Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Rocket the Drahthaar

Do got pics....1000s....see if I can manage to get some up. My dog is a Natohaus dog.....his mutter was a Lee Root dog.....C liter. Mine is very wooly and more fine hair than others. But easily the quickest study and most even tempered dog ever. He will s rap at the drop of a hat....but not without reason. Killed my GF’s Chicken a year ago....trotted back to her...slowly sat down and waited for “OUT”. Walked him passed the chickens when I got home....gave him a stern No and quick nip (like on 2 out of 10). He chased once more and he got a No. Never touched another chicken. Last week.....he was eating with a chicken pecking out of his bowl at the same time. I would never expect that from him and it’s totally not reasonable. But it’s impressive. Tight circles in the DD world. Met some great people that I’ll have as friends for life. Won’t be my last Ugly Dog. Yours, Mine or Others.....I’ll wager a schittt ton of cash on those dogs on anything from dog fights to blood tracking to blowing the doors off a patch your lab “just worked” to never loosing a cripple.

Good luck on the HZP. I overdid the tracking training on my guy and needed to focus more on the duck search. He has forgiven me though and we have moved on. They really get bored I think if you are inexperienced like I was and over do something. If I looked at the test results correctly, Bane at 9 months and 27 days was the youngest dog last year to pass HZP. He didn't score very high but like I said, he had me for a trainer.

One thing I have seen repeatedly in the last 3 years is how consistent the litters are. I was 3rd pick for a male and I know one of the ones I didn't pick has turned into a superstar. I think the breed standards are so high that regardless of 1st or 5th pick, these pups are winners. Spend time with them and you will be richly rewarded. I am going to wait 2-3 more years and I'll add a second behind Bane. At that point, I'd hate to be a thing in a field we are hunting lol.

No kidding

Wanted to ask the posters.....did you select your pup? Or was the pup selected for you?

I was able to pick both times I bought pups. But there was no science to my choices. I picked them for their coloring

Yes. Rocket is one of Lee’s H litter from Vom Okanogan Flusstal Drahthaars

Joe from vom Mauntinhoum, my last breeder, has retired his kennel and the H littler sire was a vom Mauntinhoum dog.

I really enjoyed testing Sampson, my first drahthaar. The people were great and it really showed me the natural ability of the dog because I knew very little and he did well despite me. But five kids is five more than we had 14 years ago and makes running to Boise for testing more complex

Nimrod, You've been blessed with 5. My kids were both grown and gone when I did the dog training with Bane. It was way easier. I'd just hunt that dog of yours given those time constraints.

I was 3rd pick on males and I was looking for the most mellow one I could find. He's still hell on wheels in the field but has a great off switch and is safe to take to outside shopping malls and other high stress spots for dogs. My son takes him to his office in Denver when he watches him for me and he hangs out there all day with no issues. I'm sold on the breed 100%.

Not a trainer at all, just an on server and assistant to a friend.

The breed tests are a fantastic way to a great dog.
And my very limited experience has experienced a lot
of, "the dog knows how to hunt," fiascos.

I have even seen those play out at breed tests with dogs that
were "trained" by professionals, for people that "didn't have time" to do it.


Really humiliating, running across a 50 acre field screaming your dog's name,
as she goes through the fence row, into the next field.
After bragging about what the Pro. charged to train her.

We all looked at each other, embarrassed for him.

What is the latest on Rocket? Sure love those GWPs.

My younger GWP, Oli, at 1 1 /2 yrs old was taken on his first dove hunts this Sept. He did well retrieving. Took him a few days to realize that he would get his chance to bring one back if he sat nearby and watched instead of trotting all over the place. Asa, the 4 1/2 yr old helped show him the proper approach.

I need to work on that with Hank. He listens to the commands well enough, but getting him to stay put is not something I've done well in teaching him.