The role Cairo the Navy SEAL dog played in taking out Osama bin Laden may still be shrouded in secrecy, but America’s favorite terrorist-hunting hound has inspired a surge in demand for German shepherds.
“You’ll see a lot more people wanting a personal dog because of what the Navy did with that SEAL dog,” said Al Gill of Von der Haus Gill German Shepherds in Ohio, which has been selling more German shepherd dogs than at anytime since 2008.
Even before the bin Laden raid vaulted the military working dog’s most iconic breed to star status, German shepherds had been climbing the American Kennel Club rankings. Last year, it was the second most popular breed, up from fourth in 2005.
The gap between America’s top dog, Labrador retrievers, and the second-place German shepherds is closing fast. A few years ago there were three Labs registered for every shepherd. But recently that gap has closed to a mere 2 to 1.
Unseating the Lab will be no easy task, as the beloved family dog has been the nation’s most popular for two decades.
But the high profile of military working dogs — boosted further by Cairo’s exploits — is giving the shepherd market a shot in the paw.
“It’s like when ‘I Am Legend’ came out, and I got a bunch of calls asking for the dog Will Smith had,” said Alisa McIntyre of Highland German Shepherds in Poughquag, N.Y. “The first thing people want to know is if my dogs can bite.”
Alex Dunbar of Close Quarter Battle K-9 school in Colorado, which installs titanium teeth in their German shepherd “personal protection dogs” to make their bite more menacing, has had a busy May. Scrambling to fill orders nationwide, Dunbar expects to completely sell out of shepherds by year’s end.
The Air Force, which handles most military dog training and puts up retired dogs for adoption, “is dealing with a flood of adoption requests,” said Gerry Proctor, public affairs officer for the 37th Training Wing. He added that they’ve received as many requests in the past month as they did in an average year before the bin Laden raid.
It’s possible that Cairo may have been a Belgian Malinois, the military’s other favored breed.
But Malinois are not be ideal for civilian homes, as they “can be a handful sometimes; not really a house dog type of breed,” Air Force Tech. Sgt. Stacy Trucott told The Daily from Afghanistan.
With increased popularity, German shepherd prices are poised to skyrocket.
“It certainly could cause the price of puppies to go up,” said Matt Gill, son of Al, of Von der Haus Gill German Shepherds.
Matt Gill pointed out that most families are looking to adopt puppies, and that the $10,000 price tag for a fully trained adult German shepherd can put them out of reach. His puppies sell for $1,100.
But he cautioned that families looking to buy a puppy bred as a “working dog,” may end up with more beast than they bargained for.
“These dogs are going to have a lot higher drive than your typical Rin Tin Tin shepherd,” he said.
Lab loyalists say they’re not bothered by German shepherds encroaching on the top spot. The attitude of the Labrador Retriever Club, for instance, is to let the shepherds take the title.
“I would not be in the least bit upset,” said club secretary Mary Feazell of Granbury, Texas, who explained that the more popular the breed, the more prevalent are inexperienced, profit-driven breeders.
“Everybody thinks they can breed a litter,” she said. “In reality they don’t know what they’re doing. They think they will throw the dogs under the front porch and the mother will take of everything.”
Despite all the uncertainty surrounding Cairo, it seems safe to assume the SEAL superdog was not whelped under the porch.
Video by Scott Broock
“You’ll see a lot more people wanting a personal dog because of what the Navy did with that SEAL dog,” said Al Gill of Von der Haus Gill German Shepherds in Ohio, which has been selling more German shepherd dogs than at anytime since 2008.
Even before the bin Laden raid vaulted the military working dog’s most iconic breed to star status, German shepherds had been climbing the American Kennel Club rankings. Last year, it was the second most popular breed, up from fourth in 2005.
The gap between America’s top dog, Labrador retrievers, and the second-place German shepherds is closing fast. A few years ago there were three Labs registered for every shepherd. But recently that gap has closed to a mere 2 to 1.
Unseating the Lab will be no easy task, as the beloved family dog has been the nation’s most popular for two decades.
But the high profile of military working dogs — boosted further by Cairo’s exploits — is giving the shepherd market a shot in the paw.
“It’s like when ‘I Am Legend’ came out, and I got a bunch of calls asking for the dog Will Smith had,” said Alisa McIntyre of Highland German Shepherds in Poughquag, N.Y. “The first thing people want to know is if my dogs can bite.”
Alex Dunbar of Close Quarter Battle K-9 school in Colorado, which installs titanium teeth in their German shepherd “personal protection dogs” to make their bite more menacing, has had a busy May. Scrambling to fill orders nationwide, Dunbar expects to completely sell out of shepherds by year’s end.
The Air Force, which handles most military dog training and puts up retired dogs for adoption, “is dealing with a flood of adoption requests,” said Gerry Proctor, public affairs officer for the 37th Training Wing. He added that they’ve received as many requests in the past month as they did in an average year before the bin Laden raid.
It’s possible that Cairo may have been a Belgian Malinois, the military’s other favored breed.
But Malinois are not be ideal for civilian homes, as they “can be a handful sometimes; not really a house dog type of breed,” Air Force Tech. Sgt. Stacy Trucott told The Daily from Afghanistan.
With increased popularity, German shepherd prices are poised to skyrocket.
“It certainly could cause the price of puppies to go up,” said Matt Gill, son of Al, of Von der Haus Gill German Shepherds.
Matt Gill pointed out that most families are looking to adopt puppies, and that the $10,000 price tag for a fully trained adult German shepherd can put them out of reach. His puppies sell for $1,100.
But he cautioned that families looking to buy a puppy bred as a “working dog,” may end up with more beast than they bargained for.
“These dogs are going to have a lot higher drive than your typical Rin Tin Tin shepherd,” he said.
Lab loyalists say they’re not bothered by German shepherds encroaching on the top spot. The attitude of the Labrador Retriever Club, for instance, is to let the shepherds take the title.
“I would not be in the least bit upset,” said club secretary Mary Feazell of Granbury, Texas, who explained that the more popular the breed, the more prevalent are inexperienced, profit-driven breeders.
“Everybody thinks they can breed a litter,” she said. “In reality they don’t know what they’re doing. They think they will throw the dogs under the front porch and the mother will take of everything.”
Despite all the uncertainty surrounding Cairo, it seems safe to assume the SEAL superdog was not whelped under the porch.
Video by Scott Broock
