German Shepherd Breeders in Illinois reviewed

German Shepherd Breeders in Illinois: My Bodyguard Dogs

This Illinois German Shepherd Breeder is located in Marengo, IL. According to their website, they focus on breeding from fine, 100% German lines and produce high-quality dogs with excellent temperaments and conformation to the German Standard. All of their breeding dogs are healthy, hip and elbow certified and titled in Schutzhund, so you can be sure you are getting a top-quality dog in all aspects.

This Breeder has been involved with German Shepherds since 1991. They offer world-class German Shepherds as family companions as well as perfect dogs for protection and other services/activities such as Obedience, Police Work, Search and Rescue, etc. They also have plenty of useful information about German Shepherds on their website.

Steadman Shepherds

This is a small breeder focusing on breeding German Shepherds from the elite, titled Schutzhund German Shepherds of top quality lines. According to their website, they breed for excellent working ability as well as looks. All of their dogs are hip and elbow screened. All the pups are raised in the house and surrounded with love and attention from an early age. On their website, you can find lots of good testimonials and more details about puppies and parents.

German Shepherd Breeders in Illinois: Landschaft German Shepherds

This German Shepherd Breeder in Illinois is located just outside of Chicago. According to their website, their main focus is the working line German Shepherds. They have been involved with the breed for over two decades and have a great reputation within the German Shepherd world, as well as being awarded a Gold Breeder’s award from the United Schutzhund Club of America. Their dogs are healthy, intelligent, well-temperamented and easy to train. They go on to excel in sports and services such as Obedience, Agility, protection, Search and Rescue, Police work and others.

German Shepherd Breeders in Illinois: Kriegershaus

This German Shepherd Breeder has been breeding German Shepherds since 1992. As stated on their website, they focus on producing high-quality dogs from German, Czech and DDR working and conformation lines. A lot of their dogs go on to excel in Obedience, Agility, Schutzhund, Police work and other service work. They invest a lot of effort into producing healthy, well-temperamented dogs with excellent working abilities. All of their breeding dogs are thoroughly health screened, hips and elbows certified and all of the puppies go to their new homes with a health guarantee.

They also place a lot of effort into raising young puppies surrounded by love and care, and plenty of socialization. They introduce crate training early on before the puppies even go on to their new homes.

This breeder also pays lots of attention to a healthy diet in their puppies. If you are interested in their puppies, check out their website here.

Kavanaugh Shepherds

This German Shepherd Breeder in Illinois is located north of Chicago. According to their website, their goal is to breed German Shepherds with great working abilities and good structure. All their litters are carefully researched and planned. You will find more information about this breeder and their dogs on their website.

German Shepherd Breeders in Illinois: Vom Ragnar

This is another Illinois German Shepherd Breeder, located in Harvard, IL. This is a small kennel with only a few litters per year. According to their website, they focus on breeding healthy, well-temperamented dogs from best West German Show lines in an old-fashioned way. All of their dogs are registered AKC,  Schutzhund and IPO, and bred to SV Standard. You can find more information about this breeder, as well as their dogs, on their website.

German Shepherd Breeders in Illinois: Regis Regal

This is another German Shepherd breeder in Illinois, located in Spring Grove. As stated on their website, they focus on producing exceptional West German Sieger German Shepherds. They strive to provide wonderful family companions, including dogs for families with Autism.

Their dogs also excel as therapy dogs, as well as in Schutzhund. Many of their dogs have one multiple National and International awards and have many honorable titles that distinguish them in the world of German Shepherds. To learn more about this breeder and their dogs, please visit their website.

Vollmond Shepherds

This is also a German Shepherd Breeder in Illinois, located just outside Chicago. This is a hobby breeder focused on West German bloodlines with great temperaments and structure. They have been actively working with the breed for over 24 years. They strive to produce healthy, happy puppies that will go on to be wonderful companions as well as excel at any service they may be asked to perform, such as Police work, therapy work, Schutzhund, obedience, etc. If you are interested in this Breeder’s puppies, visit their website here. 

German Shepherd Breeders in Illinois: Vom Vaehnrich German Shepherds

This German Shepherd Breeder is located in Marseilles, Illinois. This is a Breeder with a dedication to maintaining the traditional German Shepherd Temperament and purpose. They only breed from top-quality West German Bloodlines. According to their website, they have achieved some of the top show results in the country, including Sieger and others.

All their dogs are IPO or Schutzhund titled and have passed the most thorough health screenings and behavioral and other tests to prove their worth. All dogs are hip and elbow certified as well as Breed Surveyed. This breeder only produces a limited number of litters per year. Visit this breeder’s website to learn more about their wonderful dogs.

German Shepherd Owner Reviews about the breed

A German Shepherd is not the easiest dog to have, but they can be the best dog you’ve ever had if you have time to train them and work with them. Don’t get a German Shepherd on a whim, please be kind to the dog and to yourself! This is a very demanding breed.

German Shepherds can be real dictators! This is why they need a strong owner who will have enough authority and strength to teach them right from wrong. They are extremely smart and willing to please if you are the right owner.

Our particular pup has grown into a wonderful, obedient dog because my husband has put so much effort into training him. He’s truly a joy to be around and we are so proud of him.

One downside with our German Shepherd, Max, is that he has lots of allergies (even though we thought allergies were pretty rare in German Shepherds). It was difficult to find foods that he could eat without reacting (chicken is a no-no, same for turkey, but he seems fine with beef and some vegetables). Also we have to regularly deworm him, or he will end up with stomach ache and diarrhea. But that’s probably normal for any dog.

Other than that, we are very happy with our Max!”

“We decided to adopt Oscar into our family, because we have been thinking of getting a guard dog for quite a while. He was extremely smart, even as a puppy, although I wish we knew more about how to train him back then. I think he would have been even smarter by now! I definitely recommend learning as much as you can about the breed as well as how to train them even before you get the actual dog! Our Oscar knows all the main commands now, although sometimes he is a little too stubborn to actually follow them.

We tried to raise him to be friendly to everyone but still protect our house from strangers. We live in a rural area, somewhat remote, so safety can be a concern. He did become very protective: I doubt any stranger would dare come into our yard let alone into our house. But he is very loving with us. He would spend every hour of his day near my husband. I am his second choice but he still loves me lots.

He is very friendly to my friends too. It’s almost like he can feel it in the air. If I am friendly and relaxed around a person, then Oscar will be too. If I don’t know the person, Oscar will be very watchful and protective of me around them. Thankfully we never had a situation where he had to protect me, but I know he is always ready to stand up for me.

He is almost 5 years old now but he is still very playful and has los of energy. He loves his toys and especially loves when we play with him.

He doesn’t do well when my husband has to leave town for a few days. He gets sad and stays around the door waiting for Jim to come back. Sometimes he even howls! But I try to be near him and tell him it’s all right.

We feed Oscar mostly meat and some vegetables. He doesn’t like dog food as much and we think natural food can be healthier.

When deciding on adopting a German Shepherd, you need to understand that it will fully depend on you whether you raise a good dog or not. You can make your German Shepherd friendly, polite and a pleasure to e around. Or you can spoil them, make them frustrated and bitey, or even outright dangerous. You should only adopt a German Shepherd if you know for certain that you will have enough time and desire to spend with them, train them, teach them what’s good and what’s not, etc. Otherwise don’t get a German Shepherd. It’s a huge responsibility.

And need I even mention vet bills?Even regular checkups, worming, shots etc can add up to a hefty sum. Let alone if anything ever happens to your dog, they get into an accident or a genetic issue crops up. Even something as small as food poisoning can result in hours at the vet, IV, etc. You need to be sure you can cover it.”