Mirage, Khanysha, Alicia, Kande, Questa. February 2008.

I am Alicia Lips - the breeder and owner of Kerstone Shepherds. I have been a very active member of the "White Shepherd" community since I was 11-years-old in 1999. I have actively shown dogs to their championships in conformation, and I have been involved with the White Shepherd Genetics Project. Health, temperament, and maintaining working ability are my TOP priorities in breeding Shepherds, while at the same time striving to produce a dog that is stunning to look at and meeting the breed standard. My family has been members of the UWSC and AWSA for many years, and as soon as I turned 18, I jumped at the opportunity to become a full individual member of the UWSC, AWSA, WSCC, and GSDCA.

I am currenly 20-years-old. In March (2008), I graduated from the Bel-Rea Institute of Animal Technology, with my Associates of Applied Science, majoring as a Veterinary Technician. As a kid I enjoyed watching the Discovery Channel & Animal Planet and I always wanted to be a veterinarian when I grew up. As a senior in high school I finished with a 3.8 GPA (out of a possible 4.0). I've done many sports over the years: soccer, basketball, swimming, golf, softball, etc. I love school and earn excellent grades in my classes. During high school I was involved in FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America), Art Society, Drama Club, and I was the Student Council Representative for my senior class of 2006. In my senior year I was also chosen to be a Jr. Rotarian and a recipient of the James Arlan Young Memorial scholarship. I worked at a local vet clinic for 2.5 years and during summer vacations I also work on my uncle's hog farm -- cleaning, clipping teeth, giving shots, notching ears, cutting tails, etc. Of course growing up in a small farm community, I was also a member of 4-H for many years. My main interest was Jr. Showmanship with the dogs, but I stopped 4-H shortly after I started going to "real" shows. I also LOVE to travel! I have been to many of the states, to Mexico a few times, the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, and Jamaica. I even spent 2 weeks on Safari in Kenya in February of 2003 (the best trip ever)!!! Photography, anything in nature and outdoors, and painting ceramic pieces are a few other hobbies of mine.

Alicia & Kerstin - August 2005

I look forward to many productive years showing, breeding, and training German Shepherds and working in the veterinary field. I hope to make a great, positive influence on the White Shepherd & German Shepherd breeds. I have most certainly gotten an early and excellent start thanks to mentors like Ronda Beaupre of Regalwise Shepherds. My parents have also been VERY supportive and helpful to me in pursuing my dreams! Thank you everyone!

Kerstone Shepherds is located on 12 beautiful acres in rural Kansas.

How I Got Started

Alicia handling "Regalwise Gloriana" in the puppy class.

When I was probably around 10 years old I considered breeding dogs. I went through MANY, MANY breeds that I wanted to breed, but then I found "White German Shepherds". I remember reading the German Shepherd breed standard and seeing that the color "white" is disqualified. That made me curious to see what a white German Shepherd looked like. I got on the internet and searched for them. When I saw photos, I instantly fell in love! Then I found something that would change the rest of my life - the website for Regalwise Shepherds, and it said that she had moved to Abilene, Kansas. I was THRILLED because Abilene is only 30 minutes away from my home town!

I got my first White Shepherd in 1999, when I was 11-years-old. His breeder, Ronda Beaupre, was going to keep him, but his ears never went up. I soon had Rieger trained and got his CGC & TDI. At 12-years-old, I started helping Ronda show her dogs at UKC conformation shows. The first dog I showed to become a champion was WSCC/UKC Ch. Regalwise Jeromeo, OFA H&E. In September of 2000, one of Ronda's champion females had a litter of puppies out of Romeo. I had helped Ronda out around her kennel and by taking home and socializing puppies for her since before I had gotten Rieger in '99. She kindly offered to give me a puppy for all of the help I had given her and on November 3, 2000, I got my second White Shepherd (Kerstin). By the time she was 7 months old she was already pointed towards a UKC championship and had one Best of Breed win!!!! My second show dog was Rion. He finished his championship in one weekend, winning BOB twice. My third show dog is Kande, a daughter of Rion. Her FIRST weekend out she won Best Puppy at 4 out of 5 shows (3 of which were Best Puppy In Multi-Breed Show)!

Goals

Rion, Alicia, Kande, Rieger, Kerstin - Easter 2004

I will try my best to match each female to a stud that compliments her genetically, temperamentally, and structurally. I have COMPLETELY fallen in love with White Shepherds and German Shepherds and have decided to dedicate the rest of my life to help improving these wonderful breeds. I truly love to learn about the health and genetics of these dogs and my thirst for knowledge about them is never satisfied and I'm continually learning. I strive to produce dogs with a confident temperament capable of being everything from a family pet to a police dog - in ONE package! Shepherds were bred for just that - herding - and I hope to maintain those natural instincts in my breeding program. I also spend a lot of time studying genetics and comparing pedigrees before a breeding to try and reduce the possibility of health problems in the offspring. However, there is never a true guarantee that pups will not develope problems. There is no such thing as the "perfect" dog or bloodline. I also have an interest in broadening the White Shepherd gene pool, by blending unrealated bloodlines together and also occasionally introducing colored bloodlines into the top WS show lines.

Here at Kerstone, I will try to produce dogs and puppies that will excel at any task they are given, but most of all, being a healthy, happy, good-tempered, family companion.