Welcome

Welcome to Y'Draig Kennels of Southern California. We're in the beautiful San Fernando Valley, just 25 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Many of the pictures you see around our site are taken in the breathtaking beauty of Walker Basin CA, a working cattle range in the Central California mountains.

Our Shiloh Shepherds are registered with the WSSBA and our kennel is a member of the ISSDC.

We have two gorgeous Shiloh Shepherds: Nellie and Ruby. We also have a rescued long-haired German Shepherd and two Pomeranians.

Our girls live in our house, with us. They're not just dogs, they're part of our family. Living with these amazing creatures strengthens our conviction that this is a spectacular breed that deserves to be cared for and cultivated.

Future

In order to maintain these "gentle giants", responsible breeders on all sides of the Shiloh family tree use all the modern tools at our disposal to make the very best decisions about breedings.

History

Once, long ago, there was an amazing dog. That dog was the German Shepherd Dog, or Alsatian as he was known in Britain and the Commonwealth until 1977*

*For more on THAT controversy, check out this fantastic article by Kay Wheatly.

This amazing dog became very, very popular, which led to some unfortunate breeding choices.

In the 1960s and 1970s, an AKC German Shepherd Dog breeder named Tina Barber (a German immigrant) was working to maintain the stable-tempered, intelligent dogs she remembered from her childhood.

Through the 70s and 80s, these dogs began to have a consistent look and "type", despite being AKC German Shepherd dogs. People even began referring to them as "Shiloh" shepherds, to identify them as coming from Shiloh kennels**.

**Tina had changed her kennel name after she was born again in 1974.

In 1990, the Shiloh Shepherd was recognized as a separate breed. Since then the breed has continued to flourish under the stewardship of dedicated breeders. We are proud to be joining this select group.