Von Shaman Black Standard Schnauzers

03/05/2026

5 weeks old today

02/20/2026

Three weeks old yesterday. They are learning to walk and talk. (And p*e as well)

02/11/2026

They are growing. 2 weeks old tomorrow. They are growing. Will need to start looking for homes soon.

02/09/2026

While this FB page says Black SSs, Billie Jean is the first P&S I have owned, shown, and bred in 17-18 years. She is a beautiful SS, au naturalle, and a great mother. Her pups were born on 1/29, and are thriving.4 girls and 3 boys.
Let me know if you are interested.

05/29/2025

Thank you all who haave reached out re Black puppies. At the moment I do not have any Blacks in season. Do not know whether/when this might happen.
In the past I have been able to successfully refer people here in the US to a good friend of mine in CZ Republic. She is a well known and successful breeder of award winning Blacks. Blacks are much more common in Europe. I have worked with her since 2006.
nfortunately the CDC changed the rules about importing puppies from anywhere else in the world. New rule was 6 months old. Ostensibly to prevent rabies in the US. Anyone who has raised a dog from 8 weeks old knows that there is a big difference that would be missed by the time they are 6 months old.

In the EU they changed their rules about importations, but with sound science behind the rule changes. Within the EU a puppy can be sent across country borders at 15 weeks with a rabies vacination at 12 weeks. (In the EU dogs are given a legal Passport which contains all of the vaccinations as well as their microchip # allowing easy verification that the animal in front of you is that dog. Imports from non-EU countroes are allowed at 15 weeks, but only with the vaccination at 12 weeks and a rabies titer at 15weeks.

Wish we had sound science behind a lot of many of the rules and regulations here in the US.

07/13/2024

Well things have certainly changed in the last few years. I am going to have to take the "Black" out of the title. A beautiful P&S puppy arrived here from CZ last summer. I began showing a her last fall, and she finished her AKC Champonship at 14 months, with 4 majors, a single and a deuce. It has been almost 10 years since I showed a P&S. Only 1 dog I ever showed, who finished that young, was Keeper (Multi CH Von Shaman's Keeping Up Appearances) who was the dog who introduced me to the International World of Dog Showing. And here she is. Billie Jean aka Ch Wilma Pepper Grand Calvera🥰

07/13/2024

Time has passed and things have changed. We bred Ahnah, Yana Black Grand Calvera (AKC Champion pending conformation) 2 weeks ago to a very nice male, Raven Black Mikolash Grand Calvera. We should know if she is pregnant sometime the first week in August. If she is I will post it here.

07/17/2023

Don't I have a pretty face? I have come a long way and am looking for my forever home in the good old US of A.
I am happy, sweet, and energetic. I am 11 weeks old.

Miss Kathleen doesn't usually have P&S pups but I broke her rules and came anyway.

07/17/2023

06/20/2023

Hello all. For a variety of reasons I do not think I will have pups this year.
However I do have a colleague/friend, a breeder of SSs in the Czech Republic, who has both P&S and Black pups available. Her name is Denisa Havelkova, Grand Calvera Kennel, email is [email protected]. You can look up her kennel online.
We have worked closely together since 2006 when I flew to CZ to meet her, and was very impressed with her knowledge,experience, and commitment to produce healthy dogs. That year she took a young dog of mine Keeper, to the World Dog Show which I could not attend due to other commitments. He went Best of Breed over 75 Black SSs. Because of our cooperative efforts dogs from my bloodline are on 3 continents, Europe, North America and Australia.
Beginning in 2007, I have helped more than 25 families here in the US get pups from her. My role in these situations has been to facilitate the exchange.
If you are interested contact her with a cc to me. These pups are ready to go to their forever homes.

Kathleen Fitzgerald MD
Von Shaman Black Standard Schauzers

03/15/2023

We will not be having puppies this spring. I am sad to post this message. Frankie (Von Shaman's High Hopes) was bred but did not conceive. 😔

01/28/2023

Happy 2023 to everyone.

Please accept my apologies for not answering inquiries. In the last 26 months I have had 3 major surgeries (not Covid,thank God) which disrupted my showing/breeding plans significantly.
Thankfully things are back to normal, more or less.

Frankie (Ch Von Shaman’s High Hopes) has gone into season and will be bred. She has been a successful brood bitch in the past, and I expect/hope we will be successful. I will post when she is bred, once an ultrasound result confirms pregnancy, and once the pups are whelped.

My breeding philosophy for the last 30+ years has had two basic components - Never promise anyone a puppy until the litter is whelped and survives the first 2 weeks of life. I have never kept a waiting list. Puppies are not widgets and should never be produced just to satisfy demand.

The other principle is this: A preservation breeder, such as myself, makes decisions about breeding pairs with the goal to produce puppies that can continue the characteristics, health, and soundness of the breed. In every litter I have bred I have always hoped that one of the pups whelped would be a keeper.

For those who aren’t familiar with the breeding process, here are some basics. When a bitch goes into season, the breeder must by either observation, or progesterone testing, assess the optimum few days for the stud and the brood bitch to achieve the goal of being bred. Live Cover is the term for the actual process of real time breeding for the stud and bitch. AI is the term used for breeding using freshly collected, frozen, or fresh chilled semen. AI can be either transvaginal or transcervical. Surgical AI involves anesthesia, abdominal incision, exposure of uterus, and placement of the semen into the uterus. Once ovulation occurs the eggs have to mature for 24 hours before they can be fertilized. And can be fertilized for the next 24 hours. Which is why whether live cover or AI, the breeder wants to put as many live s***m as possible for fertilization.

Pregnancy in dogs is said to be 63 days. Given the variable timing of fertilization in canine breeding, the due date is approximate. Compared to other mammals where the newborn is on his feet and nursing within 1-2 hours of delivery, puppies (kittens as well) are essentially premature at birth. They cannot stand, see, hear, p*e, or p**p for about 2 weeks. They can smell so they can find mom and nurse. They make noises but can’t hear them. In those first 2 weeks, the mom has a critical role in their survival. Essentially she is the director of the neonatal intensive care director. Which is why the number of puppies delivered may not be the same 2 weeks