Another prominant kennel was literally down the street, Hermsdorf. At the time their young Grand Victor Condor was mopping up at the shows. He was a very good looking dog, and seemed sound enough. I took his half-sister, on a co-ownership, by a famous American stud, Cobert’s Sirocco of Windigail ROM. Brynn was a beauty who moved like silk, and she finished her championship with three five point majors, defeating a GV and several Selects. Unfortunately she turned out to be dysplastic and was mentally unstable. I finished her CD at the National a couple points short of HIT, and that year she was the recipient of the ‘Champion in Work and Breed’ award from the GSDCC. It was gratifying, but I realized how little that award meant. The day she finished her championship, with five points at a large speciality show, was something of a letdown. I loved her, but I knew she should never be used for breeding. I also knew how many of her competitors were no different. Over a period of a decade I watched almost every Grand Victor at the GSDCC National display overt nervous instability. I lost count of the dogs that crouched, shied, cowered and trembled before judges who apparently didn’t care. The occasional German dog that showed up was so obviously superior in temperament that I couldn’t understand how the judges could miss it. Apparently side gait counted for more.

Brynn matured into a truly bautiful female, and with the work I put into her she relaxed and enjoyed showing. There seemed little doubt that she was heading for a Select. About the same time I lost my Max, a feisty old lady of 13, healthy and active but for the tumor in her liver. By now I new that her bloodlines were extinct, and that my old spayed pet had been far superior to her lovely champion housemate. Her departure left a huge void. A year later, two year old Brynn bounced into the kitchen for her cookie, slumped to the floor and died. Her heart had stopped. Not long after, I discovered that her sire, Sirocco, had sported a heart pacer so he could continue with his breeding career. His owner, Sprock, assured me it wasn’t hereditary. The pathologist rolled his eyes. Whatever faith I had that breeders, judges and breed clubs in North America were committed to breed improvement evaporated right then.

Over the next few years various dogs shared their lives with me. I finished my CH Wiesental’s Enrico who, before I found him, had spent several years confined to a stair landing and never really viewed the world with much confidence. With work he blossomed from a scrawny scarecrow into a gorgeous male almost the equal of his full brother, Multi Select CH Wiesental’s Falco OVC, a dog who remains one of my favourites. Rico succumbed to degenerative myelopathy at age seven, as did his sire. A year later I euthanized a lovely young sable girl named Mandy, of largely Hawkeye breeding, due to acute kidney failure. Several other dogs displayed unacceptable temperament problems. By now I was beginning to eye the Malinois as a better alternative.

In the late 1980s I volunteered to retrieve a puppy flying into Toronto International, a tiny black and gold boy named Mensenredder Corry Wiesental. I notified Corry’s new owners that he had arrived, and received something of a snippy response. I left messages that were not returned, and after a couple of weeks of free boarding told the breeder I would be happy to keep him. Corry is the dog that appears on the left side of the header for this site. He was one of the best looking shepherds I ever knew, his hips were perfect even late in life, and he had a sweet, gentle nature, medium high drive and great sense of fun. He was intelligent, sensitive and sported an independent streak. We fooled around with French Ring for a time, and while not a hard dog he was certainly the equal of the better German showline dogs I’ve seen. He was also a beautiful moving dog who finished at the Group level. He was used only once, by me, and produced a SchH3.

About this time Eastern Europe was opening up and the DDR dogs were beginning to come to North America.  Carmspack was the first Canadian breeder to use a DDR stud, the beautiful black sable Grando Mecklenberger Buffel SchH3.  I saw most of the resulting litter grown and it was uniformly outstanding, including Canadian Police Dog of the Year Carmspack Keno PSD of Toronto. These dogs seemed to have everything, and reminded me so much of the magnificent old lines of Lintricia. I wanted one. Katya, an Ulf v Haus Iris SchH3 daughter, solid black, ears up at one week, came home with me. Katya was a powerhouse. Everything about her was strong – drives, energy level, physique, immune system. She could cope with everything, and would throw herself into anything. Her first experience tracking was in a plowed field, 300 yards with a brass shell casing as article. She did it. She was friendly with people, dominant with other dogs and adored Corry. Corry carried two lines to Klodo Eremitenklause, so I thought, why not? The result, aside from six other good dogs, was the dog of my dreams, my Tim.

Tim was the bicolour baby who toddled out to the property line where I was hiding in the bushes, to confront the intruder and protect his siblings. He was mightily relieved to find it was just mum, but I knew he was my keeper. He took the best from both parents, showing the gentle nature of his father and the high drive and extreme desire to work of his mother. His structure was athletic and correct, and carried him through many years of gaiting 40 miles or more a week beside my bike. He jumped like a deer, was reliable, beautiful, healthy and my constant companion. After I finished up seven years of university, we turned to schutzhund when he was eight, and he finished his SchH3 two summers later. He retired at 10 and enjoyed four more years of active, healthy life, hiking in Algonquin Park and tracking for fun. He died two months into his fifteenth year, in his sleep in my arms, at dawn. I miss him every day. He was perfect.

Today, his two sons now fill this house with their antics. Zack is a big, beautiful black fellow who loves to track and showed a flair for herding. Kato is a fearless little firebrand who came to me as an adult when his pet owners couldn’t stand him any longer. He has everything a working type dog should have: structure, drive up to here and an energy level that at times leaves me breathless. He loved schutzhund, and was good at it, but I’m no longer active in dog sports at the moment; professional obligations – and Paris – take more of my time, but you never know.

As a long time commercial illustrator and artist, I have become very familiar with the structure and gait of many breeds of dog and many species of mammal. I know what I am observing, and I’m able to translate what I see into accurate drawings. I have illustrated the standards for many breeds, and I have been doing this for many, many years. I have also spent many years observing how purebred dogs have been altered for the show ring, not always for the best. The show ring is not the optimal place to judge sound, working structure – or temperament. I am as interested in the temperament of the domestic dog as its anatomy, and how the demands and demographics of humans are altering many breeds and creating new ones. The German shepherd isn’t the only breed impacted by the changes of the modern world.

I studied for three years at the Ontario College of Art & Design, and hold an honours undergraduate degree in History, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration, both from the University of Toronto. My paintings and sculpture are in private collections across North America, Europe and the Middle East. My professional art site is www.linda-shaw.com. I hope you will enjoy it too.