A Compilation of Articles Written by Jim Grady and L.F. Armbruster

When breeding for “TYPE” it denotes an IDEAL, or a goal in breeding. Further stated, it is all of the desired qualities in a single dog. The genetic combination must be so strong that its effects persist from generation to generation. When “type” is achieved it can be consistently reproduced and it should serve as a basis toward which breeders should strive.

As the Deutsch Drahthaar (drahthaar) made rapid advances, five distinct “types” began to emerge. These family types were not intentional, but were the chance culmination of efforts from over a century of searching and breeding. Each type represents a perfect balance of performance, coat, conformation, and temperament and each type possess a unique character and spirit. The family types are named for the first dog which exhibited the characteristic performance and the ability to consistently reproduce those same qualities through several generations.

The five drahthaar family types were without exception first manifested in males. No females were identified as having any influence toward the development of “type” within the drahthaar breed. However, there is a long list of females which are proven carriers of these types. A fact that should be taken serious by breeders; no one should place the sole responsibility for reproducing type on the male. Desirable variations in type will manifest themselves in breedings with a plan. Gross opposites do not compensate themselves very well. Remember – like to like! Variations in type are reduced by paying close attention to and nurturing the female’s motherline (ML). Because of this, consideration of the dam’s line in the various family strains is just as important as fostering the sire’s line.

The five existing family types are listed and described below:

Witboi vom Ruedenhof I – Witboi was born on August 6, 1896 and was produced from a breeding between Meta (who was a Pudlepointer) and Kartusch I (who was out of Juno Altenberg and Mohr). Juno was a pointer and shorthair cross and Mohr was a black poodle.
Witboi was the product of an outcrossing who did not resemble his sire. However, he passed on his appearance and working qualities to his offspring.

Appearance:
    Dark brown with light chest spot
    About 25 ¼ inches tall (64 cm)
    Good looking, close coupled with elegant heads and dark eyes
    Ideal wirehair coat, medium length and heavy density
    Leggy, especially in the Stettin strains
    Has facial furnishings

Characteristics:
    Outstanding nose and lively search
    Very good pointing style
    Passion for retrieving and water love
    Aggressive on furred game
    Painstaking tracker especially on blood, but has no hound nature (seldom loud on track)
    Develops young, but retains usefulness for a long time
    Easy to handle, sound nerves and constitution   

Lump vom Berge– Lump was born on January 16, 1899. His sire and dam were Fleck Kraschnitz 106 and Tilli Altenau 584 A. Lump’s Ahnentafel shows loose line breeding in the second and third generations to Cito Kraschnitz, the father of Fleck and the grandfather to Tilly. Lump’s grandmother on his father’s side was a yellow (lemon) pointer female from whom his temperament and gait undoubtedly came from. Lump was braun with brindle chest and legs and was considered the ideal wirehair.

The Lump type was originally passed on through his sons, Lump II vom Berge and Lump Stadtluch. It was further anchored by Lump’s grandson Gauner vom Steilen Fels and his son Lump Hoxel. This was followed by Waldmann vom Unkeller Rabenhorst and his son Lump vom Sauerlander Bergwald.

Waldmann was inbred on Gauner in the second generation. Gauner (whelped 1909) was very loosely bred and his sire’s side shows no relationship to that of the dam. In fact, on his mother’s side the fourth generation is 50 percent blank. Lump vom Sauerlander Bergwald, whose mother was a German shorthair, was also loosely bred. In spite of this, these two were the strongest carriers of the Lump type, which was much diluted after World War II as a result of indiscriminate breeding. By using proper selection and pairing it is much easier to regenerate the Witboi type, although there are few carriers alive.

The hunting qualities of the Lump type lie in their tracking dependability with a tendency of being loud on track, aggressive on furred game, and love of water. These dogs are impassioned chasers; however, more hound than bloodhound in nature. There can be no doubt that holding a difficult track also requires a fine nose. From this aspect, they brought the DD breed enrichment. Any type qualities missing in the Lump strain were improved by subsequent selections of Gauner vom Steilen Fels.

Appearance:
    Braun with brindled chest and legs
    About 23.6 inches tall (60 cm)
    Medium to lightly boned, elegant with regal head
    Appears to be long in the body
    Stiff wirehair coat with a tendency to shortness as well as thin undercoat and scanty beard

Characteristics:
    Strong tracking dependability and love of water
    Aggressiveness on furred game
    Fine nose and elegant and steady pointers
    Impassioned chaser, more hound-like (loud on track) than bloodhound in nature
    Mature young, but retain their usefulness for a long time
    Little poodle component

Regent Auenheim 3053 – Regent was whelped on March 2, 1923 and is out of Kascha Auenheim 1269 (a Pudlepointer strain) and Sittarder Heiko 183X (a German shorthair). Sittarder’s sire was Vero Schellenturm who had a fabulous nose and field manners. Regent was considered the ideal wirehair, dark braun (liver) with white marked chest, medium braun eyes, 24 ½ inches (63 cm) tall, and perfect conformation. He created a sensation because of his beauty.

