It was an amazing set of circumstances that brought Diamond Willow’s Kaiser Von Meistern to our home. Kaiser is the product of the outstanding breeding and training program at Sharp Shooters’ kennel. Arguably, the finest, most successful Versatile German Shorthaired Pointer kennel in the United States. Diamond Willow is Joe and Janet Renfrow, who owns, raised, and trained both parents; VC SHARP SHOOTER’S MAKING THE ROUNDS ( DOC ) and VC SHARP SHOOTER’S GOING PLACES ( ABBY ). Joe was mentored by Clyde Vetters the owner of Sharp Shooters as he trained the two outstanding GSPS to their Navhda Versatile Champion title.
Here’s what happened. There was a GSPS female at the 2014 ILLIOWA Spring Natural Ability test named Trigger, from Standing Stones Kennel. ( Standing Stones Lil Miss Trigger ) I thought she was a very impressive pup and liked her temperament. So I asked the owner where the dog came from. Later I looked up the Kennel’s website and took a look at their dogs. There was a Black and White GSP with picture, named Ozzie, listed as an outside stud dog. Ozzie looked like a 11 on a scale of 1-10. The wasn’t much info on him on their website. ( Since we already have three very fine liver colored GSP’s a Black and White would be a nice addition, and add some variety to the pack.)
I had been to Sharp Shooters website in the past, but not recently. I don’t really know why but decided to check them out again. As I went down the list of stud dogs on their website, the name Ozzie caught my attention. I clicked on the page and to my surprise Ozzie was owned by someone outside Sharp Shooters. Even more surprising was that the owners email address was listed. So I emailed Brian and asked if he was going to have any litters in the near future. Brian called me and said, no plans for any litters, but his friend Joe Renfrow had a litter on the way. Brian gave me Joe’s number, and Joe was given a call. ( If you haven’t figured it out, Ozzie was the same GSP on Standing Stones website that I liked so much. )
It wasn’t very encouraging news, when I talked to Joe. He had seven people in line ahead of me, so there would have to be at least eight puppies for me to get one. I would also be stuck with last pick. Although in this case, last pick of this litter would be better than 1st pick of most litters. The problem was there was no guarantee that there would be a black and white pup left for me. Also the wife went along with getting another pup based on getting black and white. And my 14-year-old son, to whom the pup was going to belong to, wanted a black and white.
I decided to take my chances and send in a deposit. It helped that we wanted a male pup, as at least three of the people ahead of us wanted only a female pup. When the pups were born, Joe let us know there were only six puppies. However we were going to make the cut, since there was only one female! We needed at least five males in the litter to get a pup and five males is what Abby had! Now might be the time to mention that the sire of this litter, Doc ( Sharp Shooters Making the Rounds ) is Ozzie’s half-brother. ( same father )
So a few weeks pass and Joe sends us some pictures of the pups in the litter. My son and I look at the pictures of the pups and I tell him that the best looking pup in my opinion is one of the two that are almost solid white, with black spots. In fact I tell him it is such a good-looking pup that there is no way we will ever get it. Then Joe lets me know that we will probably get a brown and white ticked male. Which would be ok since it is the 2nd best looking and Joe says it has impressed him the most.
Week seven since the pups were born and its down to two. I can’t hardly believe it, the pup that I thought that would be snapped up right away was still in play. The brown and white pup went to a home in Joe’s area, so it’s down to my preference and a black and white that is heavily ticked. The ticked black and white is very independent and rowdy. So we are very happy and relived when it is taken by a young man with a bunch of kids. A lot things had to happen just right to get the pup we wanted out of such an outstanding litter. Happen they Did!
Diamond Willow’s Kaiser Von Meistern