Our Beginning
THE DIFFERENCE IS WHO RAISES THEM.
Meet Angie Young
For more than 20 years, Angie Young has been raising, training, competing with and developing German Shepherds. Her experience as a professional trainer and working-dog handler gives her the opportunity to know the dogs behind Camelot—not simply through pedigrees, but by living, training and working with them.
My love affair with German Shepherds started when I was just three years old.
My first German Shepherd was Shadow. He was my constant companion and best friend, and wherever I went, Shadow went too. I obviously didn’t know it at the time, but that little dog was beginning a lifelong relationship with a breed that would eventually become such an important part of my life.
Over the years, I had many different breeds, including Dobermans, Huskies, Australian Shepherds, and others. I loved them all, but I never found the same connection that I had with my German Shepherds.
Once you’ve had a Shepherd, you understand.
There is something incredibly special about this breed—their intelligence, loyalty, sensitivity, willingness to work, and their ability to form an extraordinary bond with their people.
The Dogs Who Shaped My Journey
After Shadow came Max.
Max was the German Shepherd who influenced the vision I would eventually have for my own dogs. He was incredibly intelligent, eager to learn, and willing to do whatever I asked of him. He had the look, temperament, and character that stayed with me for years.
When my family had to move overseas because my father was in the Navy, we couldn’t take Max with us. Leaving him behind broke my heart.
Sir Lancelot — The Beginning of Camelot
Many years later, when I began searching for another German Shepherd, I knew exactly what I was looking for.
That’s when I found Lance.
And I fell in love immediately.
Sir Lancelot, FO, PA — King of the Castle
Sir Lancelot, FO, PA — King of the Castle
Lance was the heart and soul of Camelot Shepherds.
He was my first competition dog and the dog who taught me more about training, handling, perseverance, and the incredible abilities of the German Shepherd than I could have imagined.
Lance wasn’t the easiest dog I ever trained. In fact, we failed our first competition. But we kept working.
We learned together, and eventually Lance earned his Family Obedience title and Protection Alert title with Service Dogs of America in 2008.
It was my first competition as both a handler and a trainer. It was also the beginning of something much bigger.
Lance taught me that working with a German Shepherd isn’t simply about teaching commands. It’s about learning how that individual dog thinks, learning how to communicate with one another, and building a relationship based on trust.
That experience changed the direction of my life.
Lance Changed More Than My Career
Lance’s connection with my son, Chris, was one of the experiences that ultimately shaped my decision to breed German Shepherds.
When Lance was only about seven months old, he woke me during the night. He was whining and pawing at my bedroom door. I initially thought he needed to go outside.
Instead, Lance went directly to Chris’s bedroom door.
Chris was having a seizure.
Lance had recognized something was wrong and alerted me.
He did it again several months later when Chris experienced another seizure, and he also alerted us when Chris had a nosebleed while sleeping.
Lance had not been professionally trained to perform those behaviors.
They were simply part of who he was.
That experience showed me something I had always sensed about German Shepherds: there is an incredible depth of intelligence, awareness, loyalty, and natural ability within this breed.
Lance became the inspiration behind Camelot Shepherds and the reason I wanted to share the qualities I loved so much about this breed with other families.
Some of our Camelot dogs have gone on to become assistance dogs, working dogs, sport dogs, and beloved family companions.
That is the legacy I want Camelot to continue.
From Dog Lover to Professional Trainer
My journey with German Shepherds eventually led me into competition and professional dog training.
After years of training and competing in dog sports, I went back to school to further my education and knowledge of canine behavior and training.
Today, I am a Certified Master Trainer, with experience training dogs for obedience, scent work, tracking, retrieval, assistance work, and behavior modification.
I am also a Certified Nosework Instructor, and a member of the International Association of Canine Professionals.
Training has changed the way I look at breeding.
I don’t simply look at whether a dog is beautiful or has an impressive pedigree.
I want to know how that dog thinks.
How does the dog respond to pressure?
How does it recover from something unexpected?
Does it have confidence?
Does it want to work?
Can it learn?
Can it settle when the work is over?
Can it be a wonderful family companion while still having the ability to work?
Those are the qualities I value.
Why I Breed German Shepherds
I don’t breed German Shepherds simply because I love puppies.
I breed them because I believe in what this breed can be.
A well-bred German Shepherd can be a devoted family companion, a working partner, a detection dog, a sport competitor, an assistance dog, or a loyal protector.
The goal is not to create the most extreme dog.
The goal is to create a balanced, stable, capable German Shepherd that can thrive in the life it was bred and placed for.
That philosophy is at the heart of Camelot.
Building Camelot One Generation at a Time
Over the years, Camelot has developed into a program built around European working-line German Shepherds. We have raised five generations of our own dogs, allowing us to know our dogs not only as individual animals, but as generations of dogs that we have personally raised, trained, socialized, and developed. Our breeding decisions are based on the qualities we believe matter most:
Temperament.
Nerve.
Intelligence.
Working ability.
Structural and orthopedic soundness.
Trainability.
Confidence.
Versatility.
We want dogs that can work hard when asked and then come home and be part of the family.
The Dogs Still Come First
One of the most important things about Camelot is that our dogs are not simply breeding stock.
They live with us.
They are trained by us.
They compete with us.
They play with us.
They grow old with us.
Our dogs and puppies are raised in our home and are part of our family life. We believe that living with our dogs gives us an understanding of their personalities and temperaments that simply cannot be gained by seeing them only in a kennel setting. (Camelot Shepherds)
That understanding is important when we decide which dogs to breed and which puppy is the right match for a particular family.
What Camelot Means Today
Today, Camelot German Shepherds is the result of decades of experience, thousands of hours of training, many lessons learned, successes, failures, and—most importantly—a lifetime of relationships with incredible dogs.
Lance started the journey.
The dogs that followed taught me more.
Every generation has added something.
And every Camelot puppy that leaves our home carries a little piece of that history with them.
My goal isn’t simply to produce your next German Shepherd.
My goal is to help you find the German Shepherd that is right for you—and then be there for both of you for the journey that follows.