Boarding · Training · Breeding · Sales

Welcome to Cher Car Kennels!

Cher Car Kennels in St. Johns, Michigan has been breeding and training dogs for lives of significance and service for 35 years.  Our breeding program specializes in German Shepherds,  Belgian Malinois and Dutch Shepherds,  and strives to produce the naturally protective and loving family dog you remember from childhood.

Our success is attributed to knowledge gained through years of experience.  We select our breedings to emphasize physical soundness, intelligence and temperament, and we carefully match each individual puppy to its new family based on your stated activity needs and desires.  We only utilize x-ray cleared dogs (hips and elbows) in our breeding program, with OFA certification obtained at the appropriate age.  We treat our dogs like athletes; feeding the finest natural foods to produce maximum healthy growth and proper nutrition.  Our feeding regimen consists of a mix of organic dog food comprised of human-grade ingredients without dyes, additives or synthetic preservatives combined with poultry, beef or venison.

Our 20 acre country farm with boarding kennel facility provides the perfect setting for active socialization of our puppies by exposing them to farm animals (goats, horses, sheep) along with other dogs, boarding and training clients, and lots of friends…ensuring a well rounded development.

Although many of our dogs have been involved in formal service such as Search & Rescue, Police K-9 Service, Competitive Dogsports, Conformation, Personal Protection, Therapy and Handicap Assistance, Theatrical Productions, Television and Film; the vast majority of our dogs have served as loving and loyal family pets and protectors.

We offer an extensive variety of dog training programs to assist your puppy in growing and learning in a safe, stimulating and fun environment.  Cher Car Kennels specializes in ALL breed training for the family pet, along with advanced training for sport, protection and police.

Owner Cheryl Carlson is one of the best known experts in the industry, and has been training and breeding dogs professionally since 1977; providing guard dog service, teaching family companion dogs (manners, problem solving and behavior modification), personal protection, and physical assistance dogs.  She has trained and certified 51 police K-9's to date (many of her own breeding), with teams qualified in patrol, narcotics and explosive detection.  She has also certified many other dog trainers in police work.

Cheryl’s knowledge is frequently utilized throughout the Midwest by Federal and District courts, where she is called upon to provide expert witness testimony in regards to training of police dogs, dog attacks, and dog behavior.  She first received qualified expert status by the court in 1985, and has even testified before a senate subcommittee regarding dog behavior.  Cheryl is also a certified E.M.S. (Emergency Medical Services) instructor in the field of Environmental Emergencies (Dog Bite/Dog Attack).

She has rehabilitated and placed countless rescue dogs and conducted hundreds of Dog Safety Awareness and Bite Prevention Training  seminars throughout the country. Cheryl is a paid consultant teaching Dog Bite Prevention techniques to various organizations including the United States Postal Service, GTE, FIA, Consumers Energy, UPS, the Visiting Nurses Association and many more.

Cheryl enjoys competition with her own dogs, and has titled in conformation, agility, AKC and UKC obedience, Rally Obedience, Schutzhund, French Ring Sport, Campagne, herding, terrier racing, lure coursing, dock jumping and UKC Dog Sport.  She has judged countless personal protection trials throughout the United States and Canada, is the ONLY woman in North America to EVER receive certification as a Campagne decoy (a French sport consisting of bitework, agility, obedience and tracking), and was one of the founders and former President of NARA (North American Ring Association).

Cheryl was also the first woman to be licensed as a United Kennel Club Service Dog Trial Judge for ALL classes of Dog Sports, allowing her to officiate at Police Dog I and Police Dog II certifications, as well as all other levels of certification offered by the UKC Service Dog program.  She is additionally certified to select and certify helpers/decoys for the UKC Dog Sport program.  Cheryl is truly unique among trainers for her vast knowledge, years of experience and unmatched expertise in every area of dog training.

Cher Car Kennels co-owner Lori Webster also has a long history of service to the world of dogs.  She began raising puppies for Leader Dogs for the Blind when she was 9 years old and has evolved into an award winning trainer and handler competing in obedience, agility, weight pull, rally obedience, conformation, French Ring Sport, UKC Dog Sport and personal protection.  She is an accomplished decoy of national notoriety, and was the first woman certified as a United Kennel Club Trial decoy for all levels of Dog Sport.  Lori is certified in numerous other venues to provide expert training for biting dog sports.

Business partner Carole Field is a Dog World Award winning master trainer and high-in-trial competitor; involved in obedience and protection sports since 1982, and conducting dog obedience instruction in a private, group and club format since 1985.   Carole has titled dogs in conformation, agility, AKC and UKC obedience, Rally Obedience, Schutzhund, French Ring Sport, terrier racing, lure coursing, dock jumping and UKC Dog Sport.  She has judged personal protection tournaments throughout the Midwest since 1995 and is a UKC Performance Judge licensed for Family Obedience, Dog Sport (all classes of Protection and Police Dog titles) and Terrier Racing.

Our combined 65 years of training programs have graduated over 18,000 dogs from our facilities to date!  We specialize in preventing dog behavior problems by educating dog owners through personalized private home visits, group classes or in-kennel "boarding school" training, using positive, praising methods of dog obedience instruction. We provide the knowledge, understanding and expertise necessary to teach your dog "good behavior" rather than simply punishing what you might perceive as "bad behavior".  The overall well-being of the dog is then achieved through a special balance of loving attention, exercise and a sense of purpose derived through training.

Our philosophy of offering the very best breeding and training possible works to insure each puppy buyer is happy with their Cher Car Kennels dog, and for it to be a loved member of the family for its lifetime.  We hope our website will let you get to know us, our values and our facilities.

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