Herzog's Heroes is helping breed better breeders

Kate Dalman, a Crystal Lake, Illinois, breeder of German shepherds, is on a mission: To improve breeding practices and inject humanity into the competitive and largely unregulated world she inhabits.

The owner of Herzog German shepherds and founder of the nonprofit Herzog's Heroes has established the Herzog Conscientious Breeders Alliance, all named for her first Shepherd. The alliance is open to those who work with any breed, not just German shepherds.

"This is the first of its kind," Dalman says. "We've built a group of dedicated breeders who are currently creating breeder guidelines that will be proposed nationwide. We also want to bring the rescue and breeding communities together for the common goal of eradicating unscrupulous breeding practices."

She has a big job ahead. Illinois is part of the so-called "puppy mill belt," made up largely of Midwestern states. Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri breeders have the dubious distinction of receiving the most citations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for neglectful care of their dogs and puppies during the first half of this year.

Regulating and shutting down unscrupulous breeding practices is a game of whack-a-mole, so Dalman's approach is to encourage breeders to join the Herzog Conscientious Breeders Alliance (HCBA), establish best practices to minimize their impact on the shelter community and mentor up-and-coming Breeders.

"'Backyard breeder' is a derogatory term for someone who is a hobby breeder or just unscrupulous," Dalman says. "A lot of breeders fall under that definition, but many would be willing to follow guidelines if they were in place."

The breeder guidelines will encompass the latest industry standards, genetic diversity recommendations and responsible puppy placement strategies. The HCBA training program currently in development will teach breeders ways to minimize their footprint on the shelter population.

"These guidelines will make unscrupulous breeding practices far less lucrative for breeders trying to cut corners and make a quick buck exploiting dogs," she says. "On the other hand, dedicated breeders will receive recognition for their work."

It's free to join HCBA. "I believe every breeder has a duty to minimize their footprint on the shelter population, and those that do deserve our support," Dalman says.

Dalman is also rolling out a first of its kind breeder directory that will allow people looking to purchase a puppy to search for breeders with good reputations, and even see if a breeder has a bad one.

Once the directory is live, the focus will turn toward educating potential puppy owners on why choosing an HCBA Breeder is so important. "This will enable people to search a breeder before deciding to work with them and it will prevent unscrupulous breeders from continuing to fly under the radar," Dalman says.

The response so far among breeders has been mostly positive, with responses coming from around the country and even the UK. "I have breeders saying 'thank God you're doing this,'" she says, however, Dalman is prepared for backlash from breeders who don't want to change.

Dalman was in her late teens when she began her journey toward becoming a breeder. "I was always a dog person," she says. "I was involved with litters as I was growing up, and as a teenager I was helping out with a friend's litter. I was not expecting to have a dog at all!"

That changed with Herzog. "He was the pup out of the litter who needed more help. He struggled with socialization, and he only liked me. I never knew how hard it would be to have a dog with a bad temperament. It made me want to be a better breeder."

"Lack of knowledge on a breeder's part can lead to poor outcomes," she says. "The people who bred Herzog knew very little about it - they just put two dogs with AKC registrations together, and in doing that you can end up with some pups who have serious social and behavioral issues. It's difficult for a dog like that to be successful."

When Dalman went on to start her own breeding program she contacted the American Kennel Club (AKC) to find out what guidelines she needed to follow. "I thought they'd tell me I needed to run some tests on my parent dogs and participate in shows or something along those lines," instead she was told she just needed to send in the registration of the parents. "At the time, I was totally ignorant to the world of dog breeding so I thought my dogs must've already been approved as good breeding candidates because they had AKC registrations and AKC was allowing it."

As years went on, Dalman found this wasn't the case at all. In her pursuit to be the best breeder she could, she found that good breeding candidates need genetic and temperament testing along with correct conformation. "I learned the hard way because I wanted to be sure I was doing things right, but there are a lot of breeders who don't do that. Every breeder follows their own moral compass, some good, some bad. This is why we need guidelines in place."

It's been 15 years since Dalman started her business, which is situated on five acres about 50 miles northwest of Chicago. She specializes in West German Show Line German shepherds.

"West German Show Lines are a more docile German shepherd," she says. "They make good service dogs, therapy dogs and family dogs."

She takes care when she's selecting parents. "I look at temperament and conformation - body structure, how they stand, how they move, do they have good flow when they move, proper height and weight." She also includes genetic testing. "It's far from a perfect system, but the goal is to minimize health issues with pups."

Dalman remembers how tough it was when she was starting out. "Breeding can be an isolating line of work," she says. "You're dealing with loss of puppies, countless hours of taking care of mothers and babies, and if you don't have breeder friends, people don't understand you live by your breeding calendar."

Ending that isolation and building a more supportive community is important to her.

"I can remember being where they're at," she says. ""Honesty and integrity are far more important than feeling ashamed of mistakes. As breeders we learn new things with every litter no matter how seasoned we may be, and breeders who have the ability to accept that become that much better in the long run."

"Yes, we want to recognize breeders doing their part, but also lift up those breeders who need help. This is going to create a higher breeding standard for everyone, which is what we want for dogs everywhere."

For information, visit the Herzog's Heroes website (herzogsheroes.org), email info@herzogsheroes.com or call 779-800-5589.