About us – Rose Valley White Shepherds

I’m a retired breeder since 2022. Here is my story… Breeding 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. We explained 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. 

A lady friend for Kenai

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 now but is the proud mom of our A-Litter of 7 puppies, B-Litter of 8 puppies, C-Litter of 9 puppies and E-litter of 4 puppies. In total a whooping 29 kids (she had her first 3 litters with Kenai and one last litter of 4 puppies with Patriot) She also is a super fun grandma for 48 grandkids.

Our breeding efforts in the past

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 mom of our D-Litter of 3 puppies with father Baloo, F-Litter of 10 puppies with father Bolt, H-Litter of 11 puppies with father Bolt and J-Litter of 6 puppies with father Jasper. That makes 30 kids and she’s enjoying being retired now.

More dogs to our pack

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 ( G-Litter). Her 2nd litter of 7 puppies November 26th, 2021 (I-Litter). Her partner in crime Finnaghan is the proud father of these 2 litters. And her 3rd Litter of 7 puppies was born September 27th, 2022 (K-Litter) Father of this litter is Jasper. After her K-Litter Kate retired as well.

Clifford our special addition to the pack

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! Read more

Kenai crossed the rainbow bridge

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 and grateful that we had the opportunity to take care of him for 11 years and 8 months. He’ll be missed. Forever in our hearts.

Litters and Puppies

After 7 years of being a responsible breeder I stopped breeding and all activities end of 2022. We always tested and selected the best possible mating partners for our girls and making sure our females deliver their puppies in a clean and stress free environment. Always with us present and always close to were we live and sleep. We are extremely proud to have had 11 litters and in total 86 puppies. Unfortunately we had to see 4 little ones crossing the rainbow. With 82 puppies comes 82 families and we are proud to see all our puppies growing up healthy and loved. Over de years we were asked to find a new home for 8 of our puppies which we successfully did.