what is

Purposeful

Breeding?

Why we Breed

While we’ve recently been exploring the show world with our breeding animals for two years, having a GSP isn’t new to us.

Our love of the breed extends back almost two decades with our first GSP Ruby. It isn’t just the energy level, but the character that draws us to the breed.

Activities

The German Shorthaired Pointer (GSP) is one of the most versatile hunting dogs, able to point, retrieve, and hunt a variety of quarry.

As breeders, we have several avenues that we can or currently participate in.

Conformation

Conventionally known as the term dog shows, conformation is the prospect of proving that a dog conforms to the standard as established by the governing body for the breed. In the dog show ring, it’s important to note that dogs aren’t being compared to each other. Each dog is compared to the standard. The goal is that as we prove our dogs to conformation judges, then we can be assured that our puppies will also conform.

In Canada, the CKC establishes that standard and can be found here:

Highlights:

Here are some excerpts from the CKC list.

Size

Weight: Dogs, 55-70 lb. (25-32 kg) Bitches, 45-60 lb. (20-27 kg)
Height: Dogs, 23-25 in. (58-64 cm) Bitches, 21-23 in. (53-58 cm)

Coat and Skin

The skin should look close and tight. The hair should be short and thick and feel tough and hard to the hand.

Colour

Solid liver or black, liver and white or black and white spotted, liver and white or black and white spotted and ticked, liver and white ticked or black and white ticked, liver or black roan.

General appearance

The over-all picture which is created in the observer’s eye should be that of an aristocratic, well-balanced, symmetrical animal with conformation indicating power, endurance, agility, and a look of intelligence and animation.

Currently, we are proving our animals in Canada and in the United States.
Check out the results from our dogs.

Obedience

Over time, dogs have moved from the field to the home.

In response, obedience trials have been designed to test a dog’s suitability as a good companion. The gamut of tests start at sit, stand, stay, and recall and range up to retrieval and scent detection.

Agility

Watching a dog run through an agility course is exhilarating. A handler calling out as a dog races through the weave poles or over a teeter-totter. The agility course is designed to test all the skills of the dog, regardless of their size. GSP’s are a perfect fit for the agility course. Their physique, speed, stamina, intelligence, and biddability are in finely tuned harmony allowing them to excel at jumping and climbing with ease.

We look forward to setting up our agility system soon.

Field trials

Originally bred as hunting dogs, GSPs are perfect for finding game and ‘pointing’ their bodies toward that game.
Once flushed out, the GSP will fervently retrieve the game for the hunter. In our 5-year plan, our second generation of puppies will begin their field trial testing at a young age. Not only will this take skills for the dogs to point and retrieve, but they need to be taught to be gentle with the game and be desensitized to the environment and loud sounds.