Riesenschnauzer
vom
Wasserlauf

Our home and property is located in Ashton, Ontario, a rural community of Canada's capital city, Ottawa. We are very proud of our country, which is why we include the Maple Leaf, the symbol of Canada, so prominently in our kennel emblem.

Goodwood Glen is the name of our quaint four acre property located south of the village of Ashton, on which our dogs grow, play and train. Bordering our property is the shallow Jock River, which was initially named the Goodwood River when this area was settled hundreds of years ago. The river's primary source is the headwaters of the Goodwood Marsh. Actually not much more than a large creek, the Jock attracts assorted wildlife such as deer, coyotes, beavers and blue herons to name a few. At the top of our property the river provides a deep swimming hole for our dogs to cool off from the summer heat. The river continues and becomes shallow alongside our property. The water levels are governed seasonally by precipitation and Beaver dams; both cause levels at our geographical location to vary significantly. In the winter the river is frozen. In the springtime it peaks as a fast water river. In the summertime it can have many different water levels similar to a shallow river, creek, babbling brook, or even at times a dry riverbed. But, always it remains a watercourse, which translates to German as "wasserlauf".

Welcome to Goodwood Glen, home of Riesenschnauzer vom Wasserlauf, owners, trainers and budding hobby breeders of working line Giant Schnauzers bred from the finest German blood-lines.

We train three of our Giant Schnauzers in the sport of shutzhund (IPO/IGP), and compete/title our dogs in the U.S.A. at trials held by the Working Riesenschnauzer Federation. In Canada we compete at German Shepherd Schutzhund Club of Canada sanctioned trials. Our fourth Giant Schnauzer trains and competes in agility sports.For those who are not familiar with the sport of schutzhund, serious owners/handlers/trainers are very dedicated people. Raising a dog(s) and bringing it to the IPO3 level and beyond equates to thousands of hours of training, tens of thousands of kilometres traveled, and tens of thousands of dollars in expenses. But we love it. It's not about the financial cost. There is no financial profit. It is about the pure joy and privilege of training the working breeds so that they may realize their individual potential.

Ferghus and Company is the training facility for all of our dogs, and the location of our new IPO/IGP training group which was established in 2018. 

We also have a small home training field here at the Glen, equipped with one permanent blind, two full sized portable blinds, two portable mini blinds, a jump and scaling wall. Our home training field is perfect for home training during the week.

The working line Giant Schnauzer is suitable for sport, service, guarding or protection roles, as well as police and military applications, and for the right person and situation they are loving loyal companions and exceptional family members. Some puppies from a litter may be better suited to be a companion dog or working in certain service dog roles, but this does not mean that these dogs need any less training, exercise, mental stimulation, grooming, loving and attention. Working Giant Schnauzers have to work, but at the end of the day their greatest reward is lying on the couch with their head on the lap of the leader of the pack. If he or she is not available, then they are equally at joy curling up with any other immediate family member.

All of our dogs are crate-trained. We apply minimal vaccinations, which we achieve by utilizing titer testing (we believe over-vaccinating to be unnecessary and a dangerous practice, and we encourage you to do your own research on this topic). We are also fortunate to have a veterinarian who balances modern veterinary medicine with holistic treatments where appropriate. 

"The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) opposes the  alteration of any animal by surgical or other invasive methods for  cosmetic or competitive purposes." This is in agreement with the guidelines of the European Convention for Protection of Pet Animals. Therefore, under no circumstances will we crop the ears, dock the tail or remove the dew claws on our puppies. 

We have been "pet" dog owners for decades, but that in no way compares to what we have learned over the last nine years from numerous serious working dog owners and trainers. Namely, that dogs, dog sport, and the interest in breeding to improve the breed is incredibly complex. We had no idea. There are countless opinions on every issue, some are quite emotional, some are quite unique, some are quite enlightening and educational. In fact, it can be somewhat overwhelming at times. But, we like to think that we have steadfastly maintained an open mind throughout our journey, and yes, we have made minor changes and tweaked our philosophy as we have grown. We certainly respect the decisions of other legitimate breeders, and we hope that we will be respected for our decision to set the bar high. There is absolutely no shortage of contentious issues, and educating oneself never ends.

So, our only guarantee is this. We will continue in our journey to seek out the best bloodlines that we can access. We will love, train, title, and attempt to breed the best and the healthiest working-line Giant Schnauzers to the best of our abilities. It is heartbreaking to remove an outstanding dog from a breeding program because of one very minor issue, but, that must be done, otherwise we would be lowering the bar. We have set that bar high for many reasons, and we will remain steadfast in our philosophy to breed only those dogs that pass all relevant health tests and are titled to reflect their individual working abilities. Otherwise, we must be cognizant of the fact that we may be stealing a potential forever home from another Giant Schnauzer in need of rescue, just for the sake of breeding. Another contentious issue.

What we can't guarantee, is that a breeding will ever happen at Wasserlauf. It's a long road with lots of bumps, twists and turns. We have young dog(s) with more health tests yet to be done, and a world of training yet to complete. Unfortunately, in the last few years the sport of schutzhund has become very contentious, with no shortage of issues. Driven (or being destroyed) by politics and egos. Fortunately, the dogs don't change.

All that said, we encourage you to do your research regarding this absolutely wonderful breed. There is extensive information on the internet and www.working-dog.eu is a good place to start. If you have questions for us, please contact us and we will respond to you as soon as we are able. We are not experts, and we do not intend to profess that we are, but we have surrounded ourselves with people who have extensive experience with working-line dogs, and we continue to learn every day. 

If you think that this breed may be right for you, but you don't necessarily require a "high drive" working-line Giant Schnauzer, please give some consideration to searching the various rescue organizations in Canada and the United States for a Giant Schnauzer that may be in need of new forever home.

We hope that you enjoy our website as we continue to build it, adding information and photos as we proceed.

Thank you