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Most places only take donations from reputable breeders. Even if both your SD and their SD have had genetic testing and have top tier PennHip test results, neither of you is a reputable breeder. GSD’s have such a high likelihood of washing, it would likely be much *more* expensive for a program to accept one of the puppies for free than it would be to *pay* a reputable breeder for a temp tested Labrador.
Do you have an independent professional SD trainer that is going to temperament test the puppies in a few weeks? What are your plans for the puppies that don’t have the right temperament (as it’s likely that anywhere between 1 to all four of them will not be suitable for SD work). Is the one of you with the female SD qualified to raise the puppies with Puppy Culture/a similar method?
Respectfully, it probably would have been more useful to these orgs if you had donated the purchase price of 1 puppy to them instead.
This. Locating placements for the puppies before the dogs were bred would have been the thing to do, as honestly German Shepherds are just that unlikely to make it as service dogs that I would be surprised if you got even one suitable service dog prospect out of the breeding. This means that you would likely need to find homes for the other however many puppies is going to be a must. It is probably better if one of you take the best looking prospect and train it up as a service dog for yourself, then place the remaining as pet or sport dogs.
You bred 2 dogs without homes/plans for the resulting puppies. This is not responsible ownership. If your friend was really that good of a trainer, they would know that GSDs are not recommended for service work so breeding a litter FOR that purpose is extremely irresponsible when there is minimal to no chance even one puppy will make it as an SD. From a programs perspective, you're a BYB trying to dump puppies on them so they end up with 1-2yrs or more of expenses for dogs that will end up in pet homes.
My recommendation? Sterilize your SDs and let them do their jobs instead of popping out more unwanted puppies.
People who breed dogs without having at least some confirmed buyers for the litter are only contributing to the overpopulation program.
The vast majority of programs use retrievers and poodles rather than GSDs. Many programs have their own breeding programs. Most programs are not going to be interested in donated puppies unless they come from a reputable kennel that titles and health tests its dogs.
I hope you can find homes for the puppies you've created.
I think it’s a noble purpose but your obstacles are going to be a program’s concerns about a new (untested) line of puppies; the inexperience of the breeder (sooo much more involved than just hatching puppies); and possibly concerns about the breed itself. Having SDs as parents doesn’t guarantee that the puppies will be suitable for service work, even if temp tested. Again, there’s so much more involved with it.
Heart absolutely in the right place. But ask the community what we look for in ethical breeders: one of the biggest things is knowing where the litter is going *prior* to breeding. Contacting organizations should have been something you did when you started considering this. So the community likely sees this litter as unethical, backyard breeding. I'm floored that an experienced dog trainer would have promoted this.
I hope you at the very least took the basic steps.. AKC papered dogs (preferably with great titles), temperament testing, OFA testing, etc.
I can't say I'm surprised that you haven't gotten any responses yet, and I'm not sure how many you will get. GSD also aren't the ideal candidates for service work.
You've only got a few weeks left before these puppies need real training attention, and if you can't find them homes you'll need to do it yourself. Both of you should know how much work young puppies need to set them up with a good foundation. The closer to 8 weeks you get, the tougher things will be and you may very well end up with a litter to raise on your own, or have to settle for sending them off to private owners, likely to be raised as pets.
I know it's not the support and guidance you were hoping to get, but you ask for guidance *way* too late in the process and have accidentally wound up in unethical breeder territory. Your best bet is likely to focus on programs that specifically work with GSDs, I think I've seen people around here mention that some programs that work with veterans use primarily/exclusively GSD. But still - the timeline you want them to take the puppies on, is probably way too soon.
I can't imagine any org will be so desperate for puppies that they would take a litter from an unknown breeder, especially if you missed anything else off the ethical breeder checklist, on the timeline you're hoping for. Best of luck though, you attempted a very noble thing here.
Thank you your concern and you raised valid points. We’re not backyard breeders. Both parents were tested with good rating for their OFA and PennHIP testings. Both parents are service dog for myself and my friend.
