Vom Felsenhof, is a small family-run German Shepherd Dog breeding and training kennel with locations in various parts of the United States, including the Gulf Coast, Midwest and East Coast regions. Together, our family has nearly 100 years of experience with the German Shepherd Dog breed. Our family's lines originated in Germany, England and Ireland, with some family members finding and making homes many years ago with the native American Indians and Spaniards who came to the US from Spain. Our family members have many different backgrounds, varying from animal veterinary care, with degrees in Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture, to more business and professional oriented degrees in Business Administration, Computer Science, Law and Criminal Justice. Together, we feel that our family is a perfect match for working together to achieve the highest standards and pass those on to you!

We are exceedingly familiar with the German Shepherd Dog after so many years of working and living with them, and believe that the sound temperament and exceptional conformation found in our dogs is very frequently a result of proper foundational genetics. Good begets good! Bad temperament or conformation genetically in the parents can usually only result in bad temperament or conformation in the puppies, with this being the norm rather than the exception. "Bad begets only more bad." That being said, our main focus when breeding is to use the highest caliber dogs--well-rounded individuals who are healthy, sound of character and temperament, with emphasis on ensuring that vom Felsenhof dogs exceed new owners' highest expectations for quality!  We choose only to breed dogs which meet our highest standards, thus working towards producing future generations of vom Felsenhof dogs with excellent drives and nerve, correct proportions, huge bone and head, deep dark mahogany and black color with as little sabling on the back as possible, a dark mask and dark eyes. We do not breed dogs with poor conformation and strive to avoid producing dogs with flaws such as light eyes, cow hocked or dropped pasterns, dentition or other conformation problems as well as temperament issues or lack of proper drives. All of vom Felsenhof dogs are from only the very best West German Showlines!

Our dogs go where we go! Our dogs are well behaved in public, and are allowed in to most businesses, although they are not service animals. Vom Felsenhof dogs are kept inside with our families, as we see them as a part of the family too! Each member of our family resides on large properties, ensuring there is plenty of room to run, play and to just be dogs. The majority of the family feeds a homemade raw diet, which we feel provides the best results for the healthiest, happiest dogs. Those of us who cannot feed our homemade raw diet instead feed high quality premium holistic kibble. If you feel that you cannot feed a raw diet, please let us know when you make your puppy reservation so that we can switch them over to a high quality kibble such as Wellness prior to their joining your family, ensuring a gradual switch to a new food, which means less hassle for you! Vom Felsenhof strives to make our precious little one joining your family's life to be an easy transition for both you and the puppy.

We do train our dogs, and have found that raising them in the way described in the book, "The Art of Raising a Puppy," by the Monks of New Skete, to be the most appropriate and effective, as the training is done with kindness and thoughtfulness to the dog, and with a clear understanding of the learning abilities of the individual dog. After the puppies have been completely weaned, for the first month to six weeks after, we are constantly training our puppies that stay with us. Where we go, they go. Puppies are in constant contact with us, as this bonds them to us and allows the puppy to remain an individual, while simultaneously getting to know us and allows us to know the puppy's personal character and temperament. This takes up an extremely large amount of time, which many people are not able to do, but which we believe makes for the strongest bond between dog and owner.

Vom Felsenhof is dedicated to the improvement and continuation of select West German bloodlines that we believe are the best for the ultimate well-balanced GSD, including working ability, beauty for showing, fearlessness for protection and loyalty for companionship. We truly care about the German Shepherd Dog breed, and thus do our best to facilitate other people having access to this magnificent and loyal breed, while ensuring their dogs live long lives with lines selected for the best conformation (structure), temperament, drives, health and longevity. As German Shepherd breeders, we carefully choose our bloodlines based on much research, our own personal knowledge gained through years of experience with the breed, and advice from many German and European breeders with decades of experience with this magnificent breed. Dogs from vom Felsenhof are involved in all aspects of both sport and serious working dogs, from Schutzhund to AKC agility and obedience, Search and Rescue, Therapy or Service Dogs, to working police K-9's. Above all, our dogs are wonderful, stable-minded family companions and protectors.