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Our Beginnings
Throughout the years, 
many people have asked
my husband and myself 
when and how we became 
interested in German Shepherds, 
and why 
Oversized Old Type Shepherds
 
To answer that question, let me go back 
to 1956, when I was just fourteen years old. 
 That was the year my husband Jerry and I first met 
and fell in love.  It was also the year we met a police 
officer who raised large German Shepherds. 
Back then, German Shepherds were typically referred 
to by many people as Police dogs because they were 
(and still are) the breed most often used for police work.
This particular police officer happened to have his jeep
 parked  in front of the post office in Running Springs,Calif. 
(in the San Bernardino, Mountains). I shall never forget 
seeing that beautiful dog sitting there in that jeep!
We were both so impressed that we decided then and there t
hat we were going to have these wonderful animals in our home 
and in our lives one day.  I guess you could say that "love at 
first site" hit me twice that year!  Both of those love affairs 
continue to this day, and I have been truly blessed by the 
enduring quality of each! 
 
My husband and I were married in January of 1959.
We finally got our  first German Shepherd in 1964. 
She was a wonderful dog.  She was black and gun metal silver -- a color you rarely see today.. Her name was Grindell.  I had picked out a very nice male to breed her to, but oddly, (I thought), she would have no part of him. She had her eyes set on another dog, and when I saw him, I was amazed. He was the biggest German Shepherd I had ever seen!
Not only was he large, but he was truly beautiful with strong, sound conformation, a glowing, correct coat, a perfect head, and all of the
qualities I had sought since that fateful day 
at the post office in Running Springs!
 
It turned out that this gorgeous male Shepherd was owned by a German man who had brought the dog with him from Europe.  He called the dog an Alsatian rather than a Shepherd, but thankfully the dog had been registered with the American Kennel Club as a bona fide German Shepherd, onetheless.  We made arrangements to fulfill Grindell's heart's desire, and two months later, a litter of thirteen puppies
arrived in my bedroom!  
 
Our two young sons were completely enthralled with the puppies, and were a great help in their early training and socialization.  Eventually, we chose a gorgeous black and silver male to be our first homebred 
KiestHaus Shepherd, and carry on what would become the KiestHaus legacy. (Note: Our initial kennel name was LayZK, later changed to KiestHaus) The boys named the puppy Lobo, and he grew to be 130 pounds and the sire of many generations
of Old Style Giant Traditional German Shepherd Dogs.
 
As a foundation sire, Lobo more than lived up to his promise. 
 I could easily pen an entire book about that one special dog and his many adventures.   In one incident, he saved the family from a rattlesnake who had invited himself to a  fourth of July picnic.  Bitten three times by that snake, that strong, powerful family protector and loyal friend never wavered in standing between us and danger.  
As a show dog, he finished at the top of every class he was 
ever entered in.  He left nothing unturned. On the ranch, he 
helped raise kittens, foals, new born calves, baby lambs, piglets...
 you name it and he cared for it.  
Never a more wonderful dog was born. 
 
For my family and myself, we knew that with Lobo 
we were on the right track with our KiestHaus dogs.  
Our love for  the versatile, beautiful superdog,
 the German Shepherd, would endure for the rest 
of our lives. Lobo stamped his great qualities on
each of his pups, and we have continued to pattern
 our breeding program on his temperament, 
his soundness, his beauty, his courage, 
and his intelligence.

Later that year, we were able to 
obtain a wonderful female Shepherd
from the police officer we had
met at the post office nearly
a decade earlier.
 
The rest, as they say, 
is history!