Customer Testimonials
We are proud to hear that one of our dogs is
working hard to protect diplomats in Iraq.
Thank you to "Eich" and his
handler.
 
Julie,
I bought one of your male puppies in October 2001 to become a police K9. He
did for two months of training and one month on the road. He was very
successful for that short time period. He arrested 8 people in that one month
on the road. One was wanted for shooting a man in the head.
When we were deployed to Iraq, he went to work protecting diplomats.
Eich has conducted explosive searches and provided K9 protection also.
Eich is an extremely effective tool. He is very capable K9 and is very
intelligent and easy to train. He has a very high drive and loves his work. He
is very quick in reading a dangerous situation and reacts without fear.
Thank you for a such wonderful dog. Eich makes my job so much easier
to perform. He has kept me and my team safe from harm.
I enclosed several pictures of Eich for you. Again thank you.
Mittelwest German Shepherd Dog is a real
hero!
This was posted on one of the German Shepherd Dog
forums on 4/20/2004:
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Last Sunday, Heidi, a Nero Zenteich daughter about
three years old bred by Mittelwest Kennels (Julie Martinez) and
owned by Marlene and Erwin Smith of Minneapolis, Minnesota,
performed heroically.
About 6 am last Sunday Morning Heidi woke her owners up and raised a
huge ruckus on top of their bed and wouldn't stop barking and
carrying on until they noticed through their window their next door
neighbors house was on fire. While one called the fire dept the
other ran over and began pounding on the neighbor's door. It was
hard to wake up the neighbors who were in deep sleep. It turns out
that their deck was on fire, apparently from a barbecue
"firebox". The fire was quickly put out.
I am well aware what Heidi is like because Marlene and Erwin are
friends of my wife and I, and we have seen her a number of times.
Heidi is a large, powerful and very robust, exceptionally bold
female of excellent temperament and courage and unable to experience
any fear of any kind. Heidi goes for a four mile walk with her
owners everyday and gets "pushy" if they are late getting
started. This bitch truly has fire in her eyes and the look of an
eagle. I'm sure she would be too much dog for most owners. But
Marlene and Erwin do well with Heidi and enjoy the companionship and
devotion she gives liberally. Producing this type of temperament is
not just a chance occurrence for Julie. I too bought a female from
her a few years ago as a puppy and she too turned out to have the
same excellent temperament as Heidi. This kind of temperament is
what Julie is known for. Congratulations to Julie for breeding such
a fine animal with such excellent temperament!
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That's a good girl Heidi!
V Kimba vom Mittelwest,
SchH1 KKL1a
2004 USA Youth Siegerin
Pictures from Kimba's SchH1 trial
Dear Julie,
We originally came to you looking for a German
Shepherd puppy that would be our pet. We wanted nothing more than a sound-minded German Shepherd Dog.
You convinced us it might be fun to own and train a dog with work and show potential.
You were right!
With Mittelwest's show ring training and Kimba's excellent conformation, Kimba
has won first place in 8 out of 10 shows, including SG-1 Youth Siegerin at the 2004 USA Sieger
Show and VP-1 at the 2004 Canadian Sieger Show, her only second place was SG-2
at the 2004 GSDCA-WDA Sieger Show in Madison, WI when she was in full heat and a
little distracted.
Not only is Kimba beautiful,
but she has a HUGE fun-loving personality. It is impossible to ignore
Kimba if she is in the room. She won't let you.
Kimba also enjoys Schutzhund training. Kimba just
passed her SchH1, with scores of 88/85/86. She was High Score SchH1 for the
trial and only missed high obedience in trial by two points. It
seems that she has figured out how to show off on the SchH field too.
We have been so pleased with
Kimba, that we bought a second puppy, Ferguson vom Mittelwest.
Ferguson is just as wonderful as Kimba, but in his own way.
Ferguson vom Mittelwest
   
