Louise,
I am going against my better judgement by getting involved in a specific dispute between a person and kennel that I have nothing to do with.
However, I will continue to tell you about MY experiences with the same bloodline and I will comment briefly on your pictures.
Frankly, it is hard for me to tell in the pictures just what the proportions are really like. I know from my own experience with pictures that things can look quite different than they really are. She looks like she is down on her pasterns in the standing shots and that could certainly add to the look of short legs, that's what you are talking about I assume. The sitting photo is actually where the legs look the shortest but again, she is down on her pasterns. It also looks to me that the dog has a very heavy coat and that could be adding to the out of porportion look. Someone mentioned the pointy face being a sign of a dwarf. Well, not being an expert but having looked and read about them, I think there is a distinct look to a dwarf and this dog is not that look. Also, I don't think her head looks bad for a female.
Here is a picture of a 15 month old Ulla daughter:
http://www.adlerstein.com/kat33104.jpg
She is barely 22 inches, if that. I think her owner said 21.75 but she is using her living room wall and a stick. She knows as well as I do that the height she says may not be accurate. You can look at that picture and think that she doesn't look that small, but she is a small,( bottom of the standard), female, no doubt. The owner has mentioned her short legs more than once, more the front ones than the back. I don't think the short legs are that apparent in the picture BUT, the picture was taken of her at 15 months of age, not 6 months. I suppose if you really stare at the photo you could say the front legs look a tad short even at this age. I would imagine it was much more pronounced when she was 6 months and that she looked much more out of porportion at that age. Most puppies do. In fact, as I recall, most of the conversations about short legs, happened at about that time. She talked about this female being very small and also her rear being higher than her front....short front legs. I have the brother to this female and he seemed to grow the same way...high in the rear and then the front legs caught up.
Perhaps the owner has a picture of her at six months, if she does, I will ask her to post it so we can compare.
The Ulla pups seemed to grow taller at a much slower rate than some of my other dogs. That is really all I can say about it. Again, I didn't see this female but hopefully what I have told you might be helpful, especially when you look for another pup.

** edited to remove photo- To view it click the link - sorry Anne, board policy

Randall said: "The second one is the claim that the dogs are in Isreal. First, they are young dogs, less than two years old, and second, do you have any proof, that is also just hersay"

http://www.alaskagermanshepherds.com/whatsnew.htm

This doesn't look like Venice Beach to me....but maybe she lives near a movie set. Good costumes ! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Sorry randall, couldn't resist.

Anne,

Like I said, I do not have proof those dogs belong to whomever. I have pictures of when I trained with Lackland Air Force, but I did not say I was in the military. You know what I mean.

Besides, those dogs could be hers. The point was to take what you are told with a grain of salt and see if it makes sense.

If I remember right Anne, I thought you and Landis were once partners or something to that. That is what someone also posted to me privately but I could not prove or disprove that one.

I am glad to see dogs with the military no matter who produces them.

Later,

Randall

That's almost correct Randall and she even owns one of my dogs. However, I no longer speak to Landis for reasons that are my own. There is no hidden agenda or attempt to defend her or how she runs her business. We do things a bit different, as all people do.
If I am anything, I am honest and what I stated in my first post is the reason I responded to Louise. I have had the displeasure of dealing with some very difficult people in dogs. Nothing I offered them could contain their zeal at harrassing me. I see this behavior all over the internet and as I said in my first post, there are three sides to every story...not just yours.

You do seem to have a high level of suspicion about people. I guess I view people differently. I have no idea what went on with Louise and Landis as far as this deal goes. The fact that it involves Landis has nothing to do with what I posted.

Please refrain from judging my intentions as you have no idea what they are.

And yet Anne, you were more than happy to judge my intentions.

 Quote:

My intent is not so much to defend Landis or the way she operates her kennel but more to defend breeders in general, especially in this day and age of the internet. It seems all of the disgruntled puppy buyers want to use this medium to do more than just "warn" people. Frankly, IMO, warning people, has very little to do with it.

I do agree with you Anne, I have seen people post on sites when they wanted a GSD from "working lines", and now it's biting their trousers, and the breeder must have bred aggressive dogs.

