"... for the gunner who feels as I do, each shot is enough to lift him for a day; and for that one moment of glory when he hits, he is the point, the flare of fan, the roaring gun and the slant and the falling bird while that moment lasts..." - George Bird Evans, "An Affair with Grouse"
Congratulations
Congratulations to all of the dogs and handlers that completed the HZP and VGP tests this Fall. The amount of training and time that goes into these tests is significant and we applaud you for your efforts. We know that you'll have many fabulous hunting seasons in the years that follow.
During DL-Fest each Fall, we present awards to different Club members. However, since many of us cannot attend DL-Fest each year, we will also congratulate some individuals here. Challenge Awards recognize the top scores in each of the Breed Tests and will be given annually to the member with the highest scoring Deutsch Langhaar that he or she has personally trained and handled through each one of the Breed Tests, the VJP and HZP, and JGHV VGP Utility Test.
VJP Challenge Award: Espio vom Hunter’s Shadow; 76 points, owned/handled by Dillon Mahr. HZP Challenge Award: Elmer vom Hunter’s Shadow; 182 points, owned/handled by Jeremiah Neitzel. VGP Challenge Award: Clip vom Hunter’s Shadow 369/19, 284 points, Prize III TF, owned/handled by Jeff Tichota.
The Independent Search - Water Work Award was created in memory of DL-GNA member Brian Rohling. Brian Rohling and Chief v Hunter’s Shadow completed their HZP test in 2020. Following the tragic loss of Brian this year in May, JGHV Judge Mike Mc Mullen still recalled a great moment from that test where Chief scored in 12 in this element, “Watching the father and son moment as Brian handled his dog Chief through a “12” duck search is a fond moment that will always be with me." This sentiment is inscribed on the award.
When determining the highest scoring dog, in the event of a tie, the award will go to the youngest dog. If the tie is between dogs from the same litter, it will be awarded to the dog with the highest combined water work score. Congratulations to Floyd v Hunter’s Shadow, who scored a 10 in water and was the youngest dog to do so.
The DL-GNA also chooses to recognize the two-legged members of our club for everything that they do to help contribute and promote the DL-GNA. We thank all of our members for helping to step in when needed, but a few individuals went above and beyond during 2023.
The Mentorship Award recognizes a DL-GNA member or non-member who contributes to the success of the breed by assisting someone else with the training and/or testing of their Deutsch Langhaar. The recipient of the Mentorship Award goes to Joe Wapenski.
When nominating Joe, Kelsey Schildt said “He put in a ton of effort to set up many Zoom calls to discuss testing, as well as provided ample resources throughout VJP and HZP testing. Additionally, he helped us numerous times with our dog Bodhi, who is our first DL.” Joe spearheading virtual training sessions for our Club, which was incredible to not be restricted by the physical proximity that is so often a hurdle to training.
The Stewardship Award recognizes a DL-GNA member or non-member who exemplifies stewardship of the breed by taking action to promote and/or benefit the breed in any way other than training/testing Deutsch Langhaars. The recipient of the Stewardship Award is Tom Marron.
Tom Marron was nominated Jack Sudyk, who said "He (Tom) was part of the Minnesota Bound TV show DL Team (linked below). He has also been on the Minnesota Bound Podcast to talk about his DLs. He helped work the DL Booth at the August Game Fair in Minnesota, where he entered “Cooper” in the retrieving contest at the Game Fair. Cooper recorded the best time, beating out several standard retrieving breeds, and gaining recognition for our DL breed. Tom and his children are very active on social media promoting our breed. Tom has also volunteered many hours becoming a judge, and will hopefully be approved soon.
The Ron Danielson Volunteer Award was created in memory of a tireless and dedicated DL-GNA member who was always willing to volunteer his time to help our breed and the club. The Ron Danielson Memorial Volunteer Award recognizes a DL-GNA member who selflessly volunteers their time to help with club events/activities/projects throughout the year. The 2023 recipient was Leigh Neitzel, who was nominated by Deb Mella.
Deb elaborated, "Leigh volunteered to drive to Colorado to pick up 2 of Hermann's dogs that were in need of a new home, due to unforeseen medical events. Leigh took time off from work and transported 2 dogs back to Wisconsin and Minnesota to ensure these dogs could have their best possible life."
