About 》In The Beginning
In the 1990s, I was a dog breeder of wonderful Cocker Spaniels and Alaskan Malamutes and a professional groomer. One day I was working on a grooming appointment for an employee of a large cable communications company and was offered a job. After several years working a corporate job, I realized how much I missed working with dogs and realized the growing need for quality dogs for the home and workplace alike.
My husband and I both loved the idea of working with dogs and, because my husband grew up with a very well-trained and amazing German Shepherd and I have seen what amazing family and working dogs they are, we decided to start a kennel to breed top German Shepherds true to German lines.
We spent more than four years researching German Shepherds and breeders before deciding on our first breeding male. We decided to name our male “Fury” after “Director Nick Fury”. A litter from one of our favorite breeder/mentors was bred with all the qualities we wanted. When the litter was born, there were four female puppies and no males. All four were great puppies which made it very difficult to choose but, with the help of the breeder, picked what was considered the best of the litter and, instead of starting with the male we planned on, Storm came home to Shield.
Obedience and socialization training started immediately, which at five months old, included a three-week trip to Alaska where we all rode the eight-hour Denali bus to Mt. Denali and back. She received many compliments from fellow passengers and the bus driver who really enjoyed having such a well-behaved dog on the bus.
Later that year, one of the top breeders we have known for some time had some adolescent male dogs that were thought to be a good foundation stud. We were impressed with the overall quality of every male there but one stood out. He was a 4½ month old import from Czech, born on the 4th of July and already started socialization and obedience in German. This little guy warmed right up to my husband and we knew this one was the one. This handsome German and patriotic male came home to Shield and has been our foundation stud of the Kirschental Legacy line.
In 2016, to further our dream of dogs, we bought a kennel property outside of Town of Elbert, Colorado — a beautiful 15 acre property that would be a great place to train and breed our dogs and offer state-of-the-art boarding. At that time, I was also attending Animal Behavioral College for dog training and passed with Honors, then started hosting ABC students in their internships to become dog trainers themselves.
The year of 2020 was a year of improvements. We added enclosures to our kennel facilities' outdoor runs, making them usable during bad weather (and saved us time and energy from shoveling snow from the runs). We added nine French doors that we were able to open up to allow the dogs access into our new mudfree play yard.
In the summer of 2021, we moved to Rose, Oklahoma. The Peyton property was sold and became a new boarding and rescue called Wild Loon Ranch at Bijou Basin, complete with further improvements and upgrades to the facilities.
In 2022, we added Icelandic Sheepdogs to our program to branch out into additional opportunities and activities to participate in. At the same time, we broke ground for a new kennel facility, fully designed for exactly what we needed. We have further plans to also construct a training facility, along with the possibility of offering boarding services once again.
My husband and I both loved the idea of working with dogs and, because my husband grew up with a very well-trained and amazing German Shepherd and I have seen what amazing family and working dogs they are, we decided to start a kennel to breed top German Shepherds true to German lines.
We spent more than four years researching German Shepherds and breeders before deciding on our first breeding male. We decided to name our male “Fury” after “Director Nick Fury”. A litter from one of our favorite breeder/mentors was bred with all the qualities we wanted. When the litter was born, there were four female puppies and no males. All four were great puppies which made it very difficult to choose but, with the help of the breeder, picked what was considered the best of the litter and, instead of starting with the male we planned on, Storm came home to Shield.
Obedience and socialization training started immediately, which at five months old, included a three-week trip to Alaska where we all rode the eight-hour Denali bus to Mt. Denali and back. She received many compliments from fellow passengers and the bus driver who really enjoyed having such a well-behaved dog on the bus.
Later that year, one of the top breeders we have known for some time had some adolescent male dogs that were thought to be a good foundation stud. We were impressed with the overall quality of every male there but one stood out. He was a 4½ month old import from Czech, born on the 4th of July and already started socialization and obedience in German. This little guy warmed right up to my husband and we knew this one was the one. This handsome German and patriotic male came home to Shield and has been our foundation stud of the Kirschental Legacy line.
In 2016, to further our dream of dogs, we bought a kennel property outside of Town of Elbert, Colorado — a beautiful 15 acre property that would be a great place to train and breed our dogs and offer state-of-the-art boarding. At that time, I was also attending Animal Behavioral College for dog training and passed with Honors, then started hosting ABC students in their internships to become dog trainers themselves.
The year of 2020 was a year of improvements. We added enclosures to our kennel facilities' outdoor runs, making them usable during bad weather (and saved us time and energy from shoveling snow from the runs). We added nine French doors that we were able to open up to allow the dogs access into our new mudfree play yard.
In the summer of 2021, we moved to Rose, Oklahoma. The Peyton property was sold and became a new boarding and rescue called Wild Loon Ranch at Bijou Basin, complete with further improvements and upgrades to the facilities.
In 2022, we added Icelandic Sheepdogs to our program to branch out into additional opportunities and activities to participate in. At the same time, we broke ground for a new kennel facility, fully designed for exactly what we needed. We have further plans to also construct a training facility, along with the possibility of offering boarding services once again.