I was pretty much clueless (although not as clueless as you might think) when I got Bode, but I am not now, and I expect my $1200 to pay for a confident, friendly pup with good interest in toys and food. I also expect replies from my enquiries whether by phone or email. AM I REALLY EXPECTING TOO MUCH???

Lousie,
I was commenting on what most people are doing. If that shoe fits, you are more than welcome to put it on.
I have spent a great deal of time this morning talking to you about the bloodline of that female, even to the point of offering to find other photos so you could compare the difference in ages. I guess I allowed myself to forget the purpose of your post. So continue on and good luck with your quest and in finding the right puppy.
This ends my participation in this thread...

i think anne was wise in ending her participation on this thread. i'm going to follow suite, so this is my final post also:
what bothers me most about this thread, like nancy suggested, that a breeder's reputation can be smeared by one person's opinion. suggesting that david and daniel being in isreal is a hoax is just plain preposterous.....that landis went to the bother (months in advance) to create a phoney set of pictures and emails in her defense all on the premise that someone would create a stink about her on someone else's discussion board. i had copies of the e-mails from the trainer of those dogs that i deleted from my yahoo mail for lack of space. i am convinced of their authenticity. why wouldn't they be? landis forwarded them to me last summer, even before my pup was shipped.
i did look at the pics that were posted by louise and was struck by the similarities to ulla even before anne mentioned it. god help me if i ever become so arrogant that i ship a ulla wannaer hohen back to alaska!

Just for the record, I am not saying the pics are fake. Some how that was turned around and is being viewed that way.

I am just saying I judge people on past experiences and that past with Landis has not been so good.

Have fun,

Randall

Randall, this is my last post as well.

Do YOU have a dog from Landis?

I have read a lot of contracts and most breeders do not warranty temperament as conditions once the dog has been placed can impact how the dog behaves. (Louise, I an not implying anything as I have not met your dog and that is my point)

Landis took the dog back and I am certain Louise will get her refund. Good grief - she got the pup in April of this year./ Don't know exactly when she returned it but it is early May and Landis agreed to refund the Money. What more do you want?

Louise. You knew that Landis was building (and i mean BUILDING) a house in the hinterlands in Alaska in the winter and spent most of the winter just surviving and has, rarely even BEEN online. I cannot second guess her judgement for having these litters at this point in time with a move and building a home but that is not mine to judge; I can only really judge my own personal interactions and business dealings.

My comments of satisfaction from other buyers were based on personal email communications with them - heresay to you as is your emails from a dissatisfied customer to me. Is aggression toward a family member bad temperament? Perhaps--perhaps it could be uncontrolled attempts at dominance too, I dont know. I was not there.

I am just so tired of people out there casting internet judgement. I almost did not buy my puppy because she was a Crok grandaughter and I was informed (on the internet) of handler aggression issues in certain Crok offspring. I decided to go ahead after talking with several SAR people with Crok in their lines. My dog is very hard but very compliant I and have never seen the first spark of a potential handler aggression issue. Of course she ate me alive like any puppy and we transferred that to her tug and lived through it like everyone else who knows what to expect does. I am very glad that I did go ahead and get her.

I am sure that once a breeder has been in the business for several years, transactions get smoother in terms of communication and contracts etc.

I'm going to bring up a point since someone mentioned "that a breeder's reputation can be smeared by one person's opinion" - which is very true.

When we had a thread about Alpine K-9 a little while ago, I answered privately via PM. To my surprise, I've gotten nine PM's asking for my opinion of them ( the dogs that I saw them provide were able to perform to standard without difficulty, by the way <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> )

When I post my opinion on a kennel or vendor, I'm only going to comment on what I see first hand, ie, either myself or a close fellow trainer has a dog from said kennel, or a dog is being worked by an organization that I have face to face contact with - so I can observe first hand the animal. If I am told about shady business dealing or such, but I have no first hand knowledge of this, I refer the person asking to that individual that relayed that information to me, so they can ask first hand about any questionable dealings ( and I *always* point out if the rumor seems to be coming from a competitor ).
So if I'm the one commenting on a kennel, I do try to differentiate between first hand knowledge and rumor - and we'd all do well to try and do the same.