We will be providing the pups foundational and socialization training before they go to their good homes. We want to provide the pups to non profit organizations and anyone who wants a service dog prospect.
Okay, so the hips and elbows are good. But what about all of the other health tests that German Shepherds should be tested for like DM and cardiac issues? What about as heavyhomo is asking about high level performance or conformation titles? Saying your dogs is service dogs and using that as the only justification for breeding German Shepherds is a massive red flag, that no educated handler will even consider taking a puppy from you and certainly not a non-profit who will see these puppies as walking resource sinks. The fact is unless you have extensive titles on your dogs to support your justification for breeding the dogs, as well as full health testing on both dogs ***AND*** their parents and grandparents then you are a backyard breeder. To be an ethical breeder it is not doing a couple health tests and crossing your fingers that the resulting litter is suitable for service work, it is full health testing, extensive titling and being selective in the dogs you pair together so they compliment each other's faults and strengths. It is from the point of the dogs tying having solid plans for where every puppy is going, having evaluated the individuals or programs that will take your puppies and having back up plans should those fall through. It is having the resources to take back the puppies you created in case the homes they end up in don't work out, potentially for the next 10+ years. Ethical breeders do all of that and anything less is backyard breeding, full stop.
Do they do sports? shows? any other proving of their breed? Are they bred within standard, do you have experience with breeding dogs and have you mentored under ethical dog breeders?
Oh my god I’m sorry but you guys were very irresponsible. This is backyard breeding to the finest. Please look into what makes a breeder ethical. My good friend Maddie posts about ethical breeding on her [TikTok Page](https://www.tiktok.com/@social_work_therapy_dog?_t=8naKIBDhfag&_r=1).
Others have said basically everything I could say. Just because your dogs are service dogs doesn’t mean they have the health, lineage, temperament, etc for breeding. Breeding dogs are selected very specifically when it comes to ethical breeding. They follow the breed standard under the [German Shepherd Breed Club](https://www.gsdca.org) or breed club or whatever breed they’re doing. They have high standards and have homes and plans lined up well. They do sports and shows and other things, not just mashing two dogs together because “they’re both service dogs.”
This post is like 99% of the reason I call having working service dog in the lineage for German Shepherds a red flag, even with the fact that historically they were the first guide dogs. That is not something that ethical German Shepherd breeders advertise simply because that would functionally be saying that they aren't breeding good German Shepherds.
Though I would also question the quality of breeding on the parents, that or I guarantee the breeders would be livid to find out what was done with the dogs they produced. This is the sort of thing that if it comes out that you went against the contract that you will struggle to get another well bred dog in the future, or anyone that the trainer chooses to work with could be impacted.
I know some shelters that have last litter programs if you want recommendations depending on your state. They take the puppies and responsibly adopt them out, and spay and neuter the parents for free to low cost so you don’t make this mistake again. I recommend doing that. I don’t know any program that
1) would take GSDs as donation dogs
2) take back yard bred dogs from breeders they don’t have an active relationship with
The only program I know that would realistically take these dogs is something like medical mutts, where they would be rescued from a shelter first. Please. Give them the best physical chance and give them to a shelter and S/N your dogs
I know Academy of Canine Excellence in NM and Service dogs of NM will take prospects as long as their temperament is right. ACE and Service Dogs NM are owned by the same people and they are great!
I love your thinking, but that’s not how these systems work. I think the pups would be great for those who actually needs a service dog but can afford it.
Your heart was in the right place. This is Reddit, it’s for shitting on people who don’t know any better. Specifically, this sub is for informing people about legal protections & tactical karen maneuvers. You can call a Search & Rescue or contact a K9 unit and see if they’ll take them. I would emphasize their breed, health, & parent’s current job. The fact that GS are hard to train as service dogs to begin with makes them a bit rarer.
We have removed your comment because it breaks Rule 8: Trainers Must be Verified. Do not repost your comment/post. If you need more advice, feel free to [Message the Moderators](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/service_dogs) for help.
