OUR HISTORY

Our Story!

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“Dad, all I want for my birthday is a dog!” I had to try again but knew there was little hope, as for the past 10 years I had asked for the same thing over and over. If it were for my mother, I would have a dog yesterday since she wanted one almost as bad as I did. 

But as it was, my Dad did not want a dog; he had the unfortunate luck of growing up with a weaner dog that was a tyrant and the experience still stuck with him 30 years later.

 

Switzerland is a country full of purebred dogs. It is frowned upon to see backyard breeders or get a dog from a non reputable source. And they were all beautiful - so many different breeds from all over the world - it still amazes me today going back and seeing the wild variety of dog breeds that are walked down the streets. People take their dogs everywhere, in Restaurants, on ships, some even take them skiing. Its a different dog culture - its a full on commitment!

 

Of course I had a plan, I always did! I walked every neighbourhood dog in a 2 mile radius, but since I couldn’t have a dog, my parents let me have other pets. In my childhood days I was the proud owner of guinea pigs, cats, chickens, mice (!) rabbits, frogs and different birds - looking back it would have been a lot easier to just get me a dog.

 

I was about 16 years old when I decided to step up the game and get serious; I signed up as a Volunteer with our local Avalanche dog Rescue team. 

Wow, what an experience - there were German Shepards, Labradors and Collie dogs all getting trained to become Avalanche Rescue teams. Since one had to bring their own dog there and I didn’t have one - I was the person that got buried in the avalanche to be rescued by the dogs! 

We would practice on fresh ( but determined safe) avalanches in ski regions, dig a whole just big enough for me to crawl into - equipped with a radio and lots of dog treats, they would shovel the entrance shut - at leas 3 feet deep. It was beautiful in there, a calm blue colour all around me, noises could be heard from above the ground far away. I had to wait for 30 minutes…and there it was. A scratching noise, sounds of a nose inhaling sent and before I knew it, I had a fully grown dog in my little igloo on top of me licking my face… My job - be super excited, praise the dog, feed lots of dog treats and wait for somebody to dig me out. I often wondered who was happier to see one another: the dog or me?

 

Everything was going great, I started my 3 year chef apprentiorship during that time, signed a contract with the Avalanche dog Rescue team to start my contract- with my own dog- the following year. My mother would take care of the dog while I was at work and I would rent the suit in our house. Finally I was getting close. 

But of course my plans didn’t work out that way- my father announced a divorce which shortly after led our house to be sold and my mother had to go back to work full time herself.

 

It was a big setback at my 19 years of age, I come to realize that I had to take my luck in my own hands and not relay on somebody else for it. It was time to go to plan B of my life. 

I was 6 yrs old when I told my parents the first time that I would immigrate to America so I could have at least one horse and one dog. That thought had never left me, as a fact it got stronger and stronger as I realized how expensive and how limited land was. By then I had seen enough reality to realize that land was not something I was going to afford - unless I won the lottery…

 

I had the perfect job to get hired in a different country - everybody needed a cook!

Long story short - I ended up on the Douglas Lake Ranch, the larges Cattle Ranch in Canada which a beautiful 500,000 acres of land. I was working hard and dedicated and before long, had worked my way to the Lodge Manager ( after some serious online schooling).

My luck had it, that the I was cooking for the owner of the Ranch ( Stan Kroenke, owner of the Denver nuggets, Colorado Avalanches and many more other things- he was also married to Ann Walton from the Walmart family) as his private chef during his visits. 

The General Manager of the Douglas Lake Ranch had a special Christmas present for the owner this year, a 8 week old Labrador pup, from hunting lines that was sired by his own Lab. I was thrilled, not so much Mr. Kroenke. His wife had 4 small dogs and he had a large German Shepard at his side at all times, he smiled and said “ What a beautiful dog, he can stay on the ranch and when I visit the ranch he can stay in the house with me”! They named the cute little fellow Jack ( Jack from Someday Retrievers). Little Jack grew up at the managers house and soon got nicknamed Jack the Ripper, as he would tare up entire floors! 

I was able to do the occasional dog sitting for the manager and the day come when I was asked if I like to keep Jack ( then a year old) with the condition of taking the dog when I go cook for the owner. Here I was, 20 years old, finally got my first dog!

The only thing Jack ever destroyed in my house was a 500 page Harry Potter book in his first week of staying with me. I knew I had to keep him busy, and since I had no avalanches near by - I adjusted to my surroundings. Hunting to be exact! This might have been influenced a bit by a good looking stranger that was my neighbour and latter become my husband…

 

I got a great introduction to Pheasant hunting and guiding as the Ranch released hundreds of Pheasants each year for their owner and also customers. A neat entrepreneur lady, Linda Cline from Someday Retrievers, had started a bird hunting guiding business and that is the first time I seen a German Shorthair Pointer at work. Jack and I progressed trough our junior hunt tests and a total of 13 years of hunting and guiding together. He was a great first dog to have.

 

It was in these wonderful years that I got married and become mother of a beautiful Boy. We also moved our family to another Ranch in area, where my husband become the manager. Out of work necessity we had accumulated several border Collies that are wonderful companions and herding animals. A training process I also enjoy. It was a year after Jack’s passing in 2019 that I started to look for my next hunting partner. This time I actually got to choose my own breed and I took a long time to decide my next steps.

 

Producing quality hunting dogs - what a new goal that has been in the back of my mind for some time now. I knew it would be years down the road, but one would have to start somewhere… and that somewhere was by researching German Kennels and starting to build some contacts.

 

I knew the DK was the dog that put a check mark behind my “must have” list - 

I wanted a head turning Beauty ( after all you are looking at your dog everyday for a decade), 

I wanted agility and speed, 

I wanted loyalty and versatility

 and most of all I wanted a family dog that was affectionate and good with children.

 

I knew little of the DK breeders in Canada and US, all I knew is that there wasn’t many at all in Canada. It become clear quickly that I might aswell go to the original source of these dogs - Germany itself. 

Lucky enough I am fluent in German - talking to breeders was no problem at all. My usual luck was with me, the first breeder I talked to was Rainer Schad vom Thüringer Zipfel - a long standing kennel and a even longer Family history with DK dogs. He had a litter of pups in the spring and kept 3 females for himself to choose a bitch for future breeding. By the time I talked to him and told him a wanted a dog for future breeding he offered me Nova from Thüringer Zipfel, then 6 month old. He said he had a hard time deciding between the one he kept and Nova and finally took the colouring he liked better.

 

Only looking at a picture, I agreed to have her shipped to Vancouver BC, which a month later made me the proud owner of my first DK. She was also my first pointer ever. When we got home after her long journey from Overseas and I let her out ( on the leash) however she came alive when she seen our free ranged chickens, pulled out of my hand and killed the first one she come to- I was pretty sure then she was a intense hunter!

 

Lucky enough I got a “Crash Course” by Frank O’Leary on where to start my training, it was nothing like I had done before with a retriever…

 

Indeed, I never hunted with a dog with this much drive. Today Nova lives happily with my free range chickens without bothering them - but going out on wild birds - there is no holding back. She covers a large area in her search and earned herself a 4 H in nose work for excellent wind use.

 I might need to add here that I am a very green dog handler, but have learned so much since my first day of owning Nova, however I am sure I have not been able to fulfill all her potential yet. I am wanting to try my hand at a VGP in the future and hope to become a better, more consistent trainer in the future.

 

Nova is a very elegant female with an exceptional use of her nose. She covers a large search area in a short time. She is very agile at a high speed, keeping her going for many hours at a time covering more ground than most dogs. She has learned to avoid cactuses at running speed and maneuvers amazingly well in different conditions and settings.She excels at pointing Grouse and Pheasants and has a phenomenal drive to hunt. We have been able to go Pheasant guiding on several occasions and are passionate grouse and duck hunters ourselves.

With Covid our testing got delayed by a full year ( Nova was born in 2019), so I decided to breed her this year ( 2023) as a 4 year old. I arranged for the long journey to Salt Lake City, a 19 hour drive, to see Karlo’s vom Kleppelshagener Forst, owned by John Heiner von Wasungen Kennel in Utah. 

 

It was a wonderful experience being there, when Nova gave birth to 7 healthy puppies on February 17th. There is much to be learned about breeding, starting with a dogs diet and goes all the way up to assisting troubled puppies when they are born; I would like to thank Jeff Martin for giving me valuable guidance during this process and proper preparations before the litter was born. 

 

I look forward to meeting many of you hunters in the future, there is many years ahead of us to connect, learn from one another and maybe even get to hunt side by side one day!

 

Let’s enjoy our dogs!

Rebecca Woodman