Merjuke

Samantha & Andrew Esby
Huddersfield
West Yorkshire
England
07954 130 436
Merjuke@aol.com
Click here to go to our website (which is in progress)

Breeders of:

  • German Shepherd Dog
All Taken Just Before It Was About To Snow

All Taken Just Before It Was About To Snow

photo by: Andrew

This page is in the process of being updated. Please get in contact for more information.

German Shepherd Dogs have been in my family before I was even born.

I have always adored animals, and thus my parents were rather unsurprised when I undertook an Animal Science degree (including taking an additional 30 unnecessary credits in Animal Behaviour) that specialised in genetics, physiology, behaviour, and nutrition.

I have always wished to own and show and work my own GSDS.

After reading about the breed’s original purpose and the confirmation of dogs in general I came to realise that my ideal representative of the breed standard did not exist, and that the only way it would exist would be for me to produce it.

The GSD alongside other roles was originally effectively a patrolling fence between the scrub land, the sheep, and the crops, and thus alongside displaying other breed characteristics the GSD has to be capable of working all day. To be capable of working all day alongside fulfilling other tasks the GSD needed particular behavioural characteristics alongside conformational features that maximised its endurance and thus minimised energy loss. The GSD breed standard is a blueprint for the ideal dog that would best fulfil its original purpose.

An ideal representation of the breed standard would have:

Excellent genetic health (including hips and elbows and genetic diversity)
Excellent temperament
Excellent working abilities
Excellent movement
Excellent confirmation
Excellent aesthetics

It would also ideally have an ability to 'produce itself' (i.e. the dog itself would not be a ‘one off’).

***

My ideal representation of the breed standard includes a relatively LEVEL TOP-LINE (a defined wither, level back, 50% level lumber region and 50% approximately 12.5 degree lumber region (this creates a ‘bridge’ like affect minimising energy loss via ‘bounce’ as well as minimising energy loss due to the angle changes being similar to each other) and a 23 degree croup.

Please see further below for some more information about top-lines.

***

We only breed when we are aiming to develop our lines, or when we are aiming to retain a puppy.

For example we did not have one litter in 07 (due to being busy in the show ring) despite owning a beautiful looking German import, and just as beautiful hip & elbow scored girls, another girl that we had since a puppy did not have her own litter first litter until she was 4 1/2, etc.

We also retain our oldies. For example we had to purchase one girl and have a litter for her breeder (9), she had a singleton that we kept & from her last litter we own all 3 of the pups (not all live with us). After this point we decided to spay her, and to further develop her lines via her progeny as opposed to letting her have another litter.

Due to our relatively unique way that we raise our GSD puppies in the UK, our breeding goals, our dog’s pedigrees, hip & elbow scores, & our dog’s aesthetics we often find that people ask for a puppy months and even years before they are due to be born, and our pups live all over the country.

Breed and non breed people as well as competitors in both Championship obedience, agility, and confirmation are recommending that potential forever homes get in contact with us. Our current treasured forever homes also regularly recommend us, or we get people getting in contact who have seen these dogs, or when these dogs have grown up it is common for these homes to ask us if we will allow them to take another of our treasured babies home with them.

The majority of the 2010 litter listed on Champdogs under the name 'Merjuke Hope' found homes thanks to such recommendations.

If you have any questions then please do not hesitate to get in contact.

Second Born Girl: Only A Week Old

Second Born Girl: Only A Week Old

photo by: Andrew

Since GSDS have very large litters I knew that it would be extremely unfair as well as being impractical to keep all of my litters. I knew as a result of the commonly sized GSD litter that the majority of my puppies would be going into pet homes (even homes that select our puppies for show or working must be a pet home first).

Thus prior to deciding to breed I decided to research:

The breed
Confirmation of dogs
Genetics and breeding as applicable to the breed
How a pup’s behaviour develops
How to maximise a pup’s temperament developing correctly
How to prevent and cure potential common behavioural ‘problems’
Training for a wide verity of disciplines

This is why unlike the majority of pups bred within the UK we extensively socialise our pups. Please see our website for more information upon how we extensively socialise our puppies.

