oknika wrote:
First of all, I want to thank everyone for responding so quickly to my
inquiry.
I am a beginner and unfortunately besides the GSD and the AKC
abbreviations, I don't know much more. So please bear with me
remembering the days when you just got started
Graff was brought here as a puppy and has his Pedigree certificate,
passport, chip and all over documents that are required to legally
bring a dog (The AKC registration I am finding out about, my dad said
he had registered, but I am not sure it was done correctly so I am
looking into it)
The dog was trained by a professional dog trainer. He is very sweet
to people and is good with dogs (he actually gets picked on by my
neighbors miniature poodle).
Obviously I do not want my puppy's puppies to be born into bad
conditions just for the purpose of someone wanting to make a buck;
that's why I am trying to find out everything that I can do to allow
him to have a happy full life.
So question #1:
Once the dog is registered with the AKC, what would you recommend
doing?
Oksana

After having read Diane's excellent advice, if you are still interested in
breeding, I would suggest that you become informed on the difference between
the AKC GSD and the SV GSD, and decide which arena you wish to participate
in. There are some internet groups devoted specifically to GSDs of either
type. Googling to finding one of them would be a start. (There used to be
something called the German Shepherd Dog Web Ring, but I haven't looked into
it in a number of years, so I don't know what's out there now.)

Frankly, there are plenty of European imports in the hands of people who are
experienced breeders right now, so whether your dog would add anything to
the breed's gene pool is questionable. But on the other hand, even good
breeders started somewhere. I'd say find a few breeders whose dogs you
admire, and ask them to evaluate yours. Perhaps they will mentor you. Also
be aware that an SV-style GSD may not do very well in the AKC comformation
ring, and vice versa. Really, you need to find some people you trust who are
active in the GSD world.

It's my completely personal view that you have to be even more careful when
breeding GSDs than with many other breeds. They have an intensity and drive
that can make the consequences of poor breeding even more dire.

In any case, be prepared to put a lot of work into proving your dog
breedworthy.