Details on our Fall 2011/Winter 2012 breedings can be found in the announcements below. In our summaries for each parent, on the third line under each dog's name are the highest scores received in a VDD/JGHV test in the categories of Nose (N), Field Search (S), Pointing (P), Duck Track (D), and Cooperation (C). With certain exceptions, the highest score that can be obtained in these categories is 11 in the breed tests (where "very good" is scored 9-11). We've linked to slide shows of each dog next to their names in the litter announcements. You can get an idea of what they look like, and what we all do for fun. You might also want to check our "Altmoor Outings" section.
The parents of the A4 litter are Nike III vom Altmoor and Audi vom Hardwire.They also have very good test scores and breed show ratings, and are clear of the hereditary bleeding disorders. This will be Nike's fourth litter, and Audi's second. Besides exceptional temperament and trainability, we also expect this combination to produce some very good-looking pups with very-good-to-excellent coats and conformation. They will be ready for play-training and exposure this spring, serious training over the summer, and for a productive hunting season in the fall of 2012.
"A4" Litter vom Altmoor (our 79th DD litter)
Whelped 13 January 2012
3 Females, 6 Males
Ready to go home around the 1st or 2nd week of March
Dam: Nike III vom Altmoor 200018 Brsch (ML: Isarau-Auenheim-PP) Photos
VJP 76, HZP 183, HD-frei, ZR 194/06 sg/sg
N-11; S-11; P-10; D-10; C-11
vWD DNA tested - view lab report
out of vWD and CHB clear parents - view dam's lab report (Angie vom Altmoor) / view sire's lab report (Birko v.d. Fürstenruh)
Sire: Audi vom Hardwire 209449 Brsch (ML: Oeynhausen-vom Walde St) Photos
VJP 70, HZP 189, HD-frei, ZR 277/09 sg/v
N-11; S-11; P-11; D-11; C-10
VWD DNA tested - view lab report
as well as out of vWD and CHB clear parents - view dam's lab report (Duchess II vom Jagdkönig) / view sire's lab report (Feuer vom Bandorfer-Forst)
All 30 dogs on this pedigree are HD-frei and 27 have ZR ratings.
View Pedigree
Those of you who have followed how we do things at vom Altmoor have probably noticed that we never use "flavor-of-the-year" stud dogs. We don't go looking for Hegewald or Armbruster winners, or dogs with the best-looking scores "on paper". We want to avoid using dogs that are so "hot" that they can only be handled by a pro. Most importantly, we want to avoid dogs that may come with unexpected negatives. Even in the VDD/JGHV system, EVERYTHING about a dog is not reduced to paper and some negatives that might be present might not be severe enough to have been recorded - how the dog and it's parents and ancestors get along with other dogs and strangers, is it calm and relaxed in the car and around the house, etc.
Instead of paper glamour dogs that everyone else is using, we try to go with the dependable dog that we know and many of whose ancestors have been known to us. We don't want surprise problems in our litters. We want to have a super-high level of confidence that the pups we're producing are the easy-to-train, reliable-temperament family companion that the typical demanding hunter is looking for.
Nike is a product of many years of our breeding. The best way to describe her is "easy". She was easy to train, she's easy to travel with, she's an easy dog to have in the house or in the kennel, she's easy to hunt with in any type of situation, or to have with you just to hang out. Once trained, she stays that way without refresher courses - she's not one of those dogs who is always trying to pull something to see what she can get away with. If she were someone's spouse, we'd call her low-maintenance. She's totally trustworthy around other dogs as well as people. She has earned 11 in Track, 11 in Nose, 11 in Search, 10 in Pointing, 10 in Search Behind the Duck, and 11 in Cooperation.
In February of 2011, Roger took Storm III vom Altmoor to a Breed Show in Illinois. While there he met Audi and his owner, Zack Pesic. Audi immediately impressed Roger and struck him as a very good potential match for some of our girls. He was absolutely gorgeous and had exactly the temperament and demeanor we look for in our own dogs. So, some further research ensued. While Audi is from his breeder's first litter, a look at his pedigree reveals a lifetime effort on the part of the breeders of Audi's parents and grandparents. We have spent time around or judged many of them or their relatives at VDD events and have every confidence in Audi's contribution to our own breeding program. His test scores speak for themselves, and are borne out in his daily life as Zack's companion hunting dog. He has scored 11's in Nose, Search, Pointing, and Duck Search, 10 in Cooperation, and 9 in Tracking.