Dr. Banfe ("Banffy" is the correct Hungarian spelling) was brought up with a deep love of animals. His father used to import exotic animals from South America. His mother was enamored with animals and actually raised a baby grizzly bear for a period of time. But dogs have always been his love. He has a good understanding of animal behavior. To the right was a picture of the Banfe family. Peter, his son (upper right) is a trainer, reproductive assistant, and kennel assistant but is now in college. Aniko, his daughter, has taken over many of his duties. Sherrie, his wife, takes care of all paperwork and shipping arrangements. Banffy Haus ships dogs all over the United States, and has also placed dogs in Canada and Argentina.

To further his understanding of dog behavior, Dr. Banfe has applied Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy to dogs, and theorized that the first "need" dogs must have satisfied is that of pack order, even prior to sustenance (food). For example, in the wild a dog which does not know its pack position can be spurned (rejected) by an Alpha or higher position pack mate, when approaching to partake in eating a kill. Learning their pack order is essential to survival. Therefore, he argues this is natural to the canine, and it is essential for owners to clearly set pack order. One might claim it is cruel to a dog to leave them in an amorphous pack without a clear authority structure. They need pack discipline and thrive on clear lines of authority. If not, they can become confused by the authority dissonance, and develop many deviant behaviors such as dominance aggression. All his clients are highly encouraged to formally train these magnificent beasts, which, as a breed are very close to the wolf, so that they are also known as an Alsatian Wolf-Hounds in a number of countries.

Dr. Banfe has had some agility training experience, a number of years experience in Schutzhund (protection), and many years in obedience. His first schutzhund male, an Ulk Arlett (the legendary 1995 German Sieger World Champion) son from Germany, scored 97 protection, 91 tracking, 90 obedience in his Schutzhund I and “pronounced” in courage and fighting drive in his first trial. Dr. Banfe has had personal training with Jack Schurmann, 1991 Belgian "Sportsman of the Year" and well-known Schutzhund trainer.

His training and teaching abilities do not stop with animals. He is currently an associate professor of international business and Economics at a private MidWestern University. His research covers a number areas including global culture, the effect of the Chinese Internet on Chinese culture, and experiential learning pedagogy. Banffy has enjoyed bringing his dog behavior ideas into the classroom, comparing his theories on Maslow as applied to dogs to Nevis' Asian Needs Hierarchy (a modification of Maslow for Asian cultures). He muses that one might argue that within traditional culture, the Japanese need for group membership takes precedence to physiological needs, very similar to the wolf. In fact, seppuku, the Japanese ritual of suicide, is the ultimate form of group isolation/rejection in the face of group ostracism, whether the ostracism is real or imagined. This might be compared to the lone wolf experience in canis lupus (the wolf). He has around 30 years in the martial arts with in Go Ju Kai karate, Muay Thai, amateur boxing and Brazilian Jiu Jutsu. He was many years a coach in Martial Arts and ran an over 100 student kickboxing club at his university. 



Finally, he has coached both of his children, Aniko and Peti, in chess and both have placed/won a number of tournaments. His son won the unrated national scholastic championships for his age group at 7 years old and played in Budapest at 12 years old in a men's master's tournament, as well as placed in many scholastic tournaments. For three years he coached chess at the local Christian school.

Dr. Banfe is committed to his clients both before, during and after the purchase. He has written a number of short basic helpful info-articles which are in the "Terms/Titles/Links" page under "German Shepherd Course 101" and is dedicated to providing advice on such subjects as raising, feeding and training your new dog.

Finally, Dr. Banfe believes that as an international business professor who teaches exporting, having lived for extended periods of time in Europe in Spain, the Czech Republic, Britain, and Hungary, having a facility in foreign languages, and having travelled quite often to Europe, he has knowledge which can facilitate the importation of world class German Shepherds. His excellent contacts in Europe, allow him to breed and import some of the finest shepherds available and provide his clients with magnificent German Shepherd dogs at fair prices.