After hosting a Marko seminar this summer, organized exclusively for handlers with Satoris dogs, Karsten Andersen gave Marko the incredible gift of giving an interview.
They discussed the German Shepherd Dog, his four decades of breeding history, where he sees the breed’s future, his all time favorite dogs, young up and comers and quite a bit more.
Growing up on a farm in Denmark, Karsten was raised with Fox Terriers, then later, German Shepherds. He describes them as his father’s dogs, and while in high school, he decided he’d like a shepherd for himself. His first female he labels as poor quality compared to today’s standards of the German Shepherd dog, but, with his interest peaked, he soon purchased two females from German breeder, Artur Kemmer of the kennel, Kathago.
From Karsten:
“The two sisters, Anja and Ashra vom Stoppenberger Land were outstanding. Unfortunately, Anja died but I had a number of litters with Ashra. The genetic dominance was overwhelming and in a few years more than half of the dogs participating in the Danish championships had Ashra in their pedigree. In the same period (the 90s) the Karthago dogs from the sister Afra vom Stoppenberger Land had their big time in Germany.”
From this exceptional female, so long ago, a long line of superior working dogs emerged.
Karsten’s puppy owners come from every continent, 25 countries and 43 of his dogs have competed in world championships. Beginning his journey as a breeder in the early 1970’s, Karsten has remained highly active in the German Shepherd world to date. His immense knowledge, thoughtful expertise, and continued evolution within his passion, make him one of the undisputed experts on working dogs, breeding, and all things German Shepherd Dog.
His occupation as both an English and Spanish professor hasn’t distracted him from attending 26 WUSV championships, 13 FCI Championships and hundreds of local trials.
He’s no young boy and I couldn’t help but ask if he has an interested in passing on his kennel at some point. He does..
We hope you enjoy this interview as much as we did.