I would like to attest the fulfilling and positive experience I had in choosing a Zauberberg GSD.
My neighborhood is not the safest, I was contemplating getting a gun for home protection when a friend of mine suggested “Just get a dog. A dog is more versatile then a gun!” He was right. So, I began my research. Having owned a German Shepherd when I was younger, I was inclined to pick the breed I was familiar with, but also wanted to look into rottweilers and dobermans.
The more I read up, the more I felt in my gut that the German Shepherd was the best fit for me. Next, I went through the avenues of getting one. Rescue? Local back yard breeder? Full fledged papered dog from breeder? Rescue, as noble as it is to save a dog, was not ideal…they had many dogs, but mostly mixed breeds. The 2 back yard breeders I went to wouldn’t answer my questions, which were pretty basic. “How will the dog be with children, what is the disposition of the mother and father?” Any answers I did get were not really satisfactory. “Great” is too generic an answer for me!
So, it was to be a full fledged breeder. Zauberberg was the first to come up on Google. A few other local breeders came up, so I visited them first, to get a feel for what I was getting into. Unfortunately for them, these breeders were more interested in having me buy an over-sized dog. I knew the true male German Shepherd should weigh between 65-90 lbs. Not 120 lbs!
Having invested this much effort into my search, I figured a 3 hour drive will be worth it. How I kicked myself for not going directly to Zauberberg! Andreas immediately impressed me. He is a true dog breeder. He told me of his training methods, positive reinforcement, psychology, he recommended several different authors. 4 hours later, I felt like I was back in college with all the information I was getting!
He showed me the puppies, and I wanted a girl. My son, though, would ultimately choose, and when we came out the following week, picked Kevin Von Zauberburg (nee Nevin). At first, we were overwhelmed with the drive he possessed. Andreas and Linda understood, and allowed us to return the dog for a week while we made up our minds if we wanted him back, or to choose another dog. For a week, we debated.
We came back and got Kevin, and have not looked back since. This dog is amazing. He’s energetic, playful, and is a part of our family. Clicker training with him is uncanny, I had no idea a dog can understand what I am trying to teach him in such a short time. In the past 2 days alone, I have taught him to jump up an a bale of hay, with a ball in his mouth, to drop the ball, to sit and stay, wait for me to throw the ball, then jump over an obstacle, retrieve the ball, jumping back over the obstacle, up the bale of hay, dropping the ball, etc. It took him less then 5 minutes to learn this.
Anywhere I take him, I get complemented on how handsome he is. I was more interested in getting a well balanced dog, so his looks are secondary to me. Even TPD has asked if Kevin is a K9! I am pleased with how accessible Andreas and Zauberberg is, and highly recommend anyone in the SW area to pick a Zauberberg dog.
Kindly, John Kelly