My Drahthaar Story
I grew up as an avid hunter. My family had Brittany Spaniels which we used to hunt upland game. They were great dogs out in the field and forest. I had always thought that when it was time to get a dog of my own, it would be a Brittany Spaniel. At the time, waterfowl hunting wasn't really part of my hunting agenda, as all of our local WMA's had flooded out and had been killed off by the rise of the Great Salt Lake. It was finally in my late teens that I added waterfowl to my growing list of animals to hunt. At that point I realized that I might need 2 dogs, one for field, and a retriever for the water. I had no idea that one dog could do it all. As the years continued to pile up, I put more thought into what type of dog to get. I had a chance to hunt with setters, which I thought were pretty darn good hunters, but their long soft coats like burrs, and that is the one thing I despised about our Brittany's growing up. I was the designated burr remover after the hunt. Some time later I was introduced to the German Short haired Pointer(GSP) and found them to be wonderful dogs to hunt behind, and as a bonus, they didn't attract burrs! At that time I was determined to own a GSP for my field work and a lab for waterfowl. Then one day while ice fishing (go figure), the friend of a friend started talking hunting. He began talking about pheasants, this transitioned to duck hunting, including cold weather waterfowling, then shortly changed to chukar hunting. He even mentioned blood tracking wounded big game animals, which being an avid archery hunter really piqued my interest! Of course I was game for just about any hunting story, but he kept talking about his dog Oz, and how much fun it was to hunt behind such a great dog. I asked him what kind of dog could do all that! He then said "the Drahthaar!" I promptly replied "the what?" I thought he was off his rocker! I'd never even heard of a Drahthaar, but after his stories, I had to know more. This was the beginning of a very long conversation about what the Drahthaar is, where it came from, and just how versatile the Drahthaar truly is. Needless to say, I was a little skeptical. How could one dog do so much so well? I was determined to know more, and began a 3 year research project on hunting dogs, especially those that are considered versatile, and how they could be so talented. I talked this friend into taking me hunting so I could see this "Drahthaar" wonder dog in action. I had to make sure he wasn't blowing smoke! We went hunting several times, and needless to say, I was impressed. At that point my mind was made up. I had to have a Drahthaar! I began researching many of the area breeders, and then narrowed my choice to 2 local breeders. I finally chose a 9 month old started dog out of the vom Red-Rock kennel, whose name was Akira.
Akira vom Red-Rock
Akira on point
I made the trip out to Duchesne Utah where I had the opportunity to hunt not only with her, but with both of her parents! At first I was quite overwhelmed, but I was able to settle my emotions and really evaluate this little female. I was very impressed by her intensity on point! She looked like she was just ready to explode! The way she moved through the cover, and the way she was when she was on birds had me sold. I was able to shoot a couple birds over her, and I just admired everything about this little pup. The next day I hunted behind her parents, and was truly amazed at how well a finished dog hunts. At the time I was able to talk to the breeder, Jon Davis, more about the Drahthaar, and the whole German testing system, which is quite overwhelming for a first time handler (You'll read much more about each test in the testing section of the website). It was a lot to take in, and at the time I was committed to take Akira to at least the 1st puppy test called the VJP. It was a great trip, and after a nice beginning lesson in some dog training, I brought Akira "home".