I agree there are always risks. If I had known that the guy I purchased the dog from didn't have papers in hand I probably would have chosen a different dog.  I'm glad I got him. He is a great dig. He's old now.  I narrowed my search down to 2 breeders. I chose him over the other breeder because I liked that there weren't going to be many in the USA with that bloodline. The make and female were Serbisn Champions with many working and and Conformation Champions in the recent pedigree. There were some famous Workd Champions in the line. The breeder of record purchase the female and chose the sire. After she was bred she was shipped to the USA. The hold up was in Setvia. I reached out to the guy in Setbia. He didn't own the sire.  But he did follow up and the owner of the sire to get the dog in the stud book.

The other breeder that I was close to getting a dog from is probably the most well known and respected breeder in the USA. She believes in working her dogs like me. She also shows them. They are titled in Conformation and a variety of working titles like obedience, rally, agility, schutzhung or IPO. They are temperament and health tested. She extremely selective in to whom she will place her dogs. She also offers money back for every title that you put on your dog. I was leaning towards her and was going to pay more for a pup but because that breeding would never take place again and no one would have that Sire in their pedigree in the USA I chose my breeder. The guy even dropped his price after I agreed to purchase from him. He did it because he knew I was going the Show and compete in Wirking Traials. He understood that that also makes his kennel look good. When researching him I believed he has a good kennel. The only drawback was he doesn't do genetic health testing. But the sire and dsm had been tested in Setbia. He actively hunts wild game like moose and others with his press.