Most places only take donations from reputable breeders. Even if both your SD and their SD have had genetic testing and have top tier PennHip test results, neither of you is a reputable breeder. GSD’s have such a high likelihood of washing, it would likely be much *more* expensive for a program to accept one of the puppies for free than it would be to *pay* a reputable breeder for a temp tested Labrador. Do you have an independent professional SD trainer that is going to temperament test the puppies in a few weeks? What are your plans for the puppies that don’t have the right temperament (as it’s likely that anywhere between 1 to all four of them will not be suitable for SD work). Is the one of you with the female SD qualified to raise the puppies with Puppy Culture/a similar method? Respectfully, it probably would have been more useful to these orgs if you had donated the purchase price of 1 puppy to them instead.
This. Locating placements for the puppies before the dogs were bred would have been the thing to do, as honestly German Shepherds are just that unlikely to make it as service dogs that I would be surprised if you got even one suitable service dog prospect out of the breeding. This means that you would likely need to find homes for the other however many puppies is going to be a must. It is probably better if one of you take the best looking prospect and train it up as a service dog for yourself, then place the remaining as pet or sport dogs.
You bred 2 dogs without homes/plans for the resulting puppies. This is not responsible ownership. If your friend was really that good of a trainer, they would know that GSDs are not recommended for service work so breeding a litter FOR that purpose is extremely irresponsible when there is minimal to no chance even one puppy will make it as an SD. From a programs perspective, you're a BYB trying to dump puppies on them so they end up with 1-2yrs or more of expenses for dogs that will end up in pet homes. My recommendation? Sterilize your SDs and let them do their jobs instead of popping out more unwanted puppies.
Yes this was terribly irresponsible.
People who breed dogs without having at least some confirmed buyers for the litter are only contributing to the overpopulation program. The vast majority of programs use retrievers and poodles rather than GSDs. Many programs have their own breeding programs. Most programs are not going to be interested in donated puppies unless they come from a reputable kennel that titles and health tests its dogs. I hope you can find homes for the puppies you've created.
Yeah sadly this is just BYB.
I think it’s a noble purpose but your obstacles are going to be a program’s concerns about a new (untested) line of puppies; the inexperience of the breeder (sooo much more involved than just hatching puppies); and possibly concerns about the breed itself. Having SDs as parents doesn’t guarantee that the puppies will be suitable for service work, even if temp tested. Again, there’s so much more involved with it.
Heart absolutely in the right place. But ask the community what we look for in ethical breeders: one of the biggest things is knowing where the litter is going *prior* to breeding. Contacting organizations should have been something you did when you started considering this. So the community likely sees this litter as unethical, backyard breeding. I'm floored that an experienced dog trainer would have promoted this. I hope you at the very least took the basic steps.. AKC papered dogs (preferably with great titles), temperament testing, OFA testing, etc. I can't say I'm surprised that you haven't gotten any responses yet, and I'm not sure how many you will get. GSD also aren't the ideal candidates for service work. You've only got a few weeks left before these puppies need real training attention, and if you can't find them homes you'll need to do it yourself. Both of you should know how much work young puppies need to set them up with a good foundation. The closer to 8 weeks you get, the tougher things will be and you may very well end up with a litter to raise on your own, or have to settle for sending them off to private owners, likely to be raised as pets. I know it's not the support and guidance you were hoping to get, but you ask for guidance *way* too late in the process and have accidentally wound up in unethical breeder territory. Your best bet is likely to focus on programs that specifically work with GSDs, I think I've seen people around here mention that some programs that work with veterans use primarily/exclusively GSD. But still - the timeline you want them to take the puppies on, is probably way too soon. I can't imagine any org will be so desperate for puppies that they would take a litter from an unknown breeder, especially if you missed anything else off the ethical breeder checklist, on the timeline you're hoping for. Best of luck though, you attempted a very noble thing here.
