Hi Karen,

I, also, will be getting a GSD from a very responsible and reputable breeder once I get my house this summer (hopefully). I love rescue, I have always been very active in rescue and have always had a rescue dog, but certain breeds are so overpopulated and overly bred, poorly bred, and interbred that I am going to be VERY careful where I get my GSD pup from. I want to know who the parents are, I want them to be hip & elbow certified, I want them to be temperment tested and I want them to look good, act friendly, and be good with kids. I suggest be VERY careful with breeders, I have had some lie to my face about the quality of their dogs! Meeting the parents, seeing the family tree, and getting many testamonials is the best way to ensure you get a wonderful specimin of that breed. I look for GSD breeders on the web SO often, I have probablly glanced over well over 200 different sites on breeders, both local and out of state, and I finally just chose (I think) the breeders that we are going to go to. My hubby really wants a white GSD, I really want a German import black & tan GSD, so I have been looking for breeders with the highest quality dogs of each color at the most reasonable price.

I hope this does not sound snobby, but the web sites that look like they took a long time and a lot of work to create are often worth looking at. Odds are that the real good, responsible breeders will not post an add in the newspaper so just take note of that. Also, the good breeders will give you a written guarantee against any genetic health defects (hip, elbow, eyes, temperment...ect). A good breeder will pretty much break even with every litter, they will not make any profit from the sale of their pups, so use your intuition. I am going to sound snobby again, but I don't mean to. When you go to meet the parent dogs, see what the owners of the dog look and act like...if their house is in poor condition, their clothes are old and battered, and they generally use poor grammer, they may be breeding strictly for the money, and cutting corners on the quality of their dogs because it's more costly. The owners should love their dogs and have a professional appearance and the living facilities for both dogs and people should be clean and orderly. That's just what I have seen. I am by far perfect with my grammer, and I am not a fashion guru in any way, I just believe that breeders should have professional qualities. I SURE hope I did not offend anyone....

So those are a few ideas and hints to finding a good breeder. Sorry to have such a long post *again*! I hope everyone's not sick of hearing me babble on!!!

By the way, I am not going through all of this to find a show quality GSD, we will probablly only get pet qualities, as I have NO interest in confirmation or breeding, but I want all the other qualities of a show quality dog (intelligance, willingness to learn, proud, brave, friendly.....etc)