The German Shorthair: What is a German Shorthair? Der Deutsch Kurzhaar as the Germans say it is a breed of dog that the Germans designed to be the perfect hunting dog. One dog for a family that could perform all hunting duties. The goal was to eliminate the need for many types of hunting dogs, and giving a single hunter one dog that could do it all.
A lofty goal, because up until this time there was no such dog. The exact date of the beginning, or start of this breeding goal is not known. However, we do know it was many years before the first German Shorthair was registered in a breed book in 1870. c
Independent breeders were breeding for this goal of the perfect hunting dog, and at first there was no clear goal of how to achieve it. Many wanted to keep the look of the old German Pointer, and others were not as concerned about the look, but wanted the performance.
It seemed clear that all wanted a hunting dog that could find and point birds, and retrieve them to the owner. They all wanted a water dog that could retrieve both wounded, and killed birds from the water, as well as track down and find water birds that made it to the rush, or land. Very important would be for their hunting dog to have the ability to track, or trail a wounded animal and retrieve it back to hand. The German dog must also be able to track down and kill if need be, such animals as cats and foxes. Of, course they wanted a dog to hunt, point, track and retrieve rabbits. They knew they needed a medium to large dog for the hard work that was going to be called upon it. To tackle a large deer, bring back a duck or goose, as well as having the power and size to dispatch a cat or fox.
The goal became to have their versatile hunting dog not give way to a pointer while hunting upland birds, track and trail as good as a hound, retrieve from land or water, fur or feather as good as any retriever anywhere. The Germans wanted a heathy dog that would live a long time, as well as a dog who would, and could hunt all day if need be and be able to cover a lot of ground with little effort. They did not want a slow plodding dog, but a well-built master of all things hunting, that brought pleasure to the eye.
The Germans also wanted a loving family dog who could live in the home, and that was calm when not hunting, and under control when hunting.
Thankfully that even 200 years ago there were many types of good hunting dogs to blend from, because a blending of hunting dogs would be what it was going to take. We should also take note that many of the types of dogs that we know of today were not exactly the way we think of them back then.
For example, even though a pointing dog, and a hound dog back in the early days were specialty dogs, they were expected in most cases to work in the water, and retrieve if need be. A spangle of the day was a better retriever than a pointer, and thus after the point, the pointer might be made to watch while the spangle retrieved. That said they pointer and hound of the day were both more versatile than we think of our pointer and hound of today.
When the making of the German Shorthair was begun it was not unusual for kennels to have large numbers of dogs of all hunting type, and the master of the kennel would use which ever breed was most suited for the game at hand. However, the German population was changing and it is easy for us to identify, because most American hunter have only one type of hunting dog, to do the job of what ever hunting the hunter enjoys.
This is the reason the German Shorthair is so appealing to many American hunters. One dog to hunt everything, is just appealing to many American hunters as it was, and still is to so many German hunters, and other hunters around the world.
How did the Germans do it? They started with a goal of what they wanted, and then refined that goal as they went along. Then when the matter of looks was addressed many wanted the look of the somewhat mythical German Pointer, with its head type and rounded ears, etc. and many headed in that direction, and thus some really good dogs were rejected at first, not because of how they performed, but based on how they look.
The first turning point in the early breed development was credited to Prince Solms’ belief that “Form follows Function”, or as Seiger translated in his book: “Through Efficiency To Type”. Meaning simply that if a dog can do it, then the dogs form (Structure) if good. There are however certain looks, and structural build of dogs that the Germans came to believe that the Shorthair should look like, but in all case the dog must be able to function the task at hand, weather running, swimming, trailing, etc. The one look that was rejected was the pointer head with a stop. They wanted none of that look.
Having the goal of the perfect hunting dog, able to complete all hunting tasks, the Germans continued toward their goal.
At first there were many types of dogs used in the make-up of the breed, pointers, setters, hounds, etc. There were some long-haired types, blacks, reds, browns, orange, in combination with white, and from solid to ticked. The blacks were discarded, and then reintroduced. Other colors besides browns were also discontinued, as well as all long hair. The long hairs would continue in the German Longhair breed.
Good working dogs remained the goal, and a complicated texting format would come to play an important role in the development of the breed. An often overlooked, to modern Americans was they lock step development of the breed by the Germans, where Americans are often very independent, the Germans were very much on the same page, and working together in all areas of the Shorthair.
The truth is the German’s still are, and they are testing their dogs very much like they did in the early days. The difference if any maybe in the amount of hunting and what is being hunted in Germany today as compared to early days. What is staying the same is the focus on the same areas deemed important in the past. A great nose for finding game and tracking, bird finding, and pointing, great water work, and great natural retrieving, the ability to find game, via a track or trail. Good build, and the ability to cover a lot of ground white hunting. The ability to work with the hunter, and a great family dog. The Deutsch Kurzhaar Club, and there is a branch in North America has worked diligently for well over 100 years to produce the perfect versatile hunting dog.
I want to keep this as short as possible, so you get the shortest version I can give.
The Germans, both did and did not shy away from pointers. They did not want a simple pointing dog, but a much more complex hunting dog was their goal. They did however see the virtues of the pointer. There were at the time of development, Spanish Pointers, French Pointers, A German Pointer, and blends of these pointers. The pointer came in the form of very refined, to being quite heavy and even houndlike. They came long tailed and tails that were docked. They came is just about every color, from solid liver and black to roaned ticked like a modern shorthair. The pointers came in a verity of color and the common preferred color of today, liver and white was not the common color of the day.
We know that some of the early lines were pointer crosses, and they became quite popular with the early breeders. However, it is quite important that it be understood, that it was not the pointer type or the pointer that was important. No breeder of the time wanted a pointer, they only wanted what they perceived as an improvement in an area such as head up off the ground while hunting birds.
Two areas where the Germans believed the Pointers failed were, tracking, and sharpness, or killing of cat or fox. These being so important to the Germans, that the use of Pointers as a main cross was highly fronded upon by most breeders. However, that being said, and even though by the early 1900’s the breed type was extremely strong and set, there would be another infusion of Pointer. One on purpose, and the other probably by accident. Neither was probably needed, but they did no harm, and in the purposely added pointer, much was gained.
As this came to be, the most influential leader of the breed who would guide the breed info the future was there to help things along. This being Dr. Paul Kleeman who the KS title is named after. Dr. Kleeman would be instrumental in the changes of the Derby, and so other advances or changes as well.
But the Pointer influence, would come through Mars Altenau and Artus Sand. Two of the greatest producers of the breed at the turn of the century. The third leg as we know it would come from the famous English Pointer breeder, William Arkwright in the form of solid black Pointer.
Both Mars Altenau and Artus Sand are reported to have good pointers as grandsires. Artus Sand has some pointer characteristics of looks, but lacked for nothing in his working abilities. Outstanding in water, trailing and tracking, field work and sharpness on game. Mars Altenau not only had outstanding versatile performance, but looked the perfect look, and form.
In the attempt to kill a few birds with one pointer type, Christian Bode the breeder of Mars Altenau made the arrangements. This is how Georgina Byrine explains it in her book: “Der Deutsch Kurzhaar The German Shorthair Pointer”. “Many of the early liver dogs were rather pale in color and had light eyes. In addition, there was a perceived weakness in air-scenting ability in the breed. In the early 1900s, a number of concerned breeders, prominent amongst whom were Christian Bode, the breeder of the “”Altenau”” GSPs and his friend and associate, Max Waechter of the Wach GSPs, re-introduction in the form of solid black “”Arkwright”” Pointers. This introduction was made in the hope that both pigment and “”high nose’’’ would be improved. Herr Bode’s business interests took him to England where he would have had the opportunity to see the Arkwright Pointers working, and perhaps to meet Mr. Arkwright himself, so it may have been arranged by Herr Bode for Dr. Waechter to acquire his Pointer bitch, Beechgrove Bess.
The black Pointers included Killian von Kanatsche, listed in the 1924 as “”Schwarzer Pointer (Arkwright-Stamm) a.d Zwinger des Grafen v Starzenski (“”a black Arkwright-bred Pointer from Count Starzenski’s kennel”” ) In addition, an article printed in the 1934 studbook mentions “”several dogs from the East Prussian Kanoten line””.”
Georgina goes on to tell how these black Pointers were bred to GSPs. The she quotes a 1934 article in the shorthair studbook. “Due to the performance of such dogs as Angus v. Schwarzatal who is eight generations distant from Beechgrove Bess and inbred to the great Mars Altenau, and Tim Alenau, who is said to be “”only one part Point to 512 parts GSP”” and to others even further removed prom the Pointer Outcross, it is time they are recognized as true shorthairs””.”
Herr H. F. Seiger the author of: “The Complete German Shorthaired Pointer” makes a compiling argument that the later black Pointer crosses did little or nothing to improve the field performance of the GSPs, that the Shorthairs of the time were already excellent in their work. However, he did go on to state that Dr. Kleeman who was a proponent of the in cross of black Pointer was correct in his belief of the in cross, not because of the improvement of breed performance, but for the black color giving improvement in both eye and skin pigmentation.
As we can see, the breed is well established by the 1920s, and by the 1930s all tinkering was finished. The following should be quite interesting to many!
Herr H. F. Seiger’s book “The Complete German Shorthaired Pointer” was published in 1951. It was written in English by German breeder, Seiger, and Dr. F. Von Dewith-Colpin. It was the first book written about the Shorthair. Seiger had breed 7 KS German champion dogs. Seiger started his kennel in 1924 and was a friend of Dr. Paul Kleeman who was at the helm of Shorthair development in Germany. Seiger was there first hand, and involved the development of the breed during his time. Let’s think carefully about what Seiger had to say in his book about the German Shorthair up until 1950.
Seiger states in his book: “That our Shorthair so far as performance in field-work is concerned has not improved during the past 20 years. However, there is no need. It is a tremendous amount of work that has been achieved in the past 20 years relating to equality in all performances and enhancement in trailing and water work. Where today, might one still meet a dog that hesitates to dash into the water? But if so then a wrong treatment of the pupil is obvious at first glance. The majority however, will bounce with a long jump into the wet element.
And what about trailing? So often we experience, that all the contestants in a Solms finish the 500 meters rabbit trail in such an elegant consciousness, that none of them can be denied the rating “”very good””. Are those not heart stirring statements?
Quite certainly. Yet they should not invite us to rest on our laurels. With such steady increase of the quality of our dogs goes equally in line as ascent of our demands! Our terms for acquiring championship are getting more and more stringent, one could even nearly say harder. This policy has even been kept in 1948/1949, despite the many vast gaps in our breeding stock, occasioned by a multitude of coincidences of the past war. Nevertheless, only the very best stock appears to us to be good enough for breeding. The native breed is determined to maintain such principle, since its high standard has remained unequalled so far.
Despite that, we do know the difficulties to be encountered in order to defend the place that has been taken. If to be maintained, alert watchmen have to be on the look-out and we should never get tired.”
Amazing, or is it? By the year 1950 the breed had been in development for over 100 years. Many breeders making it their life work. What an amazing dog we were given here in the United States. An Ever use dog.
1925, the same year Winchester came out with the 270 Winchester, Dr. Thornton became interested in the GSP after reading an article in the National Sportsman. “I saw an article with three pictures of Eduard Rindt’s GSPs” he later wrote. This is the year Dr. Thornton started his kennel with the purchase of Senta.
About the time Sieger was writing about the Shorthair in Germany, Dr. Thornton has this to say about the Shorthair in 1953. After 25 years with the Shorthair in America Thornton had this to say. I will touch on a few highlights of Thornton’s writing.
Dr. Thornton: “The German Shorthaired Pointer exceeds all that I had ever expected to find in one dog, and then some to spare. Senta was as near human as a dog could be, did most unpredictable things. As a retriever she could have competed in a class of retrievers taking all breeds as they come. I have never yet seen her equal. On all upland birds she was equally good and on ducks she would sneak, crawl or do everything she could to get a point them for you. Saw her one time work a winged mallard for thirty minutes in slush ice during a blizzard until the duck died. On another occasion she trailed a winged cock pheasant over a mile through wild roses, brier brush and everything he could find trying to shake her. This bird had a thirty-minute start on her.
John Neuforsthaus was the fourth dog I imported. Brains like a man and he used them.” Thornton goes on to tell of how great the dog was on livestock and in other areas including keeping peace in the kennel, killing cats in the wild, but never at home.
Thornton goes on: “I have pictures of Fritz retrieving wild geese out of the Snake River when he was nine months old and the river was full of slush ice. Fritz knew we did not kill hen birds and soon learned when he was pointing hens to back off and go on with his hunting. If a hen flushed wild on him, he paid no attention to it but if a cock bird flushed, he would stop, look back at you and bark and bawl like a hound telling you that it was no fault of his, that the bird mush have been a coward.”
When Thornton was asked what was needed to improve the breed, he stated that to many in the U.S. were breeding to other breeds and registering them as pure GSPs.
Thornton had at one time 23 brood matrons as he called them, and 4 imported stud dogs. He raised over 200 litters. Remember the Irish Setter he said, they went to showing them, and forgot their bird work, and now they not good bird dogs.
Thornton ended his article by writing: “Now that my shooting days will soon be over, I can sit beside my fir place and reminisce form memory’s halls many pleasant hours spent with the greatest gun dog ever produced-the German Shorthaired Pointer.”
The information of Dr. Thornton was taken from “The New Complete German Shorthaired Pointer” by Robert H. McKowen, published 1998.
What did Jack Shattuck have to say in the 50s? His dog Rusty v. Schwarenberg the first of our Dual Champions. Writing to a young Don Miner: “retrieving on duck and capably handling upland game. This is what the breed is meant to do. It is not meant to be a wind splitter, but is as close to the ideal as a man can get with a pointing dog to follow on foot. It is not entered in the Big trials for Pointing Dogs because it is not bred for that. It is a top shooting dog. That is why its trials are run with birds to be killed and retrieved”
The above was taken from Bede Maxwell’s book “The New German Shorthaired Pointer” first printing 1982. Maxwell would go on to say: our fist imported Shorthairs to the USA were as the originators had made them, dogs for following on foot, capable on fur or on feather, retrieving from land or water, cold trailing, able and willing to deal with a stray cats, intruding foxes, even to treeing a coon. Later we Americans would need to follow our GSPs on horseback to keep up.
Shorthairs Maxwell would go on to say cannot as yet outrun top Pointers but they are getting on towards there, this in many instances by grace of radical structural change not always to be counted admirable, but there it is in front of one’s eyes, often the very spit and equivalent of the competitive Pointer stock that suffered hound cross improvements in earlier decades under much the same pressures of competition.
Maxwell makes a good point when she goes on to explain, that Shorthairs in all other parts of the world are required in field competition to demonstrate skills suited to the dog for the foot following utility minded hunter. Not necessarily a slow poke, a smart moving dog is always preferable but one that does not call for following on horseback. In Germany, at the great trials, everyone walks.
It should also be noted that water work was and still is in most countries called upon for a field title. The UK has Gun Dog Trials and versatile breeds to not compete in Pointer trials.
In 1968 I was 10 years old, and my father and his buddy shot a young buck in the grape vineyard where we lived. The buck was only wounded and was beyond their capability to find. They went back to the house and got a solid liver German Shorthair, and I was able to tag along as well.
I watched as Jack was put on the track of the deer, probably some blood as well. I watched Jack work along the rows of grapes until he got the young buck up. I watched Jack go into high gear and he got the buck by the neck and forced it down. That was a half century ago but is clear in my minds eye.
Jack was a wonderful dog in every manner. A dog that legends are made of, but for a young boy he was a friend. At five or six, I would walk out of the house and play with Jack. This was in town, and he was tied up like so many dogs of the day. We were always glad to see each other. Later Jack would go and live in the country where he could roam and hunt at will, and never to be tied up again. Jack loved to retrieve a stick, and I loved to throw it for him. I would throw it over the deer fence into the vineyard, and Jack would jump up and pull himself over. Greatest thing ever.
I would roam the fields for miles with Jack and watch him hunt. Jack loved to hunt. I grew up hearing, and later as an older man would once more hear all the stories of Jack from my dad, and his friends. Jack was famous for tracking down deer, which he would either bark until you got there, or come back and lead you to the deer. Great in the water on ducks, a great natural retriever, and one fantastic pheasant dog. Back in the day when the Sacramento valley had great pheasant hunting.
Keep in mind, that our family is a family of hunters. My dad’s friends, as well as mine are hunters. The German Shorthair is a hunting dog for hunters. We, our family, and friends had many different breeds of hunting dogs when I was growing up. Plenty of Labs, Springers, Beagles, Hounds, etc... Many were good to great at what they did, but only the German Shorthair was the Jack of all trades. Later I would also have police dogs, and site hounds. But Jack was a Top Dog around very good dogs.
Jack is the reason I later re-turned to German Shorthairs; without Jack I would have never been interested in German Shorthairs.
I’ve led the reader to what the German Shorthair was designed to be, then I showed that they really were that dog. A hunting dog that would point and back like the best Pointers, with nose up, or on the ground. Hunting with, and for the foot hunter. A water dog for retrieving game, birds or fur from water. A tracking dog for tracking down wounded game. A treeing dog that is good on fox or cat. Not so much the big cats or bear, but jumping and treeing a fox, wild cat, or bobcat on a day’s hunt. A great rabbit dog, that can point, flush, track and retrieve a rabbit. An excellent quail, grouse, or pheasant dog.
What do we have today in the Great USA? The question is a fair one, but is a long one to answer. The short answer is everything conceivable in a German Shorthairs.
We have every type of breeder, every kind of breed club, every type of trial and test, All kinds of different groups. It’s like America itself, and everyone, every breeder, every group, every club, every trial and testing format thinks they are the best and that no one else knows what they are doing. We have Facebook groups dedicated to every aspect of everything Shorthair, from DKs, to Showing, from blacks to liver only, from breeding to puppy sales, from hunting to dock diving.
Much to often everyone is an expert, and only their opinion is worth listening too and everyone not agreeing with them is to be chastised.
I don’t know how complicated I want to make this, but let’s see where this goes.
At first there were only German dogs. They were versatile hunting dogs for the foot hunter. Some however could and would run very big. What to call these new dogs from German seemed clear, a Pointer. They were close to being a retriever, because that’s also what they were, but Pointer tipped the scales, and the American Kennel Club said pick a name so the German Shorthaired Pointer was picked.
So, for both the Field Dog Stud Book, American Kennel Club, United Kennel Club they became Pointers and competing with other Pointer breeds became the name of the game. At first there was some emphasis placed on retrieving, and water, but as the other Pointer breeds moved toward bigger running dogs, so did the German Shorthair Clubs, the biggest being the German Shorthaired Club of America, which is the mother club for the AKC.
A lot of other groups came on the scene. The National Shoot to Retrieve Association, has aligned with the United Kennel Club, which in an American Club like AKC, nothing to do with the United Kingdom. The NSTRA is a fast running trial where the dogs are paired and compete for planted birds in a 20-acre field. The dog points the bird, the hunter shoots the bird and the dog retrieves the bird. The dog that finds the most birds is suppose to win the event. The NSTRA has evolved to an event where almost all dogs are extremely fast-moving dogs who cover a lot of ground.
North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association. Open to all versatile hunting dog breeds. The club was formed by a German who wanted testing somewhat like the Germans used. No where close to the comprehensive testing of the German Club. The club has a heavy emphasis on water work which is a good thing because most other clubs don’t. They have a duck search, and bird hunting section, as well as a short track. The young dogs are judged on natural ability, and they must retrieve. The problem with natural ability, is the shading between natural and trained. The retrieve is not focused on natural retrieve, but most often on forced. The water work however does force a breeder to breed for good working water dogs which is a huge plus. NAVHDA does have a versatile championship that a dog can get. The dog must be very good to get this title, the founder of the Group however was not a fan of the VC believing it had little to do with breeding hunting dogs.
There a field trials in FDSB, and AKC that are focused on huge running bird finding events where mush of the emphasis is placed on run and style, and must be followed on horse back to keep up with the dogs. The dogs are always moving forward, and ground coverage is the name of the game. The great Pointer breeder of the Elhew line, Robert Wehle once tried to get these Pointer trials, and the Pointer breeders to stop breeding always for more run. Well his advice fell on deaf ears; the Pointers got more run and the Shorthairs matched their run step by step.
The truth is I never even heard of or knew anyone who field trialed.
There are other field trials that are similar to horseback style, but without the horse, and where less ground is covered, the emphasis is still placed on run and style.
A trial is most always run in braces with one other dog. Hunt tests are running often without another dog, but ran against a standard.
The American Kennel Club, Master Hunter, hunt test is probably the most common hunt style test. The dog must hunt, find a bird, point steady, and hold the point while the bird flushes, and can’t move until the shot is fired and the dog is released.
The Germans have come to America, and now we have the North American Deutsch Kurzhaar Club. I am acquainted with the past and present breed masters, and have only a small working knowledge of the club. I have seen one Derby, and even though I have studied the history of the Shorthairs which the testing is covered, I must say is still remains somewhat a mystery of all the DK Club does. The mother club is the same club that has always been in Germany, and is the same club that developed the breed. The rules remain the same, as the Derby, and Solms, Tracking, etc. The demands of the club remain strict, controlled, and complicated, but that said the standard and focus remains the same, to breed versatile hunting dogs to a high standard. The highest title in the Deutsch Kurzhaar club is the KS.
Each of the breed clubs with the exception of NAVHDA have dog shows where German Shorthairs can become show champions.
There are other events, such as dock diving, obedience, barn ratting, water retrieving titles which was unavailable to Shorthairs for many years, therapy dog, tracking titles, Junior Hunter, Senior Hunter, and the list goes on.
What is missing from all the above, and what many of these tests, trials, and events were meant to measure is? You may have guessed it, Hunting. First and foremost, the breed is a hunting breed. Without hunting the breed becomes the participant of events, tests, shows, and trials.
The sports of trap, skeet, and sporting clays were invented to simulate wild bird shooting, and in case of the sporting clays even a rabbit running on the ground. Most hunter have engaged in these sports; many bird hunters find them fun and even useful. They are used in the off season to help shooters stay sharp. They are used and very helpful in introducing new shooter, children and ladies to handling and shooting shotguns. The help in understanding leads, break points, and follow through, as well as gun safety. Trap, skeet, and sporting clays (5 stand, and field) are so popular that many give up bird shooting altogether or never even take up the sport of bird or rabbit hunting.
Our family once ran the Sacramento Valley Shooting Club, and I was also a member of two other clubs, and the State Director in the SCTP for kids in skeet and sporting clays. I also shot in the Police and Fire games and became so proficient that I broke the Western States Sporting Clays record with a score of 94.
But did that translate into superior wild bird shooting. Absolutely not is the answer. It helped in some cases, like when a quail flew over my head from behind me. The #1 station in skeet, but overall no.
Here’s why in part. A clay target or clay pigeon as it is often called is release from a clay target thrower under great spring pressure. When it is released it come out about as fast and it’s going to go, and then gravity starts to work on the clay target and it’s slows down until it hits the ground unless it is busted with a load of shot. At times the target is very fast, at the beginning, and midway through flight, then it slows down to almost nothing, and lands on the ground.
Birds on the other hand start of slower than you might think, and gain speed as they go, and don’t often slow down until they are will out of range. Often the sound of the birds makes them seem even faster than they are really going. That is in the case of quail and pheasants.
Then there are dove, which can give you all sorts of crazy flying acrobatics. You better be keeping a close eye on them. There is no drought about it, dove take some time to learn to shoot, and get proper muscle memory. You are not going to learn to shoot them from sporting clays, trap or skeet. The sports will help, but there is no substitute for real dove hunting. The same goes for ducks.
I remember just after a lot of clay target sports, I headed to South Dakota. There were so many pheasants, hundreds of wild pheasants a day. Dusty was working great, and big cocks were getting up off of nice points and I was missing close shots. The leads for clay targets were much more than was needed for pheasants and I was shooting in front of them. It took a while to get the hang of things, but once more proves there is no substitute for shooting wild birds. You simply must shoot wild birds.
The above is the best example that I can give to compare hunt tests, trials, and events to real hunting. Many tests, trials, and training can help your hunting dog to hunt, no doubt about it. They however cannot take the place of hunting wild birds.
Here are a few areas that they can help. Get your pup on some pigeons or quail, and shoot around the pup. Let the pup get excited about birds. Plant some and let him hunt some. I have no problem with that. It’s not needed if you have plenty of wild birds, but it does not hurt, and may often help.
That said, I remember getting a dog that was older that came down from the former DK breed master. The dog could retrieve a fox over a fence, find and point beautifully planted bob white quail. He was a big dog that loved the water and loved to retrieve. He loved to hunt, and hunted with me. He however, never found and pointed a wild Gambel quail. Even though for a year I got him into quail. There simply is no substitute for hunting wild birds, and probably at a young age.
I have many such stories, and breeders need to be honest with themselves and understand the whole picture. So many times, I hear breeder, testers, and trialers state beliefs that just don’t hold water.
One is the statement that you must only breed dogs that will improve the breed, and of course it’s their type of dog that will get that done. Even though other breeder can and will give a good argument as to why the breeder who thinks they are improving the breed, is in fact moving the breed in the wrong direction, and we will get to that.
Let’s just take an example and look at the whole picture. A Master Hunter, sounds great. Can’t argue with a dog that has a master hunter title. The dog finds, points, and hold the point on a planted bird until after the handler shoots the bird and then the dog goes out and retrieves it to hand. If he does this so many times, he is a master hunter, and behind his registered name are the letters MH.
The question is he really a master hunter? And if he is a master hunter can he find wild birds. The answer is absolutely, maybe! He maybe a great hunter, but all we really know about the title is the dog can do what was required in the test. He can find planted quail, not hard. He was taught to hold a point; we don’t know how good of a natural point he had. He was taught to hold the point even while the shooter shoots the gun. So, we know he can be trained, which is a good thing.
We know the dog can retrieve to hand, but we don’t know if he has a natural retrieve, he most assuredly was force trained to retrieve, like almost all trial, and tested dogs are.
Things we don’t really know: Does he have a love for water, does he have a natural retrieve, can he track game, does he really have a great nose, how does he naturally range, can he find wild birds, how is he on fur, can he kill a cat or fox, can or will he tree a cat or fox, what will he really pass on to his offspring? Will he learn to handle wild birds, is he really smart? What is his temperament like with people, other dogs, and pups? What does he do naturally? Does he naturally retrieve, point, and back? Does he have natural faults that have been trained over like following, or barking. How does he naturally compare to the GSPs?
As you can see, the test does not even come close to telling us if he is really, a Master Hunter. He may have it, or he may not have it. Without living with, and hunting the dog, one will never really know.
The same really holds true in almost every other area. Natural ability is the name of the game, because that where the genes come in to give one a dog that is genetically programed to hunt.
e genes are there to be passed on to the pups for the same natural ability. A dog that truly loves the water is almost always there in a German dog. Why? Because for over 150 years every single dog bred had to love the water, and those genes are passed down. Retrieving as well, German dogs are naturally strong retrievers, loving to retrieve a ball or bird back to the master.
Many of our tests for American GSPs have absolutely no water work, and many don’t even have retrieving, there is no tracking, and no fur what so ever.
The year 2020 is just around the corner and what do we find going on in the German Shorthair world in the United States of American?
The U.S. has every conceivable shape, color, type, and form of German Shorthair imaginable. We have shorthairs from backyard breeders to well established kennels. We have 5 well established Kennel Clubs, and many organizations. There are old type DKs, to modern type Pointers, and everything in between. There are big ones, and small one, liver ones and black ones, water dogs and prairie dogs, Versatile dogs and field trial dogs. The U.S. has dogs that will see months of hunting each year, to dogs that will never step foot in a field. We have dogs for the show ring, and dogs to show off. Dogs for the couch and dogs for the kennel. You name it, and the U.S. has it.
When we talk about German Shorthairs we need to talk about hunting. When we talk about hunting with the GSP, we need to talk about versatile hunting dogs, so here goes.
We know that the GSP was designed to be a versatile hunting dog, first and foremost that’s the way it was, and that’s the way it needs to be.
The U.S. has hunting to the 9th degree, and the U.S. has Shorthairs in every form. However, it’s safe to say that the majority of Shorthairs and Shorthair breeders have other things on their mind besides hunting. It’s no surprise then that the versatile hunting Shorthair of the past has lost its versatile hunting genes.
Not all is lost however, because there are still many versatile hunting dogs, and all that is needed by the breeder is an intelligent search. It’s not as hard as it was a few years ago, before the era of computers.
It is difficult for most American breeders to see the reasoning behind breeding versatile Shorthairs in the type of the German designer. In part because there are fewer versatile hunters. Why should one breed for a water dog when they themselves do no hunting that requires water? The same goes for tracking, or fur such as rabbits, much less fox or cat.
If by chance a breeder decides to breed toward the old standard then a few paths can be taken.
One might join the DK Club and have not only versatile dogs available, but mentors willing and able to help. Other options are to find old school lines, and breeders who are breeding them. Even if such breeders are not themselves utilizing the versatile genes within their dogs, does not mean that they are not there hidden to be released and utilized.
A breeder could just purchase German dogs, or American Versatile breeds and mix and match until the goal is reached. The North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association is a big draw for many who want good water work, and upland skills in their dogs. Many don’t want or fill the need to go any further than a dog that can hunt upland birds and loves the water. Ducks and Pheasants for many.
I feel I’m getting a little bogged down, but the need to goes on continues. You might be thinking, but are not all German Shorthairs Versatile? No, of course not, is the answer. Almost all will hunt, but not all are versatile. Some lines are high strung nervous types that want nothing more then to run, run all the time, and run big, run far, and run somewhere you are not at. Some lines are going on 50 years with no demand for water work. They simply don’t care a lick about water. Many lines were also not chosen for their natural love of retrieving.
Why you may ask, did the above happen? In part because of the improper naming of the Shorthair a pointer, and or the thinking of many that the Shorthair was only a pointer, and that the only game of a Shorthair being that of upland birds. The first choice of Dr. Thornton was the classification of Pointer Retriever, but he was told to pick one, so Pointer it was. In the UK, they Shorthairs started out also in the classification of Pointer, but soon change to Gun Dog, so as to design the testing formats toward what a Gun Dog was required to do. Then they were in the class of other Gun Dogs and not big running Pointers.
NAVHDA came along after much of the harm had already been done. At least NAVHDA started many people thinking, training, and testing in the right direction.
The other miss direction as I see it was the largest Shorthair club in America heading in the wrong direction. The German Shorthair Club of American is tied in with the largest Kennel Club in America, and many American breeders believe that all things Shorthairs came via these to clubs. It’s like nothing else in the rest of the world regarding Shorthairs mattered, or was even know.
So, the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of America and many of its members headed whole hog after the Pointers. Pretty soon even water work was discontinued, as well as in some cases retrieving. There was no need for water, or tracking because that’s not what Pointers do. What do Pointers need to do? Even that has changed. At one time, Pointers could do water work and natural retrieving. But that changed big time, with the love of so many for big run.
Remember before NAVHDA, and the DK Club, or even NSTRA, there was the German Shorthair Club, and the Field Dog Stud Book, and all things Shorthairs seed to point to the Pointers. Americans being what we are, we want to win, so it was with our Shorthairs against Pointers. Let’s beat them at their own game.
But what was the Pointer game in the past is no longer the Pointer game of the present. Once even the Pointer was a dog for foot hunters. Not only did the Pointer change but they seemed to drag the Shorthair along with them.
I am a big fan of the Pointer breeder Robert Wehle, the breeder of the Elhew line of Pointer. Wehle was a performance-based breeder who place the top value on genetics making up what the dog would become. Every breeder in my opinion should read everything that Wehle wrote.
I said this before but it is worth repeating:
As the top Pointer breeder Wehle seen the need to slow the run of the Pointer. Putting run before everything else was not the right path. Wehle in his own words wanted to breed Pointers for foot hunter.
Wehle, is his own words said the young Turks won the day, and the development of the Pointers as a breed would be bigger run.
What does this have to do with Shorthairs? For the Shorthairs of the German Shorthair Club of American wishing to get a field trial championship, everything. Step for step, and big run for big run, we match the Pointer. We wanted to keep up and we did, and we did it at the cost of Versatility.
We wanted Pointer run, and we got Pointer run, and the rumor is that we got a Pointer. It is somewhat unspoken that many breeders bred heavily to Pointers, and of course they bred to big running Pointers. It has been reported that some just cut the tails off Pointers and registered them as Shorthairs. Now with DNA testing we can clearly see the Pointer e color gene. Also, we are getting lemon shorthairs which is the Pointer coloring coming out.
If you have been following up to this point, you have seen that adding Pointer is not the end of the world. If you have versatility in mind, and you are breeding for versatility, you can breed the Pointer in, and then continues subsequent breeding toward versatility.
That is not what happened with our field trial shorthairs, so we lost the versatility, in many cases ended up with a big independent running dog, that pointed great, backed great, has a great cardiovascular system, and can find birds. In essence we got a pointer. What we lost was a love of water, a close working dog, a dog with a natural retrieve, and a partner in the field. Many would say also a dog that is not good on fur, and who can’t track. I have not seen the last two, they seem to be fine on fur, and their nose is good enough for tracking.
This is what I have found in my own personal experience: As a general rule, modern German dogs either imported or from breeders who are breeding DKs here in the U.S., are great water dogs, as good as Labradors. The German dogs have a great love of retrieving and love to hunt. Some have a stronger point than others, many seem to have a weak point, and strong drive to chase. They are very sharp meaning they are willing to grab any pray and kill it including porcupines. The are loving, and kind. They do seem willing to hunt out further then expected. They range from build that can run all day, to a bigger stockier build that has less in the cardiovascular area. The German dogs cross well with any American dogs, and when crossed with an American dog the pups seem to improve the German dog, and often are better than the American dog as well.
The older American lines that are heavy in German imports, and free of American Pointer field lines are excellent versatile hunting dogs, lacking in nothing, with loving temperaments.
There are American versatile lines that are also excellent versatile hunting dogs, both good in the water, and good on land. They lack for nothing.
American field trial lines that are believed to be heavy in pointer are the dogs that go back to Moesgaard Ib, Dixieland Rusty, Clown, Slick, LB, etc. If it’s white and runs big, and has all field trial champions in the pedigree it probably fills the bill. These dogs run big, and independent, but not always totally independent. The are most often hunting in a different location then the hunter. They point fantastic, back other dogs great, and have a wonderful cardiovascular system and can really cover some ground, but like I said, often in an area where you are not at. They most often do not have a very good natural retrieve, and most often have to be force broke, or forced to retrieve. The often have too be sent to a professional trainer to be fully utilized by the hunter. One Arizona bird hunting guide told me that this type of dog is useless to him, because the dog is like a shaken up can of pop.
Not all is lost with the American field trial line of dogs, but the breeder needs to understand a few things if it’s versatility that they are after. If one wants only an upland bird dog for the wide-open spaces, and in a horse of four-wheeler is involved then this line of Shorthairs maybe fine, or even perfect, or preferred.
It seems obvious but I will put it out there anyway. It will pretty much be an impossible task to get to Versatility with American Field Trial dogs by breeding them together. You have to step away! You can find versatility within the first breeding if the FT dog is breed to any type of versatile dog, be it pure 100% DK, or any American Versatile hunting dog. The prize is in the selection of the pups. I know two breeder who breed AFT dogs to German DK dogs and love what they get. I find that cross, as well and the cross with American Versatile dogs, or older American lines work fine if you don’t pick out the pups that are white field trial looking. Or another way of saying it, is pick out the pups that look like the versatile parent. The next, and subsequent bleedings should be with the pup you picked out to other versatile lines, only after the pup you picked out proved to be versatile.
The problem that I found and the reason I abandoned this type of breeding is that it’s a waste of time and not only adds a step that is un-necessary, but I ended up with white FT looking pups that no one wants to buy, and that I can’t guarantee to be versatile, or even like the water.
Let’s touch on show dogs. I have only had a couple of pure show dog lines where every dog in the pedigree was a show champion. I believe our show dogs are better hunting dog then some other breeds hunting lines. The ones I have had love to hunt, are bird crazy, and point fine, they even liked the water. The build in some can be a little bulky, and one I had died early with no apparent cause. Most show people don’t hunt, a few hunt test or are involved in NAVHDA, but only as a passing.
Our friends who show have outstanding Versatile dogs, that have great hunting lines, as well as German lines that they picked up while in Germany. After talking to them they seem to be the exception, not only are they down to earth, but they work hard to have well rounded dogs. They in fact do so much with their dog like dock diving, barn ratting, hunt testing and hunting. What I did not like about what they told me was the back stabbing, snobbish people, who seemed to care little about the other showing. Also, the inability for good dogs to get their show championship in certain area. I always thought it was a shame that a good show champion hunting dog was unable to get its dual championship because it was unable to beat the AFT Pointer type dogs.
While we are going let’s touch on some other areas. NAVHDA groups, are there to help the breeders breed versatile hunting dogs, there is no doubt about it. The people that I met going through the Judging part of NAVHDA were extremely nice, and real helpful, and loved their dogs. I have heard from friends of other NAVHDA groups of being rode. I’m sure that is the exception.
For many people including those who are not accomplished hunters, or have no where to hunt, I’m sure NAVHDA is great. No better than the people who are running the group trying to help others. But the groups are few and far between and meet usually only once a month. The tests are expensive, and may or may not tell the breeder what they should already know. I do like the emphasis that is placed on water, and you can’t do good in NAVHDA without your dog doing good water work, and that’s genetic. I more than once thought about opening a chapter in our area thinking it would help others.
However, there is noting that NAVHDA can tell and experienced hunter or breeder.
I could go on about ever testing and trialing out there but I’m sure you get the idea.
The number one truth of the matter is that if you are going to breed a versatile hunting dogs you need to be a versatile hunter. Not really anyway around it. You also better have a pretty good idea in your mind of the perfect versatile hunting dog. Remember that a versatile hunting dog is bred, and comes genetically programed to do all that is required of a versatile hunting dog naturally, with little training.
Let’s take one more look at what a Versatile German Shorthair looks like. First, we want a dog that is loving, that loves to hunt, and wants to hunt anything from lizard to lions. We want or dog built strong and fast, who loves the water, not just likes it, but loves it. We want our dog to have a natural point, and back, and want to work with us and that always knows where we are, we want to hunt with our dog, not for our dog. We want a strong natural retrieve, the kind of dog that will retrieve a ball all day and comes back for more. A fearless dog when engaging a fox or cat. We want a smart dog that loves us. This great dog should be able to track anything form a bird to a wounded deer.
A tall order for sure, a dog that many before us devoted their lives to perfect, and dog that has been passed to us, and now we have the responsibility to carry the breed as found and pass to the next generation.
One last thought, does a breeder of Shorthairs have the obligation to breed versatile dogs even if they themselves will not be utilizing the versatility?
A lofty goal, because up until this time there was no such dog. The exact date of the beginning, or start of this breeding goal is not known. However, we do know it was many years before the first German Shorthair was registered in a breed book in 1870. c
Independent breeders were breeding for this goal of the perfect hunting dog, and at first there was no clear goal of how to achieve it. Many wanted to keep the look of the old German Pointer, and others were not as concerned about the look, but wanted the performance.
It seemed clear that all wanted a hunting dog that could find and point birds, and retrieve them to the owner. They all wanted a water dog that could retrieve both wounded, and killed birds from the water, as well as track down and find water birds that made it to the rush, or land. Very important would be for their hunting dog to have the ability to track, or trail a wounded animal and retrieve it back to hand. The German dog must also be able to track down and kill if need be, such animals as cats and foxes. Of, course they wanted a dog to hunt, point, track and retrieve rabbits. They knew they needed a medium to large dog for the hard work that was going to be called upon it. To tackle a large deer, bring back a duck or goose, as well as having the power and size to dispatch a cat or fox.
The goal became to have their versatile hunting dog not give way to a pointer while hunting upland birds, track and trail as good as a hound, retrieve from land or water, fur or feather as good as any retriever anywhere. The Germans wanted a heathy dog that would live a long time, as well as a dog who would, and could hunt all day if need be and be able to cover a lot of ground with little effort. They did not want a slow plodding dog, but a well-built master of all things hunting, that brought pleasure to the eye.
The Germans also wanted a loving family dog who could live in the home, and that was calm when not hunting, and under control when hunting.
Thankfully that even 200 years ago there were many types of good hunting dogs to blend from, because a blending of hunting dogs would be what it was going to take. We should also take note that many of the types of dogs that we know of today were not exactly the way we think of them back then.
For example, even though a pointing dog, and a hound dog back in the early days were specialty dogs, they were expected in most cases to work in the water, and retrieve if need be. A spangle of the day was a better retriever than a pointer, and thus after the point, the pointer might be made to watch while the spangle retrieved. That said they pointer and hound of the day were both more versatile than we think of our pointer and hound of today.
When the making of the German Shorthair was begun it was not unusual for kennels to have large numbers of dogs of all hunting type, and the master of the kennel would use which ever breed was most suited for the game at hand. However, the German population was changing and it is easy for us to identify, because most American hunter have only one type of hunting dog, to do the job of what ever hunting the hunter enjoys.
This is the reason the German Shorthair is so appealing to many American hunters. One dog to hunt everything, is just appealing to many American hunters as it was, and still is to so many German hunters, and other hunters around the world.
How did the Germans do it? They started with a goal of what they wanted, and then refined that goal as they went along. Then when the matter of looks was addressed many wanted the look of the somewhat mythical German Pointer, with its head type and rounded ears, etc. and many headed in that direction, and thus some really good dogs were rejected at first, not because of how they performed, but based on how they look.
The first turning point in the early breed development was credited to Prince Solms’ belief that “Form follows Function”, or as Seiger translated in his book: “Through Efficiency To Type”. Meaning simply that if a dog can do it, then the dogs form (Structure) if good. There are however certain looks, and structural build of dogs that the Germans came to believe that the Shorthair should look like, but in all case the dog must be able to function the task at hand, weather running, swimming, trailing, etc. The one look that was rejected was the pointer head with a stop. They wanted none of that look.
Having the goal of the perfect hunting dog, able to complete all hunting tasks, the Germans continued toward their goal.
At first there were many types of dogs used in the make-up of the breed, pointers, setters, hounds, etc. There were some long-haired types, blacks, reds, browns, orange, in combination with white, and from solid to ticked. The blacks were discarded, and then reintroduced. Other colors besides browns were also discontinued, as well as all long hair. The long hairs would continue in the German Longhair breed.
Good working dogs remained the goal, and a complicated texting format would come to play an important role in the development of the breed. An often overlooked, to modern Americans was they lock step development of the breed by the Germans, where Americans are often very independent, the Germans were very much on the same page, and working together in all areas of the Shorthair.
The truth is the German’s still are, and they are testing their dogs very much like they did in the early days. The difference if any maybe in the amount of hunting and what is being hunted in Germany today as compared to early days. What is staying the same is the focus on the same areas deemed important in the past. A great nose for finding game and tracking, bird finding, and pointing, great water work, and great natural retrieving, the ability to find game, via a track or trail. Good build, and the ability to cover a lot of ground white hunting. The ability to work with the hunter, and a great family dog. The Deutsch Kurzhaar Club, and there is a branch in North America has worked diligently for well over 100 years to produce the perfect versatile hunting dog.
I want to keep this as short as possible, so you get the shortest version I can give.
The Germans, both did and did not shy away from pointers. They did not want a simple pointing dog, but a much more complex hunting dog was their goal. They did however see the virtues of the pointer. There were at the time of development, Spanish Pointers, French Pointers, A German Pointer, and blends of these pointers. The pointer came in the form of very refined, to being quite heavy and even houndlike. They came long tailed and tails that were docked. They came is just about every color, from solid liver and black to roaned ticked like a modern shorthair. The pointers came in a verity of color and the common preferred color of today, liver and white was not the common color of the day.
We know that some of the early lines were pointer crosses, and they became quite popular with the early breeders. However, it is quite important that it be understood, that it was not the pointer type or the pointer that was important. No breeder of the time wanted a pointer, they only wanted what they perceived as an improvement in an area such as head up off the ground while hunting birds.
Two areas where the Germans believed the Pointers failed were, tracking, and sharpness, or killing of cat or fox. These being so important to the Germans, that the use of Pointers as a main cross was highly fronded upon by most breeders. However, that being said, and even though by the early 1900’s the breed type was extremely strong and set, there would be another infusion of Pointer. One on purpose, and the other probably by accident. Neither was probably needed, but they did no harm, and in the purposely added pointer, much was gained.
As this came to be, the most influential leader of the breed who would guide the breed info the future was there to help things along. This being Dr. Paul Kleeman who the KS title is named after. Dr. Kleeman would be instrumental in the changes of the Derby, and so other advances or changes as well.
But the Pointer influence, would come through Mars Altenau and Artus Sand. Two of the greatest producers of the breed at the turn of the century. The third leg as we know it would come from the famous English Pointer breeder, William Arkwright in the form of solid black Pointer.
Both Mars Altenau and Artus Sand are reported to have good pointers as grandsires. Artus Sand has some pointer characteristics of looks, but lacked for nothing in his working abilities. Outstanding in water, trailing and tracking, field work and sharpness on game. Mars Altenau not only had outstanding versatile performance, but looked the perfect look, and form.
In the attempt to kill a few birds with one pointer type, Christian Bode the breeder of Mars Altenau made the arrangements. This is how Georgina Byrine explains it in her book: “Der Deutsch Kurzhaar The German Shorthair Pointer”. “Many of the early liver dogs were rather pale in color and had light eyes. In addition, there was a perceived weakness in air-scenting ability in the breed. In the early 1900s, a number of concerned breeders, prominent amongst whom were Christian Bode, the breeder of the “”Altenau”” GSPs and his friend and associate, Max Waechter of the Wach GSPs, re-introduction in the form of solid black “”Arkwright”” Pointers. This introduction was made in the hope that both pigment and “”high nose’’’ would be improved. Herr Bode’s business interests took him to England where he would have had the opportunity to see the Arkwright Pointers working, and perhaps to meet Mr. Arkwright himself, so it may have been arranged by Herr Bode for Dr. Waechter to acquire his Pointer bitch, Beechgrove Bess.
The black Pointers included Killian von Kanatsche, listed in the 1924 as “”Schwarzer Pointer (Arkwright-Stamm) a.d Zwinger des Grafen v Starzenski (“”a black Arkwright-bred Pointer from Count Starzenski’s kennel”” ) In addition, an article printed in the 1934 studbook mentions “”several dogs from the East Prussian Kanoten line””.”
Georgina goes on to tell how these black Pointers were bred to GSPs. The she quotes a 1934 article in the shorthair studbook. “Due to the performance of such dogs as Angus v. Schwarzatal who is eight generations distant from Beechgrove Bess and inbred to the great Mars Altenau, and Tim Alenau, who is said to be “”only one part Point to 512 parts GSP”” and to others even further removed prom the Pointer Outcross, it is time they are recognized as true shorthairs””.”
Herr H. F. Seiger the author of: “The Complete German Shorthaired Pointer” makes a compiling argument that the later black Pointer crosses did little or nothing to improve the field performance of the GSPs, that the Shorthairs of the time were already excellent in their work. However, he did go on to state that Dr. Kleeman who was a proponent of the in cross of black Pointer was correct in his belief of the in cross, not because of the improvement of breed performance, but for the black color giving improvement in both eye and skin pigmentation.
As we can see, the breed is well established by the 1920s, and by the 1930s all tinkering was finished. The following should be quite interesting to many!
Herr H. F. Seiger’s book “The Complete German Shorthaired Pointer” was published in 1951. It was written in English by German breeder, Seiger, and Dr. F. Von Dewith-Colpin. It was the first book written about the Shorthair. Seiger had breed 7 KS German champion dogs. Seiger started his kennel in 1924 and was a friend of Dr. Paul Kleeman who was at the helm of Shorthair development in Germany. Seiger was there first hand, and involved the development of the breed during his time. Let’s think carefully about what Seiger had to say in his book about the German Shorthair up until 1950.
Seiger states in his book: “That our Shorthair so far as performance in field-work is concerned has not improved during the past 20 years. However, there is no need. It is a tremendous amount of work that has been achieved in the past 20 years relating to equality in all performances and enhancement in trailing and water work. Where today, might one still meet a dog that hesitates to dash into the water? But if so then a wrong treatment of the pupil is obvious at first glance. The majority however, will bounce with a long jump into the wet element.
And what about trailing? So often we experience, that all the contestants in a Solms finish the 500 meters rabbit trail in such an elegant consciousness, that none of them can be denied the rating “”very good””. Are those not heart stirring statements?
Quite certainly. Yet they should not invite us to rest on our laurels. With such steady increase of the quality of our dogs goes equally in line as ascent of our demands! Our terms for acquiring championship are getting more and more stringent, one could even nearly say harder. This policy has even been kept in 1948/1949, despite the many vast gaps in our breeding stock, occasioned by a multitude of coincidences of the past war. Nevertheless, only the very best stock appears to us to be good enough for breeding. The native breed is determined to maintain such principle, since its high standard has remained unequalled so far.
Despite that, we do know the difficulties to be encountered in order to defend the place that has been taken. If to be maintained, alert watchmen have to be on the look-out and we should never get tired.”
Amazing, or is it? By the year 1950 the breed had been in development for over 100 years. Many breeders making it their life work. What an amazing dog we were given here in the United States. An Ever use dog.
1925, the same year Winchester came out with the 270 Winchester, Dr. Thornton became interested in the GSP after reading an article in the National Sportsman. “I saw an article with three pictures of Eduard Rindt’s GSPs” he later wrote. This is the year Dr. Thornton started his kennel with the purchase of Senta.
About the time Sieger was writing about the Shorthair in Germany, Dr. Thornton has this to say about the Shorthair in 1953. After 25 years with the Shorthair in America Thornton had this to say. I will touch on a few highlights of Thornton’s writing.
Dr. Thornton: “The German Shorthaired Pointer exceeds all that I had ever expected to find in one dog, and then some to spare. Senta was as near human as a dog could be, did most unpredictable things. As a retriever she could have competed in a class of retrievers taking all breeds as they come. I have never yet seen her equal. On all upland birds she was equally good and on ducks she would sneak, crawl or do everything she could to get a point them for you. Saw her one time work a winged mallard for thirty minutes in slush ice during a blizzard until the duck died. On another occasion she trailed a winged cock pheasant over a mile through wild roses, brier brush and everything he could find trying to shake her. This bird had a thirty-minute start on her.
John Neuforsthaus was the fourth dog I imported. Brains like a man and he used them.” Thornton goes on to tell of how great the dog was on livestock and in other areas including keeping peace in the kennel, killing cats in the wild, but never at home.
Thornton goes on: “I have pictures of Fritz retrieving wild geese out of the Snake River when he was nine months old and the river was full of slush ice. Fritz knew we did not kill hen birds and soon learned when he was pointing hens to back off and go on with his hunting. If a hen flushed wild on him, he paid no attention to it but if a cock bird flushed, he would stop, look back at you and bark and bawl like a hound telling you that it was no fault of his, that the bird mush have been a coward.”
When Thornton was asked what was needed to improve the breed, he stated that to many in the U.S. were breeding to other breeds and registering them as pure GSPs.
Thornton had at one time 23 brood matrons as he called them, and 4 imported stud dogs. He raised over 200 litters. Remember the Irish Setter he said, they went to showing them, and forgot their bird work, and now they not good bird dogs.
Thornton ended his article by writing: “Now that my shooting days will soon be over, I can sit beside my fir place and reminisce form memory’s halls many pleasant hours spent with the greatest gun dog ever produced-the German Shorthaired Pointer.”
The information of Dr. Thornton was taken from “The New Complete German Shorthaired Pointer” by Robert H. McKowen, published 1998.
What did Jack Shattuck have to say in the 50s? His dog Rusty v. Schwarenberg the first of our Dual Champions. Writing to a young Don Miner: “retrieving on duck and capably handling upland game. This is what the breed is meant to do. It is not meant to be a wind splitter, but is as close to the ideal as a man can get with a pointing dog to follow on foot. It is not entered in the Big trials for Pointing Dogs because it is not bred for that. It is a top shooting dog. That is why its trials are run with birds to be killed and retrieved”
The above was taken from Bede Maxwell’s book “The New German Shorthaired Pointer” first printing 1982. Maxwell would go on to say: our fist imported Shorthairs to the USA were as the originators had made them, dogs for following on foot, capable on fur or on feather, retrieving from land or water, cold trailing, able and willing to deal with a stray cats, intruding foxes, even to treeing a coon. Later we Americans would need to follow our GSPs on horseback to keep up.
Shorthairs Maxwell would go on to say cannot as yet outrun top Pointers but they are getting on towards there, this in many instances by grace of radical structural change not always to be counted admirable, but there it is in front of one’s eyes, often the very spit and equivalent of the competitive Pointer stock that suffered hound cross improvements in earlier decades under much the same pressures of competition.
Maxwell makes a good point when she goes on to explain, that Shorthairs in all other parts of the world are required in field competition to demonstrate skills suited to the dog for the foot following utility minded hunter. Not necessarily a slow poke, a smart moving dog is always preferable but one that does not call for following on horseback. In Germany, at the great trials, everyone walks.
It should also be noted that water work was and still is in most countries called upon for a field title. The UK has Gun Dog Trials and versatile breeds to not compete in Pointer trials.
In 1968 I was 10 years old, and my father and his buddy shot a young buck in the grape vineyard where we lived. The buck was only wounded and was beyond their capability to find. They went back to the house and got a solid liver German Shorthair, and I was able to tag along as well.
I watched as Jack was put on the track of the deer, probably some blood as well. I watched Jack work along the rows of grapes until he got the young buck up. I watched Jack go into high gear and he got the buck by the neck and forced it down. That was a half century ago but is clear in my minds eye.
Jack was a wonderful dog in every manner. A dog that legends are made of, but for a young boy he was a friend. At five or six, I would walk out of the house and play with Jack. This was in town, and he was tied up like so many dogs of the day. We were always glad to see each other. Later Jack would go and live in the country where he could roam and hunt at will, and never to be tied up again. Jack loved to retrieve a stick, and I loved to throw it for him. I would throw it over the deer fence into the vineyard, and Jack would jump up and pull himself over. Greatest thing ever.
I would roam the fields for miles with Jack and watch him hunt. Jack loved to hunt. I grew up hearing, and later as an older man would once more hear all the stories of Jack from my dad, and his friends. Jack was famous for tracking down deer, which he would either bark until you got there, or come back and lead you to the deer. Great in the water on ducks, a great natural retriever, and one fantastic pheasant dog. Back in the day when the Sacramento valley had great pheasant hunting.
Keep in mind, that our family is a family of hunters. My dad’s friends, as well as mine are hunters. The German Shorthair is a hunting dog for hunters. We, our family, and friends had many different breeds of hunting dogs when I was growing up. Plenty of Labs, Springers, Beagles, Hounds, etc... Many were good to great at what they did, but only the German Shorthair was the Jack of all trades. Later I would also have police dogs, and site hounds. But Jack was a Top Dog around very good dogs.
Jack is the reason I later re-turned to German Shorthairs; without Jack I would have never been interested in German Shorthairs.
I’ve led the reader to what the German Shorthair was designed to be, then I showed that they really were that dog. A hunting dog that would point and back like the best Pointers, with nose up, or on the ground. Hunting with, and for the foot hunter. A water dog for retrieving game, birds or fur from water. A tracking dog for tracking down wounded game. A treeing dog that is good on fox or cat. Not so much the big cats or bear, but jumping and treeing a fox, wild cat, or bobcat on a day’s hunt. A great rabbit dog, that can point, flush, track and retrieve a rabbit. An excellent quail, grouse, or pheasant dog.
What do we have today in the Great USA? The question is a fair one, but is a long one to answer. The short answer is everything conceivable in a German Shorthairs.
We have every type of breeder, every kind of breed club, every type of trial and test, All kinds of different groups. It’s like America itself, and everyone, every breeder, every group, every club, every trial and testing format thinks they are the best and that no one else knows what they are doing. We have Facebook groups dedicated to every aspect of everything Shorthair, from DKs, to Showing, from blacks to liver only, from breeding to puppy sales, from hunting to dock diving.
Much to often everyone is an expert, and only their opinion is worth listening too and everyone not agreeing with them is to be chastised.
I don’t know how complicated I want to make this, but let’s see where this goes.
At first there were only German dogs. They were versatile hunting dogs for the foot hunter. Some however could and would run very big. What to call these new dogs from German seemed clear, a Pointer. They were close to being a retriever, because that’s also what they were, but Pointer tipped the scales, and the American Kennel Club said pick a name so the German Shorthaired Pointer was picked.
So, for both the Field Dog Stud Book, American Kennel Club, United Kennel Club they became Pointers and competing with other Pointer breeds became the name of the game. At first there was some emphasis placed on retrieving, and water, but as the other Pointer breeds moved toward bigger running dogs, so did the German Shorthair Clubs, the biggest being the German Shorthaired Club of America, which is the mother club for the AKC.
A lot of other groups came on the scene. The National Shoot to Retrieve Association, has aligned with the United Kennel Club, which in an American Club like AKC, nothing to do with the United Kingdom. The NSTRA is a fast running trial where the dogs are paired and compete for planted birds in a 20-acre field. The dog points the bird, the hunter shoots the bird and the dog retrieves the bird. The dog that finds the most birds is suppose to win the event. The NSTRA has evolved to an event where almost all dogs are extremely fast-moving dogs who cover a lot of ground.
North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association. Open to all versatile hunting dog breeds. The club was formed by a German who wanted testing somewhat like the Germans used. No where close to the comprehensive testing of the German Club. The club has a heavy emphasis on water work which is a good thing because most other clubs don’t. They have a duck search, and bird hunting section, as well as a short track. The young dogs are judged on natural ability, and they must retrieve. The problem with natural ability, is the shading between natural and trained. The retrieve is not focused on natural retrieve, but most often on forced. The water work however does force a breeder to breed for good working water dogs which is a huge plus. NAVHDA does have a versatile championship that a dog can get. The dog must be very good to get this title, the founder of the Group however was not a fan of the VC believing it had little to do with breeding hunting dogs.
