[Parker]

Hi Per,

You are right, I have been on this list since early 1999 and I would like to
explain the email that I sent privately to Tina Barber or "Ma Shiloh" by her
email name here on this egroup. First of all, I am the first to admit that
my email was an overexaggeration (embellishment) of the truth. However, I
did it for a good reason.

Tina Barber is the founder of a nice American breed of dog called a Shiloh
Shepherd. I myself have one but I did not get it from a breeder affiliated
with Ms. Barber for reasons that will become apparent below. The foundation
stock is German shepherd, Alaskan malamute, white German shepherd and other
dog breeds that I am not sure of. There is also speculation and allegation
that there is wolf blood from an American wolfhybrid mixed in somewhere
along the line. Many of the lines of Shilohs have the physical conformation
and behavioral traits of American wolf hybrids. This is based on my
observation of many Shiloh over the last three years and the fact that I
have over 25 years experience with wolves and wolfdogs here in the United
States. Over the last year or so word has gotten out among the Shiloh
shepherd owners that I have experience with wolves and wolfdogs. Some of it
has come from my own inquiry about wolf behavior based on my observations of
the many Shiloh shepherds that I have seen in person over the last three
years.

Because of my experience with wolves, I have received emails, phone calls
and personal visits to my house from people who own shilohs and have had
behavioral problems that they have not seen before in other breeds of dogs
and have not been able to correct or they try to use traditional (forceful)
training methods with poor or disastrous results. Some of these people are
just regular dog owners, some train dogs in Schutzhund, search and rescue,
agility and obedience. Others work with dogs that have behavioral problems.
All of these people have suspected wolf like behavior and that is why they
have contacted me looking for an explanation and help with their problems.
The problem lies in the fact that we only suspect and cannot prove that
there is wolf blood in the Shiloh. Ms. Barber emphatically denies it. It
is a concern to me because if as I suspect, many of the shiloh lines have
wolf genetics then they need to be handled differently than the average dog.
I would hate to continue to see these dogs going to people who do not have
the skills, patience and knowledge to raise a dog with enough wolf blood in
it that it exhibits wolf behavior. I don't have to tell any of you that
the CSV is not a breed for a first time dog owner unless that person has
been well educated and can rely on other owners for help. Some of the
shilohs appear to fit into this category.

With regard to Ms. Barber posting my email and making accusations about me
without knowing the facts, it is not surprising to me at all. I think that
fact that most of the shiloh shepherd breeders do not want to have anything
to do with her speaks for itself as to her integrity or lack of it. All you
have to do is log onto one of many egroups the shiloh zone or shilohs list
to name a couple and you can see for yourself. Her posting of my email on
your egroup and her attempt to stir all of you up and get mad at me is a
perfect example of her underhanded behavior. It does not deserve any more
attention.

When I saw that Ms, Barber had shown up on this egroup, I became afraid that
she would attempt to get a CSV and use it to cross into the Shiloh shepherd
breed. I emailed Ms Barber and made her aware that there were three CSVs in
the US and that one had died of brain cancer. She asked me for the email
addresses of the three people and I told her if she wanted the information
that she had to get it from Pavel or Margo because I was not going to give
it to her. Therefore that is the reference I made to other CSV people. My
email to Ms. Barber was of such a tone and nature and embellishment of the
truth that I had hoped to discourage her from trying to obtain a CSV and use
it for breeding with shilohs. It is my understanding through second hand
information that people have passed along to me that in the past in the
early 1990s Ms. Barber has given or sold some of her shilohs to wolf hybrid
breeders here in the United States and let the shilohs be used as breeding
stock for other wolf hybrids. Therefore, that is why my email that she
posted reads as it does.

My personal exposure to wolves dates back to the late 1960's when a man
named Jack Lynch inherited the Buffalo wolves from Dr. E.H. McCleery in Kane
Pennsylvania near where I grew up. I have personally owned wolfdogs of
various low and high percentages and a pure wolf since the early 1980s. I
know many people that can vouch for my background and experience and can
give you email addresses of people that can confirm my background. I
believe Ann Dresselhaus who has been posting recently knows Monty Sloan and
Terry Jenkins who are two of the most experienced and knowledgeable wolf
people in the United States. These are also two people that Ann can contact
that can vouch for me. Lastly, I have spoken with a few people who live in
Canada that own Shilohs that exhibit wolf behavior. To the best of my
knowledge none of them are writing books and I am not consulting with them
on that.

With regard to meeting CSVs in person, I work for an American company that
has a business in Kosice in the Republic of Slovakia. Prior to one of my
trips to Slovakia, through this egroup I made contact with Ms. Sona
Bognarova. Due to Sona's kindness, she made arrangements with one of my
Slovak work colleagues for me to meet Mr. Nagy, a well respected CSV owner
and trainer in Slovakia . Mr. Nagy took me around and showed me several
CSVs owned by people who live just outside of Kosice. The CSVs that I met
in person, exhibited much more wolf behavior than dog behavior. This may
have been due to the specific lines of CSVs or due to the way they were
raised or a combination of the two. Anyway, both Sona and Mr. Nagy told me
that there are many other CSVs that are very well socialized and do not act
nearly as wolf like as these particular dogs. What I did learn from my
visit with Mr. Nagy and the owners of these dogs is that the CSV is
generally like an American wolfdog in that you have to have the knowledge
and experience to raise a CSV properly. This is not a dog for somebody that
wants a Golden Retriever. To the credit of all of you, that has also been
my impression since I joined this egroup in 1999. I have always been very
impressed with the honesty and candor that all of you express about the
temperament and ownership requirements of a CSV.

Anyway, I am sorry for the long post. However, I just wanted the
opportunity to explain what actually transpired through a series of a couple
of private emails and the reason why I embellished the truth. I apologize
if I offended any of you and the CSV. My intent was not to discredit the
CSV but to prevent the CSV from being used in breeding by the wrong people
for the wrong reasons.

Dovidenia.