Breeding Goals
Meet the Breeder
Hi, my name is Natalie Churchman and I am the breeder behind Hitzetal Kennels located in Madison, Mississippi. My breeding program produces excellent companions. My primary focus is to produce dogs with strong working ability, solid temperaments, great health, and exceptional structure. I take pride in my work.
I enjoy doing protection training, tracking and high drive obedience with my dogs. I prioritize placing puppies to working homes first, and then active family homes that already have experience with the breed. My dogs are a huge part of my life, and I spend a lot of time with them.
The potential that German Shepherds have for protection, work, and companionship is incredible; and it is a privilege to be able to share those amazing qualities with others. I strive to produce exceptional working dogs with an emphasis on health and temperament. I want to not only improve the line and promote responsible breeding, but to ensure the German Shepherd is able to move forward for generations to come with it's best qualities.
I am very dedicated to what I do and what I am trying to achieve as a breeder. I work with passion, heart, integrity, and truly want what's best for the German Shepherd Dog.
Health Testing
It is amazing, the advancements that have been made in technology over the last decade. These new tools are helping us to make better choices about breeding stock, and helping us to improve our breeds health. The use of these tools should be foremost in all breeder’s breed programs. What is the point of breeding an anatomically correct dog with a great temperament if it can not perform because of hip dysplasia?
TEMPERAMENT
(WORK ABILITY)
German Shepherds are working dogs, first and foremost. The original objective in creating the breed was to create a versatile working dog capable of herding, protection and general service. Unfortunately, today we see far too many Shepherds are from “pet lines”, or watered down versions of the breed. These dogs were bred without care or selection simply because they were great pets or a pretty color/looks. Those dogs lose the working traits, good health, conformation and the true German Shepherd temperament/traits within one generation of breeding.
All of our dogs must first prove their working ability before they will be bred. We currently train and compete in the sport of IGP, formerly known as IPO or Schutzhund. This sport was developed specifically to prove breed worthiness for German Shepherds. There are three sections or phases—obedience, tracking, and protection—all which require different things from the dog.
STRUCTURE
Proper structure for the German Shepherd dog is disagreed upon by experts, and poorly understood by the general public. Yes, there is a standard (several actually, SV, AKC and UKC). We follow the SV (originating from Germany the original home of the German Shepherd) because we want it to remain a working breed as it was intended. Terms like “king shepherds” “straight back” “shepArds” and “old fashioned” are widely misused by backyard breeders as well as under-informed prospective puppy buyers. Another huge problem is the general public doesn’t understand what a proper stack does to the dog’s structure and topline, or what happens when a dog moves in certain ways. There are many sensational photos of “crippled show line” German Shepherd dogs circulating the internet, and while many indeed are poorly bred and have terrible structure, some are just photos of a correct, well structured dog placed in an exaggerated or incorrect stack, or performing a strenuous or exaggerated movement (like what is seen in the show ring).