pertains to human acceptance. The test will also show whether or not he is destined to do well in retrieval work (for obedience/show dogs only). Additionally, a more sedentary lifestyle would not be conducive to a puppy who has a strong prey drive, which is great for retrieval/hunt work. Conversely, a person who wishes to show the puppy in the advanced obedience ring, doing retrieving exercises, would not do well with a more quiet, sedate puppy who wishes for nothing more than to go for short walks and sleep at the feet of its owner.

At eight weeks of age, the puppy goes to his or her new home. Eight weeks of age is the optimum time for a puppy to go to a new home. However, as stated in the Critical Periods article (which we hope you have reviewed by now), as long as the breeder or new owner does not expose the puppy to traumatic events during the fear imprinting stage (8-10 weeks of age) an older puppy can be placed and still form appropriate bonds with his new owner. Puppies that have been properly socialized and bonded with the breeder can be successfully placed at 10 to 16 weeks of age and they are still young enough to be considered "babies".

After placing our puppies in their new homes it is Chenoa's policy to have an "open door". We are available to answer questions and sooth "new mom" nerves at any time. In fact, we love to hear from our puppy buyers. Over the years, we have maintained contact with many of our puppy buyers and many send us Christmas cards and/or letters with pictures of their puppies. We enjoy seeing how the pups develop and fit into their new homes.

If you are interested in purchasing one of our puppies, older dogs, or just need a referral please contact us. We always look forward to talking dogs. If you wish to buy one of our puppies or dogs, please follow this link to our Questionnaire for Potential Puppy/Dog Buyers. You can fill it out and submit it on-line.

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