HUNTING

throughout much of Europe, which added to the interest of a new possible breed. English pointers were known for their speed and drive to work hard in the field. Breeders of the time crossed various water dogs with prized English pointers. Eventually, desired hair types and behaviors were achieved, and ultimately, pudelpointers were born.

In the 1890s pudelpointers became a registered breed, meaning pudelpointers could be bred with other pudelpointers. The goal of early lovers of the breed was to produce a rough-coated dog with a wide range of hunting abilities to be utilized in an array of habitats and conditions for multiple species of birds and small game.

Sigbot “Bodo” Winterhelt is credited with bringing the pudelpointer breed from Germany to North America in the 1950s. Winterhelt, a cofounder of the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association, eventually settled in Oregon. Oregon has a very active, dedicated group of pudelpointer breeders and owners.

“Pudelpointers are very intelligent to train,” states Spradley. “They retain information for a long time and there’s often little need to reteach them, even the following season, like you would other breeds. They’re also a great firsttime dog for people because they’re easy to handle and their disposition is second to none. Pudelpointers have a great personality and have an off switch, and they know when to use it. They’re fantastic around children, yet have a tenacious drive in the field.”

I OWN TWO PUDELPOINTERS, both coming from Spradley’s bloodline, and everything he says about them is true. I quickly learned with my dogs –and other pudelpointers I’ve worked with – that they’re a sensitive breed.

“Pudelpointers don’t do well with a heavy hand,” notes Spradley. “I can steer most of the training with verbal commands and eye contact, versus having to use an e-collar. These dogs know quickly if you’re disappointed in them and they’ll try their hardest to please you.”

Hunters who’ve owned Cabin Creek Gun Dog pups will wait years for the perfect pup on their second go-around.

“Starting out, my goal was to finish with pudelpointers that were better than what I started with,” concludes Spradley. “I wanted to improve the breed any way I could and have tried doing this by importing high-end bloodlines and infusing those into the best U.S. bloodlines I could find.”

Spradley’s plan worked, but with such high standards, he’s only breeding one to three litters a year.

Understandably, many new dog owners don’t want to wait that long for a pup. While Spradley has been rigorously importing, training and testing pudelpointers at the highest level, then tediously trying to breed them, many other pudelpointer breeders in North America including lots of new ones – have been producing more litters and selling them for much less. Even after months of training, if a dog doesn’t fit Spradley’s standards, he’ll sell it, which sets him back further. For Spradley, it was never a race to mass produce and sell lots of pups. He wants quality pudelpointers that seasoned hunters will truly appreciate.

If you’re not in a rush and looking for an extremely high-quality bloodline of pudelpointers, then Spradley is your man, but get on his waiting list right now. If you’re wanting one of these lovable, highperforming dogs sooner rather than later, carefully research the bloodline you’re considering. As with any hunting dog breed, quality bloodlines are vital to a healthy dog that’s designed to hunt and behave at an optimal level. Either way, once you see how hard pudelpointers hunt, how intelligent they are, and the level they’ll reach to please you, you’ll likely be planning on getting another one sooner rather than later. CS

Editor’s note: Scott Haugen is a full-time writer. See his basic puppy training videos and learn more about his many books at scotthaugen.com. Follow his adventures on Instagram and Facebook.