Ferguson is our first attempt at H.O.T. (Handler, Owner, Trainer)
Schutzhund. So far we are making good progress with our
training. Fergie loves to work and our trainer thinks he is a great
SchH dog for a beginner handler. Fergie has good drive and
strong nerves.
We are training hard and plan to trial for the
"B" test and possibly "SchH1". Fergie recently passed his AD with ease.
Several National Level helpers have commented
that Fergie has good power and full, calm grips in his bite work.
It isn't often that you find a hobby that you
could see yourself doing the rest of your life. That is what
happened to us. These dogs have launched us on a lifetime
journey.
We are forever grateful.
Here is a link to many more pictures of Ferguson
and Kimba.
Best wishes,
Gary & Beth Fuqua
P.S. We think your website is pretty
cool too!
Everyday Hero

A true story of how a German Shepherd Dog named Nike*
helped save my life.
By Jill Haunold
_________________________________
It
was the perfect morning to go for a short cross-country ski. My husband was at
a ski race for the day. I dropped the two boys and their friends at the
down-hill area and parking at the end of the area lot, skied off with Nike the
German Shepherd Dog and Moxie Java the Parson Russell Terrier puppy...
Click here for the rest of the story
* "Nike" SG, Int CH, BH, AD,
RN, CGC, OFA good H/E
Nike is a daughter of V Jezzi v. Mittelwest ~ Nike is a full sister to our 3x VA
Olly v. Mittelwest
Nike is owned by Jill Haunold
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Ceasar v.
Mittelwest
owned by Malik
Johnson
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Mittelwest to me has the finest German Shepherds in town. They
have great temperament, the finest German bloodlines, and great
bone structure. Julie has sold me a great puppy named Ceasar who is
show quality and willing to please his master. When I take him
to the field to work, other breeders approach me and tell me how
great he looks. They always ask me what breeder did you get him from
and I say proudly Mittelwest. I will buy all my GSD dogs from
Mittelwest because they do honest business.
Thank you,
Malik

Urico vom Mittelwest
I just wanted to touch base with you. Almost 10 years
ago, I purchased Urico vom
Mittelwest from you. He was my first German line dog and I could not have
been happier with him. I have owned many American line shepherds, but
never had one with this type of wonderful temperament, upbeat attitude,
easy to work with, train, etc. (but I am sure you know, you bred him :-))
He has constantly surprised me with his great temperament. My elderly
parents
had to move in with me 2 years ago and I was very apprehensive because
they had
a cat, which Rico had not been exposed to before. He is great with the cat
and
with the kitten they just got last year.
To me, Rico is a older dog who
has no clue he is getting up there in years, except for some stiffness and
arthritis, which I give him glucosamine / msm for. When he first got a little stiff and
limped a bit, I took him to an orthopedic vet, just to make sure and catch any
problems early and get him on joint treatments. He was 9 at the time, and they did
x-rays. You could have knocked the vet over when the hip x-rays showed
that even at that age, the vet bet he would have still OFA'd Good at that age.
He constantly makes me laugh with his goofy ways of pleasing me, my best
friend,
never lets me too far out of his sight. Unfortunately, due to health
issues,
which only recently improved, I was unable to really do Schutzhund with
him, but
I did have him tested by a club when he was young, and they LOVED him,
thought
he would be great. I did obedience train him, and he was one of those dogs
that
loved it, and had great eye contact (still does). I had a police
department that
wanted to buy him for their K9 program, NOT taking my boy from me. He
adapted
to a move to Georgia 5 years ago without a hitch.
I have contacted you a few times over the years to update you, but wanted
to
just again tell you how happy I am with him. Sorry for the rambling, but I
can't help but brag about him.
I worry, of course, because he will be 10 in June, but hope he will stay
with me
a few more years. Anyway, I constantly have kept track of your breeding,
more
so now as he is older, and want you to know that I will definitely be
looking to
you when I am ready for another puppy (okay, I am ready now, ha ha, but
will wait
a bit). I just wanted to get with you in advance and hopefully you would
be
willing to work with me in the future to find another wonderfully temperament,
and gorgeous puppy.
Lynette Loeffler
Urico vom Mittelwest
Julie,
Just wanted to give you a quick update on Jag (Omega Jag). He is
incredible!!! First of all he is beautiful ( I will forward a picture
tomorrow). I don't know that we have met anyone so far who has not
commented on his beauty, along with his temperment - which is excellent.
We are working with a trainer here in our area and even he stated what
an incredible disposition Jag has. Potty training took maybe two
days. Never even had an accident in the house. He is eager
and oh so willing to learn. Combine his incredible personality
with his beauty? Could not have asked for, or even expected a better
dog. We are very excited about the months and years ahead - seems
as though he is limitless as to what he can learn.
Email from Tim and
Lori Yarnell from Livonia, Michigan with their VA Fonzi/Gusto puppy.

