Sires & Dams

Our sires and dams are rigorously selected based upon their hunting initiative and persistence. Also heavily weighted in the breeding selection process is natural good manners and a cooperative nature. Our ideal dog is a diligent and persistent hunter in the field, is cooperative and easy to train, and is pleasant to have around the house or on a trip to the store. Most breeders strive for the hunting drive, but many do not sufficiently weight the cooperative nature and tractability.

The trait of high desire to please and being attuned to people is also extremely valuable in the dog's working environment:

Gundog
Gundog should be a pleasant hunting companion who is not difficult to maintain to a high degree of obedience. The hunter should not have to get a phd in dog training in order to train and maintain the good manners in his dog. We selectively breed for those manners and the eager-to-please attitude

Scent Detection Dog
The explosive detection dog should be an eager and persistent hunter of his target odors. He also should be obedient in manner and easy to maintain to a high state of training performance.

(1)If he is working for a law enforcement agency, he will frequently be performing in the public eye. The target odor usually emanates from an object that will explode upon a jarring touch. Therefore the explosive detection dog must be under control and must convey the attitude of professionalism. Since most police officers are not highly experienced dog handlers, they need a dog that works diligently and maintains obedience and good manners without a heavy maintenance training program. They need a dog that is naturally obedient.

(2)If he is working for the military, he will probably be working off-leash out to 200 meters. He will be searching structures, areas, and vehicles, and performing route clearance. The handler will be a GI who is not an experienced dog man. That GI handler needs a hard working dog the is easy to keep under control and that has a high desire to please.

Disaster Search Dog
The typical Disaster Search Dog has a volunteer handler. The handler is a firefighter or policeman or civilian who probably does not have an excess of dog training skills, but needs for his dog to stay obedient and under control in very trying circumstances and environments. The dog must operate independently often out of sight in collapsed structures, must be under control because of hazards and who must be efficient and thorough in his search. Lives depend on him and lives can be lost in minutes wasted by inefficient searching or the dog being out of control. Thus a tractable nature and predilection toward compliance to people are very valuable in a Disaster Search Dog.

We raise and develop approximately 100 puppies per year. Thus we get a good look during the development phase at most of the offspring of our sires and dams. We can see first hand which litters have the fast learners, the persistent hunters, and those of cooperative nature. This allows us a great deal of responsiveness in focusing the breeding and selection program upon the core values of hunting persistence and tractability.