JayDee's Proud-Haus Shepherds - Why A Puppy From JayDee's PHS?

Why Get A Puppy From JayDee's PHS?

Every person asks the very same question before making a decision which "brand" to purchase, providing there are more than one choice to make to get that particular item... So, of course, logic has it people should ask: what is so great about this breeder and breeding program that I want to get a puppy from JayDee's not "x" other kennel/breeder? This is one of the most frequently asked questions asked of me; though being presented to me in at least 100 different ways. Everyone has some form of an idea of what they're looking for in a puppy, but not always knowing the "right" questions to ask.
So, here's an overview answering many of those questions about what sets JayDee's pups/dogs above and apart from the majority...

Dogs in JayDee's breeding program are healthy, smart and beautiful:

All of JayDee's breeding stock has been health tested for a minimum of: hip status by the PennHIP and OFA methods for hips and the OFA method for elbows; most typically have tested for and passed OFA Cardiac and Patella exams, and also have been certified to have Full Dentition. Some of our dogs have also passed CERF and Shoulder OCD exams. Now that we have DNA testing available as a tool, they are MDR1 DNA tested, and OFA DM DNA tested, unless they are "clear by parentage", which means that both the parent dogs are tested to be genetically clear/normal so the puppies can only be clear/normal too; as well as being participants in various genetic studies/research. You will notice that our older/retired dogs don't have all of these listed clearances that our younger/current dogs do-- it's because we continually strive to "do better" with sucessive generations, and continually work to improve the ability to prove the health of our breeding program. As genetic tests become commercially available, we utilize them!
All of JayDee's breeding stock has earned at least one title (usually a performance title if at only one end of their name); more often, they have both conformation Championships/Grand Championships AND performance title/s in one or more disciplines.
Puppies from our program showing in conformation have attained: multiple Best/Reserve Best in Shows & Total Dog Qualifiers; conformation Champions & Grand Champions.
With our whites, multiple AWSA/WSCC Select awards at their respective Nationals as well as top honors at UWSC national specialty, as well as the honor of even owning/training/handling a Top Ten ALL BREED and history making dog in the UKC.
With our "regular/traditional" colored GSDs, Top AKC National Owner Handled Series end-of-year rankings, and specialty GSDCA awards.
In the performance venue, our dogs & pups have titles/awards/certifications in: Traditional Obedience, Rally Obedience, Herding, Agility, Nose Work, Lure Coursing, Protection, and more- regularly earning top placements and High in Trials, even including an invite to the National Rally Invitational!
Many have also become Therapy Dogs and Canine Good Citizens. Others are working Catch/Narcotics/Protection/Search for a living. A select number of our puppies have grown-up to become service dogs for people with a variety of disabilities; specialising in scent dectection, i.e., diabetic alert, seizure detection/alert/response; as well as aiding people with other conditions such as mobility assistance.

A Bit On JayDee's Puppy Raising Philosophy:

All our resident dogs are full-time house pets as well as being our show/performance dogs, so naturally, our puppies are born in the heart of our home and stay in the house their entire time with us. We feel this is important, since the puppies are always right there to be held and petted and cuddled and otherwise generally handled & socialized by everyone coming through our doors. With their only knowledge of life being in a clean, happy, comfortable, & loving environment, with a family of well-adjusted dogs as well as caring people involved in their raising, they easily stay happy, clean and confident in their permanent family's home with continued good husbandry practises and rearing.
Even though the puppies already have the advantage socially of starting life as house pets, we perform the exercises in the Early Neurological Stimulation program, a program developed by the US military to ensure stable, adaptable dogs right from the start.
We also temperament test via different methods, including the CARAT evaluation method, a novel animal evaluation system that breaks down elements of temperament and evaluates the traits/elements that contribute to the overall behaviour; differentating traits at a fine level rather than using the "big-box" assesments which are crude in comparison in describing (& differentating) the motivitaions behind/of an individual's behavior. To evaluate with the CARAT method one has to attend extensive & expensive schooling to become a master evaluator... While unfortunately the common testing methods (such as PAT and PAWS) are often an inaccurate snapshot of who that puppy is to become, because while the big-bucket tests are available for anyone to perform, they are therefore highly subjective by the tester and their experience level.
As we are participants in several genetics studies, we work hard to stay up to date and informed about veterinary medicine and research advances; an easier objective with myself being intimately involved as a veterinary medical professional, in both conventional (Western) and Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine.
We actively attempt to balance all the new information coming in along with the tried and true, even using some of "those old-wives' tales" that really do work. We feel that balancing alternative/integrative/natural and traditional veterinary medicine is the wisest approach.
We take the genetic health of our dogs/puppies seriously! Breeding with longevity in mind as a very important genetic trait, ALL PUPPIES ARE GUARANTEED A GENETIC LIFE SPAN OF 9 YEARS IN WRITING OR MONEY BACK FOR EACH YEAR THEY FALL SHORT. Ask any other breeder if they offer such a guarantee and stand behind their puppies the same as we do!
We also practice the reduced vaccination schedule, and are very excited for 2016 when the Rabies Challenge Fund completes another phase to prove that the standard rabies shot given today actually is effective for many more years than 1 or 3 licensing as the laws are currently. Can hardly wait for the proof!
Every JayDee's PHS puppy has a home for life if the need ever arises that your dog from us is being displaced for any reason and needs to "come home". Every puppy comes with a no-questions-asked return policy for so long as he or she is alive.
We also offer boarding in our home with the family, both short & long term at a reduced rate for all JayDee's puppies.

Some of what you get when purchasing one of JayDee's puppies:

Each puppy is AKC and often UKC (when possible) litter registered for you to permanently register into your name, and to name what you want to name them-- while I designate each litter by a letter, I do not require buyers to adhere to a "litter letter" or any theme in registering your dog other than the requirement that each puppy proudly displays "JayDee's" at the beginning of his or her regisrered name.
Each puppy, regardless of purpose/purchase contract, comes with a one year nose-to-tail genetic defect guarantee and either a 5 year hip & elbow or a "pending clearances before being bred" warranty. Both contract types offer the option of money back to defray costs AND you get to keep your beloved pet! (Warning-- many other breeders REQUIRE you to return your current dog -that pet you've grown to love- to receive any compensation. IMHO, this is a way for those breeders to "get out" of honoring contractual warranty because they know people don't want to give up a part of their family.) Also available is return of a puppy for money back or a puppy exchange from a different breeding, if so desired.

We work very hard to track the genetics/defects in our line and of those lines we bring into our own, and do the extensive testing we do in effort to do what can be done to ensure healthy/functional genes being passed onto the offspring.
As most of the available testing is phenotypical (what the dog displays)rather than genotypical (DNA testing), there is unfortunately no 100% guarantee that ALL the puppies produced in ANY breeding program ANYWHERE will be 100% healthy. Period. The real truth is, if someone tells you that their dogs & puppies have been 100% healthy, they either don't know what's in their dogs, or they do, and are lying to you saying that all is well. Honest, knowledgeable breeders will know what's in their lines and use that knowledge openly and honestly to produce healthier puppies by choosing studs who aren't just conformationally compatible, but genetically compatible as well. There's an old saying that says to "double-up" on a dog who has a certain trait if one wants to produce it in higher ratio within their litters. The same goes in reverse for genetic defects: avoid that "doubling-up" on a defect, by consciously attempting to breed to those who are not known to produce the same genetic faults, helps each sucessive generation's chance tp be reduced for carrying that particular genetic defect and offers a higher chance in producing healthier puppies.
All our genetic warranties/guarantees are in writing in our puppy contract.
For viewing pleasure, each puppy gets their own individual webpage/link from within their litter page. Ya, it's extra work for me, but has been well-received, and therefore worthwhile! From birth, each puppy starts out being identified by a length of ribbon (being too small to wear a collar!), using one color/theme for each puppy. This makes possible easy individual record keeping and identification, and, to see each pup in photographs that are fequently posted for everyone to follow the progress of individuals within an entire litter as they grow.
Each puppy goes home with his or her color-coordinated collar with individually numbered ID tag attached, a starter bag of their feed, stuffy toy, a small Wubba (who doesn't love a Wubba!), and a bone to occupy those sharp puppy teeth! Along with their veterinary record and registration, we also provide an extensive puppy package including the individual puppy's information: about them as an individual, including their birth order, weights as they grow, and even the exact minute they were born, plus with multiple articles and references to assist you at home with raising your puppy; your microchip identification registration/paperwork, your copy of our agreement, and a color-coordinated duffle bag to stuff all of it in which to carry home! Thank goodness for a shoulder strap or you wouldn't be able to carry your puppy!
Each puppy is permanently identified by a microchip, with lifetime registration to you as the buyer, with JayDee's PHS listed as an alternate contact/implanter.
We also offer optional tattooing on an individual basis for buyers at no extra charge for this service for those who request it.
We believe that any & all forms of permanent identification are better than none at all! Some shelters, unfortunately, still don't have microchip scanners (or ones that work!), and the presence of a tattoo elicits further ivestigation into the ownership of that dog.
(JUST MY HUMBLE OPINION, but I feel that if people were required to permanently identify the puppies they sold, more breeders would end up being held accountable for the puppies they produce who unfortunately end up in shelters across the US. Sad to say, but on average, 5.8% of dogs in shelters today are purebred/pedigreed dogs. While the statistics USED to be around 25% purebreds, responsible breeding has much improved that statistic for our pedigreed dogs!!! Plus, with the insurgence of "Designer Dogs" [high-dollar mutts], more and more of these dogs are being irresponsibly bred (and irresponsibly sold to the highest bidder), and increasing the shelter populations' numbers today. IMHO, purposely creating a mutt, oops! - a designer dog- is a diservice to the parent breeds, working against the preservation of breeds as we know them.... and breed preservation is what dog breeding is really all about!)
By permanently identifying every puppy I produce is the best way I can provide that if one of my puppies came to a shelter, it wouldn't be staying long. As a responsible breeder, I refuse to add to the problem.
Every puppy or dog who comes from JayDee's PHS comes with a lifetime of support. I have received (and answered!!) calls in the middle of the night because a puppy is suddenly sick or eaten something he or she shouldn't,and they need my help, all the way through life to because their senior/geriatric dog is sick and they need my support then, too. Each and every puppy who leaves here is as important to me as the pick-of-the-litter puppy that I keep back for myself... I catch every baby as they're born; they all take their first breaths in my hands; I spend basically 24/7 with them and they sleep next to my own bed at night (well, the truth is, I sleep next to theirs!). I want to be and make myself readily available for my "puppy people", many of whom have become my closest friends through these wonderful dogs. I love getting "pupdates" from my puppy people throughout their dogs' lives!!!

