About us – Rose Valley White Shepherds

Rose Valley White Shepherd LogoBreeding our two beautiful White Swiss Shepherd dogs wasn’t our plan at first. With no other kennels in BC and a constant demand on our breed, we decided to give it a try. Rose Valley White Shepherds was born!

…of Big Whites kennel name

All new born puppies will carry the suffix … of Big Whites as our kennel name.

Rose Valley White Shepherds Kennel is registered with the United Kennel Club. We’ve also registered our dogs with the FCI.

In Europe the breed is officially called “White Swiss Shepherd” or “Berger Blanc Suisse”. In North America the breed is called German Shepherd – color White. For us, the difference in breed lies in more than just the name. Since the Canadian Kennel Club (CKC) is not register our breed correctly we’ll not register with them.

The White Shepherd is extremely gentle and her characteristics are different than from the German Shepherd. However, to register for the CKC we have followed the North American way…

About us

We are Suzanne and Andreas Grooters, we have two daughters and since 2010 we’re living in West-Kelowna BC Canada.

In July 2010 we immigrated to Canada. Our girls were 9 and 7 and had a wish to bring a companion with them. We had been extremely impressed by the White Swiss Shepherd dogs, and by good fortune, we came in contact with ‘Kennel v.d. Witte Klaver‘ – a family-oriented kennel. They taught us the assurance of the good health of our new puppy!  In March 2010 they had a beautiful litter. After explaining we were looking for a male alpha dog, they assured us Kenai would be a perfect fit and they were right! Our girls wish came through! They found their best friend, and Kenai helped them through the process of our move to Canada. Unfortunately, Kenai crossed the rainbow bridge on November 8th, 2021. Together with Nita they had 25 kids and he has 35 grandkids. We’re super proud that we had the opportunity to take care of him for 11 years and 8 months. He’ll be missed. Forever in our hearts.

With all the available space in and around our home, it was time for us and Kenai to have a new friend in our lives. We searched extensively for a female White Swiss Shepherd and in 2013 we found Nita at Kennel of white Energy in Germany. Nita’s official name is Unique Nita of white Energy and that’s what she is. Her Kennel exhibited the same values as Kenai’s home kennel and her pedigree had no connections with Kenai’s. Nita is retired and is the proud mom of 29 kids (she had one last tiny litter of 4 with Patriot) and a super fun grandma for 35 grandkids.

To continue breeding we learned that ‘Kennel v.d. Witte Klaver’ invested in new blood-lines and in 2017 a beautiful litter was born with a beautiful female pup that was not connected to our Kenai nor Nita. This was important to us since we’d planned that she could then also mate with offspring of Kenai and Nita. Early May we welcomed Mishka which means Little Bear. Her official name is Libby Alba v.d. Witte Klaver. Mishka is a proud the mom of  24 kids already. We’re planning a new K-litter for 2022 for her.

In 2018 when Kenai and Nita had 9 puppies in their C-Litter we fulfilled our wish… keeping a puppy from our own kennel. The purple girl puppy kept connecting with us, following us with her eyes and was always the first one to greet us. We know that puppies pick their new owners and that was for sure the case with Kate! Her official name had to start with the letter C and we proudly named her after my mom Catharina of Big Whites. Kate had her 1st litter of 11 puppies in January 2021. Her partner in crime Finnaghan is the proud father. We’re expecting her next I-litter December 1st. We’ll keep you posted.

Also from the same C-litter we kept Clifford. He was born with a severe cleft lip, cleft palate and appeared to be deaf. A lot of challenges to conquer for him and me but we did them all. He’s pretty much always around me, has his vest to come with me to do groceries and sits next to me in his harness when I’m driving. He’s super eager to cheer up the pack, loves to work hard for a kibble or two and most of all to snuggle on the couch with me!

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