Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge
Hi Everyone,
Today I’m posting an article about Keystone German Shepherds & Kennels in the Mannford Reporter written by by C.L. Harmon
Publisher:
Their names are Dean and Patty Heckathorn and they are a nice little secret tucked away in the country just off Hwy 48 South.Their secret is their success in breeding over 25 champion or grand champion Heidelberg Shepherds in the past several years.
Dean, a former biologist for the US Department of Fish & Wildlife for 18 years, raises, trains and cares for animals full time. Patty still works for the Wildlife Department as a secretary, but also works in the business as well as attending shows with Dean.
In 1996 while living in Daphne, Alabama, Dean started poking around the internet about a place where he could purchase a shepherd. His parents had had them and so he grew up with a fondness for them. After an exhausted search, he found a place with Heidelberg Shepherds in Springs, Texas. The next day, after a ten hour drive, the couple purchased a male and female shepherd.
Although, the couple initially only wanted a shepherd as a pet, they fell in love with the Heidelberg “brand” and decided to do a couple of breedings. They kept a few from the litters and then bought a few more dogs from the breeder in Texas and their kennel was born. In 1999,
Dean got transferred to Oklahoma. At this time the couple had 12 dogs and opened up shop here. Eleven years and several dog days later later, due to federal cutbacks, Dean was to be transferred again in 2010 to Albuquerque, NM. Only now they had several more dogs and uprooting wasn’t simply not feasible. What had been a hobby suddenly became a full-time business venture for the couple.
“I had always wanted my dogs to be available to everyone and so our prices had been $5-600 cheaper than our nearest competitor,” Dean said. However, he was forced to raise his prices in order to make the kennel a viable business that would make a living. They are still cheaper than their competitors, Dean said. Puppies sell now between $1,200-1,500.
One of the concepts the couple use in training is their choice to train family dogs as opposed to many types of shepherds which are trained for law enforcement purposes. They are trained home security, but are smart enough to know the difference between a kid climbing the fence to retrieve a football and the burglar breaking into a home, Dean said.
This breed is sweet natured and are very loyal have a natural herding instinct, Dean explained. “We raise family dogs that are loving family members and protective of the family,” Dean said. In their 18 years of raising, they have bred approximately 700 puppies.
The couple also offers several other services including: boarding, training, pet supplies, microchipping and even a free obedience class on Saturday mornings for all breeds to help teach them basic obedience and social skills.
Please continue to check out our web page as we post updates on available litters: https://kgsd.inventivehorizons.com/PuppiesForSale.htm. We have several wonderful German shepherd puppies for sale that that are ready to go home.
Please call me at (918) 261-4729 if you would like to take one of puppies home with you. Please visit our web page to learn more about these wonderful Heidelberg German Shepherds that we raise at Keystone German Shepherds & Kennels. https://kgsd.inventivehorizons.com/
Exploring the vast prairie of the Washita National Wildlife Refuge
We have several German Shepherd Puppies for sale. The first that I would like to write about are two girl puppies out of Heidelberg’s Patriot v Atlantan whose almost a new champion and Heidelberg’s Winter Xandrac. Winter is the classical female German Shepherd type. She is not overly large, but when you look at her you know that she’s female and she is very beautiful. Patriot is our largest male and could easily be 110 pounds lean weight at maturity. Winter had three of the largest female puppies that I have ever seen at birth. I’ve been doing this for over twenty years and have seen a lot of German shepherd puppies born. Therefore, when I say the largest that really means something well beyond just big pups. These three puppies have continued to remain unusually large.
Heidelberg’s Patriot v Atlantan
Heidelberg’s Xandrac Carenf
However, the beast thing I like about these puppies is that they demonstrate flawless temperament with ornery personalities. The one that we have sold, I was told is already barking at 10 weeks-of -age at strange cars and people coming to the door, which is what this elderly gentleman wanted was to be alerted to strangers coming on his property.
Xena and Xandra Winterx big puppies ready to go to a new home
She also is protecting their property, he said that he saw her get into it with a giant crawdad that was crossing the yard. (We have had an unusually wet Spring and everything is saturated) After being pinched on the nose several times, she figured out that she could pull a rear guard maneuver on this crawdad and safely dispatch this evil enemy that had invaded her owner’s yard.
