Oakwood philosophy
There’s nothing cuter than puppies! But cute puppies don’t stay young and cute for long and buyers are investing considerable money and 12-16 years of their lives when purchasing a German Pinscher, so, what is most important in the long run? Foremost in my mind is temperament.
In today’s day and age, dogs are expected to be open and friendly with strangers while still able to do their job of protecting home and family if a threat arises. People want to travel and hike and visit dog parks and take their dogs along. This requires a very stable temperament and excellent socialization of puppies by their breeder and new owners.
German Pinschers are a generally healthy and long lived breed. Reputable breeders should provide a current eye exam within one year, a hip evaluation by ex-ray and a cardiac echocardiogram to prove their breeding animals have met the CHIC standards for health testing in the breed here in the US. Savvy buyers can use offa.org and the ‘German Pinscher Global Database’ to research the health testing of dogs within a pedigree and go beyond just the health testing of parents that is provided by most breeders. Finally, in a breed with a tiny gene pool like the German Pinscher, reputable breeders must pay attention to the negative impact that inbreeding, close line breeding and the overuse of popular sires can have on the vitality of the breed. I believe in being completely transparent about temperament, health and coefficients of inbreeding. The LAST factor I consider when bringing puppies into this world is the color of their coat.
