History of the Shiloh Shepherd Breed

Compliments of Tina Porter

The Shiloh Shepherd was started over thirty years ago through an intense breeding program. Many of the top American Show Dogs, top Canadian Champions and some famous German imports from the 1960’s, were used to establish the breed.

During these formative years, information was collected to be used in improving the hips of these dogs. Dogs with strong recessive factors for bad hips (and other problems) were identified and eliminated from future breeding.

Although it took another two decades before this breed started to stabilize, much progress was being attained. These dogs were consistently being referred to as the “Shilohs“ or super-sized German Shepherds.

In 1990, the Federation of International Canines held a board meeting. They chose to register specific dogs which met the new breed standard as Shiloh Shepherds. Shortly thereafter, the American Rare Breed Association accepted them as a Rare Breed and the Shiloh Shepherd was born. In the first season the Shilohs were shown, twenty-six were given points and three finished their Championship. People from all over America were getting excited about the breed.

Although the Shiloh’s closely resemble the old German Shepherd Dog many remember from childhood, they are very different from most of the modern German Shepherd Dogs we see today. Shiloh Shepherd breeders emphasize temperament, intelligence, health and hips.

The personality of the Shiloh Shepherd is paramount. Without that special, almost human intelligence, without their fearless courage to protect their home and family, without their unique ability to reason out and solve problems, the Shilohs would be just another dog.