In deciding on the mating, Kaspar Siepen (breeder) had not thought of producing a new type, his primary aim was an improvement in the performance of his train. Sittarder Heiko had inherited his father’s (Vero Schellenturm) fabulous nose and elegant field manners. These were the traits that Kaspar wanted to bring into his strain for use in the fields of the lower Rhine Valley. Initially, Kaspar’s strain had tracking, aggressiveness, and love of water bred into it; however, it lacked the fine work on feathered game. With Regent, he hit the jackpot, for Regent passed both conformation and performance onto his descendents in numerous kennels.

Adjustments in the difference in coat came through the poodle components via the mother Kashca Auenheim, a descendent from the Pudlepoint Eifel strain. Regent must be credited with improving nose and work on feathered game just as much as the products of the Freikorps and Hohenstein Kennels did with their Witboi heritage.

Above all, Regent refined and improved the balance of the dry working form. In all probability no dog has exerted more influence in bettering the conformation of the drahthaar breed than Regent. This type still exists today and with suitable matings is easy to attain.

Appearance:
    Dark braun with white marked chest
    24 ½ inches (63 cm) tall
    Magnificent dogs with near perfect conformation
    Elegant heads with a noble appearance
    Ideal wirehair coat, medium long and coarse that is occasionally tending towards shortness
    Undercoat is sparse

Characteristics:
    Above all the Regent type is credited with improving the working form
    It is also credited with improving nose and work on feathered game
    Aggressive on furred game
    Water love
    Willing tracker
    Sound character and mature early and enjoy a long working life

Odin vom Saarforst 3935 – Odin was born on April 10, 1925 and is out of Adda vom Saarforst and Hasso Nibelungenhort 918K. Hasso, a typical representative of the Graeff strain of the old German heavy type shorthair, Hasso was chosen by Schmidt-Bisten (breeder) to improve his Saarforst strain to meet hunting conditions in the Saarland with its good valley fields and mountainous forests. The Odin type had appeared twice before (1916 and 1920) also as a result of a Saarforst drahthaar and Graeff shorthair mating. It was not until the birth of the litter that produced Odin that the type was consistent and capable of being passed on.

The Odin type is probably the most prevalent among present day drahthaar, due mainly to the influence of Bluecher vom Geyerstein and his descendents Junker, Arndt, and Eiko vom Geyerstein in the regeneration years after World War II and supported by the dams of the Saarforst strain and Odin’s son Arno vom Krofdorf.

Odin himself was a very intelligent and easy dog to handle. He would not fully exert his influence on the breed because he was shot in the second hunting year by a trigger happy gunner during a drive hunt.

Appearance:
    Exclusively dark liver roaned with blaze and with or without solid braun patches
    25 ½ inches (65 cm) tall
    Nice heads and smart expressions, brown eyes, but with occasionally open eyelids (sagged
    or inverted lower eyelids)
    Tendency to have large build with a long neck
    Ideal wirehair coat that is coarse with an undercoat

Characteristics:
    Outstanding on track and are usually loud on track
    Happy retrievers
    Aggressive on furred game
    Loves the water
    Physically later maturing
    Pointing abilities develop late, but when it does they are strong pointer
    Strong quiet galloping search
    Somewhat hound nature
    Good character, loyal, intelligent and tough

Harras Bigge 3868 – Harras was born on April 14, 1924 and is out of Cora Westick and Lump vom Sauerlander Bergwald (direct descendent of Lump vom Berge). On the mother’s side there is much unrelated blood.

Harras presented an entirely new individual type, different from the other types and he was able to pass these characteristics on to his offspring. These included strong nerves and improving aggressiveness in regards to predators, as well as tracking and ready tongue.

Appearance:
    An entirely new type, well differentiated from any of the forgoing types
    Braun liver color with medium braun eyes
    Robust dogs with a strong head and full muzzle
    Tendency toward a long back
    Coarse dense wirehair leaning towards shortness

Characteristics:
    Robust steel-nerved and unflinching
    Unflinching aggressiveness on furred game
    Water love
    Enthusiastic loud trackers with an excessive tendency to chase
    Hound nature
    Weak in pointing
    Requires a firm hand in the field

Although descriptions of these types have always been well published, the VDD resisted the temptation to develop a written standard for conformation and coat probably because of the fear that it would tempt the show breeders to become involved in the breed standard. When the standard was formally adopted in 1969, it reflected the broad categories of acceptability on which the breed was founded. This reflects the continue emphasis on performance and stresses conformation and coat only to the extent that the best function is preserved.

Author’s Note (Jim Grady) – To my knowledge there does not exist in the English language an exhaustive or well researched documentation of the history of the Deutsch Drahthaar. This article is based primarily on the writings and translations of L.F. Armbruster and other articles that have been published over the years. In addition, I have managed to accumulate some information from the VDD Blatter, acquaintances in Germany, and by word of mouth from other VDD members. The drahthaar breed exists today because of the single-minded purpose and the uncompromising dedication of the earliest VDD members.