Every modern dog breed has a story to tell – the story of the Shiloh Shepherd is intertwined with that of its founder - Tina Barber. The Barber family raised and trained German Shepherds for many decades before the creation of the Shiloh. It was in fact Tina’s desire to recapture the size, even temperament and the remarkable intelligence of her Grandmothers German Shepherds
that led her to develop the Shiloh.
Attempting to breed her idea of an ideal Shepherd dog, Tina was faced with many challenges, how to overcome health issues like hip dysplasia, how to predict the outcomes of her breeding program – this led Tina to develop her LMX program which collected health data from as many littermates as possible. The LMX information allowed Tina to research generations of dogs and their siblings to see how their genetics played out, this in turn allowed her to make the best decisions for the breeding program moving the dogs ever closer to her idea of big, intelligent, reliable shepherds with overall good health and excellent hips.
The name Shiloh came to being in the 70’s when Tina discovered another passion in her life – her Christianity. Being a biblical name 'Shiloh' resonated with Tina and it became the name chosen to identify her kennel and her dogs.
Tina worked hard to breed selectively toward her goal. More and more the study of genetics allowed her to identify the best pairings to recapture the old type of German Shepherd she remembered from her childhood. Although in the beginning it had not been Tina’s intention to develop a totally new breed, by the 80’s it was apparent that Shiloh puppies were easily distinguishable from the average German Shepherd. Perhaps most notably there was no angulation, these dogs were large with straight backs, their impressive size combined with a gentler, stable temperament began to distinguish the Shiloh from all other Shepherds – A breed was born.
With the foundation dogs set and defining characteristics identified, the breeding program expanded beyond Tina’s own kennel to include other breeders working under Tina’s direction. At this time it also became apparent that the direction of the Shiloh no longer belonged with the AKC. In order to have control of the emerging breed Tina decided to pull all Shiloh stock from the AKC and register the dogs independently. This allowed Tina to consider bringing in an infusion of blood from an outcross, something which was important to the health and gene pool of the Shiloh.
There were two important outcrosses made at this time, both utilising dogs developed in similar programs to Tina’s. Extensive research went in to selecting just the right lines to complement what was already evolving in the Shiloh foundations. One of the outcrosses brought in the MAW line which included a malamute / white shepherd cross, the other a line of old Wurttemberger type German Shepherds known as the Texas Woolies which also possessed traits from an old European breed, the Sarplaninac. These outcrosses allowed Tina to lock in the size and bone elements with the conformation, intelligence and temperament of her own lines - the direction for the Shiloh was set.
that led her to develop the Shiloh.
Attempting to breed her idea of an ideal Shepherd dog, Tina was faced with many challenges, how to overcome health issues like hip dysplasia, how to predict the outcomes of her breeding program – this led Tina to develop her LMX program which collected health data from as many littermates as possible. The LMX information allowed Tina to research generations of dogs and their siblings to see how their genetics played out, this in turn allowed her to make the best decisions for the breeding program moving the dogs ever closer to her idea of big, intelligent, reliable shepherds with overall good health and excellent hips.
The name Shiloh came to being in the 70’s when Tina discovered another passion in her life – her Christianity. Being a biblical name 'Shiloh' resonated with Tina and it became the name chosen to identify her kennel and her dogs.
Tina worked hard to breed selectively toward her goal. More and more the study of genetics allowed her to identify the best pairings to recapture the old type of German Shepherd she remembered from her childhood. Although in the beginning it had not been Tina’s intention to develop a totally new breed, by the 80’s it was apparent that Shiloh puppies were easily distinguishable from the average German Shepherd. Perhaps most notably there was no angulation, these dogs were large with straight backs, their impressive size combined with a gentler, stable temperament began to distinguish the Shiloh from all other Shepherds – A breed was born.
With the foundation dogs set and defining characteristics identified, the breeding program expanded beyond Tina’s own kennel to include other breeders working under Tina’s direction. At this time it also became apparent that the direction of the Shiloh no longer belonged with the AKC. In order to have control of the emerging breed Tina decided to pull all Shiloh stock from the AKC and register the dogs independently. This allowed Tina to consider bringing in an infusion of blood from an outcross, something which was important to the health and gene pool of the Shiloh.
There were two important outcrosses made at this time, both utilising dogs developed in similar programs to Tina’s. Extensive research went in to selecting just the right lines to complement what was already evolving in the Shiloh foundations. One of the outcrosses brought in the MAW line which included a malamute / white shepherd cross, the other a line of old Wurttemberger type German Shepherds known as the Texas Woolies which also possessed traits from an old European breed, the Sarplaninac. These outcrosses allowed Tina to lock in the size and bone elements with the conformation, intelligence and temperament of her own lines - the direction for the Shiloh was set.
