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We had the privilege of showing “Apollo” to Judge Fred Lanting, the world renowned German Shepherd Dog expert, during his judging of the German Shepherd Dog Specialty at the UKC Premier Dog Show on June 13, 2018 in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

This is Mr. Lanting’s written critique of Apollo from that show: 

“Very nice first impression of this “almost bicolor”, “black” dog.  The reason these words are in quotation marks is because he is a very rare example of a dog that has a little color on the lower rear and front legs at the pastern level, yet has no tan color at the vent (anus), which has always been (nearly 100% of the time) the telltale phenotype difference between a solid black and a “bi-color” Black & Tan.  I have examined thousands of GSDs and have only seen three or four like this.  A couple of the founding dogs in the breed had this characteristic, such as Beowulf, the tenth dog registered by the SV.  The above is just a curiosity, but this male dog is a dog I would highly recommend be kept in the lines for many reasons.”

Mr. Lanting is an esteemed AKC, UKC & International breed judge and retired SV-Schäferhund Verein Zuchrichter who has judged specialties and all-breed shows in over 30 countries. He is also known as “Mr. GSD” and is world renowned for being the author of "The Total German Shepherd Dog" and "Canine Hip Dysplasia and Other Orthopedics Disorders".

Earning the UKC Elite Nosework title is not an easy task. It takes perseverance, dedication and patience. To earn the EN title, a dog and handler pass a pre-test for each of the 5 scents (birch, anise, clove, myrrh and vetiver), then must earn 2 legs in 4 separate elements (container, interior, exterior and vehicle) in EACH of the 5 scents. The higher the level, the greater the number of hides which must be found (1-4 odor hides) and multiple distractions (1-3 distractions of food or toys) must be ignored. This requires a minimum of 45 shows to earn 30 title certificates as follows: