A Little Story

by Tina M. Barber 2005

This summer I was on the road and spotted a shabby colored sign that said "BIG SHEPHARD PUPPIES 4 SALE."   Just for fun I went to check them out: cute, fuzzy little things! I asked the old guy how much he wanted; he said $20.  I asked why and he said they had no papers! Obviously the "mix" was a Shepherd/Collie "type" and he "thought" that the sire was the husky/shepherd that lived down the road but he wasn't sure.  So I told him that if he was smart he would put an ad in his local paper and sell them as Shiloh Shepherds for $1,000 each! He just looked at me like I was insane, but I assured him that it is being done all the time. Heck, if he had a computer he could even put up a website and sell them for $2,000 each!

Please Note:

For your convenience, the ISSR Licensed Breeder Matrix lists the year that each breeder joined the SSDCA (a prerequisite for joining the ISSR Licensed Breeder program).  More information can be viewed via our Licensed Breeder Agreement.

The following listings are organized by the year that they produced litters within the ISSR.  For exact details regarding the litters they produced while affiliated with us, please visit  ISSR Registered Litters: 1991-2004. If you have purchased a puppy from any of these "slivers" and his/her litter is not listed in the official ISSR data,  you have been scammed! Unless you have signed a legitimate disclosure stating that you are fully aware of the fact that your dog is not recognized by any legitimate registry, you may be able to file charges against the person who sold you that puppy under false pretenses!

For your continued education, comments written by Tina M. Barber, the breed founder for the Shiloh Shepherd, are added to this list of dissidents who have been exploiting the Shiloh Shepherd name for personal gain.

Received her first ISSR  'Shiloh Shepherd,' Windsong's Katrinka D'Shiloh from me when she was 10 months old in 1992. I placed her with W.F. on a co-ownership, and later gave her two additional breeding bitches.  In 1997  she chose to become part of the original ISSDC (now defunct club started by Gary Allison) and the now defunct ISSDCr, and later returned during the 1999 amnesty, only to leave again in 2004 to start another "ISSC" splinter group  (now calling itself the "new" ISSDC) that desperately tried to get UKC recognition in order to gain public  credibility and sell more of their OTX (mixed GSD) puppies. Upon failing to convince the UKC that "she" was one of the "true" representatives for this breed --because I exposed the entire scam in detail in the Letter to the President of the UKC, she has started vicious smear campaigns spreading false rumors and outright lies any way she can! Fortunately, intelligent people can clearly see through this smoke screen and have chosen to form their own opinions based on facts instead of hysteria.  Be sure to read The Rest of the Story. 

Claims to have been "involved" with Shilohs since 1986! Yet, if you take a moment to read the article she wrote for the Rare Insight Magazine in 1998, she clearly states that her "exposure" consisted of a visit to my kennel in 1986 and then receiving my Shiloh Shepherd newsletters for the next 6 years prior to getting her first puppy from me in 1992! Since that time she had produced 8 litters within the ISSR between 1996 and 2001, none of which ever attained the kind of glory that her Triton earned so easily.  Out of over 60 pups produced, only 1 ever managed to attain their championship degree (out of a Vic-Mar bitch that was produced by my Star (Megan/Sasq) and Captain bred to "my" Triton), even though her husband was a professional handler! Nevertheless, at that point she was demented enough to think she could  "step into" my shoes and take over the breed! Since she left the ISSR she has been producing as many puppies as she can, and selling them via her "pets" website.  Of course, like the others, she uses the most "credible" splinter "registry" available.

Was very impressed with my Shep when I visited her mini-horse ranch in 1993.  Later when Wendy had to move out of her apartment in Syracuse, she was desperate to find a home for the last "Trinka" pup she had.  In the late spring of '94 she stopped at J.V.'s --the rest is history. Later I gave J.V. one of my retired bitches and she bred her to Lobo in 1995. This was her first ISSR litter.  She produced 2 more until she left the ISSR for the now defunct ISSDCr in 1998. She started her own (NSBR) alternate "registry" to the ISSDCr in 1999.  Since that time she has been inbreeding to what she had, and out-crossing to any dog "within the Shepherd family" that she can find.  Although she is a heavy supporter of crossing "Shilohs" with a variety of GSD's and following the same protocols as set by the King Shepherd leadership, she still insists on using the "Shiloh" name because it has a more popular reputation. In 2004 she joined forces with the other "registries" in an attempt to get UKC recognition. When that failed, they formed the new ISSDC, and have started smear campaigns in an attempt to discredit the ISSR.  Please see The Rest of the Story. 

Went to visit Betterways in early 1997 and offered to show one of Stephen's prize bitches.  Abby was an awesome representative of the breed! C.G. fell in love with her and begged him to let her take this girl on a c/o.  He agreed, but when it was time to breed, she chose a friend's stud that I was very concerned about.  I felt that the heavy inbreeding could prove to be very problematic, but she insisted.  Later we discovered that the RC was over 35%!

My prediction proved to be correct. Out of the six pups that were born, 1 died at a young age, probably due to a heart defect, 1 had a fused tail and a severe heart murmur and also died a few months later, 2 turned vicious with one even attacking his owner's children, 1 had Grade 6 SAS and ended up dying even after two very expensive heart surgeries.  Only one seemed to have come out unscathed, but later produced a very problematic litter of pups and died prematurely of heart problems.  Guess she wasn't off to a great start as a breeder.  Maybe that's why she is now trying to play it safe by only outcrossing to GSD's? Nevertheless, she still insists on calling them "Shiloh Shepherds" so that she can charge more money for her "mutt" puppies.  Instead of trying to educate herself about genetics, and the breed in particular, she chose the easy way out!

