About Von Meistern Pointers

 

Rango Die Braunen Jager

Picture Courtesy of Bona’s Kennels

Although I have over 45 years’ experience with hunting dogs, it wasn’t until 1998 that we acquired the first of our German Shorthaired pointers Sable.  Sable came from a litter produced by a pair of National Field Champion Pointers. Sable was a gift from my wife, so I hadn’t done any research about what kind of hunter she would be.  Sable was a great dog at home, but not the right kind of dog for me in the field. She was super-fast and would range far and wide, which is what she was bred to do.   For the areas I hunt I needed a dog that would stay close and check in frequently.

Because of my experience with Sable, I did some research, and   discovered   that the breed had been developed in different directions, depending on the ultimate use of the dog. Example: a competitive field trial breeder tends to breed smaller/ leaner faster dogs with little to no concern for water ability.  Retrieving is not a priority in their world. These types are very independent and rangy hunters. For someone like myself who wants a foot hunters’ dog, a versatile type of GSP is the way to go.

Versatile being a dog that can hunt upland birds, waterfowl, and track and kill fur bearing animals. In Europe, a German Shorthaired Pointer bred for field trials, is actually a foot hunting type of dog. The European breeders, breed for the same qualities that American Versatile breeders, breed for. The Europeans walk at their field trails, so to breed a super-fast independent dog would be counterproductive for them.

What has all this to do with Von Meistern Kennels?  In short, these are some of the basics of what has formed my philosophy on what I personally look for in a GSP.  My goal is to own and breed the best looking, physically sound, intelligent, cooperative, prey driven, and sociable German Shorthaired Pointer I possibly can.  A dog a foot hunter can enjoy hunting behind with pride.  If you have ever hunted behind a dog who ranges into the next county, and or won’t obey, it’s not an enjoyable experience.  We don’t want that kind of dog.

Our Pointers are house raised as puppy’s and considered family members. Being house raised allows bonds to be forged and pups’ intelligence to grow, as they are exposed to much more than a kennel pup would be.

Back in 1998, with Sable, I also learned that I didn’t know much about the training of pointing dogs.  I set about learning as much as I could. I found that there are a lot of training books and videos, but most leave a lot to be desired. That is why the sections on training various skills useful to a versatile pointer owner was added to this site. The articles and blogs are intended to be as short and concise as possible, while being informative. The training articles are geared to the person who wants to train their own dog but has limited time and resources to do so.

 It was July 2014 when we were very, very fortunate to get Diamond Willows Kaiser.   We were, and still are, very excited to have Ki; as Ki’s parents are from the renown Sharp Shooters Kennel. Each and every ancestor for three generations is a NAVHDA Versatile Champion. KAISER’s lineage includes the top males and females Sharp Shooters has produced. It was the acquisition of Kaiser that really got Von Meistern Kennels rolling.      Please see Ki’s page for more information on KAISER and his pedigree.

Rango and Greta have primarily European blood lines, but each has a different outstanding American Kennel that their breeder Bona’s Kennels outcrossed to.     They didn’t use just any old Kennel line, but two of the most successful GSP field trial kennels in all of America.  Uodibar’s kennels in Hondo, TX, and Wildfire’s Shorthaired Pointers.   Success being defined as dominating the field trial circuit in the United States.

Greta has eleven GSP Hall of Fame dogs in her pedigree.  Greta’s eleven Hall of Fame dogs appear 26 times in her eight-generation pedigree.        Doree has only European blood lines. Kennels from Germany, France and Serbia contributed to her linage.  Her sire was imported from France.  He came from the respected De La Haille Au Loup Kennel.  Her mother was bred from dogs imported from Serbia.  Many of these ancestral GSP’s have Field and Show Champion titles.  Four of the German ancestors are KS titled as well as other German testing certifications in the pedigree.  All this is to show the quality, that was put into these dogs’ genetics, and are being passed on to their offspring, such as Elsa, and Hans, Raina and Ada.

Our GSP’s currently are, Greta Die Tochter Von Meistern (F), Doree Die Tochter Von Meistern (F), Diamond Willows Kaiser Von Meistern(M), Von Meistern’s Raina (F) Von Meistern’s Helga (F) and our most recent addition Von Meisterns Ivo (M) . All have the most amazing bloodlines, full of famous and titled ancestors, as seen in their Pedigrees. FYI; Die Tochter von Meistern translates as the “daughter of champions”.

Von Meistern  is German for of Champions as in descendants of Champions, for that is what, Geta, Doree and Kaiser are, and Rango was.    Our goal is to see them develop into Champions themselves.   As the dogs develop their skills and we take part in hunt tests, NAVHDA tests, and bird hunting, I will share our experiences.  All our dogs are hunted on wild birds, primarily in Iowa. We also will be working to produce superior quality puppies from select breeding.   We look forward to a fun and interesting journey with these wonderful German Shorthaired Pointers.

Please check out the other pages on our Site, there is a treasure trove of information and pictures of GSP’s

Kaiser, Doree, Raina, Helga after hunting in South Dakota.