Welcome to Cher Car Kennels!

Cher Car Kennels in St. Johns, Michigan has been breeding and training dogs for lives of significance and service since 1977. Our breeding program specializes in German Shepherds,  Dutch Shepherds  and Belgian Malinois and strives to produce the naturally protective and loving family dog you remember from childhood.

Our success is attributed to knowledge gained through years of experience.  We select our breedings to emphasize physical soundness, intelligence and temperament, and we carefully match each individual puppy to its new family based on your stated activity needs and desires.  We only utilize x-ray cleared dogs (hips and elbows) in our breeding program, with OFA certification obtained at the appropriate age.  We treat our dogs like athletes; feeding the finest natural foods to produce maximum healthy growth and proper nutrition.  Our feeding regimen consists of a mix of organic dog food comprised of human-grade ingredients without dyes, additives or synthetic preservatives combined with poultry, beef or venison.

Our 20 acre country farm with boarding kennel facility provides the perfect setting for active socialization of our puppies by exposing them to farm animals (goats, horses, sheep) along with other dogs, boarding and training clients, and lots of friends…ensuring a well rounded development.

Although many of our dogs have been involved in formal service such as Search & Rescue, Police K-9 Service, Competitive Dogsports, Conformation, Personal Protection, Therapy and Handicap Assistance, Theatrical Productions, Television and Film; the vast majority of our dogs have served as loving and loyal family pets and protectors.

We offer an extensive variety of dog training programs to assist your puppy in growing and learning in a safe, stimulating and fun environment.  Cher Car Kennels specializes in ALL breed training for the family pet, along with advanced training for sport, protection and police.

Founder Cheryl Carlson (one of the best known experts in the industry) has been training and breeding dogs professionally since 1977; providing guard dog service, teaching family companion dogs (manners, problem solving and behavior modification), training alert/assistance dogs, personal protection dogs and Police K-9s.

Cheryl has personally trained and certified more than 100 Police Service K-9's to date (many of her own breeding), with teams qualified in patrol, narcotics, explosives and accelerant detection.  She has also trained and certified many other dog trainers in police work (narcotics detection training and police K-9 decoy training).

The Car Kennels breeding program has produced more than 350 dogs (German, Belgian and Dutch Shepherds) that have gone on to certify as Police, Sheriff and Government Department K-9s  (the US Department of Defense, US Department of State, US Department of Homeland Security, US Drug Enforcement Administration, USAF Security Forces) and more than 100 dogs certified in Search and Rescue applications (wilderness, disaster, cadaver, avalanche and drowning rescue or recovery).  In addition, over 200 dogs provide support as medical assistance dogs helping their owners mitigate disability related limitations by serving as Brace and Mobility (BMSD) dogs, Medical Alert (allergy, diabetic, seizure, migraine, psychiatric) service dogs, Listening Ear (hearing alert) dogs, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) service dogs and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) service dogs.  An untold number of others also provide their owners with Emotional Support (EA). 

Cheryl Carlson’s knowledge is frequently utilized throughout the Midwest by Federal and District courts, where she is called upon to provide expert witness testimony in regards to training of police dogs, dog attacks, and dog behavior.  Cheryl first received qualified expert status by the court in 1985, and has even testified before a senate subcommittee regarding dog behavior.  She is also a certified E.M.S. (Emergency Medical Services) instructor in the field of Environmental Emergencies (Dog Bite/Dog Attack).

Cheryl has rehabilitated and placed countless rescue dogs and conducted hundreds of Dog Safety Awareness and Bite Prevention Training  seminars throughout the country. Cheryl is a paid consultant teaching Dog Bite Prevention techniques to various organizations including the United States Postal Service, DTE Energy, Consumer’s Energy, Arizona Public Service, Unibar Damage Prevention Group, GTE, Louisiana Gas & Electric, Duke Energy, Accu-Read Services, AT&T, Michigan Consolidated Gas Company, Cinergy, United Parcel Service, Delmarva Power, Olameter Corporation, Kentucky Utilities, the Visiting Nurses Association and many more.

Cheryl also enjoys competition with her own dogs, and has titled in conformation, obedience, agility, rally obedience, herding, terrier racing, nosework, barn hunt, lure coursing, dock jumping, Schutzhund, French Ring Sport, Campagne  and UKC Dog Sport.  She has judged countless personal protection trials throughout the United States and Canada, is the ONLY woman in North America to EVER receive certification as a Campagne decoy (a French sport consisting of bitework, agility, obedience and tracking), and was one of the founders and former President of NARA (North American Ring Association).

Cheryl was the first woman licensed as a United Kennel Club Service Dog Trial Judge for ALL classes of Dog Sports, allowing her to officiate at Police Dog I and Police Dog II trials, as well as all other levels of certification offered by the UKC Dog Sport program.  She was additionally qualified to select and certify helpers/decoys for the program, and her license has now been expanded to include UKC Nosework (a scent work sport utilizing the dog's keen sense of smell and natural desire to hunt).  Cheryl is truly unique among trainers for her vast knowledge, years of experience and unmatched expertise in every area of dog training.

Business partner Lori Webster also has a long history of service to the world of dogs which began with raising puppies for Leader Dogs for the Blind when she was 9 years old.   She has been an award winning trainer and high-in-trial competitor since 1999 participating in obedience, agility, weight pull, rally obedience, conformation, nosework, dock jumping, barn hunt, French Ring Sport, UKC Dog Sport and personal protection.  She is an accomplished decoy of national notoriety, and was the first woman certified as a United Kennel Club Trial decoy for all levels of Dog Sport.  Lori is certified in numerous other venues to provide expert training for biting dog sports.

Business partner Carole Field is a Dog World Award winning trainer and high-in-trial competitor; involved in obedience and protection sports since 1982, and conducting dog obedience instruction in a private, group and club format since 1985.   Carole has titled her own dogs in conformation, obedience, agility, rally obedience, nosework, terrier racing, lure coursing, barn hunt, dock jumping, K9 Pro Sports, Schutzhund, French Ring Sport and UKC Dog Sport.  She has judged personal protection tournaments throughout the Midwest since 1995 and is a UKC Performance Judge licensed for Family Obedience, Dog Sport (all classes of Protection and Police Dog titles), Nosework (a detection sport showcasing the dog's sense of smell and natural desire to hunt) and Terrier Racing (with Senior Judge classification).

• Gives all decoys a base of knowledge.
• Extensive use of slow motion.
• Detailed explanation of movements.
• Actual French Ring trial footage is dissected and diagramed.
• The late JEAN-MICHEL MOREAU, French Ring judge, decoy and famed handler is featured. (Jean-Michel's famous German Shepherd "Lork du Val des Hurlevents" was  both Vice-Championnat de France en Ring AND Championnat de France en Campagne in 1980.  No other dog and handler team has ever accomplished this feat.) 
• $55 + $15 Shipping and handling