First of all I would like to introduce myself. My name is Pia Blackwell, my passion is the German Shepherd
Dog! With my husband Jim and our children Michelle , Denise and Eric we reside in beautiful Plymouth
Massachusetts.


I began loving dogs as a small child and always had my eye on that big beautiful German Shepherd. I was born
and raised in a small town in Rheinland -Pfalz Germany . Finally when I was 11 years old, my father gave me my
first German Shepherd from my uncles breeding. We named this female "Donner" and I got hooked training her
at the local club VDH Kirn /Nahe (Verein Deutscher Hundewesen) I was at that time the youngest member . In
Germany the favorite Sport with dogs at that time  is called "Schutzhund" .
Schutzhund is translated "Protection dog ." Its much more than protection or training dogs to be aggressive and
unsocial to people and it is not to be confused with attack training, dogs who have faulty temperament are
excused from competing in Schutzhund especially dogs who show fear aggressive behavior . All dogs must
pass a temperament test before each Schutzhund event they enter. Schutzhund tests where established by the
founder of the breed Max von Stephanitz as a breeding test to select only dogs of sound mind and body for the
nations breeding pool and consists of a tracking test obedience test and a protection under control.
After getting married and moving to the USA, I was not doing much as dogs where concerned but not for to
long and  I was shopping for my German Shepherd and was very disappointed on visiting Kennels, the dogs I
encountered showed very fearful temperament some to the point of fear aggression and did not act like the
German Shepherd I once knew....I said to my husband after leaving the 10th breeder these are not Shepherds
they only look like it I rather not own one and wait until I go back to Germany again ...I was not aware at the time
, that they do have German bloodlines in the USA until one day 3 years after visiting the last kennel I found a
breeding and purchased a male puppy, his name was Pia's Falko vom Meisterhaus ...whom I then titled to a
SchH2 sadly he had to go into early retirement due to an accident. He was a Killer Mühlbachgrund son. , I was
hooked again and have been a member of Schutzhund USA since 1987 .
I started my breeding program with a female named Eva vom Haus Bachfeld ,Eva was raised by me from the
age of 8 weeks old ,trained her to a Schutzhund1 and achieved a breedrating of V (V=excellent) and a
breedsurvey class 1.
I registered my Kennel name "vom Rheinland" and had my first litter in Feb 1994 .
I follow breeding regulation set forth by the Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde SV (German Shepherd Club of
Germany) and therefor my pups qualify to be registered thru Schutzhund USA/SV. AKC does not give breeders
rules in order to register their pups all its wanted is that the parents are AKC registered, in my opinion not
enough !!! one of the reasons of backyard breedings and puppymills. Dogs only bred by their looks will loose
their function and a nervous fearful dog is more likely when no temperament tests are established for breeding
by a registration department. regardless of the purpose of a dog may it be police,schutzhund,search and
rescue or a companion animal for a family they all should be sound in the mind!
This is the reason I will only breed german bloodlines and only dogs with sound temperament . I wanted my
children and grandchildren to grow up with a German Shepherd Dog how it is meant to be . A dog bred thru
breeding regulations is more likely to grow up into a confident adult with the qualities the GERMAN Shepherd
is well known for .



I must thank Max von Stephanitz  the founder of this breed because  without his
effords  I would have never had
the privilege to share my life with such an awesome breed of dog!
My passion is to preserve the working ability and versatility of this breed .
His words " keep my German Shepherd Dog a Working Dog because I have worked all my life to achieve that
goal .........   the passion of this man's words has spilled over into mine.


My BIO ...

1973 received my first dog an un- registered female German Shepherd named Donner and the beginning of a
life long passion
1975 placed 5th as the tracking dog in the club competition held in Idar -Oberstein,Germany with  Donner
(youngest handler in the competition)

1980 got married and moved to the USA ,due to military life did not do  dogs sports

1987 dog world award winner AKC obedience  with Lady Cinderella ( Pug)

1988 1st Schutzhund title with Pia’s Falko vom Meister Haus

1990 purchase my foundation female at age 8 weeks V- Eva vom Haus Bachfeld SchH1,KKL1

1993 registered my kennel name 'vom Rheinland " with Schutzhund USA

1994 first litter born in my kennel

1995 New England Regional Schutzhund 2 Champion with Astor Denar SchH3,IPO3,KKL1

1995  VA-4 placing at the USA Sieger Show with VA- King vom Felsenwehr SchH3,FH,KKL1

1996 became a breed warden for the USA breeding program

1998 breeder of the 1st USA bred Brevet Ringsport Champion V-rated Byron vom Rheinland SchH3,HIC,
Brevet ,KKL1 ( King son)

1999-2007 President of Inner City Schutzhund Club

2000 Team liasion for the Switzerland World team  

2003-2005 New England Regional Breed warden and founder of the Universal Sieger program in the Region.

2004 New England Regional Universal Siegerin  with V- Manta vom Rheinland Sch3 IPO3,KKL1

2004 3rd place Regional  Schutzhund 3 Championship with Manta score of 283

2004 USA National Universal Siegerin with Manta and a feature on the cover of Schutzhund USA magazine

2004 breeder of the  1st USA bred  National Universal Sieger (Manta)

2005 to
2011  New England Regional Director 2011-2014 Assistant Regional Director

2006 first FH title with V- Jago von der Bültenstiege SchH3 ,FH1KKL1

2006 full filled requirement to become a USA working judge

2007 competing nationally with Eon vom Löwenhof !!

2007  ( November ) placing 5th in the country  with my Eon .

2008   participated in the invitational  Masters Tournament  along with 29 world best competitors

2008  FCI -World team member with Eon vom Löwenhof




To date I have placed over 30 Schutzhund titles on my dogs  numerous conformation ratings and breed survey
ratings ( KKL)  both in regional and national competition .

In closing I like to Thank  those individuals within the New England Region  that have been supporting me and
lending me a helping hand in those many years in the sport.

Yours, in the Sport and  the German Shepherd Dog

Pia Blackwell