Julie,
Thanks so much for your wonderful comments on Kalen. It really
makes me feel good --- makes me feel "FANTASTIC" !!!
He is such a
pleasure & a joy to have. Everywhere I take him everyone turns
&
stares & points. Cars have actually stopped & when he's in
the car
with me people just smile & stare at him. He sits in the front seat
&
just looks around as though he's a person ( he is to me).
And of course, if it wasn't for you & all your e-mails to me in
searching for the kind of shepherd I wanted & "all" the info you
gave me
as well as answering all my questions, I would never have him.
Again,
thanks so much. He is my heart & soul & the joy of my life
& my very
best friend.
Gary
Julie,
Pinch me...I must be dreaming.
This puppy is incredible Julie. He's not like anything I've ever
seen. Housebroken already without an accident. We use the crate a
little, but the door is never even shut - it's more for just a place
for him to get away from it all for awhile.
He's fearless in all the
social settings I've had him in... sociable, stable, no issues with
any surfaces or new things, in and out of obstacles (tubes, enclosed
places, you name it).
Awesome with kids, no dog aggression but not
submissive with big dogs.
He lies by my bed at night, sleeps through
the night, goes to work with me all day...
THIS is the temperament of a "Shepherd." :-)
It will be a ball to
show him. I am really looking forward to it.
Oh, and his coat is SO plush. Job well done on the breeding.
Thanks, Andy
Dear Julie-
It's been a long
time since I have written. I am attaching a picture of Yanna vom
Mittelwest - call name Abby. (Born 8/2/04 from Pia-Stano)This was
taken at Abby's first swimming lesson..she loved it. Now that she is
11 months old I have started obedience with her with a retired Schutzhund
trainer. Abby has shown great potential for bite work in their two
sessions and has already graduated to the sleeve. I am still deciding
which direction to take Abby - search and rescue, protection work, agility
etc.
On a personal
note. I adore this dog. She is remarkably beautiful,
intelligent, and loyal. She seems to connect with me on another level.
I have had dogs and animals all my life and I have never loved one as I love
Abby.
At some point I
want to add a male to our family and will certainly be contacting you at
that time.
Abby has brought
me so much joy, I don't know how to thank you enough. I hope you and
your family are well.
He
has never gotten into anything in the house. He stays free inside when
we are away. Sleeps with the crate door open. He joins me all
day long at work and gets into nothing in the office. Completely
housebroken with not one accident. And this has been going on for
weeks. Doing long stays...some heeling...recall. Doesn't sound
like a puppy does it? You just wouldn't believe it - at least I don't.
Email from Andy Miller
regarding his VA Fonzi/Gusto male
Puppy age was 12 weeks at
the time of his letter.
Hi Julie,
I just wanted to let you
know how pleased I am with Ariel
(VA
Ham vd Urbecke/V Viva). She is a beautiful girl with good drive and an
amazing personality. We are making good progress towards our
Schutzhund titles, even with a novice handler. She is doing nicely in
the conformation ring as well, with 2 Regional victories. Ariel is
everything that I could want in a GSD... loyal, intelligent and beautiful.
I also want to thank you
for answering all my many questions regarding showing and
training. The support and knowledge you have shared with me
are invaluable and have made my first ventures into the GSD World a real
pleasure.
Thank you!
Kelly Grim

