Grendelhaus Shepherds is a small family owned kennel located in San Antonio, TX.  We specialize in East/ West German Working Lines. All of our dogs are worked in tracking, obedience, and protection.  These are the three core parts of Schutzhund (now IPO) that Captain Max Von Stephanitz put together as the Breed Survey of the German Shepherd Dog originally created in 1899.   Captain Stephanitz’s biggest fear was his beloved breed would cease to be a working dog.  All breeding prospects had to meet certain structural as well as mental criteria before being deemed good enough to reproduce.  Here at Grendelhaus we are striving to produce quality puppies of sound temperament and structure that would make Captain Max von Stephanitz proud.  All our breeding dogs have working titles, good temperaments, and proven hips/ elbows.  Our puppies are raised in the house and outside in order to introduce them to the most common stimuli of a normal household.  We introduce them to rag and flirtpole work as early as 4 weeks to imprint bitework at the earliest time frame.

I have always loved the German Shepherd Dog.  As a child, I always wanted my very own German Shepherd Dog.  My dad used to tell stories of how his childhood GSD (a retired police dog) used to keep his father (my Opa) from spanking him.  In later years, my dad’s sister had a GSD that used to protect all the kids.  Kids could crawl all over her, but she would not allow anyone to harm them.  I was in college when I got my first GSD.  Her name was Ebony.  I would not be here today if it had not been for her.  She protected me when someone tried to force their way into my home.  Years later, she died while attacking what she perceived as a threat to me and my unborn child.  To me, the German Shepherd Dog epitomizes the perfect canine companion.  Intelligent, devoted to their family, a strong work ethic, protective – everything a canine companion should be.  I dreamed of one day being able to breed these impressive dogs.

Why ‘Grendelhaus’?  Why did I choose this name?  We all have a voice (both real and imagined) that tells us  “You are nothing”, “You are a loser”, “You will never succeed at anything”. That voice which eats you alive devours all your dreams of success.  I named my voice ‘Grendel’ after the monster that ate the village children in Beowulf.  I wanted to prove to myself I really could turn my dream into a reality.  I named my kennel Grendelhaus as a way of turning a negative into a positive.

Today, Grendelhaus Shepherds has grown to include my husband and my youngest daughter.  They are an integral part of helping my dream come to life.