"Gus" and the Babcock Family                                                        

A brief news release about a new breed association for the German Longhaired Pointer has taken me on a new adventure in life and I am loving it.

As the outdoor editor at the Great Falls Tribune in Montana, I received the release regarding formation of the German Longhaired Pointer Club of North America, and I began researching the dogs. The more I dug, the more I liked everything I read about the breed.

After writing a story about the breed and talking with several owners, I decided on fulfilling a lifelong dream to get a birddog. The GLP seemed the ideal dog and I began looking for a breeder. Eventually, I wound up on the puppy list at Inwood Pines.

A word about Inwood Pines Kennels: Monica Jacob, the kennel mistress, was absolutely outstanding in guiding me through the process of choosing a puppy and arranging for him to move to Montana from Michigan. We have stayed in touch and she offers good advice about any issue that comes up and if she doesn’t know the answer, she puts me in touch with a GLP expert who does.

On a hot day in July, a long-faced 8-week old German Longhair Pointer named Gus showed up at the Great Falls Airport. He was quiet on the short ride home and after a few cautious steps around our large, fenced backyard Gus began to fit right in. Now he and I are best friends and he has even made friends with the cat and the other dog, a clownish but grouchy little Eskimo-Samoyed mix.

At only 12 to 15 weeks, Gus pointed several planted pigeons at the local gundog club and then at the advice of another GLP owner, I kept him away from pen-raised birds. But come this fall…oh, come this fall!

Gus, whose official name is Inwood Pines August, will be hunting with me: Here in Montana we have about every species of grouse, abundant pheasants, sharptails and Hungarian partridge. There also is outstanding waterfowl hunting nearby.

If he and I both are lucky, we may be able to get out two or three times a week.

Gus is great around kids, he is rambunctious but puppyish in the house and takes direction well. He sleeps in a crate every night.

I find the breed to everything it is advertised to be: beautiful, intelligent, fun-loving and extremely birdy. Gus loves the water, retrieves well without much training and is not bothered by gunshot. He quarters back and forth in the field and never gets too far out in front of me, although in the beginning, he would chase flying birds such as hawks and owls. But, we are working on his field manners and he exhibits a keen interest in learning.

If you are serious about a versatile hunting partner, let me recommend the German Longhaired Pointer and any of the kennels associated with the German Longhaired Pointer Club of North America.                                                                        

July 2008
July 2009