Von Barren Berg Shepherds (east german shepherds)

Welcome to the home of  Von Barren Berg Shepherds! Hello, my name is Linda. I own a training, breeding and boarding kennel (Miles River Training Kennel) located on the North Shore in beautiful Ipswich, Massachusetts. I have been training dogs in New England for over 25 years, and I specialize in obedience and behavioral training for all breeds of dogs. I started breeding in 1990. Throughout the 1990's I have been working to preserve the original German Shepherd Dog, the DDR. In 1998, my good friend Cathy, of Rowley, Ma. decided to get involved with my breeding program. She too is an East German Shepherd enthusiast with 5 dogs of her own, and has a separate kennel located in Rowley. Together we breed for the best possible qualities such as temperament, health and structure. We provide dogs to families as well as to the Law Enforcement community. We feel the East German Shepherds are very versatile. They can be trained in many different fields such as obedience, herding, tracking, personal protection, agility, canine good citizen, therapy dog and more. They are very intelligent dogs who love personal companion work.

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(Linda w/ Dennie, Elsa, Colorado & Bonnie)

Helping to preserve the DDR (East German) dog, has become a very important part of my life. I would like to share with you just how and why the DDR dog has won my heart.

I have been rehabilitating and training dogs for 25 years. The first "problem dog" was sent to me when I was 18. About 11 years ago, I decided to look for a quality dog, one I could train and show for my own pleasure. The German Shepherd dog always had impressed me, so the search started. Having a good eye for animals, I knew what I wanted, but quickly became more and more discouraged with what I was finding. I didn't take long to knock the American show dog off the list, for to me the physical structure and the character trait of lack of courage were not very appealing. I knew I wanted a dog with versatility-one that could be trained in different areas, such as TDI (Therapy Dog International) and protection! The German-bred dogs were the ones to look at, but still, something wasn't right. In some cases the drive was too high, even when we weren't working. In addition, I still had a certain quality of bone structure and overall character traits that I was looking for.

After a long search, I was beginning to think the dog I had pictured in my mind had been lost due to changes in breeding programs over the years.

Then one night while reading the Want Ads, I came across an ad that caught my eye. It was the first time I had heard a DDR shepherd dog ever mentioned. The father was a DDR Sch III, and the mother, a West German Sch I, farm-raised and bred for quality, companionship, and temperament. I will never forget the dark, rainy night I drove out to western Massachusetts to look at the dogs. My search was over! The adults had that unmistakably friendly eye as well as the strong bone and head structure I had been looking for.

This is where my beloved "Bonnie" picked me out. Little did I know then how much she would change my life! She was her father's daughter in every way, a masculine female with a sound temperament. She went on to teach me the characteristics so common to the DDR dog: an ideal companion dog for inside the house, as well as a great traveling companion, excited about activities such as camping, mountain climbing, etc.

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What is a ddr German Shepherd?