About Us

Hello and welcome to Von Ultimate Kennels. My name is Evan Harbalis and we are a small kennel located in Victoria, Australia. Here you will learn more about us and our obsession with the working German Shepherd.

We are dedicated to the preservation of the working German Shepherd and we have been involved in dog sports, security man and dog team since the 80’s. Our experience spans for 3 decades as a security K9 handler, Guard Agent and a dog sport enthusiast.

We were the editors, publishers and owners of The Informative Working Dog Magazine which was dedicated to the true working dog enthusiasts and one of its kind in Australasia.

We also published the FIRST FREE Czech/DDR East German bloodline chart in this format of its kind, not only in Australia but the World. In my opinion, this kind of information should be free for everyone to read. See our updated version of the Czech/DDR East German bloodline chart

I was the first security man and dog team to cross over to compete to a national level. Being a security K9 handler and competing in IPO, these two fields have given me the experience and have added depth personally to me as a handler.

In the 1990’s we were the original Australian importers of Czech working dogs. We imported the first Czech working dog – Dares z Geradonu – into Australia and the first Czech dog to compete to a National level and to work the streets as my personal patrol dog. And now, we have imported the first old Swedish working German Shepherd bloodlines – Winlunds Tabo Jr.

We also were the first importers of Czech working dogs where other breeders and kennels have sought our assistance in the transition and knowledge of the Czech working dogs. Due to our appearance on TV, as one could imagine, we have helped numerous working dog enthusiasts. You only have to look at some of the top working dogs/kennels in this country and there you will find the dogs and bloodlines that we were responsible for. Other breeders are using and have used our bloodlines and the bloodlines we were responsible for establishing in their breeding program. I was also responsible for bringing alive the old Victorian frozen semen bloodlines.

Von Ultimate Kennels was one of the first kennels to import working German Shepherd frozen semen and started the trend where others have followed. We currently have possession of some of the oldest bloodlines. We are one of the few in this country to have selected, collected and preserved DNA material and frozen semen from numerous working German Shepherds.

We tried to collect semen from an Ex Riedstern grandson named Armando Yonny (100% DDR). Yonny was considered to be the best working dog of his time. Yonny was a dog with a huge head and big bone. Yonny made headlines in the Australian Herald Sun when it was reported that a security dog took down an offender. I became very good friends with the owner of Yonny, Rod, and I was the only one he allowed to collect frozen semen but unfortunately Yonny’s semen count was very low. I was determined to preserve the working German Shepherd and so I made sure that I had stored DNA material from him.

We were responsible for bringing alive the old Victorian frozen semen bloodlines. Without my knowledge and help it would have all been gone. We are always in the background and not in the forefront – some say the quiet achievers. We are one of a few, if not the only working dog enthusiasts that has been around since the early 1980’s that has worked and seen all the old Victorian working lines.

We also tried to collect semen from the famous DDR dog Zorro vom Laager Wall but unfortunately Zorro’s semen count was too low for freezing. Thank you to Mrs Petra Stotzner for allowing me the opportunity.

In our many years in the working dog scene, we have one of the largest contact base world-wide from former East Germany (DDR), Czech, Sweden, Germany and USA. I feel very privileged to know all these people and thank them for all their help over the years, and with their help we were able to get good feel and understanding of the different bloodlines.

Over the years we have travelled extensively across Europe and America and have had the chance to train with some of the best handlers, trainers and competitors in the world. We have also had the opportunity to travel abroad to numerous seminars, workshops and training camps in order to gain the experience and knowledge about the working German Shepherd.

We have an extensive library about the Czech, DDR and Swedish dogs which includes books, magazines, video tapes, breeding statistics, DVDs and some items never seen before. We have in our possession known in the pedigree world as the missing Merseburg numbers which are the pedigree numbers the SV (West Germany) reserved for the East German (DDR) Dogs. We also have photos, letters and a book signed by the late Werner Dalm who was the former government official for the German Shepherd dog breeding in communist East Germany (DDR).

We are now also the Australasian agents for Cariz, HST and Raddog dog sport equipment, which are all hand-made in the Czech Republic. Please visit our online dog shop: www.vonultimatedogshop.com.

Thank you for visiting our website.

Cheers,
Evan Harbalis