Tekoa von Kazmaier at 7 months old in her "Guard Dog" Harness. Tekoa is a large German Shepherd Dog and has the sweetest personality! She learns very quick and easily. She does tricks, pulls in harness, backpacks, and so much more!

Click on Tekoa's AKC registered name, here, to see her impressive pedigree that goes all the way back to the 1800's when the breed began. Tekoa Von Kazmaier

*Sadly and abruptly, we lost Tekoa to a heart problem we did not know she had...Vets did not detect it. Tekoa died shortly after turning 2 y/o and is sadly missed.

August 2013

These photos are of Tekoa at 5 weeks old. I think she is "all that" and adorable too!

After searching for the right GSDs, I really believe I have found the puppies that are perfect for us! After searching the Internet, in many states, at Deron's request..... I really DO like these two more than any others I saw out there. So I am dancing! Dancing! The way time is flying....shoot. Before you know it, I will be flying down the trail in my Sacco Cart. But there will be a lot of training between now and that time.

Tekoa's parents seem to have that body style I am seeking, that Old Style or what they now call Classic or Original GSD Body Style...remember when Coke started calling their Old Style Coke, Classic in the 1980's, how well that went over...it was not long before they saw their mistake and Coke was back on the Market as it had been for over 100 years. I keep hoping the GSD style will "right it's self" too. At any rate, I want, in my Working Dogs, the body styles they were bred for to actually Work and Have Jobs.

When I was searching for GSD puppies in many different States I was looking for not only that body style but also one that was either Black or Sable. But this little face, Tekoa that is, just stuck in my mind. So I asked the breeder for more photos of her and of her/Tekoa, darker sister. The pup I picked, was the light. You just have to go with your heart....or you will always wonder.

The name Tekoa <ta-KOE-ah> is from the Holy Bible. I remembered it from Amos 1:1 "Amos was a Shepherd from Tekoa." With Amos being a Shepherd, it just stuck in my head. Tekoa is another name I had in mind to use for a GSD back in the early 1990's. I wanted all my GSDs to have Biblical Names that started with T's.

Two Siberian Huskies were named Tekoa before the GSD I had wanted long ago came along. These dogs/Sibes are "gone" now. One of the Siberian's a good friend's dog, and they asked first if they could use the name. Deron and I also had a litter of Siberian Huskies, our T Litter...and one of the females, a wolf gray, was named Tekoa, who we later sold. I had thought about not using the name for my GSD, but decided, with encouragement from Deron and a good friend Nichole (www.dumansark.com ) to go ahead and name her as I had wanted to.

September 5 & 6, 2013

The days finally arrive to go and pick up my puppies. I think I was as anxious to see the adult dogs mine were out of as much as picking up the puppies!

I sure was not disappointed. Tekoa's Breeder had several adult GSDs and EVERYONE OF THEM had the perfect disposition. She got them out of the pens and they walked over and sniffed and let me put them right away. Nice looking dogs too. I was thrilled to see them all. As a bonus, and it was also a testiment, there was another couple their picking up a female puppy. They brought with them a two year old female they had bought from this same breeder two years before. It was a nice looking dog. The breeder told me she has a LOT of repeat puppy buyers...well, that says a lot.

By 10-11-13, Before she was 13 weeks old, Tekoa could:

"Sit", "Down", "Doggy Push Ups" (sit, down,sit,down,sit,down,sit.....), She could, "Shakes" hands, "Jumps Thru A Hoop" (well, comes through one, might not jump yet Ha3), Loves to come through an "Open Tunnel", Comes when called, or whistled for. Tekoa also will cross two tires on their sides when asked to "over" them. She is learning to "Go Potty" outside and on command. Yes. Training is going well. I wish I had more room, or that I could train outside......it is a MESS out there! We had a Blizzard followed by rain, rain, rain and more dog gonned rain!

Tekoa also knows, "Go To Bed" going to her own crates for bed, she knows, "Load", gets into the crate in the backseat after a boost to the back seat from the ground.
"Give Me A Kiss" this is a one lick on my cheek, "Yawn", yawning on command, and she is learning and doing well at "Find Daddy" she will go to Deron when I tell her this, Deron gives them a cookie when they, each of the two puppies arrive to him. I am sure she knows other words we use. And she knows some hand commands, hands only commands, such as "sit", "down" and "come".

In this video Titus and Tekoa were not yet 13 weeks old. We had had a Blizzard here the week before followed by rain, rain and more rain, so I had not worked them outdoors or with the Hoop, Tunnel or Tires for over a week. They knew more tricks at this stage, but were a bit too distracted to show them off. Deron carried me, then each puppy, then the props, then the camera and the chair we set the camera up on, over to the ONE area on 161 acres that was dry. We hope you will <click> "like" our video.

10-30-2013 ~ Tekoa is growing into a Lovely German Shepherd Dog. At this point she knows, or is learning to - all of the above, plus:

Turn in a Circle
Play Piano (with a Keyboard)
Paws Up (to put her front paws up on me or other items)
Fetch
more

For Halloween 2013 Tekoa dressed as a Republican. In the second photo, Halloween IS Scarey! "Stop It Kitties! I am an Elephant, not a Mouse!"

At almost 6 months old it is time to start training Tekoa to wear a Harness and pull a drag....not pull a load or person, just something to feel dragging behind her. Get her used to the feel of a Working Sled Dog Harness...and I think she looks lovely! This photo of her with our old training sled was taken 2014-01-03. The sled is NOT what she will be dragging, a Snow Saucer type sled is.

March 30, 2014

We took these photos of Tekoa wearing Titus's Dog Backpack stuffed with Bubble Wrap, to see if this was the size she also needed. I think it is a great fit. Tekoa is 8 months old in this photo and we think she is lovely!

These were taken the same day, 2014-03-30, we wanted to get at least a few photos, Easter Photos, without snow in them. Tekoa is so quick to learn and is such a fun to own dog!

-- The Working German Shepherd Dogs Team
Tue, 20 Aug 2013 12:56:05 -0400