Postcard from Germany: Trip Report from the 2023 Schorlemer
By Jennifer Wapenski, DL-GNA Breed Warden
Photographs by Deb Mella
It started, like a lot of harebrained ideas do, over a few beverages at the 2022 DL-Fest. “We should attend the Schorlemer next year.” It was easy to work through (or hand-wave) the logistics from the comfort of the air-Kraft hangar. The expense, the travel, the language barrier, the required dog-sitting… none of those hurdles were insurmountable, especially with the warmth of a little Scotch to ease any real concerns. For the Mellas and the Wapenskis, the casual discussion quickly turned into loose plans that soon sounded downright plausible. Our German friends Heilko and Dirk immediately latched onto the idea and encouraged us to make the idea into a reality.
And so, 11 months and 943 Duolingo lessons later, we touched down in Hamburg.
Background
The Schorlemer is an annual event for the Deutsch Langhaar Verband, with hosting duties rotating between the different German clubs. The main event is an invitational HZP and a breed show which is meant to evaluate and showcase the very best breeding candidates from that breed year.
In order to qualify to run in the Schorlemer HZP, dogs must have already run in an HZP that year and be nominated by their home club to represent their region at the national event. The total number of dogs depends on the capacity of the testing grounds, so it can vary widely from year to year (this year was capped at 36 dogs). What doesn’t change, though, is that this event represents the best of the best DLs from across Germany.
The 2023 Schorlemer was hosted by DL Gruppe Nord in Wingst, not far from the Danish border and the North Sea. In fact, the Elbe River formed the northern boundary of some of the testing fields, which made for a surreal backdrop of huge cargo ships passing through the fog on their way to the port of Hamburg while DLs completed rabbit drags in the foreground.
Purpose of the Trip
Even though the landscape was beautiful and the dogs were amazing, our DL-GNA delegation was there for far more than just spectating. In addition to a much-needed diplomacy mission—with the last “official” club visit occurring more than ten years ago—we were also proud to finally fulfill a requirement that had never before been filled by our club: providing a performance judge for the Schorlemer HZP. Every club within the DLV is required to send a judge for the event, but due to the difficult logistics, DL-GNA had previously opted to pay a fine or “recruit” a German judge to represent us. This year, for the very first time, we were proud to have Joe Wapenski represent us within the judging cohort.
The presence of DL-GNA representatives and the participation of one of our performance judges did not go unnoticed or unappreciated. The new President of the DLV, Stephan Bruhn, made a very special point of warmly welcoming us during his speech. Throughout the weekend, we were greeted enthusiastically and introduced to key members, officers, and breeders from the various German clubs. I was even pulled aside and given strong compliments for Joe’s judging and intelligent engagement during the judging meetings.
Overall Impressions
Our overall takeaway from the trip was that it was truly special to see the dogs we love in their native land, working in the way that they were meant to be worked, and being loved by people who have far more in common with us than we could’ve guessed. The Deutsch Langhaar has a robust community supporting the breed in Germany, which was very encouraging for those of us who feel the weight of trying to gain momentum in North America.
It was extremely eye-opening to see a test run entirely on wild game. Each field was only worked by one group of three dogs; whatever game was encountered was what those dogs were tested on. Our group hunted a hedgerow adjacent to a large field and produced an astonishing number of pheasants, hare, and roe deer. These young dogs kept their heads and worked each game animal appropriately, whether they were expected to point, track, or flush that particular animal.
The breed show was perhaps the main event for most of the spectators, particularly the breed wardens from the various clubs. Particular attention was paid to how the dogs behaved in the waiting area and how they interacted with other dogs and people. It was interesting to see everyone gathering their own notes to supplement the official judging records. As more than one breed warden told me, their personal impressions of each dog played a big role in the breeding consultations that they do throughout the year.
Lastly, it was very rewarding to meet breeders who had previously sent puppies to North America. Every one of them lit up when their kennel name was recognized and a puppy was mentioned by name. There’s truly no difference in the care and attachment felt by a breeder for a puppy they’ve sent out into the world.
Recommendations and Follow-Up
We are extremely grateful for the opportunity we had to attend the 2023 Schorlemer as representatives of DL-GNA and for the financial assistance to help cover some of the costs. Our warm reception at the event and the repeated words of appreciation confirmed that our attendance mattered. As with anything else, it’s easy to be out of sight and out of mind. Our experience showed that simply being there and making meaningful social connections had a strong impact on the impression of our club and our commitment to the breed.
There were practical lessons learned from the breed show that we implemented in our 2023 breed show, including formalizing the show ring, introducing a temperament test, and encouraging spectators to actively observe the event. As our own showcase for the up-and-coming breeding dogs within North America, the breed show is an important event for all of our members..
Finally, we believe that regularly attending events in Germany will go a long way toward strengthening our relationships and demonstrating our continued commitment to our club’s ties with Germany. There are a few opportunities to engage in-person with the DLV each year, including the annual meeting, the Schorlemer HZP, and the International VGP. It is our strong recommendation that the club continue its representation at one or more of these events each year.
Last(ing) impressions
By Megan Hennen, outgoing DL-GNA Newsletter Editor
I will never forget the car ride almost ten years ago to go visit a lady we had never met. Her name was Mary Wilson, and she was kind enough to invite us out to her house to meet some of her DLs. About a year previously, Tony and I had entered into the discussion about getting a dog. I had wanted a French Bulldog. He kept bringing up the point that the dog needed to have some sort of purpose other than being cute. I told him I would consider a hunting dog. So now here I was, in the car: considering.
As we pulled into Mary’s driveway, a magnificent beast came galloping from around the side of the house. Galloping is the correct term, as I had never seen dog be so large and graceful. Breager vom Whispering Winds was impressive. Mary also let us meet Chumlee vom Whispering Winds and even had him show-off a bit on a few birds. That beautiful boy must have known he was on stage, and his flawless performance made me go from considering to sold. Mary welcomed us into the DL-GNA, and we soon were on the list to get a pup out of ‘Chums’ and a Wisconsin dog named Elka vom Coraschatten. We had no idea how much that puppy would completely change our lives.
Looking back on the past eight years and recalling some of the memories that our DLs have given us have been side-achingly enjoyable. I hope you’ll enjoy a few belly laughs as I take a small stroll down memory lane:
Early into dog ownership, I watched from our small townhome window as Tony meticulously dragged a hot-dog on a string through the common lawn, counting his steps and adding in some slight turns, excited to put Hilde on the track. I’m not sure how many of our neighbors witnessed this ludicrous act, but I am eternally thankful no one said anything to us in the weeks that followed.
A long while later, while in that same small townhome, Tony was blending 5 gallons of fresh cow blood for tracking in the open garage. Our neighbor was out for a walk, stopped, and slowly approached Tony. I always appreciated that he then asked Tony, “Where is Megan?”
We were hosting Hilde’s boyfriend and owner, and went to a local park for a “dog date". As we were about to let them out, a police man pulled up and proceeded to let his Malinois out for exercise. He ended up being very cool with what we were trying to have our dogs accomplish. I was probably as red as a tomato the whole time.
On a long, snowy March night, I watched (and attempted to help) in amazement as the D Litter vom Whispering Winds was whelped. Once again Mary was confident and so proud of her dogs, and her willingness to share such a special moment with me is something I will never forget.
In 2019 we moved out of the city to a house with a few acres for Hilde to run. We imported Arthur vom Bieleborn not too long after. He had started to become quite the escape artist, even learning how to open the mud room door into the garage. One day I came home from work and he had clearly tried to open the door, but ended up locking it instead. Tony wouldn’t be home for a while and I didn’t have a key with me. I ended up taking the sawzall and cutting off the door handle to break into my new house.
In the Fall of 2019, I tested Arthur in a NAVHDA NA test. It was my first time as a handler, even though I had helped train Hilde for all of her JGHV and NAVHDA tests. Arthur was the only NA dog in a group of four other Utility dogs. He was last to go into the field. There was bird scent everywhere, and extra birds from previous dogs. He was 4.5 months old and cleaned the Kelley Farms East Invitational field with 6 solid points on 6 birds in 15 minutes. It was incredible.
I began training for Arthur’s HZP and Hilde’s VGP during the Spring and Summer of 2020. I was also pregnant and my sense of smell was at its pinnacle! That Summer, I learned every synonym for ‘putrid.’ Receiving the Oak Leaves at the end of the VGP blood track was beyond rewarding and almost made up for all of the malodorous training that it took to get there.
In 2021 we moved even further north. Our new house came with a nice chicken coop and some hens and a rooster. Unknown to us, three hens and the rooster knew how to escape a not-netted, seven-foot-high chicken run. About 30 minutes into our first day, I was unpacking a box in the kitchen and looked up to see Hilde on the front porch, sitting proud and patient, waiting to deliver the rooster to hand. Arthur trotted around in front of her, also prancing with delight at doing his job to “find the birds.”
I could continue on and on about the adventures that these dogs have allowed me to have. They continue to make me laugh, frustrate me by finding skunks and porcupines, give us unconditional love, be best friends with my child, steal my garden vegetables, and amaze us in their ability to hunt in the field and forest. However, the most important thing our dogs have done for us is that they have allowed us to meet so many wonderful people. I am grateful for the opportunity over these past four years to have been the Editor of this humble publication. It has allowed me to talk to many of you and share your stories as well. I am thankful that I am passing the Newsletter into good hands, allowing someone else to give a fresh take for our Club. Prost!