Blackthorn's "Aa" Litter

born February 18, 2015

7 males, 3 females

Z'Astur vom Spartanville (OFA Fair H/E) x Apollo von Bastion (OFA Excellent Hips)

Both parents are DM clear/clear by parentage

Litter Pedigree

Pictures of Astur

Pictures of Apollo

Astur is titled in herding and has shown herself to be steady of nerve, clear of head, and naturally eager to please and highly biddable. She travels well and adapts quickly to every new situation and loves to work for food or toy or praise. She is a medium-high drive female with tremendous charm and joie d'vivre. She is beautifully structured and gorgeous to look at, with a strong topline, correct angulation front and rear, high withers, and rich black sable pigment. Her father is 100% DDR bloodlines and her mom was imported from the Czech Republic. She is a larger female with strong bone--about 72 pounds.

Apollo is roughly 3/4 DDR bloodlines with one grandfather from top German working bloodlines. (So the puppies will be about 2/3 DDR, with rest being Czech and German working lines.) He is a high drive dog who is social and calm in the noisiest and busiest of environments. He is a powerful, large male, about 92 pounds, with huge bone and imposing presence. He has worked in obedience and protection but has not yet earned any working titles due to his late start (he didn't start training until he was about 3 years old). His hips are rated OFA Excellent; his elbows were not sent to OFA but xrayed clear when he was 4.5 years old--films are available to review upon request.

These puppies should be on the large side--females between 70-75 pounds and males around 90-95 pounds. They are expected to have rich pigment, handsome blocky heads, beautiful and correct conformation, and best of all, delightful temperaments representative of the true German Shepherd Dog -- courageous, energetic, highly bonded to their families, able to settle nicely in the house, but ever-ready to spring into action--high spirits with sound minds and bodies. They should be medium to high drive, eager defenders but social and outgoing when appropriate. They should be capable of working in most roles but will excel with devoted handlers and families who want a companion first and competition dog second.

Due to the physical strength and strong temperaments of the parents, these pups are not recommended for first-time GSD owners.

 

Puppy Picture Gallery

 

Blackthorn's "B" litter

Born in November 2001, this litter from Bodo and Nike produced everything we could have wanted--beautiful dogs who love to work. Three of the puppies--Badger (Xena), Brer, and Bramble--worked as certified Search and Rescue dogs.

 

Blackthorn's "D" litter

Enni and Cliff

A gorgeous litter, this breeding also produced some great workers and companions. Deva was listed in the top 25 agility competition dogs in the U.S. after her first year of competition and was the 2009 GSDCA Agility Victrix!

 

Blackthorn's "N" Litter

Hunter x Orus