LaFrance Kennels Dutch Shepherds

03/29/2026

Bijoux de LaFrance 10.5 months old. Roxana has set high expectations for him, competing in French Ring, Mondio as well as IGP. It will be a challenge, but I'm sure the two of them will be up for it.

03/26/2026

Bellatrix (Kat Dog) will be 11 months this weekend. I'm glad the weather is changing so we can start her jumps and get back to bitework outside. I can't wait to see how she finally turns out. She is one of those dogs that makes you want to get out an train.

03/18/2026

Zira was bred to Hutch yesterday. We will have an ultrasound done next month to confirm her pregnancy.

03/05/2026

As we go through progesterone testing for our next breeding. I'm reminded of how difficult and trying the whole artificial insemination process can be. I keep asking myself why do I keep breeding this way? Wouldn't it be easier to use one male to a few females each time we breed instead of subjecting ourselves to this tedious and often expensive approach?

For me the answer is always the same. We are breeding dogs to improve our program and the breed as a whole. In order to do that, we have to make the best pairing decisions that will help us get to our goal of producing great Dutchies.

Great examples of the breed are not always in our backyard and if we want access to these dogs, frozen semen is imported to incorporate then into our program, but doing this comes with it's own challenges.

More frequent progesterone tests need to be done to pinpoint ovulation. Frozen semen is only viable for 12 to 24 hours after insemination, as opposed to 4 to 7 days with a live breeding. The success rate for a live breeding is much greater than with artificial. The quality of the sample, the type of insemination, and experience of the repro vet will determine how successful your breeding is. If everything was done correctly from start to finish you will end up with a nice litter. If not, you could end up having no pregnancy or a very small litter which can be accompanied by other problems like c sections or even death of momma and her pups.

I posted this today because I want to commend all the breeders no matter what the breed, who invest their blood sweat and tears into their breed without hesitation. In the end, the results will be worth the sacrifice.

02/13/2026

Sometimes you get a good one like this. Zira

02/13/2026

Do you like males or females?

02/12/2026

01/21/2026

Bishop de LaFrance 8 months. Second bitework session.

01/21/2026

Bijoux de LaFrance 8 months old. (Zira x Iroko).

11/26/2025

Holland Delta Force v. Le Dobry 4 months old. We'd like to thank our friend Jack Stienstra for a fantastic prospect. She will arrive in the US after the new year. Stay tuned.

10/16/2025

Zira will be bred to Hutch in the coming months. Pups will be high drive, high character dogs. Not unlike her Pups with Iroko.

https://en.working-dog.com/breed/LaFrance-Kennels-59577/planning