Family-Farm protection or loveable companion
- See breed specific pages for current, upcoming or planned litters.
Family-Farm protection or loveable companion
- See breed specific pages for current, upcoming or planned litters.
Responsible breeding
Health
Intelligence
Temperament
We have 2 breeds and the health issues prevalent in each breed are very different. With working line breeds health is not nearly as big of an issue. We health test our dogs based on the specific issues of that breed.
Temperament
Intelligence
Temperament
With our Ovcharka we only import the best protection line dogs. We focus on higher stranger aggression lines vs pet or show lines with very level heads. With our Bassets we focus on loveable family pets that typically love everyone.
Intelligence
Intelligence
Intelligence
Our lines are extremely intelligent. When it comes to protection, intelligence is extremely vital as is confidence. For our pet breeds intelligence is equally as important for trainability in the home.
Work vs Show
Registration/Pricing
Intelligence
This section is primarily for our Ovcharak as our Bassets could be shown if you chose. Our Ovcharka are protection working lines. We do not focus our breeding program for the show ring. If you know working dogs you know that show vs working lines vary alot. Im not saying anything bad about show lines, its just not our focus. We focus on high level protection temperaments.
Registration/Pricing
Registration/Pricing
Registration/Pricing
We offer limited AKC on every pup we sell, full AKC is purchasable. All of our imports are also FCI registered. Pricing will be listed on the breed specific pages in the litter section. We often times have our pups priced at nearly half of what the avg is for what we consider to be the same or better quality dogs. We enjoy making quality dogs available to many that may not have $3k to spend. We have even been known to old fashioned barter.
Socialization
Registration/Pricing
Registration/Pricing
Even though we have a few dogs lol, they do not live in kennels. Our dogs are family. They live with farm critters and livestock. We also have 3 children ranging from 9 to 17. Family safe/loving dogs are vital to our breeding. We have always said purchase a dog from someone that is using the parents for exactly what you need or want in a dog, not what they tell you the dog can do or become.
About us
We are a small family hobby farm. We started with chickens and that expanded into the need for livestock protection due to a neighbors dog. We initially had two Anatolian/Pyrenees. That slowly led to us getting into Kangal line Anatolians. They are amazing dogs but not a great coat for N. Michigan, and did not 100% fit our needs. We felt a more dual purpose livestock guardian, as well as family guardian was more fitting for us. We started importing working line Caucasian Ovcharka and they have proven unmatched in their dual purpose use. I have been in law enforcement and Probation for 20+ years, so home and family protection is vitally important to my wife and I. We also do not believe in chaining or kennel enclosed life. We do have some kennels for breeding and separation for heat cycles and just random times if needed. Our dogs run freely in a fenced section of a few acres that surround our home and barns. Some come inside and some don't. You can view our picture section to see that even though we have 1 or 2 more than most people lol, they are family and treated as such. We feed high quality food, and they have unlimited feed. We have found with a bigger pack, and more so with the Ovcharka, that helps reduce food aggression when it is just always available in several locations.
We only raise working line Ovhcarka. This can be a very controversial topic and hot button debate, especially on social media. We respect all opinions and feel that everyone is usually looking for something specific in a dog, so we may have the style you want and we may not. We are in no way putting a negative light on the other lines of dogs or show dogs, we just raise the lines that we personally like the best and that fits our needs. We talk just as many people out of our dogs as into them because it is not a good fit. Our dogs are bred for very specific uses. We make sure the lineage represents that. We want sound, mentally stable, reliable guardians. Dogs that are 100% safe with you and your kids, but a worse nightmare for a threat to your family or home. Most guard dogs look scary behind a fence or window but lack the breeding to actually act and do something in a real life scenario. I have watched many a dog from breeds such as Shepherds, Dobies, Rotties etc.. backed down by a trainer with just a stick. The owners were amazed and thought they had a reliable guard dog, but in reality when confronted by an attacker the dogs were backed down. They looked very scary, but they would not engage. This is the case with 99% of so called guard dogs out there people are relying on. Nothing could be worse then you rely on a dog, but when push comes to shove in a real scenario the dog backs down. This is where the importance of breeding the right working line dogs comes into play. This is the case for almost all protection breeds. Most of whats for sale has the breed name, but not the true working attributes associated with the breed that people think they are getting.
You don't see as much on here about our Bassets but we dont love them any less. Every home needs a couch pillow, and devoted loving pet. Our Ovcharka are just a very specific fit for very specific homes so more needs said. A basset is a perfect fit for just about any home. They are just lovers. Our bassets are a mix of American and European lines making them a nice healthy mix of athletic but also big and saggy. They typically love everyone and everything.
Contracts Guarantees & Breeder Support
All the Boring Legal Stuff
All of our puppies are sold with Health Guarantees. They will be up to date on vaccination, worming, as well as vet checked. Our sale contract offers recommendations for a shot and worming routine. We do a 3 day and 1 year full replacement guarantee that is spelled out in the puppy contract related to issues that can be fatal due to genetics. We do not offer long term health guarantees for issues that can be affected by your choice of feed, excercise, injury, or how the dog is raised, this includes hip and elbows because all the newer studies put that at 75% environmental vs genetics.
We offer lifetime breeder support, and to be honest we learn as much from our puppy buyers as they do from us, so please stay in contact. Sadly due to the potential dangerous nature of our breeds if raised improperly, we do not take back adult Ovcharka. I know that can be very controversial as most breeders will always take back dogs. However, our families safety comes first, and if any guard breed is raised improperly they can be very dangerous. We will still provide support, and advice, and any help in re-homing if that is a safe option.
We do have a puppy application but don't worry it is relatively simple and designed more for our Ovcharka. This helps us know what to ask you to make sure you are well informed that we breed true working dogs whose temperaments vary greatly from show or pet lines and that you are informed and ready to take on the task.
We do have a contract, however it is nothing compared to most. It includes our health records and guarantee. It states that our farm name ISF must be included in whatever name you choose for registration. It is basically more of a bill of sale and health guarantee/record for you. We do not include many other things that most breeders do, not because we don't care about such things, but in reality a puppy contract is not enforceable, so we see them as pointless. Puppy contracts are civil contracts only enforceable by filing a civil lawsuit. For the most part breeders do not know if people follow them after the fact anyway as most pups go to other states far away. Coming from someone with 20+ years in the field of law enforcement I understand civil vs criminal very well and these absurd contracts with 30 requirements are unrealistic. We instead prefer to be diligent on the front end and filter buyers to make sure they are a proper fit, and appropriate home.
We do ship puppies both by air and ground. It can vary by time of year due to airline heat and cold policies. Air transport is secondary and we prefer to ground transport if possible. Ground transport is less stressful and a great door to door option so you don't have to deal with airport chaos. It can vary based on distance as well as how many dogs/puppies a transporter has on their trip to combine pricing for discounts. We have found shipping runs anywhere from $250 on the very low end to around $500 on the higher end. If you are within a few hours of us we are also willing to meet halfway. We have also been known to barter a puppy. We are always open to trade deals (not for other puppies) of who knows what, exotic animals, guns, motorized items, its endless really if it peaks our interest so dont hesitate to offer something.
Deposit process. Our deposit process differs by breed. With our Bassets we typically put your name on a waiting list. Once the pups are born we will then open up the ability to make a deposit on a specific puppy. We contact the people on the waiting list in order and ask if youd like to pick a puppy and make a deposit. With our Ovcharka we have a different process. We often have deposits sometimes a year ahead of a litter due to our pricing and reputation for highly protective dogs. We put the deposits in the order they were taken and assign a pick order spot. For example if you were the 3rd person to make a deposit for a male then when the puppies are approx 4-5 weeks old we start the picking process and you would pick after #1 and #2 depositers pick. Obviously you want to be a higher pick to have more puppies to choose from. This method is not perfect however over the years it seems to be the fairest. We take 3 male and 3 female deposits pre-birth and then form a waiting list to wait and see whats born. If you make a deposit for a male for example and there are not enough to get to your pick spot you can get a refund of your deposit or roll it onto the next litter to possibly be #1 pick. Our Deposits on all breeds are NON REFUNDABLE. The only exception is stated above. Sorry but everyone calls with a sob story so we make it clear they are non refundable. The point of a deposit is so we can plan for that spot being sold, we keep our deposits very low so if life does happen you are not out a ton of money. They are generally just $100 for Bassets and $250 for Ovcharka but will be listed on the litter page. Any questions we are happy to explain just call or email us.
Application and sample contract
Contact Us
We welcome emails, calls or farm visits.
Iron Sentry Farms
Leroy, Michigan 49655, United States
(231) 872-5961 (Ovcharka) or (231) 942-6958 (Bassets)
Our Farm
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