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Vito V vom Kervinshof
You may wonder how Altmoor goes about selecting a stud for each breeding, and we’ll try to briefly explain some of our thought processes here. First off, unless there are special circumstances, we normally avoid imports. Our reasoning is that, regardless of how impressive test scores may be, unless you live in Germany and are very well connected in the VDD world, there are a number of things that you just won’t know. For example, how does the dog and his fairly close ancestors react to strangers and other dogs and with kids. In a household or kennel situation are those dogs known for being excessively vocal, with either whining or barking? In training, do they require a heavy hand? Are they good NATURAL retrievers? Are there ancestors who have produced progeny with unusual hereditary conditions, such as craniomandibular osteopathy (CMO)? In short, the Atlantic Ocean precludes us from hearing about many of the things the most serious breeders want to know about, and you can’t always rely on all reports.
So, when we look for a VDD stud in the USA, we try our best to learn about all those things that we’ve mentioned. Then, in relative order of importance, we give most weight to the dog’s temperament – is he trustworthy with kids, strangers, and strange dogs? (Altmoor has a reputation for producing friendly and healthy dogs, and we want to keep it that way.) Does he generally have decent scores in Cooperation? Is he normally hyper or calm? Does he have acceptable scores in the VDD/JGHV testing system, most importantly in HZP? We don’t put a lot of weight in VJP scores because so many of us don’t have the ability to do a lot of training on cottontails and on this continent judges and judging opportunities often leave a lot to be desired. (In Europe these tests are based on the European Hare, which is a whole different ball of wax.) And, while we have great respect for any dog and handler team that has passed VGP, we both have handled and judged dogs that have failed VGP, and know well how easy it is to do that. Unless you’re familiar with the regulations and have handled in it yourself, don’t be too quick to draw conclusions from a VGP score.
Now we come to Vito V, call name Lars. He’s out of the only kennel in the world with experience similar to ours. His VJP scores are unimpressive, and he failed VGP. His handler/owner explains that, immediately before that test the family suffered the loss of his 11 year old niece and his head just wasn’t in the game, and Lars knew it. At the water blind Mike suspected that Lars was about to drop the duck and he involuntarily gave him a command – test over. All four dogs in that two day test failed for one reason or another. In contrast, in HZP Lars received 10’s (Very Good) in Field Search, Pointing, Water Blind, feather drags, Obedience, and all three Manner of Retrieve categories. He received a top Very Good of 11 in Use of Nose, Cooperation, Desire to Work, and Search Behind the Duck, for an overall 187. In both his VJP’s he scored 10’s in Pointing and Cooperation. Very importantly, in his Breed Show he was rated 12 in Conformation and 11 in Coat. And, in addition to being clear of vWD and CHB, he’s rated HD-freiA and clear of OCD and ED. Further, by DNA he’s F/F (homozygous for Furnishings – even if bred to a slick face, he’ll produce pups with beards.)
One thing we haven’t mentioned about how we make a stud selection, is that, whenever practical, we pick a stud with which we’re personally familiar and have had our hands on. Nancy judged Lars in VJP and spent a day with him when she was assisting at his Breed Show. She was very impressed with his conformation and coat, and, most importantly, how calm and friendly he was with everyone and the other dogs. So, now we’ll let you see what his owner, Mike, has to say about him.
Lars was my first DD, I’ve owned many breeds but I primarily was a Brittany guy. I decided I wanted something more versatile. Having little to no experience in the VDD/JGHHV testing and training, this first pup presented a huge learning curve for me. However, in so many ways, he made it easy. He was by far the easiest puppy to raise from day one. Never barked in the crate and was housebroken in less than 5 days. His willingness to learn and cooperate has been a dream. So comfortable and confident his entire puppyhood, adolescence and through maturity, he takes everything in stride. He’s never met a stranger he didn’t like, very friendly and social, he especially adores kids.
Our adventures have been extensive, we’ve hunted ducks and geese on the tidal flats of south Jersey, lakes, rivers of Pa and the great Missouri River in Montana. He’s a powerful swimmer with zero quit when there’s a task to complete, even retrieving countless ducks that we didn’t shoot. In the field, countless pheasant, quail, chukars, dove, woodcock, ruffed and sharptail grouse have been pointed and retrieved by him. He’s hunted Maine, NJ, NY, PA and Montana. He naturally adapts to varying hunting environments, mostly without direction. In the PA and Maine grouse woods he works fairly close. However on the prairies in Montana he will range out, covering a lot of ground. He will sit patiently in a duck blind for hours. I also use him as a falconry dog, a hunting partner with a raptor. His role is to locate game, primarily rabbits and squirrels but gamebirds are never off the table. Interestingly, after the first or second squirrel kills Lars taught himself how to locate trees where squirrels were hiding with amazing accuracy. During these hunts, the dog rarely gets the game, he must respect that the hawk owns the game until I step in.
Our experience in the forest started out of a necessity. A poorly placed arrow very late in the day required the assistance of a dog the next morning. Lars, a 6 month old puppy, to my surprise, sorted out several different tracks from the hit site and dragged me about 100 yds to my deer. Having very little knowledge or no true desire to train for tracking, sparked a new interest and goals.
He’s also my right hand man, he travels to work with me every day, much of the time he sleeps on a dog bed in my office, sometimes in a crate or a kennel. Always at the ready, I use him as a demonstration dog and to help fearful dogs become more confident at the kennel where am I professional trainer, mostly with behavior modification. At home he’s 100% a family member, lives inside full time, with my wife, myself, two teenage sons, 3 other dogs, 2 cats, and 2 parrots. He’s is very calm indoors, comfortably just lays around. He has the most ideal off switch. Outside we have chickens and various gamebirds and homing pigeons. He easily learned that all of those animals belong and are not game. He rarely ever barks, greets everyone friendly.