Shiloh Shepherd
History
One of the most recent dog breeds created, the Shiloh Shepherd originated in the later 1990's. The Shiloh Shepherds are believed to be German Shepherds, crossed with Alaskan Malamute bloodlines. This breed is still very new today and being perfected, however are becoming increasingly popular in the United States. They are wonderful working, herding, companionship and shutzhund training dogs.
Appearance
The Shiloh Shepherd is a large breed dog with males and females weighing 85-125 pounds in weight and measuring 28-30 inches in height. Their large head is wedge shaped and forms into a long, rectangular muzzle with a sissor bite. The space between their two large triangular ears is broad and their ears stand firm at the top of their head. Their two eyes are medium in size, light hazel to black in color. Their tail is large in length, covered in flowing hair and should be positioned downwards and out. Their general body build is very large, stocky and strong in appearance. Their coat is a thick double layer for "plush" coated Shiloh's, with long hair available in black and tan with markings such as a German Shepherd, solid black, and a mix of tan and black throughout their entire coat. Their coat is also available in a "smooth" coat that should always demonstrate a natural shine, is medium in length but held tight against their body.
Temperament
The Shiloh Shepherd is an extremely smart, active and driven breed. Like all working dogs, the Shiloh Shepherd requires a daily job, and tasks to complete in order to be happy and calm when indoors. This breed requires an active family, who enjoys being outside, interacting with their dog and can be a firm and confident owner demonstrating pack leader and only using positive reinforcement training methods. This breed is quite similar in personality to the German Shepherd, and makes a wonderful watchdog naturally. This breed is extremely loyal, loving and brave when it comes to bonding and looking out for his or her family. Best suited for canine only homes, however wonderful with children of all ages he or she grows up around. Early socialization and obedience classes are highly recommended. The Shiloh is excellent with agility training, shutzhund training, and anything else their owner can put their mind to!
Grooming
This breed does shed. Daily brushing and bathing when needed. Professional grooming at least twice a year.
Special Notes
Please note that this breed is prone to tumors. Please fully educate yourself about the Shiloh Shepherd breed prior to adding one to your family to ensure you are able to provide a life long commitment both physically and financially. This breed requires a properly fenced in yard to roam within while outdoors or a properly fitting harness and leash at all times.
All dogs originate from wolves (Canis Lupus). Each breed of dog was originally created by mixing different breeds together in an effort to bring forth certain characteristics. Once a breeder has created acceptable “breed characteristics” within their bloodline and these “breed characteristics” have shown to be reliably reproduced in the offspring for three (3) generations, the bloodline may be upgraded from the category of “foundation stock” to “pure-bred”.
The same “pure-bred” breed standards vary from different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders. Dog DNA testing companies can have accurate results for a specific bloodline of a small colony of dogs. However, there are tens of thousands of different bloodlines in the world which have not yet been tested for marker baseline results by Dog DNA testing companies as of 2017. For this reason Dog DNA testing companies do not guarantee the 100% accuracy of their breed lineage results and will also show different marker results for the same pure-bred breed in different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders.