We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Gerhard Maale a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Gerhard, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you’re open to it, can you talk to us about the best (or worst) investment you’ve made. What’s the backstory and the relevant context behind why you made the investment

The best investment I made in terms of time and money was paying a boarding/training facility for single and dual-purpose police k9s to certify as a narcotics, tracking, explosives, and apprehension dog trainer. I paid $10,000 to basically work a full-time job for 3 months, but it was there that I really learned what I needed to know about kennel management, building a team, sanitation, building logistics, and basically all the skills I needed to run a 40 dog kennel with multiple employees. The actual training, I received has been very helpful in expanding my board and train business; especially with puppies I sell. Puppies are going out at 10 weeks and often coming back at 8-10 months for advanced obedience training. am building a lifetime repour with my customers.

Gerhard, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Gerhard Maale and I own Lone Star Mastiffs LLC. I sell, breed, and train all types of dogs but I specialize in large breed molossers. I have been in business since 2018. I breed Presa Canario, Boerboels, American Molossus, Caucasian Ovcharkas, Central Asian Ovcharkas, and Armenian Gamprs. I offer board and train services for basic and advanced obedience for all kinds of dogs. I specialize in selling and training dogs to be family guardians, perimeter patrol guardians, livestock guardians, estate guardians, and high value asset guardians.

I also own a farm that my dog facility is on. At Lone Star Mastiffs Farms we raise chickens, ducks, guineas, goats, sheep, and cows. I am currently working on getting a grant for a hoop greenhouse so we can expand our vegetable operation. We grow all of the hottest peppers on the planet. We have also added some beehives to our operation this year. In the future we hope to operate a fully sustainable regenerative farm.

Prior to starting my company, I graduated with a degree in Marine Biology from Texas A&M University in Galveston. I later got my master’s degree in marine resource management. I completed a thesis on tracking weather events and climate change over time using microfossil analysis of underwater caves in the Bahamas. I worked offshore in the Bering Sea in Alaska for a while and after that worked in advertising for the firearm industry.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I have had many setbacks especially starting the farm and livestock operations. Unlike the dog business where I grew up owning dogs, I had very little background with farming and land management. One of the biggest reoccurring problems I have had is water erosion. Every time I have built a new building, kennel, or structure it has changed how the water moves around the property. It has taken 3 years to put in culverts, roads, bridges, streams, and ponds to facilitate the water movement and mitigate soil loss from erosion.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I started this business, I made the decision to leave my previous jobs and jump into a completely new industry for me. I left my community, friends, and family to basically start over from scratch. In doing so I grew up very fast. I am not the same person that I was 3 years ago and getting this business off the ground became almost an obsession. At first, the biggest change was not having someone to tell me what to do, realizing that every decision had positive or negative consequences that was 100% on me. It takes a while to develop the mindset needed to be able to set your own goals and follow them through to completion.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lonestarmastiffs.com
• Instagram: lonestarmastiffs
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lone-Star-Mastiffs-344604693042093/

Image Credits
Tammie Mills