Thank you your concern and you raised valid points. We’re not backyard breeders. Both parents were tested with good rating for their OFA and PennHIP testings. Both parents are service dog for myself and my friend. We will be providing the pups foundational and socialization training before they go to their good homes. We want to provide the pups to non profit organizations and anyone who wants a service dog prospect.
Okay, so the hips and elbows are good. But what about all of the other health tests that German Shepherds should be tested for like DM and cardiac issues? What about as heavyhomo is asking about high level performance or conformation titles? Saying your dogs is service dogs and using that as the only justification for breeding German Shepherds is a massive red flag, that no educated handler will even consider taking a puppy from you and certainly not a non-profit who will see these puppies as walking resource sinks. The fact is unless you have extensive titles on your dogs to support your justification for breeding the dogs, as well as full health testing on both dogs ***AND*** their parents and grandparents then you are a backyard breeder. To be an ethical breeder it is not doing a couple health tests and crossing your fingers that the resulting litter is suitable for service work, it is full health testing, extensive titling and being selective in the dogs you pair together so they compliment each other's faults and strengths. It is from the point of the dogs tying having solid plans for where every puppy is going, having evaluated the individuals or programs that will take your puppies and having back up plans should those fall through. It is having the resources to take back the puppies you created in case the homes they end up in don't work out, potentially for the next 10+ years. Ethical breeders do all of that and anything less is backyard breeding, full stop.
Are they papered/titled?
Do they do sports? shows? any other proving of their breed? Are they bred within standard, do you have experience with breeding dogs and have you mentored under ethical dog breeders?
Sounds like a backyard breeder
Oh my god I’m sorry but you guys were very irresponsible. This is backyard breeding to the finest. Please look into what makes a breeder ethical. My good friend Maddie posts about ethical breeding on her [TikTok Page](https://www.tiktok.com/@social_work_therapy_dog?_t=8naKIBDhfag&_r=1). Others have said basically everything I could say. Just because your dogs are service dogs doesn’t mean they have the health, lineage, temperament, etc for breeding. Breeding dogs are selected very specifically when it comes to ethical breeding. They follow the breed standard under the [German Shepherd Breed Club](https://www.gsdca.org) or breed club or whatever breed they’re doing. They have high standards and have homes and plans lined up well. They do sports and shows and other things, not just mashing two dogs together because “they’re both service dogs.”
This post is like 99% of the reason I call having working service dog in the lineage for German Shepherds a red flag, even with the fact that historically they were the first guide dogs. That is not something that ethical German Shepherd breeders advertise simply because that would functionally be saying that they aren't breeding good German Shepherds. Though I would also question the quality of breeding on the parents, that or I guarantee the breeders would be livid to find out what was done with the dogs they produced. This is the sort of thing that if it comes out that you went against the contract that you will struggle to get another well bred dog in the future, or anyone that the trainer chooses to work with could be impacted.
I know some shelters that have last litter programs if you want recommendations depending on your state. They take the puppies and responsibly adopt them out, and spay and neuter the parents for free to low cost so you don’t make this mistake again. I recommend doing that. I don’t know any program that 1) would take GSDs as donation dogs 2) take back yard bred dogs from breeders they don’t have an active relationship with The only program I know that would realistically take these dogs is something like medical mutts, where they would be rescued from a shelter first. Please. Give them the best physical chance and give them to a shelter and S/N your dogs
I know Academy of Canine Excellence in NM and Service dogs of NM will take prospects as long as their temperament is right. ACE and Service Dogs NM are owned by the same people and they are great!
I love your thinking, but that’s not how these systems work. I think the pups would be great for those who actually needs a service dog but can afford it.
Your heart was in the right place. This is Reddit, it’s for shitting on people who don’t know any better. Specifically, this sub is for informing people about legal protections & tactical karen maneuvers. You can call a Search & Rescue or contact a K9 unit and see if they’ll take them. I would emphasize their breed, health, & parent’s current job. The fact that GS are hard to train as service dogs to begin with makes them a bit rarer.