I was wondering if any of you had any experience importing dogs from Europe (Germany, France, Sweden, Finland or UK) or Japan to the United States? I'm currently looking to begin to build my kennel lines and sadly I'm not finding much in the USA that doesn't make me want to weep for the future of my breed or simply isn't available without some contracts that are just unacceptable.

Any idea what kind of import fees I have to look forward to? quarinteen procedures? what kind of records I'll need? Anyone know of a website or a book I should be looking at? I'm doing some serious searching and am hoping to have a roster of 5 dogs over the next 3 - 5 years to start with.

You do not seem to be interested in Dogs from Belgium. otherwise i could have put you in touch with a very Genuine Guy who would help you, and he speaks excellent English

Really at this point my search doesn't have a border on it. The main reason I listed those particular countries is because they're countries I'm actively looking in right now and I have a way to communicate there in a native language either through my own limited german or japanese vocabulary, or with the help of friends and family members who can speak fluently.
I'm a big fan of the boy scout motto of be prepared and basically when I find what I think will be the dogs I want as part of my kennel I want to be able to move on it without worrying about missing a step and getting a dog lost somewhere in a customs/border snafu or being shocked with a huge added import fee that I wasn't aware of.

The Person i had in mind has Exported Dogs to the USA Canada Japan, England Etc, In Fact Englishmen come over to Belgium too Train with Him,
Plus he also trains Dogs in The USA and Canada as well as seminars and Judges in Schutzund also in those Countries
However in the future if you are interested in Dogs from this country i will mail you his details

thanks Steve. I do appreciate it. I've been digging through the USA regs and it seems sparse on details except for vaccination requirements. I'm left wondering if it really is this easy? Well besides the cost of shipping anyways.

This fellow can put you right on the regs and what you need from over in Europe
He will help you anyway he is that type of person i will send you a private mail with his website, you can look at it and then if you want to speak or ask him something about costs etc give him a Mail he will answer you,

 Quote: Melissa Thom

I was wondering if any of you had any experience importing dogs from Europe (Germany, France, Sweden, Finland or UK) or Japan to the United States? I'm currently looking to begin to build my kennel lines and sadly I'm not finding much in the USA that doesn't make me want to weep for the future of my breed or simply isn't available without some contracts that are just unacceptable.

Any idea what kind of import fees I have to look forward to? quarinteen procedures? what kind of records I'll need? Anyone know of a website or a book I should be looking at? I'm doing some serious searching and am hoping to have a roster of 5 dogs over the next 3 - 5 years to start with.

Hi Melissa, Are you talking about working line GSDs? What has been your experience with the breed & breeders in the USA that has led you to conclude the breed is in dire straits here? Are you involved in schutzhund or any of the ring sports or herding? ARe you looking for West German, DDR, Czech or Dutch lines? If you narrow down more what you are in the market for and what sport you are interested in, people might be able to help provide you with a few more contacts.

Melissa,
If you're serious about looking to build your kennel lines and you won't consider dogs already here in the states ( a mistake, in my opinion - we have enough good stock in this country that with good breeding, there's no need to look overseas anymore ) you need to take the trip and see what you're buying first hand.

Trusting someone else to pick out what will be your foundation stock is a critical mistake, this is something that will make or break your lines and you need to see your potential purchases up close and personal - watch them being worked ( ideally, you'd take your own helper to *really* test the dogs ) and evaluate their stregths and weaknesses first hand.

Honestly, you'll never regret doing this and I can't stress how important the time you spend doing this will be for your future success.
Hey...make a vacation out of it!

Sorry, I should have been much clearer. I don't raise gsds and have no intention to. *chuckles* My intent is to raise papillons. I do plan on taking trips to pick out foundation stock as well. It'll be a fun trip to Europe and perhaps back to Japan for a couple weeks.

Without getting too general about the entire situation there are a variety of line traits which trouble me greatly in the US dogs. The main one has been inconsistant testing for patella luxation, heart issues, thyroid issues, and poor unstable temperments. While these are companion animals they're also suppose to be highly trainable, well tempermented dogs, rather than what I am seeing out of the best kennels this country has. It's also exceptionally difficult to get accurate information from "reputable" breeders and combined with the inconsistant judging I see where even a dog that's a Champion in one part of the country wouldn't place in another and vice versa.

After trying to aquire dogs of quality in this country the contracts offered have been less than desirable; a few downright disallow showing in certain states, some deny being able to place puppies even with a co ownership with full registration in Generation 1, a few give me no control over which dogs I can breed to, a few require a certain number of shows a year, some require 2 or more breedings back to their dogs a year at my expense... the list goes on. When I ask about adjusting the terms to make them well... sane. Normally the door gets slammed in my face, I get accused of being with a puppy mill, not really supporting the breed, again... the list goes on.
All this on an 8 week old puppy who I don't even know will make breed standards as an adult or have the health or temperment clearances to even be suitable. I'm a good sport about a great many things in contracts but some of these I do have to put my foot down about.

Anyway, thank you all for the advice. It's kind of interesting to start to get this ball rolling as I get ready to build a home with dogs in mind, start a real career, establish a breeding plan, search for breeding stock... keep searching... oh the search goes on, and make plans for the future. I'd still love to hear any experiences you guys have with importing dogs.

If you go to Japan and visit any dog kennels, we want pictures, no matter what the breed!!