Research has proven that how a pup is raised affects its temperament a LOT. A cognitively rich environment can encourage:

Correct behaviour development
Better responses to stressful situations
Better problem solving skills and thus it can improve trainability
Etc.

This approach is more common in America, and we are aware of at least one other GSD breeder in the UK that takes a similar approach.

This approach takes up a lot more time and finances, the public does not commonly request this, and some breeders are unaware of the benefits due to a lack of research into behavioural development. Thus it probably comes as no surprise as to why the majority of GSD breeders in the UK probably do not do this. Please read more on our personal website (temperament link in the menu) to see what we do in relation to attempting to encourage correct temperament development.

In addition to this we help to assist our homes with the introduction of a puppy into their life via:

Work on good manners with nail clippers, being bathed, and dried with a towel and hair dryer
Take them on several car journeys to help with the prevention of car sickness
Inspect them all over (teeth, mouth, eyes, ears, feet, toes, and tails) to assist with prevention of aggression / good manners.
Put them in a crate at least once over night to assist with crate training / prevention of separation anxiety
Take them outside to the toilet upon waking, after meal or after individual play times in an attempt to assist them with house training (paper trained puppies are being trained to wee on paper inside as opposed to house trained pups which are taught to wee only outside).
Being played with … a verity of toys of different materials including a big bunch of metal keys (if they are interested in them that is)
Hand feed the pups on several occasions, as this can help with bite inhibition and teach them to associate food with hands (assisting luring them and training them), as well as further stimulating their brains.
Teach them here (we use an informal “BBBB” command so that it does not conflict with a home’s existing commands)
We often lure our puppies into an informal sit and down position
Introduce them to agility items (they are not allowed to jump, etc. and are only introduced to 'puppy safe' items)
Put a lead and collar on them as part of lead and collar training
Introduce them and encourage calm behaviour and discourage barking or chasing of livestock including sheep and cows and hens and turkeys and geese and horses and indirectly wild rabbits.
Carry them around town (including to a train and bus station) in a specially designed dog bag where people are NOT allowed to touch them in but which they can safely see out of.
We encourage them to interact with both ourselves and their environment
They of course get a lot of individual cuddles and love

We also attempt to assist a home with their choice of pup (which is always their choice to make) via giving them as much information upon the pups. Some of this information could include:

Our puppy’s reactions to new stimuli (including both audio, motion, different surfaces, visual, etc.)
Recovery rates (Puppies are naturally wary of the unknown. If something startles it we will look at how quickly it ‘recovers’ from a fright and investigates the ‘scary’ item)
A puppies social & pack drives: Provided comments will cover aspects such as a puppy’s desire to stay with people, indications of dependence and independence levels, indications of a puppy’s desire to be trained and its possible ‘intelligence’ and focus levels.
Food drives: Provided comments will cover aspects such as does the puppy dive on its food bowl, can it be easily lured into positions with food, does it actively look for food that it can smell in a room, if it has a choice between food and a toy does it go for the food or toy, etc.
Prey Drive: Provided comments will cover aspects such as does the puppy want to chase any moving objects, does it bite the object, does this exist whatever material or shape the object is, does it become fixated on a moving object to the point where it puts all its concentration into biting the object, does it have a calm and full bite on the object, does it naturally counter (takes the object with a non full bite and then re-bites with a full bite when the item becomes still), does it keep hold of the object / its levels of possession, if it has a choice between food and toy does it go for the toy, etc.
Hunt drive: If it can smell food or a favourite toy or if the toy is thrown in long grass does the puppy look for it until it finds it, does it naturally drop its head and ‘trail’ where you have walked, does it when presented with a recently handled object and a same shaped object that has not been handled go for the recently handled one, etc. This can be extended in circumstances where we can commence ‘tracking training’, as this will allow us to give back more information than normal.
Social Dominance: Does the puppy show signs of dominance towards people or other dogs / its siblings, when another puppy dives on it does it calmly ignore it or does it get into a puppy ‘fight’, what happens when it has a favourite toy or a bone when another puppy approaches or when I go near it, is it cuddly, is it laid back, etc.
Noise levels: Does it bark when people approach the door, does it bark when playing or when it sees food, does it bark when it is trying to ‘boss’ another puppy, does it bark when something startles it, does it bark when left alone and if so for roughly how long, does it look like it could be more prone than a litter sibling to showing signs of separation anxiety via barking, etc.
Energy levels
How quickly it learns / predictions on intelligence
Results from a puppy aptitude test
Etc.

