Buick and Friend

Question: With Shilohs being so rare it is impossible for me to find much information about them. I was hoping someone would take the time to explain the breed to me.  Thanks!

Answer: Well,  it's like this: Let's say you always loved Cadillacs. Let's say you bought a new 1962 Cadillac because you thought it was the highest refinement of the automotive art, and you drove it for years and years and loved it, but finally it needed to be replaced.

So, you bop down to the Cadillac dealer with your checkbook in hand and say "I'd like another new '62 Cadillac, please"!

And you're told, "We're sorry, but Cadillacs just don't look like that anymore; they're smaller, they're lighter, and they're put together differently. They don't even DRIVE the same as they did in 1962!"

You say, "You mean there's NO WAY I can buy a new car that's built like and looks like and drives like the '62 Caddy that I love so much?"

And the Cadillac dealer says, "Well, not one that comes out of a Cadillac factory! But you might find a small-scale automotive craftsman somewhere who'll BUILD you a car that's faithful to the '62 Cadillac, built just the way they were back then.

"You might even find that there are OTHER '62 Cadillac enthusiasts like you, and that the same shop builds cars for everybody, and even offers different models and colors, and people rave about what great, gorgeous cars they are, and they save and plan for years to buy one. BUT THEY HAVE TO CALL IT SOMETHING OTHER THAN A CADILLAC, and you won't get one from a Cadillac dealer!"

So far, so good? Well, the Original Shiloh Shepherd is the dog for people who fell in love with the 1962 model German Shepherd Dog. And since the GSD of today just isn't built the way they were in 1962, the dogs that ARE built that way can't be called GSDs.

Now, here's the rub: the small shop that produced the Original Shiloh Shepherd has expanded, and has a number of authorized dealers. But SOME of the dealers decided to renege on their franchise agreement, cut some corners, and not build QUITE as carefully as the 1962 standards, but to still call it a Shiloh Shepherd; this means, when you start to shop for one, you need to educate yourself so you don't fall for a KNOCKOFF or a FAKE.

These renegade dealers have all kinds of rationalizations and excuses for why they do what they do, but basically they feel that they are smarter than the person who drew up the original blueprints and the original quality-control standards, and who founded the entire enterprise.

This site is for enthusiasts of the ORIGINAL Shiloh Shepherd, and I hope you'll be another one!

originally written in 2001