There a field trials in FDSB, and AKC that are focused on huge running bird finding events where mush of the emphasis is placed on run and style, and must be followed on horse back to keep up with the dogs. The dogs are always moving forward, and ground coverage is the name of the game. The great Pointer breeder of the Elhew line, Robert Wehle once tried to get these Pointer trials, and the Pointer breeders to stop breeding always for more run. Well his advice fell on deaf ears; the Pointers got more run and the Shorthairs matched their run step by step.
The truth is I never even heard of or knew anyone who field trialed.
There are other field trials that are similar to horseback style, but without the horse, and where less ground is covered, the emphasis is still placed on run and style.
A trial is most always run in braces with one other dog. Hunt tests are running often without another dog, but ran against a standard.
The American Kennel Club, Master Hunter, hunt test is probably the most common hunt style test. The dog must hunt, find a bird, point steady, and hold the point while the bird flushes, and can’t move until the shot is fired and the dog is released.
The Germans have come to America, and now we have the North American Deutsch Kurzhaar Club. I am acquainted with the past and present breed masters, and have only a small working knowledge of the club. I have seen one Derby, and even though I have studied the history of the Shorthairs which the testing is covered, I must say is still remains somewhat a mystery of all the DK Club does. The mother club is the same club that has always been in Germany, and is the same club that developed the breed. The rules remain the same, as the Derby, and Solms, Tracking, etc. The demands of the club remain strict, controlled, and complicated, but that said the standard and focus remains the same, to breed versatile hunting dogs to a high standard. The highest title in the Deutsch Kurzhaar club is the KS.
Each of the breed clubs with the exception of NAVHDA have dog shows where German Shorthairs can become show champions.
There are other events, such as dock diving, obedience, barn ratting, water retrieving titles which was unavailable to Shorthairs for many years, therapy dog, tracking titles, Junior Hunter, Senior Hunter, and the list goes on.
What is missing from all the above, and what many of these tests, trials, and events were meant to measure is? You may have guessed it, Hunting. First and foremost, the breed is a hunting breed. Without hunting the breed becomes the participant of events, tests, shows, and trials.
The sports of trap, skeet, and sporting clays were invented to simulate wild bird shooting, and in case of the sporting clays even a rabbit running on the ground. Most hunter have engaged in these sports; many bird hunters find them fun and even useful. They are used in the off season to help shooters stay sharp. They are used and very helpful in introducing new shooter, children and ladies to handling and shooting shotguns. The help in understanding leads, break points, and follow through, as well as gun safety. Trap, skeet, and sporting clays (5 stand, and field) are so popular that many give up bird shooting altogether or never even take up the sport of bird or rabbit hunting.
Our family once ran the Sacramento Valley Shooting Club, and I was also a member of two other clubs, and the State Director in the SCTP for kids in skeet and sporting clays. I also shot in the Police and Fire games and became so proficient that I broke the Western States Sporting Clays record with a score of 94.
But did that translate into superior wild bird shooting. Absolutely not is the answer. It helped in some cases, like when a quail flew over my head from behind me. The #1 station in skeet, but overall no.
Here’s why in part. A clay target or clay pigeon as it is often called is release from a clay target thrower under great spring pressure. When it is released it come out about as fast and it’s going to go, and then gravity starts to work on the clay target and it’s slows down until it hits the ground unless it is busted with a load of shot. At times the target is very fast, at the beginning, and midway through flight, then it slows down to almost nothing, and lands on the ground.
Birds on the other hand start of slower than you might think, and gain speed as they go, and don’t often slow down until they are will out of range. Often the sound of the birds makes them seem even faster than they are really going. That is in the case of quail and pheasants.
Then there are dove, which can give you all sorts of crazy flying acrobatics. You better be keeping a close eye on them. There is no drought about it, dove take some time to learn to shoot, and get proper muscle memory. You are not going to learn to shoot them from sporting clays, trap or skeet. The sports will help, but there is no substitute for real dove hunting. The same goes for ducks.
I remember just after a lot of clay target sports, I headed to South Dakota. There were so many pheasants, hundreds of wild pheasants a day. Dusty was working great, and big cocks were getting up off of nice points and I was missing close shots. The leads for clay targets were much more than was needed for pheasants and I was shooting in front of them. It took a while to get the hang of things, but once more proves there is no substitute for shooting wild birds. You simply must shoot wild birds.
The above is the best example that I can give to compare hunt tests, trials, and events to real hunting. Many tests, trials, and training can help your hunting dog to hunt, no doubt about it. They however cannot take the place of hunting wild birds.
Here are a few areas that they can help. Get your pup on some pigeons or quail, and shoot around the pup. Let the pup get excited about birds. Plant some and let him hunt some. I have no problem with that. It’s not needed if you have plenty of wild birds, but it does not hurt, and may often help.
That said, I remember getting a dog that was older that came down from the former DK breed master. The dog could retrieve a fox over a fence, find and point beautifully planted bob white quail. He was a big dog that loved the water and loved to retrieve. He loved to hunt, and hunted with me. He however, never found and pointed a wild Gambel quail. Even though for a year I got him into quail. There simply is no substitute for hunting wild birds, and probably at a young age.
I have many such stories, and breeders need to be honest with themselves and understand the whole picture. So many times, I hear breeder, testers, and trialers state beliefs that just don’t hold water.
One is the statement that you must only breed dogs that will improve the breed, and of course it’s their type of dog that will get that done. Even though other breeder can and will give a good argument as to why the breeder who thinks they are improving the breed, is in fact moving the breed in the wrong direction, and we will get to that.
Let’s just take an example and look at the whole picture. A Master Hunter, sounds great. Can’t argue with a dog that has a master hunter title. The dog finds, points, and hold the point on a planted bird until after the handler shoots the bird and then the dog goes out and retrieves it to hand. If he does this so many times, he is a master hunter, and behind his registered name are the letters MH.
The question is he really a master hunter? And if he is a master hunter can he find wild birds. The answer is absolutely, maybe! He maybe a great hunter, but all we really know about the title is the dog can do what was required in the test. He can find planted quail, not hard. He was taught to hold a point; we don’t know how good of a natural point he had. He was taught to hold the point even while the shooter shoots the gun. So, we know he can be trained, which is a good thing.
We know the dog can retrieve to hand, but we don’t know if he has a natural retrieve, he most assuredly was force trained to retrieve, like almost all trial, and tested dogs are.
Things we don’t really know: Does he have a love for water, does he have a natural retrieve, can he track game, does he really have a great nose, how does he naturally range, can he find wild birds, how is he on fur, can he kill a cat or fox, can or will he tree a cat or fox, what will he really pass on to his offspring? Will he learn to handle wild birds, is he really smart? What is his temperament like with people, other dogs, and pups? What does he do naturally? Does he naturally retrieve, point, and back? Does he have natural faults that have been trained over like following, or barking. How does he naturally compare to the GSPs?
As you can see, the test does not even come close to telling us if he is really, a Master Hunter. He may have it, or he may not have it. Without living with, and hunting the dog, one will never really know.
The same really holds true in almost every other area. Natural ability is the name of the game, because that where the genes come in to give one a dog that is genetically programed to hunt.
e genes are there to be passed on to the pups for the same natural ability. A dog that truly loves the water is almost always there in a German dog. Why? Because for over 150 years every single dog bred had to love the water, and those genes are passed down. Retrieving as well, German dogs are naturally strong retrievers, loving to retrieve a ball or bird back to the master.
Many of our tests for American GSPs have absolutely no water work, and many don’t even have retrieving, there is no tracking, and no fur what so ever.
The year 2020 is just around the corner and what do we find going on in the German Shorthair world in the United States of American?
The U.S. has every conceivable shape, color, type, and form of German Shorthair imaginable. We have shorthairs from backyard breeders to well established kennels. We have 5 well established Kennel Clubs, and many organizations. There are old type DKs, to modern type Pointers, and everything in between. There are big ones, and small one, liver ones and black ones, water dogs and prairie dogs, Versatile dogs and field trial dogs. The U.S. has dogs that will see months of hunting each year, to dogs that will never step foot in a field. We have dogs for the show ring, and dogs to show off. Dogs for the couch and dogs for the kennel. You name it, and the U.S. has it.
When we talk about German Shorthairs we need to talk about hunting. When we talk about hunting with the GSP, we need to talk about versatile hunting dogs, so here goes.
We know that the GSP was designed to be a versatile hunting dog, first and foremost that’s the way it was, and that’s the way it needs to be.
The U.S. has hunting to the 9th degree, and the U.S. has Shorthairs in every form. However, it’s safe to say that the majority of Shorthairs and Shorthair breeders have other things on their mind besides hunting. It’s no surprise then that the versatile hunting Shorthair of the past has lost its versatile hunting genes.
Not all is lost however, because there are still many versatile hunting dogs, and all that is needed by the breeder is an intelligent search. It’s not as hard as it was a few years ago, before the era of computers.
It is difficult for most American breeders to see the reasoning behind breeding versatile Shorthairs in the type of the German designer. In part because there are fewer versatile hunters. Why should one breed for a water dog when they themselves do no hunting that requires water? The same goes for tracking, or fur such as rabbits, much less fox or cat.
If by chance a breeder decides to breed toward the old standard then a few paths can be taken.
One might join the DK Club and have not only versatile dogs available, but mentors willing and able to help. Other options are to find old school lines, and breeders who are breeding them. Even if such breeders are not themselves utilizing the versatile genes within their dogs, does not mean that they are not there hidden to be released and utilized.
