Volant Kennel was developed by me, inspired by my first three belgians illustrated below. I was amazed by their intelligence and capabilities to work in many real world applications. I was also taken by their majestic presence and beauty which combined with great character made for outstanding canine. I fell in love with the Belgians breeds.

My passion for breeding is particularly in producing groenendaels with the substance and character of the malinois but maintaining the intelligence and thought process I was so impressed with with my first two groenendaels. When I first met Guy Blancke and Unia d’Ajelpajo, I know only saw the most dynamic team I’d ever seen and the most extraordinary dog I’d ever seen in heart, athletic ability and focus. I went to Belgium to meet the pups from Unia’s only litter and found the litter to be incredibly consistent with wonderful temperaments, stable nerves and balanced drives. I selected Disco, the “alpha female” shipped to me who arrived at Los angeles Airport after 16 hours of flying, coming into a very hectic and noisey freight terminal, tail wagging so hard and eager to go home with anyone. She leaped out of her crate into the arms of the first person she saw. I knew I had made the right choice.

My search really began looking for the right dog to breed to Disco. I found that dog in Orsam de Salte Cabre. I went to France in September 2005 to meet him and his owner/handler at the French Mondio Ring Finals where Orsam competed. He was more dog than I had hoped for. I saw the confidence, power and courage of a strong malinois working with a longer and black coat on the field. During the “defense of handler” where the dog can only bite the decoy that touches the handler (decoy #2, hiding behind a wall) while decoy #1 is taunting the dog, trying to make the dog bite him and loose the 30 points. Like many of the strongest dogs competing, Orsam just had to take that bite, lost his 30 points but immediately ran behind the wall and took a bite on decoy #2! The crowd roared and as I applauded I saw the “groenendael” in Orsam. Always thinking…While walking around amongst many other competitors, Orsam wags his tail and is very social with other dogs when they greet him. Orsam was bred down from strong working malinois lines and was not bred to be a show dog. He’s produced some wonderful offspring which have achieved titles in French ringpsort, mondio ringsport, IPO, police work, search work or they have been top performers in agility or obedience.

Uvar was another dog I always admired for his wonderful work ethic and stable nerves. I observed Uvar over the years working cattle and sheep, multiple advanced runs in one day, working under a lot of pressure and doing his job well. I wanted to bring his qualities into my breedings. Uvar and Disco produced 8 wonderful pups. These pups were very pretty, smaller and more suitable for herding, agility than protection sports or police work. Several of Uvar’s offspring perform jobs, every day, locating scents and part of their job working with their handlers.

The ideal Belgian Shepherd I am breeding will be environmentally solid in most any environment lacking sound sensitivity and stress to environmental situations, social situations and confident and social with other dogs. I hope to see dogs I produce continue to perform real jobs such as wildlife or medical detection, search and rescue, bomb or narcotics detection, police work and work as service dogs for disabled people.

“Confident” dogs don’t have to worry about defending themselves. I expect the dogs I breed to have the confidence and solid nerve to do their job in any environment, under pressure as well as be able to perform at top competition levels in sports such as schutzhund, the ringsports, agility, tracking, obedience, flyball, freestyle, etc.

Good health is a strong consideration and I have chosen to outcross by incorporating European working lines which go back to Belgian shepherds outside of the groenendael. Only time will prove whether I’ve been able to increase the life expectancy of these dogs.

Good structure to perform is critical. I want a strong, and balanced dog that can jump and move well. My litters thus far have consistently produced strong rear ends, well muscles with power to jump well.

My search continues around the world for the right Belgian Shepherds to breed. I have produced some incredible males and am looking for compatible females to combine them with. See my pages on Bitches and Stud Dogs.