More About Debby
It all started in April 1958. I arrived into a beautiful family as it’s 7th member! With 4 significantly older siblings, our parents gave the ok to get a border collie mix puppy. Princess and I grew up together and she became my best friend and confidant, especially 3 years later as our family added 2 more members. Yes, twins! My dog and I had a close and special connection. She taught me many things about dogs and life… and 12 years later, death.
One of my brothers brought home a German Shepherd puppy. Mitzie did well picking up where Princess left off. I learned about training and many other things. As life and time went by, I attended college, learned about love and starting a family. I took a part time job at a German Shepherd breeding kennel and then added a full time job as a vet tech for a local veterinarian. On his way into the clinic on morning, our vet found 2 GSD pups playing in a busy road and brought them in. He ran ads, to no avail, so of course I took one home and another tech took the other. Katra took me to the next level of training and competition. We did obedience and agility and had lots of fun. I eventually added another German GSD from a breeder I had come in contact with at the vet clinic. He was my first German dog. All I can say is there was a big difference in energy level and desire to work.
I started him in puppy Agility and obedience. His breeder suggested I check into the European/German dog sport of Schutzhund. I did and found a great club! Both my dog Ebonezer and I were bitten by the bug! I took him to SchH3 and he did really well. Especially with me being a beginner. Beginners always make many mistakes. But he was good enough to overcome the disadvantage that a beginner brings. This Schutzhund club was heavily into pedigrees and the knowledge of what’s behind a dog. They showed me the lines in his background that made him good at what we were doing. This research bug overtook me and I went on to do my own research and study of bloodlines. He was my first stud dog and I did a tremendous amount of research in finding him breeding partners that would continue his good traits as well as improve on other things like conformation.
That research and investment brought me to add the conformation show ring to my training and learning curve. My new dogs and my breeding program and my continuing research and learning paid off as we had much success in both training and German conformation shows. My dogs did well and we have many trophies, many of which are 1st place in stiff competition. My breeding philosophy solidified into my current ethics. I took many trips to Germany and especially the once-a-year World German Shepherd Show to further my research of the top dogs and bloodline in the World. I didn’t trust anyone else to judge all the characteristics that were/are important to me. I spent hours observing the working portion of the show, taking notes on good and poor work. In this huge show, there are hundreds of dogs in each class and level. You can get up close and personal with the top dogs in the world as well as many of their progenies! I judged overall temperament, working abilities, conformation and movement, and pigment. My focus is first on health, and that research was done online where I could/can see the generations of health certifications. I then took the judges critique and observations together with the bloodlines I could see that would improve my dogs and add to bettering the breed and my bloodlines.
This brings us to my evolved philosophy:
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I believe the German Shepherd dog should be a healthy loving family companion who is social amongst the public as well other animals of all kinds as well as confident in any environment. Yet it should be an intuitive, strong protector that is able to intelligently decipher a dangerous situation from normal interaction. A GSD should have an exceptional desire to please and that coupled with incredible intelligence, to potentially be the most versatilely trained dog breed that exists. A Castlebrook GSD will be beauty and brains as well as loving best friend a family/person could ask for.
That being said, a German Shepherd is NOT the right dog for everyone and every family. Please study our FAQs to find out if a German Shepherd is the right fit for you and your family.