A breeder could just purchase German dogs, or American Versatile breeds and mix and match until the goal is reached. The North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association is a big draw for many who want good water work, and upland skills in their dogs. Many don’t want or fill the need to go any further than a dog that can hunt upland birds and loves the water. Ducks and Pheasants for many.
I feel I’m getting a little bogged down, but the need to goes on continues. You might be thinking, but are not all German Shorthairs Versatile? No, of course not, is the answer. Almost all will hunt, but not all are versatile. Some lines are high strung nervous types that want nothing more then to run, run all the time, and run big, run far, and run somewhere you are not at. Some lines are going on 50 years with no demand for water work. They simply don’t care a lick about water. Many lines were also not chosen for their natural love of retrieving.
Why you may ask, did the above happen? In part because of the improper naming of the Shorthair a pointer, and or the thinking of many that the Shorthair was only a pointer, and that the only game of a Shorthair being that of upland birds. The first choice of Dr. Thornton was the classification of Pointer Retriever, but he was told to pick one, so Pointer it was. In the UK, they Shorthairs started out also in the classification of Pointer, but soon change to Gun Dog, so as to design the testing formats toward what a Gun Dog was required to do. Then they were in the class of other Gun Dogs and not big running Pointers.
NAVHDA came along after much of the harm had already been done. At least NAVHDA started many people thinking, training, and testing in the right direction.
The other miss direction as I see it was the largest Shorthair club in America heading in the wrong direction. The German Shorthair Club of American is tied in with the largest Kennel Club in America, and many American breeders believe that all things Shorthairs came via these to clubs. It’s like nothing else in the rest of the world regarding Shorthairs mattered, or was even know.
So, the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of America and many of its members headed whole hog after the Pointers. Pretty soon even water work was discontinued, as well as in some cases retrieving. There was no need for water, or tracking because that’s not what Pointers do. What do Pointers need to do? Even that has changed. At one time, Pointers could do water work and natural retrieving. But that changed big time, with the love of so many for big run.
Remember before NAVHDA, and the DK Club, or even NSTRA, there was the German Shorthair Club, and the Field Dog Stud Book, and all things Shorthairs seed to point to the Pointers. Americans being what we are, we want to win, so it was with our Shorthairs against Pointers. Let’s beat them at their own game.
But what was the Pointer game in the past is no longer the Pointer game of the present. Once even the Pointer was a dog for foot hunters. Not only did the Pointer change but they seemed to drag the Shorthair along with them.
I am a big fan of the Pointer breeder Robert Wehle, the breeder of the Elhew line of Pointer. Wehle was a performance-based breeder who place the top value on genetics making up what the dog would become. Every breeder in my opinion should read everything that Wehle wrote.
I said this before but it is worth repeating:
As the top Pointer breeder Wehle seen the need to slow the run of the Pointer. Putting run before everything else was not the right path. Wehle in his own words wanted to breed Pointers for foot hunter.
Wehle, is his own words said the young Turks won the day, and the development of the Pointers as a breed would be bigger run.
What does this have to do with Shorthairs? For the Shorthairs of the German Shorthair Club of American wishing to get a field trial championship, everything. Step for step, and big run for big run, we match the Pointer. We wanted to keep up and we did, and we did it at the cost of Versatility.
We wanted Pointer run, and we got Pointer run, and the rumor is that we got a Pointer. It is somewhat unspoken that many breeders bred heavily to Pointers, and of course they bred to big running Pointers. It has been reported that some just cut the tails off Pointers and registered them as Shorthairs. Now with DNA testing we can clearly see the Pointer e color gene. Also, we are getting lemon shorthairs which is the Pointer coloring coming out.
If you have been following up to this point, you have seen that adding Pointer is not the end of the world. If you have versatility in mind, and you are breeding for versatility, you can breed the Pointer in, and then continues subsequent breeding toward versatility.
That is not what happened with our field trial shorthairs, so we lost the versatility, in many cases ended up with a big independent running dog, that pointed great, backed great, has a great cardiovascular system, and can find birds. In essence we got a pointer. What we lost was a love of water, a close working dog, a dog with a natural retrieve, and a partner in the field. Many would say also a dog that is not good on fur, and who can’t track. I have not seen the last two, they seem to be fine on fur, and their nose is good enough for tracking.
This is what I have found in my own personal experience: As a general rule, modern German dogs either imported or from breeders who are breeding DKs here in the U.S., are great water dogs, as good as Labradors. The German dogs have a great love of retrieving and love to hunt. Some have a stronger point than others, many seem to have a weak point, and strong drive to chase. They are very sharp meaning they are willing to grab any pray and kill it including porcupines. The are loving, and kind. They do seem willing to hunt out further then expected. They range from build that can run all day, to a bigger stockier build that has less in the cardiovascular area. The German dogs cross well with any American dogs, and when crossed with an American dog the pups seem to improve the German dog, and often are better than the American dog as well.
The older American lines that are heavy in German imports, and free of American Pointer field lines are excellent versatile hunting dogs, lacking in nothing, with loving temperaments.
There are American versatile lines that are also excellent versatile hunting dogs, both good in the water, and good on land. They lack for nothing.
American field trial lines that are believed to be heavy in pointer are the dogs that go back to Moesgaard Ib, Dixieland Rusty, Clown, Slick, LB, etc. If it’s white and runs big, and has all field trial champions in the pedigree it probably fills the bill. These dogs run big, and independent, but not always totally independent. The are most often hunting in a different location then the hunter. They point fantastic, back other dogs great, and have a wonderful cardiovascular system and can really cover some ground, but like I said, often in an area where you are not at. They most often do not have a very good natural retrieve, and most often have to be force broke, or forced to retrieve. The often have too be sent to a professional trainer to be fully utilized by the hunter. One Arizona bird hunting guide told me that this type of dog is useless to him, because the dog is like a shaken up can of pop.
Not all is lost with the American field trial line of dogs, but the breeder needs to understand a few things if it’s versatility that they are after. If one wants only an upland bird dog for the wide-open spaces, and in a horse of four-wheeler is involved then this line of Shorthairs maybe fine, or even perfect, or preferred.
It seems obvious but I will put it out there anyway. It will pretty much be an impossible task to get to Versatility with American Field Trial dogs by breeding them together. You have to step away! You can find versatility within the first breeding if the FT dog is breed to any type of versatile dog, be it pure 100% DK, or any American Versatile hunting dog. The prize is in the selection of the pups. I know two breeder who breed AFT dogs to German DK dogs and love what they get. I find that cross, as well and the cross with American Versatile dogs, or older American lines work fine if you don’t pick out the pups that are white field trial looking. Or another way of saying it, is pick out the pups that look like the versatile parent. The next, and subsequent bleedings should be with the pup you picked out to other versatile lines, only after the pup you picked out proved to be versatile.
The problem that I found and the reason I abandoned this type of breeding is that it’s a waste of time and not only adds a step that is un-necessary, but I ended up with white FT looking pups that no one wants to buy, and that I can’t guarantee to be versatile, or even like the water.
Let’s touch on show dogs. I have only had a couple of pure show dog lines where every dog in the pedigree was a show champion. I believe our show dogs are better hunting dog then some other breeds hunting lines. The ones I have had love to hunt, are bird crazy, and point fine, they even liked the water. The build in some can be a little bulky, and one I had died early with no apparent cause. Most show people don’t hunt, a few hunt test or are involved in NAVHDA, but only as a passing.
Our friends who show have outstanding Versatile dogs, that have great hunting lines, as well as German lines that they picked up while in Germany. After talking to them they seem to be the exception, not only are they down to earth, but they work hard to have well rounded dogs. They in fact do so much with their dog like dock diving, barn ratting, hunt testing and hunting. What I did not like about what they told me was the back stabbing, snobbish people, who seemed to care little about the other showing. Also, the inability for good dogs to get their show championship in certain area. I always thought it was a shame that a good show champion hunting dog was unable to get its dual championship because it was unable to beat the AFT Pointer type dogs.
While we are going let’s touch on some other areas. NAVHDA groups, are there to help the breeders breed versatile hunting dogs, there is no doubt about it. The people that I met going through the Judging part of NAVHDA were extremely nice, and real helpful, and loved their dogs. I have heard from friends of other NAVHDA groups of being rode. I’m sure that is the exception.
For many people including those who are not accomplished hunters, or have no where to hunt, I’m sure NAVHDA is great. No better than the people who are running the group trying to help others. But the groups are few and far between and meet usually only once a month. The tests are expensive, and may or may not tell the breeder what they should already know. I do like the emphasis that is placed on water, and you can’t do good in NAVHDA without your dog doing good water work, and that’s genetic. I more than once thought about opening a chapter in our area thinking it would help others.
However, there is noting that NAVHDA can tell and experienced hunter or breeder.
I could go on about ever testing and trialing out there but I’m sure you get the idea.
The number one truth of the matter is that if you are going to breed a versatile hunting dogs you need to be a versatile hunter. Not really anyway around it. You also better have a pretty good idea in your mind of the perfect versatile hunting dog. Remember that a versatile hunting dog is bred, and comes genetically programed to do all that is required of a versatile hunting dog naturally, with little training.
Let’s take one more look at what a Versatile German Shorthair looks like. First, we want a dog that is loving, that loves to hunt, and wants to hunt anything from lizard to lions. We want or dog built strong and fast, who loves the water, not just likes it, but loves it. We want our dog to have a natural point, and back, and want to work with us and that always knows where we are, we want to hunt with our dog, not for our dog. We want a strong natural retrieve, the kind of dog that will retrieve a ball all day and comes back for more. A fearless dog when engaging a fox or cat. We want a smart dog that loves us. This great dog should be able to track anything form a bird to a wounded deer.
A tall order for sure, a dog that many before us devoted their lives to perfect, and dog that has been passed to us, and now we have the responsibility to carry the breed as found and pass to the next generation.
One last thought, does a breeder of Shorthairs have the obligation to breed versatile dogs even if they themselves will not be utilizing the versatility?