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We are proud members of:

German Shepherd Dog Club of America

Wolverine German Shepherd Dog Club of West Michigan

MondouCu Animal Training

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“Kiaya” Black/Creme Long Stock Coat Female 23.75” (60.3cm). 0645

Hips & Elbows Veterinary certified

Kiaya is our foundation female.  She has an exceptional temperament - trained in French Ring and personal protection, yet willing and able to relax when in a group of children or crowds.  Kiaya’s build lends itself to all working types, she is a natural herder, strong in tracking, independent yet highly intuitive. She is the dam to Faol, Endy, Dar, Aine and Ellie. Kiaya remains our head female, keeping strong track of all puppies whelped here.  Her supervision is what makes it possible to run the modified pack that we run.  She is an extension of Dawn at all times, knowing what she’s thinking, how she is feeling and what to handle at the exact moment something needs to be handled. On October 2, 2009, we saw Kiaya to the rainbow bridge where she can play and relax in a way she has not been able to in many months due to a spinal injury that occurred early in 2009 while playing with her grandsons. The road is difficult without her, but we are able to cope due to her diligence in choosing her replacement before she left this world.  We miss her so.

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Some people search their entire life for a true partner, someone who knows your thoughts before you speak, someone who is in action to handle something that needs to be handled before you can physically react to get it done, someone who knows that you are missing something - no matter what it is and can not only determine what the something is, but also gets it for you. Some people would say all of these attributes are the attributes of a soul mate, I say they are the attributes of the best head bitch you could ever dream of having, and Kiaya had them all.  She was truly happy to simply go with me - even if going with me meant sitting in the car for hours, she was “on top of it” no matter what the it was, she was perfectly social in large crowds (even when everyone was drinking), she was 100% deadly in her protection work, but never aggressed upon anyone that did not aggress upon me or mine. 

Kiaya’s work ethic and drive were brilliant - it was like she had an internal self-induced switch that knew exactly when she should respond quickly and with force or subtly and with grace. Her devotion to her duties as head bitch was immeasurable.  She would quietly lay in the house, always half awake, ready for the moment that she needed to be up, on her feet and in action - but completely content.  She was ever vigilant never tired and continued this even though we were selfish and held on to her for several months after she had told us she was ready to leave this world because she knew we still needed her. Many can only dream of this kind of dedication, we got to live with it, and still do as she has passed these traits along to her progeny.

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Unfortunately, it was Kiaya’s zest for life that was eventually her demise. She was injured beyond repair when her grandson’s careened into her while they were out playing in the snow.  Kiaya flew into the air and landed upon the ice in the back field.  She got up and was obviously sore, but she never whimpered or whined, she showed no signs of serious injury and it wasn’t until she was not healing that we had any indication of how bad she had been hurt. The x-rays showed two ruptured disks, a break of the vertebrae and two other areas of damage to the spine - all indicative of a major collision type accident.  For months we tried acupuncture, but in the end, it was too traumatic of an injury.

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I only have one regret with regard to Kiaya... I should have had her Temperament Test done while she was living, she would have impressed everyone and because of this regret, we are currently in the process of having EVERY dog that is in our breeding program certified. Unfortunately, it is more difficult than most can imagine. Last year, we were only able to find one TC being held locally - and that was held 3 1/2 hours away.  We loaded 5 dogs and 12 hours later we returned home with the 5 Temperament Certifications.  It is our duty to continue Kiaya’s perfect temperament in each and every dog we breed so that they can create pups that are just as amazing as Kiaya for every puppy parent.

Take care, my girl... until we meet again and cross the rainbow bridge together.