As a result of this travesty, the ISSR was forced to revise the rules, making them even stricter to prevent such blatant abuse of our gene pool! Not being willing to follow the less stringent rules  of the ISSDCr,  things became intolerable for some "would be" breeders, and all of the "private" registries started forming quickly! For more details, be sure to read Confusion.

With the failure of the ISSDCr, C.G. immediately moved to the USSDCr and when that group failed she switched to the NSBR.  In 2004 she was one of the four leaders  that desperately tried to apply for UKC recognition for their dogs.  If you have bothered to check her website a few times per year, you will find notice that she changes registry affiliation--and even breed names more often than some people change their socks!  Even though the same dogs are being used for breeding, she will give you papers that state that your pup is an AKC GSD or a NSBR Shiloh Shepherd depending upon your paper preference!  Go figure!

I met P.S. at a dog show where I delivered her first Shiloh bitch puppy when she was still living in California. She later wrote an article about that show for our newsletter.  In 1996 she moved to North Carolina and asked me to provide her with foster bitches to whelp so she could earn some money.  I delivered Leah, Yetti, Domino, Winnie, Torah and a few others to her, including my pick Misty/Laz son that she named TAZ in order to help her establish a solid breeding program. In September 1997 she moved to an old farmhouse in Grampian, PA in order to produce even more pups.

At that time she acquired even more bitches from me (both puppies and adults) promising to diligently follow all of my guidelines. I even allowed her to use my Shep for a few months to breed to several of her bitches. In late 1998  she not only absconded with my daughter's personal dog but pulled all of our c/o bitches and B/A studs out of the ISSR and transferred them to the now defunct ISSDCr.  Since that time she has bounced between various "registries" until starting her own (TSSR) in early 2002. However after being replaced as registrar she no longer uses the TSSR for her dogs although she is still listed on their recently revised website as an affiliated breeder for her c/o and B/A clients. As of 3/06 she is now using the "no verification needed" NSBR to paper all of her fake "shiloh" pups!

I met C.B. during a LER that I was performing for a breeder in Canada in September 2002. Shortly after that she visited my kennel and asked Lisa to help her set up a good breeding program. Since she couldn't afford good foundation stock, she inquired about our co-ownerships, and shortly after that took one of our young bitches home to raise and show.

She visited Lisa several times after that, and they became good friends--until she absconded with Lisa's puppy! You can read the full details here.

Since that time she has been viciously attacking Lisa and myself on every forum that will allow her to post her trash! She has also bred the original bitch (Jersey) she took on a co-ownership contract.  Once she discovered she could "paper" any dog she had--be it purebred or mutt with the NSBR, there was no stopping her and anyone else who has discovered this new "paper" venue for all of their mixed breed dogs.  The whole scene that I see is reminiscent of the 1849 Gold Rush.  Everyone seems to be trying to get NSBR papers so that they can get more money for all of their (un)Shiloh pups. When will this insanity end? Or will it? 

M.B. started calling us in August of 2004. She seemed very sincere about starting a breeding program in Canada that would help me to expand our gene pool enough to get full recognition. I met her when I went to Kingston to perform a LER on a litter for one of my Licensed Breeders.

M.B. told me that she wanted to start with 3-4 bitches as soon as possible and ended up taking one of the pups from that litter, but I assured her that in order for me to locate the "right" bitches for her that were compatible with the ISSR males that lived in her area, that it would take same time.

Then only a few months later I was informed of an unusual situation that had happened to one of my other Licensed Breeders.  She needed to place both of her bitches (for personal reasons) immediately, and she really did not want them to live in a kennel (semi-confined) environment although she was willing to bring them to me until I could find a suitable home where they would live with a family on lots of land and yet still be able to contribute to my gene pool expansion program.

Both bitches had already passed all of their ISSR permanent breeding paper requirements and would be coming into heat shortly.  A few days later I received a call from M.B. about a potential litter she was interested in, and I told her about these 2 girls that would be arriving in NY shortly.  She was ecstatic! Talk about a dream come true. They were already trained, x-rayed, tested, etc., and due to come into heat within weeks.  She rushed to my house for the pick up...and the rest of the story is told on the Shiloh Buyers Beware Blog as she represents two of my three cases! 

Claims that his dogs are registered with the OFA and runs huge full page ads in order to impress the unsuspecting public! In reality, he has one Shiloh male that he has been breeding to a variety of GSD's and his own daughters! Anyone that is willing to ask some serious questions and is able to plow through the flowery BS will be able to spot this man for what he truly is! FACT: he has never owned an ISSR Shiloh Shepherd.  The dogs he took from New Zion were never paid for because the bitch that he fostered was also "accidentally" bred to her 3/4 brother, and the ISSR refused to register the litter without proper DNA test results. He had access to an acceptable stud but apparently was unable to monitor her heat cycle properly. Unable to sell many of those pups, he now breeds them back to their sire and charges thousands of dollars for these genetic misfits!

These so-called "registries" do not even have a written breed standard (blue print)  to go by. Just look at what they have been breeding and showing!  Take a moment to compare the best dogs they are producing with some pictures of real Shiloh Shepherds taken at our Homecomings! Even our pets look better than their show dogs!

Then be sure to take some time to read about the way the dissidents have attacked her!