NEIGEPEARL

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The History of the Neigepearl Breeding Program

How the love affair with the breed began....

Funnily enough, when Brooke first got into the breed and started campaigning white German Shepherd Dogs, she didn’t own one! When she was young, Brooke was in her local pet store, buying goldfish for her pond, when she saw a white t-shirt with a picture of a dog’s head on it. It was a beautiful dog, and under the picture said the words “White German Shepherd”. Brooke recognised this dog from a film she used to watch as a child, called ‘Beastmaster’. It wasn’t until many years later, when the internet came about, that she would remember this and the journey into the White German world would begin.

Brooke always had a deep connection with animals and wild life, everything from insects, tropical fish, frogs, various reptiles, cats, dogs and horses. As Brooke grew up, she would spend most of her time outdoors, relaxing with her pets on the lawn, riding and swimming Thoroughbreds, and having fun with Quarter Horses rounding up cattle. It was only natural, that at age 15 she would do work experience at a local vet in Brighton. Though, that didn’t go quite as planned, as she developed acute allergies to cats and some dogs!

In the past, Brooke had only owned a mixed breed family dog and a working/farm dog. Kurt, an Australian Cattle Dog x Border Collie, taught Brooke a lot of about dogs. At times, Kurt had aggressive and dominant tendencies. Brooke rehabilitated Kurt’s problems and learnt how to read canine body language, behaviour and understood more about canine psychology. Brooke also assisted many other local dog owners on responsible pet ownership, local laws, training and behaviour. Brooke used to do obedience, agility and advanced tricks with Kurt. Kurt was Brooke’s world and she used to take him out every day, hail, rain or shine, whether to the beach or beautiful open spaces in the area. She met many great friends out and about on their daily walks. Brooke competed with Kurt in competitions at festivals and fetes under famous celebrity judges, taking out many prizes.

Many years later, Brooke started researching several dog breeds. When the internet came about, Brooke searched online for “White German Shepherds”, remembering the t-shirt in the pet shop when she was younger. It was only then that she learnt that whites were commonly culled at birth. This was a travesty, especially when there was not any medical, reasonable, or justified explanation to this ugly practice. Some of the stories Brooke heard of how breeders ‘culled’ white puppies were sickening, sparking an intense passion to do something about it. She got the media and RSPCA on side and educated the public about the story of these majestic looking dogs, whose history was fraught with a controversy that was like racism in the dog community.

Brooke learnt that most overseas countries had breed clubs supporting the whites and educating the public about the colour controversy and had special breeding programs for the white dogs. She saw that the German Shepherd Dog Clubs of Australia had written breeding guidelines that stated that whites “should be culled”. There was nothing being done to stop this awful practice.

White tigers were paraded around the world for their unique colour, while on the other hand, the dog community commonly culls colours that are not acceptable in the show ring or Breed Standard. A Breed Standard is a written document that is like a “blue print” for what a breed should be like in looks, temperament, size, colour etc. 25% of White Boxers are born deaf and white colour can be associated with full or partial albinism, but this isn’t the case for the White German Shepherd. To learn more about the history of discrimination, please visit http://www.wgsdcv.org.au/breedinfo.htm

Brooke spent many hours in the State Library of Victoria, searching though archives, looking for people who advertised white pups. Through this, she found some owners and old breeders of whites and starting tracking pedigrees and making a record of dogs which was developed into the first stud book. Through online articles and the old information derived from the library archives, Brooke gathered some contacts and information about local and other Australian dogs and breeders. At this point, Brooke hadn’t even knowingly seen a White German Shepherd in the flesh! It wasn’t until Brooke picked up a lost White German Shepherd on the street in the midst of starting the club, that she had first-hand experience with a White German Shepherd!

With other owners she had located, Brooke started the Australian club for the breed. Through the online website she created, many more owners of whites came forward. Brooke organised fun days for people and dogs to come together to meet each other. It was because of this that the White German Shepherd community in Australia began.

The start of the Neigepearl Breeding Program...

Brooke researched and investigated the German Shepherd Dog Breed Standard, both in Australia and overseas. She developed an ‘eye’ and knowledge for the right type, correct angles and conformation that exceeded some that had been in the breed for decades. She educated herself about health, genetics and ethical breeding practices.

Our first white, Whitepearl Karo was born out of two black/gold parents who carried the white gene, called Sherri’s Holly and Sherri’s Tyson. When we went to meet the puppies and the parents, we were so impressed with mum and dad, that we took a puppy home with us. So our journey in the breed began...