We also decided to feed our pups and mum a premium diet (please read more on our personal website; what do we feed link), and to take additional steps in attempting to ensure our pup’s and mum’s health including steps that are not commonly taken by other breeders probably due to financial reasons (please read more on our personal website; looking after mum link).

Our puppy homes get:

KC paperwork / information on how to transfer the dog's KC paperwork into your name
A huge folder with a LOT of comprehensive information
An opportunity to be able to phone us any time for advice on the prevention of common ‘behavioural problems’
Some Royal Canin Maxi starter food to help with the settling in process
A voucher for some more Royal Canin food
Pet insurance (we try to insure the puppy for several weeks the very day that it leaves)
A blanket to remind the puppy of home / help with it settling in

Our puppies are also:

Vet checked between 7 - 8 weeks of age (not that we expect anything to be wrong, but it is there for just in case).
Tattooed in the ear. This takes a couple of seconds, and the pups register it less than when they are chipped. A home can choose to become the first person that the tattoo office gets in contact with if the dog is ever found. In addition to this we will always have our details linked to the puppy forever. The tattoo helps to prevent a Merjuke puppy ever remaining in a rescue if the worst were to happen (i.e. a stolen dog is found, the home has moved). A tattoo or a micro-chip number is now needed by a vet if you wish to have your dog hip and elbow scored within the UK. A tattoo is also a breeder's 'badge of honour' and I would recommend that a home only looked at GSD breeder's whom tattooed as a result of this.

We also attempt to assist with a puppy bonding with its new home via allowing our homes to visit as many times as they want to once the pups are 4 weeks of age, sending a text to our homes when the first puppy is born, allowing a home to see the pups live via webcam, etc.

Our puppies are wormed every 2 weeks with Drontal puppy worming liquid, and they are sprayed with Frontline flea and tick preventative (not that we have ever had fleas but it is there for just in case).

Our pups are weaned onto an extremely premium human grade diet before being transferred to a premium puppy food specially designed for a large breed puppy. Please see our website for more information.

We also believe that mum needs protecting to our best capabilities.

Incorrect feeding & and a large singleton could affect her health. Thus she will be put on special Royal Canin whelping food prior to conception, given the herpes vaccination, ultra-sounded, & taken to the vets (usually out of hours) for a check oxytocin & antibiotic jab & usually an ultra sound and x-ray to confirm that she has finished.

These are expensive prevention methods that are not commonly taken, but personally we think that no price can be put on mum & her unborn pup’s safety.

***

Aside from 1 young male that lives with us all of our dogs are females.

All of our females bar one have either been non hip and non elbow scored females that we have purchased, or they have been bred by us. All of these females bar the 1 exception are hip and elbow scored. The one exception to this is an older female who is nearly 7 years of age who has been hip scored (she has a singular value BVA score) prior to us purchasing her, and whom had completed a lot of rigorous training and exercise prior to us purchasing her at an older age.

We have been very fortunate in that we own dogs with very good BVA hip and values, and that we have produced 0 value elbows and singular value hips from:

Asoka Kalipso
Merjuke Anona's Patroller (An Asoka Kalipso daughter)
Peterwell Uschi
Mayanser Riot at Terchlads

Merjuke's Hope is too young as of yet to have produced progeny that are old enough to be hip and elbow scored.

Merjuke I Predict A Riot / Foss (An Asoka Kalipso daughter) has not yet had any of her progeny hip and elbow scored.

***

The inheritance of "good" or "bad" hips is dependent on many genes, a dog's hip status can be affected by environmental stimuli, and the transmission of these hip genes are so complex that breeding from parents with perfect hips is NOT a guarantee of good hips within their pups.

HOWEVER research has proven that breeding from good hips can result in the pups having a higher chance of having good hips than they would have if their parents had bad hips.