We have her sister’s here available at https://kgsd.inventivehorizons.com/. Priced at $1,500.00 for someone looking for beautiful, large female puppies that will also be protective. These are breeding and show quality females, even though I have them priced as companions.
Please continue to check out our web page as we post updates on available litters: https://kgsd.inventivehorizons.com/PuppiesForSale.htm. We have several wonderful German shepherd puppies for sale that that are ready to go home.
Please call me at (918) 261-4729 if you would like to take one of puppies home with you. Please visit our web page to learn more about these wonderful Heidelberg German Shepherds that we raise at Keystone German Shepherds & Kennels. https://kgsd.inventivehorizons.com/
There are some basic care for your German Shepherd Dog that every owner should be aware of and that is what I am going to discuss today. While German shepherd Dogs are relative low maintenance compared to other breeds you will need to trim their nails at least once a month and while doing so you can check the dog’s body for other problems. After doing the nails comb the coat thoroughly with a straight steel pin brush to remove dead hair.Check the skin for abrasions, ticks, or other problems.We sell top quality steel rakes and grooming brushes at Keystone German Shepherds & Kennels.Often our prices are better than the big chain pet stores and we can ship.
A Happy Well Maintained and Healthy Heidelberg German Shepherd Dog
If your dog is not eating well (it might be wormy) or if it appears to in ill health or not feeling well, take their temperature rectally for two minutes.The normal temperature for a dog will be 101.5 – 102°.If it is high or low you should consider contacting your veterinarian.
A Happy Heidelberg Puppy Litter Resting After Having Their Monthly Health Check
Heartworm preventive is a must for your puppy/dog or they can die of heartworms caused by mosquitoes. We use IVOMEC beginning at twelve weeks for puppies and of course continue their monthly dose for the rest of their life. Therefore it is a good idea to give them their heart worm preventative while clipping their nails and grooming every month.
It is a good idea to check for ear mites and ear infections every month. If you see signs of ear mites then treat your German shepherd Dog immediately.Although since we have started using Advantix and Frontline to treat our shepherds for pests such as fleas and ticks we have not seen a case of ear mites.Whereas, ear mite infections used to be quite common.Also, note if your shepherd seems to be holding one ear lower than the other, shaking its head, or pawing at its ear and you have ruled out ear mites as the cause, you may want to make an appointment with your vet immediately because ear infections in German shepherd Dogs are serious and can become life threatening.
It’s Time For My First Heartworm Treatment
The most common symptoms of ear mites: ears appear inflamed/red, ears refusing to stand, scratching on or behind the ear, shaking of head or holding head to one side, and/or visible dark dirt or wax in inner ear (actually ear mite poop).
Fleas and ticks: Nothing causes your dog more misery and disease than fleas and ticks!The life cycle of the flea is as short as six days in an ideal growing condition.In other words, a flea goes from egg through larval and mature state in only six days.To put this in the proper perspective, only ten fleas can become TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY TOUSAND fleas in only thirty days!
While fleas carry less diseases than ticks, they do carry tape worm eggs that can cause your dog’s health to suffer.Ticks carry several diseases that German Shepherd Dogs are susceptible to, and if not removed from your dog’s environment most assuredly will cause the death of your beloved shepherd.We at Keystone German Shepherds & Kennels used to struggle and spend small fortunes fighting ticks and fleas until they came out with Advantix several years ago.Now we have no fleas or ticks on our dogs.
We treat monthly with Advantix and switch out the next month with Frontline and have successfully eliminated fleas and ticks from our property.Even our wild rabbits and squirrels are tick free because they use the treated – shed fur from our dogs as nesting material.
We at Keystone German Shepherds have available some wonderfully good deals on some older German Shepherd Dog puppies.We now have younger puppies available and even more that will be ready to go to their new home in the upcoming weeks. Since we have several 16 to 18 week old puppies, we have discounted the price down to as low as $1,000.00 to $1,200.00.These puppies are basically potty trained and are ready to start basic obedience training.
Older Heidelberg Puppies that are ready to go to their new homes
Most everyone that is looking for a puppy wants the cute young fluffy ones, but they are only at this stage for a few weeks.Actually it is so much easier for the new owner and better for the puppies choose an older puppy.By the time a puppy is over 15-weeks-old it has no more interest in living with its litter-mates and they prefer human companionship over other dogs.Therefore, you have no sadness when you bring an older puppy home.In addition, they are mentally developed enough to understand the house rules and they do not want to go to the bathroom in your home.
