The Deutsch Drahthaar

   The DD is considered by many to be the most versatile hunting dog in the world.  From tracking rabbits to kangaroos, pointing woodcock to pheasant, retrieving doves to seals is just a brief list of the versatility of the breed.  These highly intelligent canines can go from a peaceful house dog to a hard driving hunter in a matter is seconds.  Their intelligence allows them to think for themselves when encountering new situations seen in the field.

About our dogs:

Although our dogs will not hesitate to track a wounded animal for miles, they are typically a close working pointing dog.  We choose this type of gundog due to the heavy cover we normally encounter in the eastern part of the U.S.  Our dogs are highly intelligent and quickly learn not to chase and harass our livestock and actually become protective of them, dispatching any predator that wonders to close.  Our dogs are regularly used for many types of hunting from retrieving dove to geese to tracking coon and wounded game.  As you may very well have guessed, our dogs get a lot of upland bird hunting. 

Our Breeding:

Although we look at all the attributes of the Deutsch Drahthaar for our breeding dogs, we do insist on some of their attributes being more noticeable.  Because we do more upland bird hunting than we hunt everything else we look for exceptionally strong pointing instinct and field search in our dogs.  And because I am not always the best shot their ability to track and search relentlessly for crippled game is a must.  We insist that our dogs be friendly and cooperative with people.  Although a dogs coat is not an indication of its hunting ability, we really don't like picking burrs, so we like our dogs to not only look like a Drahthaar but have a coat that resists burrs and will keep them warm. 

Caesar

VJP categories

Pointing

Search

Nose

Tacking

Cooperation

Hunting desire

HZP categories

Pointing

Search

Nose

Tacking

Cooperation

Hunting desire

Water work

Search behind duck

Understanding breed test scores:

   When reading and evaluating scores for picking a puppy, there are several things that you should keep in mind.  The VJP is the first natural ability test that a DD will take.  In this test the dog is evaluated for the categories list to the left.  In this test the judges are evaluating the dog's natural ability and there is little the handler can do to influence the dog's scores.  For this reason we feel that this is the most importance test for the dogs breeding.  Also, rather than looking at the dogs overall score we look at the scores of each category to determine particular strengths.  One more thing while looking at scores, each dog is judged in a single day by 3 judges that may never have seen this dog before.  Dogs can have bad days and or circumstances can influence the test results so the very best test is for you to spend as much time as you can with the parents of your new puppy.

   The HZP is the second test that a DD can be evaluated on.  This test is some natural ability and some handler training.  During this test it can be very conceivable that a handler can influence the score either good or bad.  We are not suggesting that you not use this score to help you evaluate the parents of a potential puppy but to just keep this in mind as you look at HZP scores. 

What you should know before choosing a DD pup:

   Drahthaars are bred to work, so too keep them happy and content you as an owner will need to see that they have a job to do with plenty of exercise.  That job is typically hunting.  A DD that does not have purpose and formal training will find its own way in life and this will usually not be something that the owners will approve of.  We have found that formal training is a must with this breed.  Their intelligence level along with there desire to hunt will put them in a position of control if their mind is not stimulated with formal training. 

   Another thing that any puppy buyer should consider is because of there pray drive and inherited breeding, a DD will quickly catch and dispatch predators this include cats.  Drahthaars can be training to except cats but this should be done at an early age.

Meeting the Parents:

   We feel the very best way to decide on a new puppy is to meet the parents. Please contact us to schedule a time to meet our dogs.