Thus it is VERY important that breeders aim to breed from parents that look to have good hips

I have found that it is EXTREMELY common for at least one (the male was usually more affected due to being able to have more litters and thus having a great chance of having more progeny scored) of the parents of a litter to at some point produce a puppy with a hip score way over the breed average.

Or if this were not so then it would not be too long before a dog was found within the pedigree that despite having a good score itself had done a similar thing. Even dogs that had produced 0:0 hips were not immune to this fact!

This even applied to pedigrees that looked ‘clean’ on paper (i.e. the descendants upon the pedigree itself did not have bad scores, but some of the dogs themselves had produced high scores which would be harder to find out about).

I don’t think that I need to elaborate upon breeders who claim that not only are their lines 100% clean, but that they will never ever produce high hip scores. Personally I dream about the day that a breeder can hand on their heart honestly state that this is true. Unfortunately for the time being this day is a long way off, and thus as a breeder all that we can do is try to reduce our chances via breeding from parents with below recommended breeding BVA & SV scores. Personally I think that honesty is the best policy when it comes to the potential problems with our breed.

In an ideal world only GSDS with a hip score of 0 would be bred from, but unfortunately such dogs are extremely rare when taken into consideration the breed as whole. As the producers of and owners of single figure hip scored dogs we could jump on the bandwagon driven by a MINORITY of people (who are usually not breeders themselves) that state that only dogs of a hip score of around 0 are bred from.

Yes the hip AND elbow scores of a chosen dog should 100% strongly be taken into consideration.

However if there is a parents that is a very poor example of the breed with fear aggression problems and perfect hips, and a very good example of the breed with an excellent temperament and a hip score of lets say 14 for example it should not take a genius to work out which dog should be chosen (although you may or may not be surprised at the fortunately rare home that would consider the parent with the perfect hips and horrendous temperament).

All aspects of a GSD should be looked at. To become obsessed with perfecting one aspect (whether it be hips to the detriment of temperament or temperament to the detriment of hips) should be heavily frowned upon IF it does not take into consideration all other areas.

Perfection is never easy to achieve in any area, and thus to consistently attempt to perfect one area in conjunction with such low availability of such perfection within a gene pool (never mind in this example the fact that parents with perfect hips can produced horrendous hips or that poor hip scored dogs can in fact consistently be very good hip producers) can lead to failings in another area.

We recommend that a home strongly take this into consideration when choosing a breeder, and the parents of their pups based upon their hip scores almost alone.

Please see our personal website for more information upon hips and elbows.

Asoka Kalipso Pup (UK & European Show & Working)

Asoka Kalipso Pup (UK & European Show & Working)

photo by: Andrew

We are very lucky in that we own dogs that have gorgeous aesthetics, and a range of colourations including:

Black and tans ('normal', deep rich red, and dark masked black and tans)
Sable ('black sables' and 'red sables')
Pure black

The majority of our dogs are short-coated, but we do own a couple of long-coats produced by Peterwell Uschi and Asoka Kalipso.

All bar one of our girls carries the short coat as well as the long-coat gene, and thus we commonly have at least one long-coat puppy in our litters.

But we would never intentionally seek to produce an entire litter of long-coats by putting a long-coat female to a long-coat male.

This is because a long-coat is technically a 'breed fault' (albeit a beautiful one). This is because a long-coated GSD does not have as waterproof jacket as a short-coated GSD does. Thus it uses up more energy keeping warm in wet weather, does not minimise energy loss, and thus does not maximise endurance; which the ideal representative of the breed would be doing. A long-coat also uses up more energy keeping cool in hot weather, and the coat is more prone to additional grooming problems in consistent wet and muddy conditions.

We own dogs of varying sizes. Some are correct as per the UK KC breed standard, and others are too big in terms of their height or length. I have found that even my small girls have produced both correct sized dogs as per the UK KC breed standard alongside way over top-sized dogs as per the UK KC breed standard, and thus one can not determine exactly what they will produce by looking at them alone.

However I am aiming to produce dogs that are within the parameters as outlined within the UK KC breed standard.

