Meet'Stubs' Our Sire

I was lucky enough to find Stubs in an ad. His owners are fabulous to work with. Stubs Is AKC registered Champion Bloodlines. He lives on a dogs dream farm. I found him to be very obedient. Also, loved how he would heal on my left side. This caused problems with getting pictures. But, I see it as a very important trait. Stubs is an avid hunter and a proven sire.

June 18 2010, Rose starts to bleed, she is in heat. I didn’t want to have puppies right away after her first litter. It has been two year, we are ready to do this again. First thought, I need a sire. This time we are doing it right! It helped that the hubby was out of town. Then accidents are less likely to happen. Of course, I got his permission before I breed his dog.

Rose was bred on June 27th. I was not sure if it caught. Only signs were the bleeding subsided and she was tired. Sleeping all the time, very abnormal. I wasn’t sure tell week five. Rose got a little swollen and her appetite went south. I started her on vitamins as soon as her heat started. That, and spoiling her with canned food seemed to help. All and all, she has had a healthy pregnancy.

We are now moving into week nine. Puppies can come any day now. Rose sleeps most the day. Our whelping box is ready. I was going to go with a swimming pool, but found boxes to work fine. Rose already finds comfort in it. I think the height on the boxes makes her feel safe, like hiding. She has also been packing around a stuffed animal. Our poor mail lady was also scared this morning by her protective bark. The natural instincts are kicking in. The vet has been called,we are ready, now we just wait.

When I started this blog I started looking for the owners of this litter. I was lucky enough to get a couple responses. Because it is just not common to keep in touch when the person you bought your dog from. I just wanted conformation that Roses’ puppies continued to be healthy. Remember, this litter was a mix breed of German shorthair pointer and a wirehair pointer.

My first contact was Wayne. He and his wife are a young couple with small children. He took one of my females. His dog does live inside and outside of there home and he said she does very well in both environments. When I ask if her hair got wirehaired he informed me that she looked very much like a short hair. Wayne has a love for the bird hunt. Having a good dog makes the hunt that much more fun.

My other contact is Jim and Lisa . I was completely intrigued by there enthusiasm when they came to pick there puppy. They even played fetch with Rose, and enjoyed her spunk. Jim was full of questions, so I gave him my email address. This made contacting them easy.

My first response from Jim after he took home his girl.


'I thought GSH's were very independant. This pup wants to be played with or held ALL the time. She loves sitting & sleeping w/ my daughter. She's going to fit in well with our family. Thanks for a great dog.' Jim





'Hi Sherri. Here's the latest pic of Gretel. She's a great dog & growing fast, her feet are huge! She eats twice a day, about 1 1/2 cups each time. Devours it all in two minutes. Really smart too- very easy to train if you stay consistent. How did you make out with the rest of the litter? Sell them all or did you keep a couple? Thanks again for a great dog.' Jim


She is getting big, I see you got the AKC duck toy. That is a great one, Rose loves her duck. I’m thrilled she is doing so well for you. Our last puppy left us today, it was sad to see her go, but I feel they have all gone to appropriate homes. Their appetite was getting huge, we defiantly upped there morning and evening meals here also. Gretel is a sweet name, the girls love the pictures. Thanks for the updates. Take care, and have a lovely weekend.

~Sherrie

Two years later I sent an email back to Jim. This was his response, with pictures, fabulous!



Hi Sherri,
Jim passed along your email to me since I had some good pictures of Gretel. I will send more but I wanted to make sure you got this one first and I had the correct info. We all adore her!!! She is so cute and full of energy. Quite the crack up too. She has a better army crawl then most soldiers and is the fastest Dog in the park no one comes close to her she is all legs. When did her Momma stop being so hyper? Thanks for thinking of her good to hear from you. Again let me know you get this and I will send a few more pictures.
Lisa





Wirehair, and all legs.





--- On Sat, 8/21/10, wrote:

Subject: Gretel Pics

'Hi Sherrie. Here's a couple more. Gretel thinks she's a mountain
goat as well as a Ferrari. We have a chocolate lab that live behind us. Gretel & him check each other out
regularly. Great Blog.' Thanks, Jim


I love your analogy!! We always think of Rose like a deer, because of her graceful sleek run. Also, the way she can bound over the fence to get her frisbee and jump right back. Luckily, she only does this when she must have her toy. I can also see Ferrari and mountain goat working well. ~ME

Deciding that I truly enjoyed this breed, I wanted to share with others. Rose already had a heat once. She was past the age of two it was time to breed her. The only problem with this is that it was Bird season. Trying to tell the husband to keep his dog home during the bird hunt is impossible. On January 12, 2008, Rose gave us our first litter of puppies.

Most of the puppies took on Roes' Characteristics. One out of the whole litter looked wirehaired like there sire.

My favorite hunting picture ever. Kid and pheasant. Pheasant is the main bird my husband hunts with Rosie.





The kids love to help her find what she sees in the bushes.


If there is any type of animal hiding in the bushes, Rose will find it.






Rose loves to run with the kids.






"Sit Rose"



Unusual affection towards cats.




This is a Tom cat we adopted. My husband found him in rain storm,very young, possibly 4 weeks old. Rose raised Halloween, it was her cat.






Rose playing dress up with my girls.

There are a few items I would recommend for a new owner of a German shorthair pointer.

#1 most important item this dog needs.





An lively family member. My husband is a former Marine. He continues to stay active hunting, running, and hiking. He is the perfect companion for this breed.














German Shorthairs want to Run, walking takes some training. At first glace people think a Halti is a muzzle, but it is far from. It puts light pressure on a point just above the dogs nose. This reminds them to stay back and not pull. After working with Rose with it for a while the kids were able to walk her.






Link for more information on the Halti.



http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=875



Very few toys will live for long with Rose. One Christmas we got a package of AKC toys. Nothing we have had has lasted longer then that duck and squirrel. AKC toys are hard to find in stores, there are lots of knock offs. The AKC brand is well made, and worth the price.

Investing in a good large dog Kennel is a must if your GSP will be living inside with the family.  We only used ours the first two years with Rainbow Dash.  The Kennel should be used only as a sanctuary, not a punishment for your puppy.  It must be a place where they can feel safe if you want it to work. Do not feed your dog in the kennel.  Sometimes we would give Dash a raw hide to chew on to help her calm down in the beginning.

First Question to ask
What is a German Shorthair?
Wikipedia, a great place to start.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Shorthaired_Pointer#References




AKC MEET THE BREEDS®: German Shorthaired Pointer
A versatile hunter and all-purpose gun dog, the German Shorthaired Pointer possesses keen scenting power and high intelligence. The breed is proficient with many different types of game and sport, including trailing, retrieving, and pointing pheasant, quail, grouse, waterfowl, raccoons, possum, and even deer. A medium-sized breed, he has an aristocratic bearing and can be solid liver or liver and white in color.

A Look Back:
The origin of the German Shorthaired Pointer is not clear, but the source of the breed seems to have been the German Bird Dog, related to the old Spanish Pointer, and various crossings with local German scent hounds and track and trail dogs. When the Germans introduced the English Pointers to lend elegance to the German Shorthaired Pointer prototype, the result was a utility dog that combined sporting virtue with clean lines, good looks and sound temperament.

Temperament:
The Shorthair is friendly, intelligent, and willing to please. The first impression is that of a keen enthusiasm for work without indication of nervous or flightly character.

Right Breed for You?
The German Shorthaired Pointer thrives as part of an active family. He is an even-tempered, intelligent and loyal family watchdog that has enthusiasm for its work. An athlete, he can adapt to his living situation, but requires consistent exercise. The GSP’s short coat sheds, but grooming is minimal.

Sporting Group; AKC recognized in 1930.
Average size: 55 to 70 pounds and 23 to 25 inches tall at the shoulder.
Gun dog, family pet.
© The American Kennel Club, Inc.





This was the first book I picked up on the breed. It was is informative about its temperament, and health. It did not give information on training for hunting.