Ariel working her protection work

Ariel helping prepare dinner
(official corn shucker)
Julie,
Hi! We just wanted you to know how happy and proud we are
of our three Mittelwest dogs. In November of 2004, we contacted you about
getting a nice German Shepherd, that had good health, temperament, personality,
smart, and nice looking too. Since we didn’t know a lot about your dogs, other
than what we saw in the ads, we were a little unsure at first. But after talking
to you, and emailing you with questions, we were very relaxed and satisfied. You
easily answered all of our questions and reassured us that we would be getting a
good dog. We have owned several German Shepherds from other breeders, who
didn’t care as much as you. It was nice to meet someone who cared about the
dogs after the sale.
Our first dog from you was Freedom Zeus vom Mittelwest,
born
11/26/04
, the son of Vita vom Mittelwest and VA Ham von der Urbecke. We got him when he
was 8 weeks old. Zeus is everything to us. After
having three dogs from another breeder, who passed away at young ages due to
severe medical problems, we were very concerned about the health of our next
dog. Luckily, Zeus has perfect health, and even OFA Good hips. He enjoys living
the life on the farm, and has been trained by myself to be my personal hearing
dog. He notifies me of alarms, doorbells, phones, water running, and other
noises. He is learning tracking and it comes naturally for him. He is a great
boy who would do anything for us.

Freedom
Zeus vom Mittelwest
Our second dog
was on your website, and we fell in love with her. She looked to be a very
gorgeous girl, and sounded like just the girl we were looking for. We made a
fast decision to buy her, which we don’t regret. She is the best girl we have
ever owned, and is so good. Taya vom Mittelwest, was born on
7/7/06
, the daughter of VA Gusto vom Mittelwest and V Angelina vom Faehnrich. We
brought Taya home when she was 4 ½ months old. From the time of birth until we
got her, she was obviously raised with love and care. She already knew a lot
when we got her, so she was very easy to handle. Taya is a very loving, smart,
beautiful girl, with a great temperament and personality. Our thoughts of her
were reassured, on
August 31st, 2007
, when she passed her therapy dog test for Delta Society with a complex rating
(which is the highest rating). Not only did she do that, but she passed her vet
physical with an excellent rating too. She did all that by the age of 13 months,
and you have to be 12 months old to even take the test. She will be a young
therapy dog visiting nursing homes and schools. We are very proud of her
accomplishments, and will continue to further her training into other areas. She
excels in agility too. We can’t thank you enough for producing a girl with her
qualities, she is remarkable, and will put smiles on a lot of people as she does
her visits.

Taya,
13 months old, with owner and handler
Last but definitely not least, we bought a third dog from
you. When we heard that there was a puppy for sale, we were not sure. Actually
at the time, we were considering a pup or an older pup. After getting Taya a
little older, we liked that, and were not sure if we were ready for the small
puppy life again. Our second girl from you was Omaura vom Mittelwest, who was
born on
5/4/07
, the daughter of VA1 Bella vom Mittelwest and V Ingodds Albert. Honestly, after
we heard who Maura’s parents were, we knew we wanted to get her. After meeting
Bella and Albert once, we thought they were excellent.
We quickly found out the caliber of dogs that you owned and were
producing. We were so excited about owning a Bella and Albert baby girl, at the
same time we were preparing ourselves for a puppy. Surprisingly, Maura has been
the easiest puppy we have ever owned. She is so easy going, obedient, funny,
smart, loving, and healthy. She has a temperament and personality that is going
to be excellent for a future in therapy work. Not only do we think she is good,
but several people, including vets and trainers have made comments on her. She
has a bright future ahead. She is already doing great obedience and agility
work. Maura really does everything she can to please us, and does it with an
adult mind. She is really not the typical puppy; everything she does is with a
lot of thought.

Omaura vom Mittelwest, 3 months old in
picture
Obviously, after buying three wonderful dogs from you, we
would definitely recommend you to anyone. We are so impressed with how you care
about your dogs and their owners. We are very proud to say that we found a great
breeder. In the future, when we want another excellent dog, we will be
contacting you. Thank you so much!
Sincerely,
Kari and Kevin Bogott -- proud owners of Freedom Zeus, Taya
and Omaura vom Mittelwest
Julie,
I have a hard time
writing a testimonial on "Cowboy".
He is my heart and I don't think I
can put into words how
much he means to me.