A dog that was too small would not be breed typical or as efficient at fulfilling some of the breed's additional roles. A dog that was too big would not only uses up more energy moving around, but it is more likely to ‘break down’ in the long run.

***

We are very lucky in that we own some of the best UK & European show and working lines in a verity of dogs.

Some of the lines we have included:

Mayanser (which includes Tiekerhook, Fero, Troll and Nick vom Heiligenbösch bloodlines)
Terschlads
Vom Haus Nye
Optikas
Carlithos
Shadowsquad
Kazzardsway
Limasmythe
Asoka (which in the breeder’s younger years used to be renowned for producing Dual Champions: Confirmation & Working and what also stems back to the famous Brittas lines which incidentally I have been informed the Shadowsquad lines also go back to)
VA1 ZAMP VOM THERMODOS (who is also the CC & BOB winner at Crufts 08)
VA1 YASKO VOM FARBENSPIEL
VA1 Pakros d' Ulmental
VA2 Timo Timo vom Berrekasten
VA 3 Esko Vom Danischen Hof & VA4 Mark Vom Haus Beck

I own dogs with the following UK modern show lines within their pedigrees:

Gayvilles / Nikonis / Videx / Mirrwood / Rafaye / Rosehurst / Peterwell / Moonwinds / Gavington / Delnat / Kutridge / Kelnik

I own dogs with the following ‘Old English’ show lines within their pedigrees:

Asoka (going back to Brittas & Vikkas) / Hendrawen / Delridge / Verdandi / Folklaw / Mirabos / Marlish / Marvid

I am also extremely lucky in that I own dogs that derive from dogs with the following conformational awards:

The Current Breed Record Holder
The Record Holder For Winning Most Best In Shows At General Championship Level
The Old Breed Record Holder
The Last GSD dog to win the group at Crufts
International & World Champions
UK Champions
Seigers
UK Breed Class Survey
JW / CC / RCC / 1st place at Champion show level / KKL1 winners
English / Welsh / National / Dutch / WUSV / BSP Winners & Placements
Police Dog & Prison Dog & Diplomatic Protection Producers
SCH 3 / FH / IPO3 / HGH / VH Gold Good Citizen / 1st place in obedience class holders / Working Trials WD Excellent winners

In my croft: 3 weeks & 3 days old 1 male & 1female

In my croft: 3 weeks & 3 days old 1 male & 1female

photo by: Andrew

Level top-line GSDS are usually composed of one of 4 types:

Old English (and American) show lines
UK obedience / working lines
Worldwide working lines (which are separated into varying types)
Pet bred lines

Relatively level top-lines can also exist within:

European show lines

Even the most curved of top-lines can also produce level / relatively level top-lined dogs.

***

Unfortunately more often than not more angled top-lines can be seen within SOME show-lines due to ‘fashionable trends’ alongside a conformational concept being taken to the extremes within the confirmation breed ring.

However these lines do have their own attributes which are commonly seen within this type, and their use within a breeding programme can:

Encourage genetic diversity
Allows a hip history (this makes up part of a KKL award and part of a UK breed survey award)
More recently allows an elbow history (if a dog is born after a certain date this also makes up part of a KKL award)
Allow a haemophilia history within dogs that reside in the UK
Allows a working award history (BH, SCH, FH, IPO, etc. and this also makes up part of a KKL award and as of recently it will make up part of a UK breed survey award)
Allows a temperament history (this also makes up part of a KKL award and a part of a UK breed survey award)
Allows an endurance award history (AD which also makes up part of a KKL award)
Allows a critique and confirmation / movement / temperament grading and more easily researched confirmation show history (this also makes up part of a KKL award)
Prove parentage (via DNA and this also makes up part of a KKL award)

The use of the above lines can also introduce important confirmation, movement, and aesthetic features that are commonly found within this 'type' of GSD, but which are not as commonly found in other 'types' of GSD.

Other types of GSD can commonly have some or nearly all of the above aspects missing.

For example one level top-lined 'type' of GSD that is shown within KC recognised confirmation classes commonly has hip and elbow scores and haemophilia test results missing alongside a lack of working awards, etc. within the immediate generations if not for the majority or even all of a dog's pedigree.

However even this 'type' of GSD has attributes that are common to their type.

All in all therefore it is VERY important that a breeder makes breeding decisions that have a high chance of producing dogs with a correct temperament and health AND that they sometimes looks beyond a dog’s top-line and type IF they are looking to produce an overall ideal representative of the breed standard.

Although the majority of our litters do contain level top-lined pups we do look beyond top-line and type when making breeding decisions. If a home is only interested in a particular 'type' of GSD or top-line in a GSD then we will advise them whether or not we think a particular planned litter will have the potential to be suitable for them.

***

However it also goes without saying that:

If someone wishes to have a dog that has a higher chance of excelling at work all day to an extremely high standard (which is not suitable for the majority of the public’s lifestyles and experience) one looks at a dog of pure working lines.

If someone wants a dog that has a higher chance of excelling within the confirmation ring one looks at a dog of European show lines with working qualifications (or even Old English show lines if one wishes to limit oneself to only a few Championship shows with CCs on offer for the breed a year).

***

For the majority of GSD homes the above is not applicable, as the majority of GSD homes are treasured pet homes. For a lot of breeders this works out perfectly as there can only ever be 1 pick of a litter, and thus the majority of most litters go to treasured pet homes.

In our experience pet homes usually are looking for dogs that come from parents that should hopefully have a good chance of producing excellent health and temperament. Most pet homes also like a dog that will be eye catching, and that will have some brains (i.e. the dog does not have to have a challenging and very active work schedule to maintain it’s happiness), and some homes look for the potential for more brains than other homes look for (this comes down to personal preferences).

IF a home is happy to look beyond top-line we would recommend that they considered a dog from a breeder breeding from hip and preferably elbow scored pure European show lines.

But IF they would like the above alongside a strong chance that the dog will have a level / relatively level top-line as well as some brains and beauty we would recommend that they considered a dog from a breeding where at least one parent is level top-lined (preferably has proven to produce this top-line even when placed to an angulated male). Depending upon the home’s experience with the breed, level of training, that they wish to achieve, etc. we would recommend that the level top-lined parent was one of a particular line (i.e. an inexperienced home who wished to attend dog classes alone would not want this parent to be a high driven very dominant PURE European working line dog).

Most breeders attempt to produce that dogs that will excel in either the confirmation or working rings (although some attempt to prove that their dogs have some brains as well as beauty via obtaining working awards on the dogs that are shown, or show grading / a UK or Seiger grading on their working dogs).

This is mainly because attempting to produce a dog that is both healthy (including have a low hip and elbow status) that also excels in either sport is a HUGE task for any breeder. Most breeders will try all their life or for decades if not at least years before purchasing or producing such a top winning GSD.

The GSD breed now has such a huge split between the working and show lines that although both types can easily be identified as a dog of this breed they are almost 2 separate breeds.

To date we have found the level top-line to be dominant over the curved top-line.

But other aspects that are common within particular ‘types’ of GSD that are not aesthetic related and that a pet home usually are not interested in (unless they wished to have a higher chance of obtaining high show placements) that can be common to particular 'types' of GSD can be more ‘stubborn’ in terms of their appearance within subsequent generations.

Thus crossings between the two types in an attempt to produce an ideal representation of the breed standard can be lengthy, costly, and a breeder would have to be satisfied with possibly several generations that on paper are not proven to excel in either area, as well as taking the risk that they would take years let alone decades to get where they want to be.

As a general rule one is judged on one’s success, and this alongside other factors may be why such breeding plans in the UK are in the minority overall.

As well as reducing options for a home looking for a dog that should have a level / relatively level top-line from a breeder in the UK who is breeding in an attempting to produce an ideal representative of the breed standard this in turn can make things more difficult for a breeder in terms of a lack of multiple 'fresh' out crossed lines from established and successful breeding lines made up of crosses from the differing 'types' of GSD to turn to, or even previous ‘results’ from such crossings from other breeders to ‘learn’ from.

Thus we strongly recommend that a home looking for such a dog as their next treasured family member that has been produced from such a breeder employs a lot of patience and willingness to travel.

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