West Coast German Shepherds

'Remembering Our Past, Living in the Present and Looking to the Future...Always with Our German Shepherd Dogs.'

My name is Barbie DiBernardo and I would like to tell you a little bit about our family, our goals and our commitment to the German Shepherd Dog here at West Coast German Shepherds. Together with my husband Kip and our son Alden we strive to provide the best quality German Shepherd to you with an outstanding temperament that will in turn make a lasting impression on you and your family like they have in ours. I have so many customers that have been lifelong fans of the German Shepherd, that have grown up with German Shepherds and long for that companionship again with the dog of their childhood.

My husband Kip, our son Alden and I all share a great love for the German Shepherd that started for all of us as children. Mine began with a wonderful dog I met at the age of six that was owned by my two adult brothers, I was fascinated by her and how quickly we became attached to each other while on that short vacation to visit my brothers. She was a great dog and I dreamed of having one of my own someday. Once I was able to have a dog the only dog I wanted was a German Shepherd, there was never a question. Already a mother by this time I wanted to be sure that the dog I got would be good with our son Alden. My husband Kip had the great fortune of being raised with a wonderful German Shepherd named 'Dina', she was the family protector and was a wonderful babysitter for Kip and his three siblings, so the choice for us was clear. 

We adopted a ten month old bi-color male we named 'Touchdown', and yes at two years old my son was a major football fanatic! Touchdown was the best, he was so great with Alden and never even had a bad thought cross his mind about him, no matter how many times Alden took his ball or tried to tackle him like a football player, Touchdown took it all in stride and was perfectly sweet. We then added an adult black and red male we named 'Irish', yes, we had 'Touchdown' & 'Irish', and yes we are Notre Dame fans. Irish and Touchdown became the best of friends to both each other and to Alden. During our two years that we lived in Ohio, they would pull him on his sled through the snow in the front yard and entertain us catching snowballs. They were great dogs and we still miss them to this day, they both lived to the age of thirteen and we consider ourselves blessed for having them in our lives. They will always be remembered with love and we miss them dearly.

It was a dream of mine to someday be able to raise German Shepherds with great bloodlines and temperaments for other families like ours to enjoy and love. That dream became a reality in early 2007 and we have enjoyed every minute of it. We actively show our dogs in the German style show ring on a national and international level and therefore we strive to breed dogs of quality bloodlines and structure that adhere to the German SV standard for the German Shepherd dog.

Health is of utmost importance to us and we know it is to you as well, all of our dogs are hip and elbow certified through either the German SV a-Stamp Program or through the OFA. Additionally all of our dogs are tested clear for Degenerative Myelopathy.

I am fortunate to have a very hard working husband that enables me to be a full-time dog mom. In keeping a small number of dogs we have time to give plenty of love and individual attention to them and the puppies when we have them. Our dogs are not kept in kennels, they live with us as part of our family, with room to roam outside on our one acre property and they always have a warm spot inside to sleep. We make every effort to continue to learn and to improve our bloodlines by importing dogs of superior quality with top German VA bloodlines to both further our own show and breeding program and to bring you the highest and best quality puppy for you and your family to enjoy. We look forward to providing you and your family with the dog of your dreams.

Our Co-Own Families

I would like to tell you a little about our two partners that we co-own some of our girls with. First I would like to tell you a little about our partner Andre Pinkernell from beautiful Ojai California. Andre is originally from Germany and has lived in the United States over 12 years. Dogs have been a passion for Andre since his childhood, he began showing and working his dogs while living in Germany and he has been showing and raising German Shepherds here in the US for over 10 years under his own  kennel name vom Paukenschlag. We feel fortunate to have someone of Andre's experience and knowledge as part of our West Coast family, not only is he great with the dogs he is also a good friend. Andre has been instrumental in helping us import most of our dogs from some of the top kennels in Germany, every dog has been even better than we expected them to be. Andre takes outstanding care of our puppies and dogs and we know they are safe in his care. He has also been a big part of our success in the show ring, handling a lot of our dogs to top placings both regionally and nationally. Andre and his two young children do a wonderful job of socializing and handling the puppies, which is continued once the puppies are brought to us at 6-7 weeks of age. Our girls Dayka and Karma live with Andre.

Next I would like to introduce you to our partner Judy Baker from Lund Nevada. We met Judy through Andre, she had purchased E Sissy vom Paukenschlag from Andre as a puppy. Judy lives on a gorgeous 1500 acre ranch in Nevada and the dogs and puppies get to enjoy ranch life and everything that comes with it! Judy's four year old son Dillon is our puppy socializer extraordinaire! His dogs and the puppies are his very best friends! Judy kept a female puppy from our first litter with Sissy and Zamp, and Anna and Dillon are inseparable, playing in the mud and the snow together and keeping Judy very busy of course! Dillon got to show Anna in December earning the top rating of Very Promising, Judy and Dillon ran their hearts out in the ring and Anna got a perfect critique from the SV judge.  Having years of experience in raising livestock as well as puppies in the past, Judy does an outstanding job raising our West Coast puppies and we know they get the best in care and socialization. When the puppies are 6 to 7 weeks of age they travel to our home in style and the comfort of Judy's RV, this way they are able to take their time driving, thereby making the trip stress free for the puppies. Our girls Diva and Sissy live with Judy.

Our puppies that are raised by our two partners are brought to us at the age of 6-7 weeks old. At this age they are no longer nursing except for maybe once a day if at all, as their mother is quite over the addition of their sharp little teeth a few weeks prior. The important part is that the litter stay together until the age of 8 weeks here at our home. Their adult dog lessons are lovingly taught to them by Zamp as well as some of the other members of the pack. They are health checked by our veterinarian, microchipped and vaccinated once they arrive to our home. Both of our partners implement our feeding and deworming schedule while the puppies are in their care. They also send us photos of the puppies so we can keep you updated on their growth.

We want you to feel secure in knowing that whether your puppy is raised in our home or our partners, they are getting the very best in care and socialization.

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