04/25/2026
It's been a while since I did an introduction post so I thought I would give a little update of my own!
I'm Kendra Paulton, the crazy German Shepherd lady of the Black Hills (well, one of them!). My husband and I are raising our seven children (yep.. 7!) as the fourth generation on the Paulton family ranch in Custer County, South Dakota.
I had dogs my entire life growing up in Northern MN, and truly as a child I spent more time with my dog than I did my friends or siblings. My first ever dog was a German Shepherd/Scottish Collie cross named Callie, and I practically lived in the doghouse with her (by choice--haha!). Callie herded us children, fought off the Black Bears that would wander in, and was truly the best friend a kid could hope for.
Fast forward to high school and college years and we had to say goodbye to family doggo for a while due to practical reasons, so when I got married and established my own house, the first priority for me was to get a good dog.
After much research I settled on a German Shepherd Dog that I named Marta. That developed into raising puppies, and here we are over 14 years later (with a break or two in between) still raising dogs for families all over the country.
We outsourced our stud for the first couple of litters before I decided to invest in a male for our program. The now famous Kaiser flew to us from Missouri, the last pup of his litter that I purchased sight unseen based upon a recommendation from a trustworthy friend. Kaiser was and continues to be the absolute foundation of our program, and the legacy which we hope continues for generations to come. He is without a doubt everybody's favorite dog on the ranch, and every single person tries to claim him. The Old Man is now almost 13 and other than a little arthritis, he's in excellent health. He served a couple years as a therapy dog with Alliance of Therapy Dogs where he blessed the local nursing home, foster care support events, and schools, before telling me last year at age 12 that he was ready to retire from so much overabundance of love.
All of our dogs are health tested through DNA panels with Embark, have passing OFA scores on hips, elbows, dental, and heart, and every single one of them has outstanding temperaments for family and work environments.
Our children compete with our dogs in 4H, and I use a couple of them as therapy dogs certified and insured with Alliance of Therapy Dogs for foster care support, school visits and nursing home visits. Mama Leata is started in tracking and while we mostly just play with it now, my dream is that in the future she could be a part of local SAR efforts.
I believe every good dog owner, breeder, and trainer never stops learning and growing. Every year I commit myself to learning new things, seek out mentorships from people smarter and more experienced than myself, and continue to improve and grow in my knowledge of the breed and dogs in general.
Our dogs are good ol' ranch dogs with awesome temperaments, excellent health history, and minds that love to train and please their owners. They are truly part of our family and our community. I love sharing our dogs with you, and I feel privileged to continue to do this.
