San Antonio, TX
ph: (307) 751-7822
alt: (605) 641-2800
idawireg
Buying a puppy from Idawire
Our puppies go to their new homes when they are 8 to 10 weeks old. They will have their first vaccinations and will have been wormed multiple times prior to leaving for their new homes.
You may come pick-up your puppy in San Anotnio, or we can ship your puppy to you on a commercial airline. We can ship puppies out of San Antonio, Austin or Houston. If you decide to ship your puppy, you are responsible for additional expenses associated with shipping the puppy, including: actual airline cost for shipping, crate, and veterinarian health certification. These prices will vary, depending on where the puppy is shipped, and which airline is used. We can give you a rough estimate of what these costs will be.
Our puppies are used to eating and sleeping in a crate by the time they are 8 weeks old, so traveling (by air or automobile) is not very stressful--the most upsetting part of the trip for the puppy is that it is no longer with its littermates!
We do not require the new owners to put titles on their dogs. If the owners want to participate in one of the many events, show or field we completely support that; BUT, it’s not a requirement. We feel that once the owner has purchased a puppy they do not need to be pressured into spending many thousands of dollars with training, and campaigning a dog to benefit the breeder. The most important thing for us is that you love and enjoy your dog. If you take your dog hunting please tell us how they are performing. That is by far the best information we can get to use for future generations. We feel the pups should have the natural abilities that you can hunt them with minimal training and you will be very happy with the way they perform in the field.
To reserve a puppy, we require a $200 non-refundable deposit. (Deposit goes towards purchase price of puppy.) We accept checks or Paypal.
Please contact us for additional information or to reserve a pup!
If you haven't looked at a lot of pedigrees, looking at a pedigree can be confusing. But, if you know what things stand for, than a pedigree can give you a lot of information.
When looking at a pedigree, the two dogs farthest to the left are the parents. Those dogs' parents (the puppy's grandparents) are the dogs that will be slightly to the right, both above and below each of the parents. Those dogs parents (the puppy's great-grandparents) are the dogs that are indented the next tab over. The sires/males are traditionally listed on the top, while the dams/females are listed on the bottom. We have labeled the first 3 generations of this 4-generation pedigree to help.
The other thing that can be confusing when reading a pedigree is all of the initials at the beginning and end of the names. The initials usually stand for different titles the dogs have earned in competition. So, here are some of the titles listed in our pedigrees
In Front of the name:
DC--Dual Champion (This dog is a field champion and a show champion. To us, this is the ultimate achievement)
CH--Champion (This dog has a show championship)
NFC--National Field Champion (This dog won the German Wirehaired Pointer National Field Championship--another outstanding title!)
NAFC--National Amateur Field champion (This dog won the German Wirehaired Pointer National Amateur Field Championship--and 3x means she won it 3 times!)
FC--Field Championship (This dog earned a field championship. This is a tough title to earn, and a dog has to have many outstanding performances in field trials to win this title.)
AFC--Amateur Field Championship (This is the same as a field championship, except the dog was handled by and competed against other dogs handled by amateurs--no professional handlers are allowed to compete for this title)
BIS--Best in Show (This is the ultimate win in dog show competition. Best in Show at an all-breed dog show)
BISS--Best in Specialty Show (This dog won a dog show that was GWPs only in competition--this is usually a very prestigious win, since many of the top GWPs compete at specialty shows.)
After the name:
JH--Junior Hunter (Beginning hunt test level--tests for natural ability)
SH--Senior Hunter (this mid-level hunt test requires tough training and natural ability)
MH--Master Hunter (this is the ultimate hunt test level, requiring natural ability and outstanding training--this dog should be considered the ultimate hunting companion)
CD--Companion Dog (this is the beginning level of obedience competition)
Of course, there are many others, but we have only included those that can be found on this pedigree. Also, pedigrees are typically color coded--red for champions. We like to indicate blue for field champions and purple for dual champions, which we believe are the ultimate title, and need to be color-coded accordingly.
We dock the tails on our puppies when they are 1-2 days old, using the "banding" method. But, we no longer remove the dew claws on our puppies when we dock the tails. We have seen very interesting research showing that dew claws are actually very useful to the dogs, and removing them can lead to injuries for active dogs. (click here to see a good article on the physiology of dew claws)
And, here is an interesting video showing the usefulness of the dew claws for dogs working in the field.
Great stories written by Tom about his hunting experiences with GWPs!
Copyright 2004 Idawire German Wirehaired Pointers. All rights reserved.
San Antonio, TX
ph: (307) 751-7822
alt: (605) 641-2800
idawireg