My name is Carol Veitenheimer and I have been breeding German Shepherds for over 48 years now. The name Ca-Ji came from the first two letters of my first name and my husband's first name, Jim . I began raising German Shepherd Dogs in 1960 when I purchased my first female. Her name was Kerry, a lovely black-and-tan female with excellent temperament, but her hips were not good. So I had her spayed and purchased a 3½-month-old female from Pennsylvania named Lucey von Zimmerweg. We all called her "Tara." She was a black bi-color. Tara was the start of Ca-Ji Shepherds.

All my dogs have been such different experiences that my life with them has never been boring. Tara was our house dog until she passed away at 11½ years of age. She was shown at the age of eleven, and won the open bitch class which could have finished her Canadian championship, but it was too hot and she did not show well in the Winners class. The judge told me later that he wished he would have known her age. He would have taken her age into consideration. She still was a showman and very sound even at that age.

I next bought a male for breeding named Bandit who during his life proved to be a non-carrier of hip dysplasia. I began showing in both the obedience and conformation ring. I did well in both, but I enjoyed the conformation part the most.

I have now bred many Canadian champions and one American champion, Best in Show Winner with a ranking of 7th in the USA before losing him to stomach torsion. His name was Ca-Ji's Fallon. I stopped showing for two years after his death. When I was ready to get back to breeding, I decided to breed with an emphasis on Schutzhund. I imported several titled dogs from Germany and constructed my breeding program to produce only dogs as close to the standard as humanly possible. That has always been my goal and I feel that I have accomplished that. I do not follow fads in the breed to win. I win with the the dog with the correct structure according to the Standard.

My champion Fallon was a very large male with excellent temperament, plus he had a real show-off personality. He enjoyed the conformation ring and the applause. Even though he was a top show dog, he had the true German Shepherd temperament. He saved me from an intruder in a motel room one night in Anchorage, Alaska.

The motel incident ended up kind of funny. When the intruder tried to come in the door, Fallon charged the door growling and the door slammed closed. Fallon's racket and the slam of the door woke me up and then, Fallon jumped on the bed trying to get out the window and broke the bed. He weighed 130 pounds, remember. I was still in the bed and when Fallon could not get out through the window, he decided to lie down and give me a face-washing, but he came down right on top of me and I could not get out of bed. I had a hard time explaining the broken bed to the motel since I was alone in the room.

V Carlo v Sensenstein Sch3 was my first male import. He was so much fun to work and show because he loved it and enjoyed all phases of the work. He did each obedience exercise with his tail wagging and speed. Carlo tracking always at near-perfect scores and did protection work with strength and enjoyment. He always knew how to push the buttons to make it fun. He could be serious when necessary as he showed when he worked as a police dog in Calgary for 2 summers with a friend. Carlo had 6 felon arrests.

One time V Reyko v Alderpass SchI was working with me while training for his KKLIA life and he bit the trainer after working because he came too close to me while waving the stick. The German judge was very impressed by this correct response from such a young dog. He said if the dog could take this such as a threat to me, he was the kind you should keep and breed. Reyko was very beautiful and fun, but very strong.

It has been my pleasure to share my memories with you of my dogs that are now gone, but will never be forgotten. My German Shepherds have all been such an important part in my life. My goal has always been and still is to breed the true German Shepherd Dog. I hope that someday you, too, will be able to look back and say, "Oh, I remember this time with ...."