Older Heidelberg puppies playing chase
If you are considering getting a German shepherd puppy consider getting one of our older puppies and save a little money on some very high quality shepherds.
This is a quick post today to remind and encourage everyone about the start of our new Canine Good Citizen (CGC) and Basic Obedience Class at Keystone German Shepherds & Kennels on Saturday, September 7, 2013 at 10:30 am. There is no charge for this class and all breeds and ages are invited.The only requirement is that your dogs must be up to date on all their vaccinations.
We concluded our summer training session in August with several owners and dogs passing the American Kennel Club (AKC) Canine Good Citizen Class.Since the conclusion of that class AKC has announced a new advanced level for Canine Good Citizen. With the introduction of AKC Community Canine, the AKC’s CGC program now provides a comprehensive three- level training program for dogs and their owners. Beginning with AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy, progressing to Canine Good Citizen and now to AKC Community Canine, the CGC program trains dogs through all stages of life to be well behaved in society.We are excited about the new program and will match our training class exercises to meet the qualifications of this advanced level of training.
We Cannot Wait to go to School
We look forwards to seeing new faces and old friends.Please make it out for our free training.The more participants that we have makes for a better class and training opportunities for all.
AKC Community Canine expands on CGC skills and lays the beginning foundation for obedience, rally and therapy dog work.Many of you with young dogs are planning on moving through to bigger and better things for your puppy, and we thank you for allowing us to be a part of this journey.
Slow School is Open
Please continue to check out our web page as we post updates on available litters: https://kgsd.inventivehorizons.com/PuppiesForSale.htm. We have several wonderful puppies that we are accepting deposits on, and these puppies will be ready to go to their new homes on September 9, 2011.
Ask me a Question and I will provide my opinion. Also, please see our web page: KeystoneGermanShepherds
We register all our German Shepherd Dog puppies with the American Kennel Club (AKC) because it provides the highest possible protection for those puppies throughout life.Registering all pure blood dogs with AKC adds intrinsic value to those registered dogs.Dogs that are valued through their pure blood registration are less likely to be dumped, discarded, abandoned, used for fighting, etc.Even the worse examples of certain breeds have an increased chance of a good and loved life if they are registered through AKC.
Newman and Nelson Noah Puppies
We have no idea what the future involves in our life, and any of could find ourselves through life circumstances unable to care for the puppy in the future that we purchase today.If your puppy is registered it is going to much easier for you or your breeder to find a new home for that puppy that you can no longer keep.Therefore, when a customer purchases a puppy from us, we collect the AKC registration fee from them and have the customer fill out the registration before leaving with their new puppy.We then mail in several registrations via certified mail to AKC, thus making sure all our puppies are registered.
We have several customers each year tell us that they do not care about registering their puppy because they are not going to breed or show their new puppy, nevertheless, we insist that these puppies get registered.Throughout the year we get back a few puppies, teenagers, and adults because the family has had a life changing event where they can no longer keep their German shepherd dog.These life changing events have included divorce, loss of job, severe illness, death of a spouse, and relocation out-of-the-country.None of these events were foreseen or anticipated by the new puppy owners.
Puppy Playing In The Yard
We at Keystone German Shepherds & Kennels always take our dogs back and try to rehome our German Shepherd Dogs if the former family cannot keep them any longer.Our task of rehoming and potentially reselling these German Shepherd Dog, puppies, teenagers and young adults is much easier if these dogs have been registered with AKC. Upon reselling these rehomed dogs, we refund the former owners original purchase price less our expenses. In addition, we transfer the registration of these rehomed German shepherd dogs to the new owners.
If you are purchasing your German shepherd dog from someone other than Keystone German Shepherds & Kennels, please take the time to register your new puppy with AKC.This will help add protection to your new puppy if something happens to you where you can no longer take care of your dog.
A Happy Puppy
In addition, ask your breeder if they offer the added insurance of rehoming your dog if you are unable to take of it any longer.If they are unwilling, unable, or sound hesitant about providing this service, perhaps you should consider a different breeder.Backyard breeders would be less likely to be able to provide this service because they do not have the facilities to take care of a dog that is not a part of their two to four dog pack in their backyard, thus, another reason for someone that is looking for a quality German Shepherd Dog puppy to avoid backyard breeders.
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