Committed to Excellence, Every Pup
We are a small, woman-owned kennel. We’re preservationist breeders with three pillars of excellence: Temperament, Health, and Conformation.
We believe that unmanaged and uneducated commercial, high-volume puppy production does not produce quality companions, inflicts irreversible damage to our beloved breed, and should be avoided. This is NOT the kind of breeder we are. We are involved in this breed for its improvement, and each pup we place is done so with full transparency in genetics and personality.
Our dams and sires are pets first. All our dogs are raised inside our family home. They eat in our kitchen, among our family. They play with our children. Each one is a member of our family and receives nothing but the best from us. They spend rotational time in a solar-powered, climate controlled kennel building and have as much access to the outdoors as weather permits in central Texas.
Our Pillars
The position of verified dam or stud in our program is earned. Each candidate must first pass temperament tests. Because we believe that a healthy, well-formed dog that attempts to eat your family is useless, temperament is the first pillar. The second pillar is genetic and physical health testing. With heart health and a lower COI at the top of our priorities, we painstakingly plan our litters and raise our puppies with incredibly high standards. Our third pillar is conformation. Many breeders choose to place showring status and conformational perfection at the top of their programs, we believe that while important, body shape should not trump health or temperament. Rarely does a “long body” or a “flat foot” perceptively alter the quality of the dog as an individual; temperament and physical health does.
Our dogs are trained up in basic obedience, house-training, and community manners. We maintain OFA hips, elbows, eyes, Holter and echocardiograms for heart health qualifications , as well as full panel genetic testing for all members of our team.
Our foundation stock are never asked to be parents before they are both physically and emotionally mature enough to handle the task. They are never made parents before both biological, emotional, and cognitive readiness and when our stock retire, they spend the rest of their lives as beloved pets in our home, just the way they started. In special cases, they may be adopted to friends, family, or repeat clients. Our dogs are NEVER abandoned. Healthcare, enrichment, and dignity are provided unfailingly into old age.
We are proudly recognized as a preservationist breeder. We breed along breed standards, against melanistic and oculocutaneous albinism. (We do not breed white/cream Dobermans and we do not breed Dobermans without their rust markings.) The genes have been identified for some of the most heartbreaking diseases, running rampant through our breed. We carefully screen each candidate; check and double check, to ensure that your puppy will, at most, carry one side of the gene necessary to become affected by:
- vWD, von Willebrand’s Disease
- DCM, Dilated Cardiomyopathy
- DM Degenerative Myelopathy
One carrier in a pairing is alright, though The Kennel Birkline’s longer termed goal is elimination completely with genetic screening of pups and limited registrations of carriers. It is never acceptable to breed two carriers of the same genetic disorder together, as this will produce a high likelihood that the pups will become affected by these heartbreaking issues.
From the breeding through the day they leave our home, your pups live a pampered, structured life, complete with early potty training to give you a leg up. We also utilize Early Scent Introduction (ESI) and Early Neurological Stimuli (ENS) to give the pups a superior advantage. With our daily regiment of socialization and stimuli, our pups come out well-rounded and set up for success. They also come with a full genetic profile from Embark, giving our clients the peace of mind that comes with being well-informed.