Karo was an excellent show dog in his time (club shows), winning each class he was entered in for 5 years (Best Open and Reserve Challenge Dog in 2003, Runner Up Best in Show, then Neutered Dog every time he was entered in shows after he was de-sexed). Karo moved beautifully in the ring. Unlike any other white I have seen, light on his feet with fantastic reach and drive. His hip/elbow score was the best for a stud dog in the club for many years at the beginning of the Australian breeding program. When his hips/elbows were done, our Veterinary Consultant, the well-known Ray Ferguson, stated that Karo is excellent genetic material for the breed.

Above: Whitepearl Karo (Karo), our first white, born 06/06/2000.

Karo used to do agility, obedience and conformation showing at club shows.

AVA Hips: 3:3, Elbows 0:0, HNeg

When we go back through Karo’s pedigree, we see his grandmother, Phaedrus Sophie (ANKC registered) was bred to a police dog called Ziggi (Karo’s grandfather). Sophie’s sire was a Melbourne bred, ANKC main-registered white German Shepherd Dog, named Alpenwolf Arctic Warlock CDX TDX (Blitz). The letters after his name are impressive obedience and tracking titles, meaning Companion Dog Excellent and Tracking Dog Excellent. Blitz resembles our bloodlines quite a bit in looks and working ability, which isn’t surprising considering our Whitepearl Karo’s breeding is intensified on these dogs, including Blitz.

Above: Alpenwolf Arctic Warlock CDX TDX (aka Blitz, owned and loved by Martina Gandert)

Blitz was bred with Legionare Zorbrae (ANKC registered), daughter of the well-known Sieger & Australian Champion Prima Zorba (Kkl1) and Edlenblut Kleo. Our foundation lines have come from very impressive dogs, the best old whites from back in the day when the ANKC accepted the whites for registration and some of the most influential black and gold German Shepherds that shaped the breed in Australia.

We heard of a nice quality litter born in Western Australia from a beautiful white female called Muellers Skye and a long coat imported stud, called Debylyn White Buffalo (IMPORT UK, KC Registered). This was brand new bloodlines for Australia and we arranged for most of the litter to go into potential breeding homes across the country. From this litter, we had the pick of the litter female, White Buffalo Cheyenne (Keah). She lived with our friends the Harrisons and when she was of breeding age, Keah and Karo produced our very first litter of Neigepearl puppies.

Above 4 photos: White Buffalo Cheyenne (Keah)

AVA Hips & Elbows, PennHip

AVA Hips 5:6 elbows 0:0

We were very happy with our first litter from Keah and Karo. Pups had good bone and type. They were a perfect combination of both parents. Exactly what we would have hoped would have come from that mating. We kept a female from this litter, called Neigepearl Vital Obsession (Indy), who truly became the solid foundation of our breeding program.

Where to from our foundation?

Now that we had our very own special foundation girl, Indy, we investigated many lines throughout the world to breed her with. From the dogs we were looking at overseas, we researched the bloodlines’ conformation (structure), producing abilities (what the pups were like that they had produced), health and genetics of their pups and pedigrees.

We felt the American/Canadian dogs were the closest to the German Shepherd Dog Breed Standard and appreciated their style and type. There were no dogs in Australia that were as advanced or proven in the working and show rings. Their pedigrees were full of generations of quality whites whose conformation had clearly been a priority of the breeders breeding them over the years.

After months of detailed investigation, we imported the frozen semen in 2003 from Royal Damien of Teens Desire (Damien) and Tumbledown’s Super Sonic (Super).  We made this decision to import semen from these dogs and another breeder shared some of the associated semen costs and its import to Australia.

Royal Damien of Teens Desire (USA)

Tumbledown’s Super Sonic (USA)

In 2006, Neigepearl Vital Obsession was bred with an ANKC registered GSD, Apachee under our “Amortentia” prefix. Apachee was one of the loveliest GSDs we have ever met. A bomb-proof temperament, excellent hip/elbow scores and he also had his Australian Champion show title. He was from the some of the best obedience titled working lines in the country. Apachee’s uncle ‘Kai’ is the only TRIPLE CHAMPION German Shepherd in Australia.

Indy and Apachee produced 11 top quality black and gold puppies that carried Indy’s white gene. We were over the moon with this result and were so excited how these puppies would shape the future of our breeding program.

