Zwinger vom Patiala- long before the movie!!

Ajay Singh with Fanto Lobdeburg

Long before the Hindi movie Patiala House, my friend and mentor in the German Shepherd World - Ajay Singh, had named his kennel- Zwinger vom Patiala.

The Kennel named for his home town in Punjab, India, before moving to the United States in 1985 has produced some notable dogs. But far more interesting to me than the individual dogs produced is the conceptual framework behind each litter.

As I mentioned, Ajay Singh is one of my mentors and you would be hard pressed to find a more lucid and in-depth analyst of the Working German Shepherd in the US. It was Ajay that recommended to me Fanto von der Lobdeburg as a stud dog after having used him as the sire of his O litter.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

A Brief History of the kennel started with V Arek vom Bodenthal, SchH3, FH1, KKL1, OFA good hips, elbows clear.

He was a Troll von der Bosen Nachbarschaft son, and his mother, Ondra vom Haus Semm, was a daughter of V Jimmy vom Dalwigerholz. Arek was bred by Mr. Hilmar Schmidt, and Ajay imported Arek when he was about 10 weeks old. He raised and trained Arek from a puppy and  was lucky to compete with him at the 1998 WUSV in Boston, MA, in addition to competing with him at a few other Schutzhund 3 National Championships. Arek was the Regional Schutzhund 1 champion, high in trail in Schutzhund 2, and competed at the German Shepherd Championship at 3 years of age. Arek was the sire of the A Litter vom Patiala!!

What a start! In all the interviews I have done, it is my finding that this is the way to truly know your breeding stock. You get the puppy and raise it and train it and title it. Then breed it and see what happens next. After careful consideration looking to what is available and sometimes in Ajay's case, what is not so available. For instance in the case of the latest N,O, P & Q litters, it meant Ajay having to travel with his female to Germany or importing the Sire to the US. But more on his latest stuff below!

Talka Marda Connection
Ajay's present Breeding and competition female is non other than Jilnanah vom Talka Marda, sister to Bundessieger and Universal Sieger Javir vom Talka Marda. She has produced the M through Q litters. She has competed with Ajay at USA Nationals and had tied for the highest scoring Protection.
Zwinger vom Patiala just recently had two success progeny stories (from Jilnanah vom Talka Marda)as Oona vom Patiala and Gregor Kaschinski got her Schutzhund 1 with 273 (91,91,91) in Germany, and Ronny Burmer and Nick vom Patiala got IPO3, with 85-82-94 at the AWDF championship. This was the second highest score with 95 being the highest ! You can see Nick's video here.

To be continued...............

Nela vom Patiala and Mac von der Kine

Nick's sister Nela was retained by Ajay and recently bred to his new stud dog Mac von der Kine. The N litter was sired by Elmar Mannes' dog Sid vom Haus Pixner ! What a combination! Of course we have to wait and see what the next success story will be from Zwinger vom Patiala.

I thought I would share a glimpse of my own friend's Patiala House as a shining example of the kennels outside of Germany that in my opinion are 'doing it right.' Careful attention to bloodlines, raising the pups to adulthood and competing with them. Making sure you place the pups in good hands. And really maintaining a standard of quality dogs right here in the US. Ajay remains a great source of information and advice for those in the GSD World and am happy to have friends like this in the sport.