Atlas German Shepherds began in 2002 when we purchased our first German Shepherd, Atlas, as a companion. Little did we realize what we were getting into! Atlas was a wonderful companion, but he became the most titled white German Shepherd in history and one of the most successful white German Shepherds ever in conformation. He took us to so many new places and taught us about so many wonderful activities. We've added to our family with Atlas' offspring and their offspring, but Atlas will always be the heart of Atlas German Shepherds.

We've been blessed over the years to earn many, many titles with our dogs in conformation, rally, agility, dock jumping, barn hunt and other activities. All our dogs live in the house with their owners. Some live with us and some live with other families.

In 2014, our friends and mentors at Eclipse Kennels decided to end their German Shepherd breeding program to focus on their other breed. This was an amazing opportunity for us to take over the Eclipse line of German Shepherds that we were already working with. For 15 years, Eclipse worked hard to create a healthy line with correct structure and temperaments and we are lucky to have their trust and support.

Our focus is on the advancement and preservation of the German Shepherd Dog. Our breedings are focused on producing dogs with good health, structure, temperament and working ability. We do not breed for color alone and you'll see us breeding to and with dogs of various colors. However, we do work with lines that carry for white and we do produce white GSDs. We believe that when bred correctly white dogs are equal in quality to colored dogs and can and should be an equal part of the breed. We breed to the United Kennel Club standard which lists white as an acceptable color. We do not breed or support any off colors such as blue, liver, etc.

We believe the white coated German Shepherd is and should remain a part of the German Shepherd breed. While there are movements to create a separate breed, we do not support these efforts.

We work our dogs in a variety of activities such as conformation, obedience, agility, rally, and herding. We are members of the German Shepherd Dog Club of Minneapolis/St. Paul and the United German Shepherd Dog Alliance and we actively pursue opportunities to learn more about these wonderful dogs. In addition, Tracie Karsjens is a United Kennel Club licensed judge for conformation, rally, and dock jumping and a World Cynosport Rally licensed judge for rally.

If you would like to contact us, e-mail us at tracie@atlasgsds.com. We're always happy to talk about German Shepherds.