Mother of our O-litter-to-be, Khira chews on a bone while her daddy Glock contemplates being a Grampy!
An ultrasound yesterday, April 12, 2021, revealed Khira is indeed pregnant. Our vet is confident she saw at least six separate puppies! We will most likely x-ray on May 3 to have a better idea of how many we can expect. This is Khira’s first litter, due May 8th. We have an extensive waiting list for this and our next litter, but we are always accepting puppy applications for future litters.
In other news, our Lunatik von der Leidenschaft BH, tested OFA Hips Excellent, and Elbows Normal! She is also CAER Normal and DCM clear by parentage. This girl is ready to represent in our breeding program!
March 18, 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of our A-litter Giants. It was a disaster.
In the wee hours of that day, back in 2001, our four-year-old, new-to-us bitch, Liebchen vom Eichenbaum, birthed one male puppy, and then died with 12 more puppies inside her.
Let that sink in a moment.
A friend of mine recently challenged me to write the story of how I got in to breeding. I thought this was the perfect time for such a story. I write this singularly from my POV, but really, we are a duo (and indeed a village). I can’t imagine being able to do this by myself. My hubby of 25 years splits the chores of dog care, breeding, training, promoting, pedigree research, marketing, vetting buyers, and so many other things it’s a wonder we do anything else at all.
How did I get into breeding? Simple; I fell in love. Fell in love with my husband Ron, who at the time had Dobermans. They were GORGEOUS. I fell in love with them too. Then he rescued a Giant Schnauzer. He was an asshole, but I fell in love with him too.
We bought my first Doberman, Raven, in 1997. I was determined to do Search and Rescue with her to prove my dog could work any day of the week, not just on trial day. (Sorry sport peeps, little did I know/respect back then how much time/energy/money goes into the sport!) So, we trained, and we certified. Then she failed her hips and we couldn’t breed her. Strike #1.
I’m not going to count every strike of my/our breeding history, suffice it to say, I couldn’t possibly remember them all. What I do remember, are all the lessons I’ve learned along the way. Every. Single. Litter. teaches me something new. Most of these lessons are expensive. There is no possible way to make up from the loss of a young bitch and twelve puppies. So when you start with that kind of deficit and continue anyway, you are some kind of crazy.
The financial losses continue to outnumber the gains, and that doesn’t even begin to account for our time. When you consider the average German import puppy costs $5000 CAD to arrive at our door at the age of 10 weeks, and then feeding, vetting, training, health testing, in the first two years before we even know if you have a viable breeding prospect… we’re at least doubling our investment long before there is any return. In two instances (so far) we have had to rehome those imports. A failed elbow, and a failed hip. BOOM! Strikes #499 and #557-ish give or take. I often tell people our kennel might have been better named for bank account instead of passion.
So why do I continue to do this? Play the crapshoot that is animal husbandry? Simple; LOVE.
I love to share in the joy our puppies bring to their humans. I love to hear about how smart they are, how loving they are. I love to hear the stories of natural instincts that give me goose bumps. I love to hear of their accomplishments. I absolutely love to see their people become NEW people simply by sharing their heart with one of our puppies. I love when children grow up to become puppy buyers, because their parents were.
For all you aspiring breeders out there who think this is a get rich quick scheme… think again. Please.
For all you aspiring breeders out there who think it will be a fun experience for your family… think carefully at all that can happen. Please.
For all you puppy buyers out there who presume breeders are loaded… we laugh and laugh and laugh until we cry.
Bottom line, if you’re not doing it for love, you’re not doing it right.
In loving memory of our Liebie, and the many who have followed in the past 20 years, we go hopefully into the future.
Zeus vom Goldbergsee BH x Khira von der Leidenschaft BH, IGP-V Track
After what seems an eternity, we can now announce the O-litter is in the making. Zeus and Khirahave had two successful matings so far, and we will give them one last shot tomorrow, Tuesday, March 9th. We will ultrasound for pregnancy the first week of April, and puppies should be due May 8th.
We have a long waiting list for this litter, and extras on standby in case some folks have to back out. So I would consider this litter SOLD in advance. That said, we still welcome inquiries for future litters. We hope to breed again later in 2021. If you would like to be considered, please complete our Potential Puppy Owner Questionnaire.
To follow along with the litter development, you can join our Facebook Group!
No rest for the wicked! The Prince Edward Island Schutzhund Club trial was almost TWO weeks ago, and I’m just now getting to website updates! *sigh
Regardless, GIANT congratulations to Lisa Gaudet and her Leidenschaft kids, Khaos and Lunatik,earning their BH/VT titles with the GSSCC (German Shepherd Schutzhund Club of Canada) in PEI on November 7th and 8th, 2020. Khaos already achieved his BH with the DVG in 2019, but in order to compete further with Lisa’s home club in PEI, he had to redo the title.
A little background; Khaos was purchased at the age of four months as a companion dog, and possibly a therapy dog to enhance Lisa’s work as a nurse practitioner specializing in senior care. When Lisa realized he had a little too much drive for that, she got involved in the sport. Once in, she was hooked, and less than a year later, she was back for another puppy.
Lisa participates in the sport both in her home province of PEI with the PEISC (GSSCC) and regularly with our club in NB, The Sirius Working Dog Association. Lisa is currently apprenticing as Training Director with The SWDA as well. She’s an enthusiastic trainer who loves to share her knowledge and experience to new members. Thanks Lisa for representing our breeding program, and this sport so well!
Khaos von der Leidenschaft and younger sister Lunatik von der Leidenschaft Photo credit; Jesi Betts
We are pleased to announce we got it right the first time! <3 Zia was placed on Thanksgiving weekend with a family in Ontario. They agreed to a three week trial period to make sure it was a great fit for everyone concerned. As of October 30, 2020, Zia is officially in her forever home. We couldn’t be happier for all of them.
Zia in her new Forever home in Ontario! <3
We continue to wait for our girl Khira to come into heat to hopefully produce our O-litter with our boy Zeus. We will update when we have something new to report! 🙂
And FINALLY for the first week of November, we are looking forward to a few sleepless nights with this beauty!
Welcome Nevr von der Leidenschaft!
As of Wednesday, November 4th, Nevr will officially join our pack. We plan to train her in IGP, and if all goes well she will replace her momma in our breeding program in about three years.
We are on the backside of what has been a bizarre year. We hope people will continue to stay safe and healthy as we all muddle through this Covid crisis.
Zia has moved to Ontario this weekend. Her new family has agreed to a three week trial period to make sure she is a perfect fit. So far, all is going very well. I will post on her permanent status on or before November 1st. Thanks to everyone who expressed interest in our beautiful girl. We certainly do miss her, but as always our commitment is to what’s best for the dogs.
Two-year-old Zia vom Lindelbrunn
Due to a rating of Mild hip dysplasia, we must remove Zia from our breeding program. To say this is disappointing is an understatement. $5000 to our door at 10 weeks old, and a further two years of feeding, vet care, health testing, training, and LOVING puts us in the hole a great deal. Zia is NOT free. The price for her is slightly more than we charge for our 8 week old puppies, and she’s highly trained, socialized, house broken, etc.
We prefer to keep her in Atlantic Canada, especially due to Covid. If her new home doesn’t work out, we want to be able to get her back in a timely manner. We are not in any position to self isolate for 14 days.
Zia LOVES people! She also loves to play ball, chase frisbees, swim, go for woods walks any time of year. She loves to cuddle, and is super well behaved in the house. She is quiet in her crate, whether travelling or for bedtime at home, she is not a complainer.
If you are serious about providing Zia with a loving home, please email me at ourpassion (at) leidenschaftkennels (dot) ca
This business, for lack of a better term, can be as heartbreaking as it can be rewarding. I recently told friends “breeding will make you crazy and poor”. Both are true, and then some. Such as sad, helpless, frustrated, mystified, and bewildered, to name a few more.
Two-year-old Zia vom Lindelbrunn
Last month we learned our beautiful princess Zia vom Lindelbrunn did not meet OFA standards for her hips. We are working at placing her in a loving forever home. That’s a bitter pill to swallow when you consider the cost of importing her from Germany, two years of feeding, vetting, training, and of course LOVING, only to discover she’s not breed worthy. This of course would be the heartbreaking part.
Even on the Sweet part of this business, there are many folks sad and disappointed this week as the puppies they’d wished for did not materialize. We are blessed with two beautiful girls, both of which we’ve decided to keep for the time being. Hopefully they’ll both be outstanding girls and will eventually replace their momma when it’s her time to retire.
Our amazing Rogue vom Klingsgarten IGP1 IGP-FH with her two beautiful daughters. Photo Credit Lisa Gaudet.
Tiny little rant here; to the folks who say “wow, $2000 for a puppy, you must be rolling in it…” I’m here to tell you, it’s never about the money, because quite frankly the losses far exceed the income. For us, this crazy “business” is about Passion. We simply love what we do, why we do it, and who we do it for. Tam Out.
Confirmed by ultrasound, our N-litter is due September 8, 2020!
We are excited to announce our repeat litter with our German import Rogue vom Klingsgarten IGP1, IFH-V and our own Glock von der Leidenschaft IPO3. Previous litters from this pair are well on their way to proving superior working drives with both sport and civil achievements.
With the amount of interest in this litter, it’s pretty much PRE-SOLD, that said, many people are still dealing with the challenges of Covid-19 and some may opt to wait for a future litter. We are always accepting applications via our Potential Puppy Owner Questionnaire so feel free to let us know of your interest in this or future litters.
On July 7, 2020 Glock and Rogue were mated again. Hopefully this will produce the N-litter, due September 8, 2020. We have created a Facebook Group for folks to follow along in the process. Click on over and ask to join! You can also follow us on Instagram @leidenschaftkennels, or Twitter @Leidenschaft95 Stay tuned for more updates!
Very excited to share some DOUBLE GOOD NEWS! Scroll down! 🙂
2 year-old Zeus vom Goldbergsee BH, on new helper in training, Alex Betts.
Our German import Zeus vom Goldbergsee BH turned two on June 19. We had his hips and elbows xrayed on that day. We have results in from the OFA, Hips EXCELLENT and Elbows NORMAL! Now our little man can go on supervised “dates”! 😉
2.5 year-old Khaos von der Leidenschaft BH, with the old dog, Ron Murray!
In other exciting news, Khaos von der Leidenschaft, the smallest born puppy in the history of our kennel, also had recent hip and elbow evaluations. We just received word from the OFA that his hips are GOOD, and Elbows NORMAL! Also important to know, Khaos and all of his littermates are DCM Clear by parentage. 🙂 This powerhouse is owned by Lisa Gaudet, and trains with both the PEI IGP club, and our own Sirius Working Dog Association. We hope to use him in our breeding program down the line. He is his Daddy’s boy! <3
The month isn’t over yet! Stay tuned for more news later in the week! 😉
