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• If members or visitors will send us the instructions for increasing/decreasing the font size in their browsers, we will be happy to include them.

• The site search function is located at the end of navigation bars on each main page.

• The Member’s Only page is reserved for Members of the World Class Program and a password is required.

• The WC Program is open to existing breeders, those who are considering breeding and those who wish to contribute to the protection and promotion of a breed. First an applicant is asked to read the Bill of Rights. If an applicant agrees to adhere to the standards set forth, he or she may be asked to submit documents or respond to questions on his or her dogs or breeding program. Lastly members discuss the application and vote on it. If approved, the new member is on probation for a time to see if the WC is a good fit for him or her. If you are considering applying for membership, please check out our Benefits of Membership. If you have any other questions about membership please use the Contact Us page.

• Click on the Bill of Rights button on the Navigation bar or click here: Bill of Rights

• Since the majority of our members own Shilohs right now I will use them as an example. The WC works in partnership with the ShilohZone. In 2004 it became mandatory for members of the Zone to share data on their Shilohs. Initially membership on the Zone dropped significantly; however, we stayed the course and slowly but surely our membership increased as did our data. As of June 2006, we had 144 members and 198 Shilohs in the Zone database. (In the Zone Online/Public Database, we currently have 114 Shilohs.) It is not a large population (and we do not claim to have data on every Shiloh), but we consider it a good sample population. Using this data and data from OFA, PennHIP, data from the Canine Inherited Disease Database (CIDD) on German Shepherds, and other sources, we determined the prevalent health issues that affected our breed. Then we researched what options were available for detecting or preventing each disorder (genetics, X-rays, littermate information, etc.). (This is done for any breed that comes into the WC so health tests are tailored to fit each breed.) We established our first set of standards for Shilohs which became our WC Bill or Rights and work as closely to it as we can. As it says in the Bill or Rights, test requirements are subject to change as new information becomes available.

• Absolutely and there are breeders out there working very hard to do just that. We find that coming together as a group is much more rewarding. It is, however, not without its difficulties—human nature being what it is. Sometimes we lose members and we accept that—the WC Program is not for everyone—we ask a great deal of our members. We find that working through the issues makes us stronger and even more determined to achieve our mission and vision. As stated previously, we feel every ethical breeder should aspire to be “world class.” We also find working together provides support, is more fun, much more rewarding, and we are able to achieve things as a team that we could not do nearly as well as individuals. You can read more about the Benefits of the WC Program here Benefits of Membership.

• No, the WC does not tell a breeder what to breed or what not to breed. The WC decides whether it will bestow a WC or LOM designation on the litter if the breeder asks for it. Logic says any breeder in the WC Program would want to breed for WC status or at a minimum LOM or why be in the program. As we explained on the Litters Page, we do not control the breeder--we decide whether the litter earns a WC or LOM designation. To elaborate on this response, we operate on a consensus basis. This means we do not have to agree on the decision, but it must be one everyone in the group can live with. And rightly so—any litter that earns WC or LOM status carries the backing of the entire WC team and with that comes responsibilities. Each and every puppy from a litter afforded WC or LOM status remains a WC Program puppy for life!

• For starters, most WC breeders have web sites showing the testing that has or will be done on their breeding dogs. This is true for more and more breeders these days but you would still want to validate this information be it a WC breeder or not. Several include information on their pets as well. Reports that cannot be validated by OFA can be requested (again some breeders will provide copies of this documentation on their web sites). The Web Masters for the ShilohZone site have done everything possible to validate all data being entered into the Online Database. If you are not sure, ask for copies—ethical breeders will applaud you for this.
  
   
• As for ensuring that a WC breeder uses an approved puppy rearing program, we can only say that we follow each litter closely and we stand by our Bill or Rights. In addition, you could ask for pictures or video of how the puppies are being reared. Some breeders plan to use web cams nicknamed Puppy Cams that would make streaming video available to potential buyers. You could also ask probing questions—it is hard to fake the responses to good probing questions so you would have to be up on the components of scientific puppy raising. We do not mandate a particular puppy raising program although we encourage our breeders to use the Super Puppy Program (http://www.britfeld.com/superdogs/superdogs.htm) along with Dunbar’s theories or any other respected rearing techniques. Same goes for nutrition—some of our breeders feed raw, some do not. We do advocate certain “across the board” elements (like the use of probiotics from birth to at least six months, the hygiene hypothesis in puppies--holistic treatments whenever possible before antibiotics, and variety in the diet regardless what type of diet is used) and other scientifically proven concepts. A breeder has “your” puppy for 8 weeks—you should know exactly what was done (or not done) and be prepared to “take over” once you get the puppy home. The window of opportunity remains wide open up to 16 weeks—after that, it is not as easy to shape the future.

• No, only litters that meet the criteria for World Class and approved by WC members are designated as such.

• The LOM designation is detailed on the Litters Page. In summary, it is a litter that does not meet World Class criteria but comes close enough to earn a special status. It is a compromise with respect to the current environment; in other words, until we have more dogs to choose from who have full health and temperament testing. The LOM designation allows us to work within a small gene pool and recognize our breeders who are coming as close as they feasibly can without compromising the gene pool.

• We recommend you start with reading the Puppy Selection Process. You can also checkout the ShilohZone web site, join a couple of chat lists, check club and registry sites (see Zone Links) —they usually list breeders and/or available litters and be sure to ask questions. In addition you can make arrangements to see Shilohs in person either at show or competition venues or owners living nearby. Lastly we recommend you always verify health data through the OFA database or ask for copies of health and temperament documents not otherwise available.

• It sounds trite but it is true—there are only two guarantees in life—death and taxes. What we guarantee you is that if you purchased a puppy from a litter designated SZ World Class or SZ Litter of Merit by us (members of the SZ World Class Breeders—World Class Program)—everything we could possibly do to reduce your risk was done within the scope outlined in our program.

• We feel it is needed to breed the kind of puppies we want to own. Together we have varying experiences with dogs to date and wanted better health, temperament and conformation. We brought several puppies into the WC program using our criteria and evaluation processes. It is too soon to tell if all will pass muster to make it into our breeding programs but initial results are promising. By working together we can support one another, hopefully reduce kennel blindness, and keep each other on the right path. We also benefit from the synergy of working as a team. Even more important--by working together we can pool our data collection abilities and make it easier for our members to access information important to developing a successful breeding program.

• Our primary goal is reducing risk for puppy buyers. We accomplish this through our Vision and Mission.
  Vision: To be “World Class” in all that we do.
  Mission: To develop “World Class” breeders and produce “World Class” puppies.

• Please see the Bill of Rights. Then check out our Breeding Assessment Process. Like the saying goes “if you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.” After several years of studying breed statistics, hearing stories by owners, and for many of us, considering our experiences with our own dogs, we knew we needed to do something different if we wanted to change the future. Obviously it is too soon to judge our success (or lack of it). We hope to see progress with each litter that earns WC or LOM status, but we are realists—it will take at least five, maybe more generations before our theories regarding breeding are fully tested. In addition, we consider our efforts a work in progress—as information becomes available, our criteria will be modified and our processes will be changed and/or new processes created.

Bagi