Slide Girl

Some of our friends say we are crazy, some days I agree. We started in 2000 by getting a new breed of hunting dog. A pointer, to be specific, a German Wirehair Pointer. One of the first things you notice about the GWP is their coat. They have a double coat, a short tight one then a longer wirey coat with facial features. Eyebrows, beards. We call them our bearded ladies. Some family members call them ugly..........WELL!!.....lol......hey there is a company making money off that description... you can buy t-shirts that say " I hunt with an ugly dog." So there......lol......

My DH had such a good time hunting with Daisy Mae ( Joe's Lil Daisy Mae) that after 4 years he wanted to double the fun and hunt two dogs at once. Enters Pepper (CH Proulx's Hot Shot Pepper). Daisy and Pepper have two different hunting styles, so this was not working very well...........after a year of storing telling (whining) I decided I needed a dog, to share with DS #2. I knew of an upcoming breeding that I was very interested in, the Dam's hunting style was very similar to Daisy and the Sire was Daisy's brother. June 5, 2005 the litter was born. Only two pups, but one was a full liver (coat) just like her mother. Perfect, I was falling for this pup immediately!

Look Closely both pups are there with mom.

The two pups were given names after the Dam's favorite ice cream, Hot fudge and Dublin Mudslide. Nicknames Fudgy and Slide...... Oh they were just the cutest!!!

They got weighed in daily and how cute is this, eyes and ears still closed.

They grow so fast and at three weeks they were introduced to the outdoors, a wonderful landscaped area with a stream bed. These two pups had free run over this for the next three weeks, giving them an amazing experience. It was fully fenced so no way to wonder off or let other dogs in. Just a watchful eye out for hawks and Eagles.

I think Slide was looking a bit like a Char Pei at this age. With only two pups to share in the feeding she was very healthy girl.

Growing fast and getting cuter everyday.

Slide and Fudgy were so bonded to each other it was sad to separate them. They had a special place to grow up and they were so fun to watch. But like all animal movies, you know the good ol Disney ones, times change and nothing stays the same. LOL.......I have learned first hand, don't raise two pups together....even though at this time I would have ignorantly done so.....

We brought "Slide Girl" home with us and Fudgy went to live with a family in California. Lucky girl, two veterinarians with two children. Fudgy's name is now River and she has a very good life.

Slide Girl, Black Pearl's Treasure JH, was named after a theme in the breeders home. The Dam's name was High Seas Smuggler, JH. About this time Pirates of the Caribbean was out on DVD, I love the story and Johnny Depp's not bad either!!! LOL... So this is how she got her AKC registered name and we still call her Slide.........hmmmm. I deferred to my son, who loves her too. I was thinking Pearl would be cute, but alas......she already responded to Slide and I was just being a girl......not a practical dog person......lol..

We had a lot of fun introducing her to the one thing she was bred for.........bird hunting. She was just having a blast. One of our first trips was to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon.

She did great and we were seeing she was going to be that hunting mate for Daisy Mae.
At least as far as we were concerned, Daisy had other ideas at first.....
Next big trip was to Condon, Oregon. This beautiful area is steep and full of Chukar. I hunted with my camera and had fun taking pictures of her on point. She was full of natural ability.
At six months of age she was honest and backing Daisy's point. I just love these young pictures of her in her orange vest. Her dark liver color made it hard to spot her and I was not wanting to loose my litte girl......
GWP's make great companions as well as hunting dogs. Hunting season is 4 months, so after the season ends we have fun being involved in new activities. AKC has programs you can get involved in and earn titles for your dog. We are involved in Hunt Tests, Field Trials, Conformation and the latest for Slide and me is Obedience. These are high energy dogs and left alone, well lets just say don't leave them alone without giving them lots of exercise. LOl........you may not be very happy if you do..... LOL... We are active in a local club, German Wirehair Pointer Club of Central Oregon, you can visit the website to learn more about the breed. There are some good links too.

This is a picture of Slide after she passed her first leg of Junior Hunter. You need to pass 4 times to earn the title. Actually not a hard task to accomplish but a good place to start with your pup, and they love having the extra bird time, and working for you.
This is not your best conformation pose or grooming but hey we were hunting......LOL....
Slide won her first Major event for conformation this past May at Walla Walla, WA at the age of three. We started showing her at 6 months and she has always shied away from the judge, so I am pleased this shyness is behind us because conformation gives me hot flashes. I definitely feel out of my elements in the show ring.

Daisy loved going to visit Slide before we brought her home, her favorite spot was watching the Coi on the cool rock. Daisy Mae is one leg short of earning her Master Hunter title.

Pepper is why or is it how we got involved in field trialing, she was a big running, long ranging girl. Joe later declared to Pepper as they lay on a bed together looking in each others eyes.....

"At first I wasn't happy with you, but that was because I didn't understand who you were." Ohhhh.....Pepper was so pleased to have her masters praise.

Ya..... who's smiling now after she took 3rd place in Derby at Nationals.... The next day she won the Futurity. OK he is definitely hooked.....

Slide playing with Jake and Casey. Enters the boys in our pack. DH has two new field trial buddies.

Jake is showing promise by placing second in his first puppy trial, he has beautiful conformation and a major win at six months old. He needs one point to be a champion. Jake came to us from a breeding that we couldn't resist.

Enters Casey, Jake was 9 months old when Casey came to live with us. Yikes, two pups at once, have mercy..........please........ don't let this cute little guy fool you...... We also loved both Dam and Sire and couldn't resist getting a pup from this breeding.......are you seeing the pattern here.....it reminds me of shopping for fabric and wool........you just have to have it.........LOl..

Yep, he is a climber just like his Dam and Sire........

Casey is fitting in well, and we love his coat. A much tighter coated dog and I won't be spending hours at the grooming table. And he is the last GWP that will be coming to live with us for a very long time.......... LOL......We will not be needing anymore for goodness sakes........LOL....

We now feel we have children again..........but we wont be in trouble for putting them in a kennel....lol....

It is hunting season so the wirehairs are very happy......right Casey!!!!! Hunt em up!!!!!

Carrie