We're all part of one big family-- owned by Jen's Dogs!!

Other Pertinent Information...

While we have never publicly published our prices in the past, due to the economic state of the world we feel it has become necessary to publish our current prices. Family Companion/Pet/Performance Puppies (sold on AKC Limited Registration and typically on sterilization contract -except exemptions allowed by breeder-) are $1500-2000, with discounts given for "repeat offenders" (read: repeat buyers! ;) and on breeder's consideration.
Show/Breed Potential Puppies are typically $3000-4500 with variance in price being determined by purchase contract, the highest price reserved for 1st pick of each sex in the litter sold outright; and the lower end, being for puppies sold on co-ownership or other contract.
Our current deposit to guarantee your puppy is $400.
Yes, we do accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express (both debit & credit cards - plus a small fee in additon to purchase price which is incurred by the card services); also electronic bank transfer, and of course, old-fashioned cash. NO, we don't take personal checks anymore as final payment. Sadly, too many people have ruined that privilege for the rest of you by bouncing their checks.. However, we will take a Certified Cashiers' Check in advance payment only (before puppy goes home), as those have turned up fraudulent as well. >:(
Puppy Deposits are not accepted until confirmation of pregnancy, and on a limited basis until the litter is on the ground, making our best efforts to be sure there will be a puppy available for you.
Approved reservations are expected to place deposits at time of birth or upon approval (if after birth) to hold your puppy. No puppies will be held without a deposit under any circumstances-- it is not fair for the puppy to wait for people who never pick him/her up, nor is it fair for me to hold a puppy who would otherwise have a home.
Puppies are released to go to their homes at 8 weeks of age. Too much important learning & socialization takes place within the litter from the 6th to the 8th week; that period is an irreplacable time of learning how to be a dog -- how to act around other dogs, and, how to interact appropriately & bonding with people. Not to mention, that in most states, including Wisconsin, it is ILLEGAL to separate a puppy from its mother & litter mates before that age...
NO WE DO NOT SHIP PUPPIES. NO EXCEPTIONS. It is actually similar (often cheaper) in cost to fly in, meet myself & the Pack, then fly home with your new puppy carry-on, than it is to ship them via cargo! Of course, there are the other obvious benefits for everyone: we humans get to meet, and do our business the old fashioned way: IN PERSON, plus puppy gets hand to hand transfer, instead of being put in a crate by themselves and off to the unknown. I also can accomodate overnight/weekend guests & visitors to our place to visit/pick-up puppies.
For those who are somewhat close in driving distance, we also can make arrangements for us to personally deliver your puppy/dog for fuel, accomodations and a small per diem as necessary.

JayDee's Proud-Haus Shepherds
Jen Proud, BS, CVT, CT (ASCP) TCVM VTS
Montello, WI
608.618.K911 (5911)
Email