German Wirehaired Pointer Club of America

[Gary S.]

Hello all,

Been reading many of these postings and there is alot of really good info here, Thanks.

I am starting to do my research to find my next hunting companion/family member. And I'm looking to hear from anyone, within a 6-8 hr drive from south central Wis, with there Puppy experiences, good or bad, If you had a bad experience I want to know those too. If you can please include kennel/breeder names and contact info, feel free to email me privately if you don't feel comfortable posting it. Because of a previous experience, I am the type of person who wishes to visit a kennel for myself along with contacting others customers for satisfaction results, which is why I'm looking within a 6-8 hr drive.

What traits I'm looking for:
1- Sociable, good family member, our family consists of my wife and I, 3 girls (age 11,8,& 2) and 11 yr old Springer (Gunner)
2- Good hunting traits, Versatile, I am NOT looking to start breeding pups or EVER participate in any type of field trials, but I do hunt upland game, waterfowl, everything Wisconsin has to offer.
3- Good health records/guarantees, Gunner, my 11 yr old Springer, was an excellent hunter and still is a great companion and family member but unfortunately at age 6 we started noticing a problem, upon review with our vet and a follow up by a canine eye specialist, Gunner was diagnosed with Canine Retinal Atrophy which is a hereditary eye disorder, which left him completely blind 2 yrs later. This is something I do NOT want to go through again.

These are my 3 main criteria which all are equally important, also I'm an average person with an average income, I can not afford spending $1500, on the other side I understand you can't expect much for $200 either, I expect to pay a resonable price, and I'll leave it at that.
Timeframe is not in my criteria, if I find the right pup tomorrow great, but if it takes a year to find the right one that's what it takes.

Thanks for the time and space, hope to hear from you.

Gary Shruck
Fairwater, WI

[Dave1967]

Gary If you have been reading through these posting you have come across a few threads that listed a few no go kennels and a number of recommended ones. An additional resource is the kennel listing by breed in the Versatile Dog Web page at URL
http://www.versatiledogs.com/
They also have a pretty activity message board. Another resource is the VDD/GNA web page at
http://www.vdd-gna.org/
Since you said that you were not in a hurry I would suggest that you contact the local NAVHDA and the VDD/GNA and see if you can make it to any of their meetings or testings. This would give you an opportunity to see some dogs in action and talk to owners and breeders.

Hope this will be of some help.