Probably any sentient being (or even a moderately alert vegetable) who happens to be involved or interested in the "rare breeds" scene already has a good idea of what the Shiloh Shepherd Dog is. BIG. Full-coated. Intelligent. Stable temperament. Sound structure. Amazingly good hips. Everything the present-day show-type German Shepherd Dog is not. Breed founder Tina Barber has made these dogs her life's work for the past thirty-odd years. She started out as just a child, becoming a show handler and a Schutzhund trainer in her early teens. Gradually she became disgusted with the direction the GSD was taking, and decided to re-create the kind of shepherd dogs she had known as a small child in Europe.

 This book is the story of how she did it. And it's a book that anyone and everyone who cares deeply about ANY breed of dog ought to read. Its message cuts right across breed lines, going to the heart of these questions: what is a canine breed, how does a new breed get established, what does it take to successfully accomplish such a thing, how do you deal with the genetic problems that lie in wait to torpedo your efforts -- and what lengths will greedy, envious people go to in order to defeat your goals?

Simply told in narrative style, the book is darned exciting! You've never read a "breed book" anything like it, and you don't have to know anything about Shilohs to enjoy every single page of it. It's a fascinating book in a number of ways. For one thing, Tina is a committed "born-again" Christian, and the story of the SSD is also the tale of her desire to produce "a dog straight from the heart of God." Her spiritual life and the agonising trials, set-backs, and outright disasters along the way form a rich background tapestry to the Shiloh story. There is no preaching, no treacly sermonising in this story -- just the straight narrative of how it all happened for Tina.

I'm personally blown away (and inspired, too) by the extent to which the Shiloh story runs parallel to the stories of the Seppala Siberian Sleddog and the Chinook Sled Dog breeds. This story is an obligatory object lesson to each and every one of us in both those breeds -- required reading! And Tina's instinctive understanding and mastery of the genetics of breed development is breathtaking. It's like a textbook for rare breeds. Whether the focus is on development or preservation hardly matters; the principles are universal.

Heaven knows why, but probably because of the "Purebred Dog Breeds into the 21st Century" brief, Tina and her associates asked me to contribute a foreword or "letter of support" to the opening pages of her book. I felt deeply honoured to be asked to do such a thing, and now I see the final results, I'm terribly proud to be associated with a book of the quality and relevance that this little volume has.

You can buy it online at the following URL:
http://www.shilohshepherdstory.com/orderForm.htm
and you can even pay for it using your PayPal account (I wish they'd all do that)!
The price is $18.99 + $5 S&H for the soft cover trade paperback edition.

I hope each and every one of you will get a copy, read it, think hard about all the implications -- especially genetic health, inbreeding, outcrossing, breed development, population size, breeder recruitment, registries, breed support associations -- and about greed, envy, perfidy and general destructive behaviour within the dog fancy. There are enough deep lessons in this little book to keep all of us thinking for the next year or more. Dog book of the year? You bet yo' sweet!  Don't fail to GET IT!