He's drop dead
gorgeous...hair and all... He's so smart and so full of
enthusiasm that he makes my day and that of my wonderful old golden retriever
who has been his mentor, as well as my jet black Mo. Fox Trotter who he is
determined to "herd". He keeps us all moving with his energy
and mischief and love.
I'm learning about
Schutzhund because of him. He loves his bite work better
than anything.

He starts whining when
we are still at least a mile from our trainer's house, and
my trainer says he's one of the best puppies he's seen in
a long time. He's so much fun in obedience and he loves it.
I've also done sheep
herding with him, which caused participants to "stop
and watch". He was awesome.
His latest adventure
is retrieving bumpers in water with a group of competition Labrador retrievers.
(We're working on the ducks...he ignores the gun shots, and duck calls, and
focuses on the bumpers with a zeal that makes everyone
smile) My friend, who trains the labs, says she's going to
take him to a competition. He loves the work. In fact, he
just loves to work and play...and he loves me and the rest of our family...fur
and human.
I'll always be
grateful to Julie for the integrity of her breeding program. I've owned German
Shepherds for 40
years...as companions....and I've had some great ones, but Cowboy is
in a class by himself.
He keeps me young and looking forward to everything, because he
is so enthusiastic
about everything. I couldn't ask for a more handsome, smart, loyal,
energetic, strong and
fearless, companion. Julie did a wonderful job of picking the
"perfect" GSD for me. I can't thank her enough.
Barbara VanDeMark

Prince vom Mittelwest
Dear Julie:
I can’t believe that Prince (Gusto vom
Mittelwest x Yada vom Mittelwest – September 2007 litter ) is 7 mos. old! I just
wanted to let you know that Prince is absolutely the best dog that I’ve ever
owned. I’ve owned many different breeds of dogs in my life including Dobermans,
various retrievers, and various setters and pointers. I never owned a German
Shepherd but I always wanted one. After doing research for about 6 months on the
Internet I decided to get a dog from you because of the great reputation that
you have as one of the best U.S. breeders of German Shepherds. Your reputation
was right on the mark.
When I saw Prince’s photo on your website it was
truly a love-at-first-sight experience and I contacted you right away because I
needed to get that puppy! When you confirmed to me that he was a laid back male
that would fit what I was seeking I was ecstatic. He arrived by air a few weeks
later and this young pup was so mature and smart that he never acted like a
puppy. He truly has been by far the easiest puppy that I’ve raised. He was
housebroken when I got him. He has breezed through basic obedience and he’s a
fantastic house dog.
No matter where I go with him, everyone that
sees him and that comes in contact with him all say that they have never seen a
more beautiful German Shepherd. My veterinarian simply loves this dog. He said
he never saw a German Shepherd with the substantial size, outstanding vibrant
black/red coloring coupled with a great confident temperament like Prince has.
Friends of mine who are from Germany adore him. He reminds them of the dogs from
West Germany that they had when they lived there. This dog is shock proof. He’s
extremely confident, nothing frightens him and he already displays very good
guardian instincts. He also gets along very well with my other dogs that include
an 11-year-old Weimaraner, a 3-year-old Chocolate Lab, a 2-year-old Miniature
Pinscher and a 5-month-old Vizsla.
Julie, if anyone is asking you to be a reference
for your dogs then count me in. I’m a huge fan of your breeding program and I
will be very happy to let any of your potential owners know how happy I am with
my great dog. Please feel free to use the photos that I sent of Prince on your
website. Pictures are truly worth 1,000 words!
Please keep up the great work in breeding such
outstanding dogs!
Christine Garrity
Mittelwest
German Shepherds
We breed and
import German Shepherd Dogs.
Puppies can be reserved in advance.
We also offer
German Shepherd Dog stud services.
Please check back often as
our web site is updated frequently.
For the most up to date
information about :
German Shepherd puppies for sale or German
Shepherd dogs for sale, please call:
630-759-8272
Having trouble finding a particular dog on our web
site? Use Google to search our site.
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