Above: Apachee and Indy

We had another litter in 2006, a second litter with Indy’s mother, White Buffalo Cheyenne. She was bred to a locally-bred long coat male called Kyanjuwa White Bear. We produced a few excellent looking dogs and 3 were purchased by friends overseas in Finland and Netherlands. These dogs were subsequently registered as White Swiss Shepherd Dogs under the FCI and official kennel clubs. Neigepearl Finish Sisu from this litter competes in agility with his owner, Johanna. The only dog to be bred with from this litter, was Neigepearl Warrungal Wiseguy, (name, Dingo, export Netherlands). He produced some very notable, healthy and beautiful offspring in Europe!

It is a shame because the only intact brother we kept in Australia, Neigepearl White Phoenix (Loki) was a lovely breed example, but was not used in our breeding program as he retained both testes. One of his brothers, Neigepearl Secret Affair also had reproduction problems and the brother who competes in agility, Sisu, had a retained teste. Needless to say these lines ended here in Australia, but Dingo continued to move the line forward successfully in Europe, being free of this problem.

Neigepearl White Phoenix (Loki)

With our dear friend Linda at Terluner Schloss in Netherlands, Neigepearl Warrungal Wiseguy produced a Zenado Vom Terluner Schloss (Kilat). Kilat is ranking very highly in the European show rings and taking them all by storm! Congratulations Linda! We are so very proud to see our lines campaigned successfully overseas, earning championship titles with some of the best European breeders. These lines are now spreading throughout Europe and we are very happy seeing their quality!

Above: Zenado Vom Terluner Schloss (Kilat)

Amortentia Reckless Abandon (a black/gold daughter of Indy and Apachee, who was awarded Best in Show 2006) became pregnant on her second artificial insemination attempt with frozen semen from Royal Damien of Teens Desire (USA), which finally produced 8 puppies, a mixture of black/gold, white and sable colours. This litter produced some dogs with conformation unseen in Australia for a white! What a brilliant litter this was!

Over the years, we have mated our foundation lines with a few local white blood lines as well as some excellent quality, proven black/gold ANKC Champion and working German Shepherd Dogs. We have had excellent results using excellent quality ANKC Registered black/gold German Shepherd Dogs in our breeding program. They have so much to offer the whites and while the opportunity exists (and the whites are not recognised as a separate breed), they have contributed vast improvements in conformation, knowledge of pedigree, health and performance.

I simply cannot go on without saying just how instrumental Indy has been to our breeding program. Her fearless and confident character, her working aptitude, her affectionate, tuned-in temperament and her excellent ability to produce awesome quality puppies in each and every litter, has made is very proud. She really is one in a million dog and a one in a million producer! You can see several of her pups on our Pets page.

Neigepearl Obsessive Demands (Koda) and Neigepearl Crashdown Zan (Cooper).

Both are handsome sons by Indy (different sires). You can see a lot of similarities to their mother!

Above: An Indy grandson, Neigepearl Incredible Hulk.

Keeping with the Neigepearl type.

For Indy’s final two litters, we bred her with frozen semen from Tumbledown’s Super Sonic (producing two puppies) and leased import Bryan Timber Vom Weissen Watcher (producing 13 puppies). Apparently, Super goes back to some of the original White German Shepherd Dogs bred by the ladies of the Royal House of Habsburg, prior to the nineteen hundreds. We cannot say how proud we are of these last two litters, giving us more exceptional quality dogs to breed forward with.

We like to think that we can have it all in our breeding program by carefully choosing the right dogs with the best genetic material. A dog that is not constructed well, or does not look like a true shepherd, has a bad temperament, or is from a line of serious health problems or questionable purebred lineage, is not good enough for us.

We do not simply breed pretty show or designer dogs. Our dogs and the pups we breed are active and train in many forms of dog sports and are also excellent family companions. With this in mind, we passionate believe that perfect conformation, temperament, health and working ability, are all our equal priorities.

We have great pleasure in seeing the descendants of our Neigepearl blood lines in far away countries, achieving lots of success. As always, we are excited about the future our kennel holds here in Australia and also overseas.

Finally and most importantly, we would like to thank the people who have helped us on our journey so far in the breed. That includes our great co-owners, stud owners, other breeders who have taken our lines abroad, as well as our supportive friends and family, from Australia and worldwide!

Our dedication and passion for this breed will continue for a long time, we have no doubt!

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