M LITTER UPDATE

March 2011.

M Litter Information:
Average VJP Score: 70.25      
Average HZP Score: 178.5

**Our M Litter, for the most part, produced the performance and coat/conformation we had hoped for. Most of the dogs had lots of natural ability with a good bit of drive. The sire of this litter (Nero IV v.d. Kornstube) was a handsome and talented dog, with a wonderfully balanced disposition. He stayed at our kennel for several months and we witnessed first hand his beautiful pointing and field manners, his tracking ability, his quiet and friendly character, and his incredible bitability.  Everyone who saw him could not help but be impressed with this wonderful dog.

Unfortunately, unbeknownst to us, Nero had surgery for OCD when he was approximately a year old. Since the dog was being trained by the breeder at the time, Nero's owner was only told the young dog had an injury sustained during his training, and needed surgery to repair the damage. In fact all through Nero's testing career, several years of hard hunting with his owner, and during his stay here in South Dakota, he was always 100% sound with no signs of lameness. The sad fact is that Nero's condition was highly heritable, and most litters he sired produced pups that inherited this disease. Our M litter was no exception.

Things like this are normally swept under the rug, but I think it is important to tell the truth and make people aware of what should be done when these genetic problems occur.

We discussed the situation with the owners of all the M litter dogs, and a decision was made not to allow any of these dogs to be used for breeding. This was a very difficult, but everyone agreed that we couldn't risk spreading this genetic into the Drahthaar gene pool here in the US. All of the dogs will be family/hunting dogs only. We are extremely grateful to the owners of this litter for the dignity and honor they demonstrated in dealing with this heartbreaking situation. Hats off to them and their fine dogs.** 

• Micah vom tapferen Herzen: VJP 72, HZP 172, SG(10)/SG(10)
• Max vom tapferen Herzen: VJP 72, HZP 185 (12 in duck search), G(8)/SG(10)
• Margo vom tapferen Herzen: VJP 74, HZP 0
• Mimi vom tapferen Herzen: VJP 63
• Merlin Not Tested
• Mendel Not Tested