Nothing ever seems easy when it comes to our dogs. But boy do we make some pretty crazy memories. What originally started as a solo trip for Ryan to pick up a male pup from the "F" Litter vom Streitberg. And me importing a puppy from a different Kennel in Germany which would be shipped to Miami. Turned into an amazing race style adventure for both of us, complete with planes, trains, and an automobile. As well as a handful of countries along the way and 2 puppies from vom Streitberg making it back to America.

   Travel for Americans to the EU was pretty  much at a stand still at the beginning of 2021 with positivity rates on the rise all over the world. I wasn't sure if we could pull off this adventure but we had to try. A week before I was booking Ryan's flight. I had to back out of the puppy that was to be imported. The costs were already getting outrageous and there was no guarantee from the shipper that the puppy would make it to America. Then Italy announced "covid free flights" between the US and a few destinations in Italy. So then the planning begins with a small window to make it happen. I message the breeder in Germany to confirm the travel dates would work before booking Ryan's flight and they replied with a yes and they had a female pup that was available if anyone in America was interested, a buyer had backed out due to needing surgery. This definitely seemed like when a door closes a window opens situation. So with a few modification to the plan I booked a trip for 2.

   We started off with our first covid test 2 days before our flight, Then driving to MSP where we flew to JFK where we took a covid test at the airport and then after a negative result we boarded the plane for Milan, Italy. The flight wasn't overly full but everyone on the plane was ready for their own adventure. Once we landed in Milan we headed to the covid testing station where we needed another negative test and then we were free to travel with out quarantining.

   Negative test 3 in hand we headed out for a day in Milan before we were due to board the Night Jet to make the trip to Munich, Germany. We had lasagna, visited the Museum of natural history and took turns napping in a  park and enjoying some fresh air. later that evening we hoped on the Night Jet which took us from Italy to Austria, and then to Germany. I highly recommend the Night Jet. We showered has some wine and went to sleep, in the morning we were served breakfast. As we were finishing up breakfast the train stopped at the Austria/Germany border where the federal police checked our passports. At the time we were traveling, Germany was not open for tourism. Because of our short timeline we where considered "in-transit" therefore allowed to continue on our way to Munich, Germany and then to Frankfurt. We then took the ICE train from Munich to Frankfurt where Anja picked us up in her car and brought us home for coffee and pastries. Followed up with some tomahawk steaks for dinner.  We played with the puppies and then went off to get some rest before the trip home in the morning.

   In the morning we did the paperwork for the puppies and then headed to the Frankfurt Airport. After the confused gate agent got everything sorted with Anja's help translating. We said our goodbyes and headed off for our first flight to Portugal, We grabbed a bite to eat at the Portugal airport played with the puppies in the mother's room and then head back to America. By the time we got to Newark, NJ it was too late to catch a flight home so we got a room for the night and flew out in the morning back to MSP.

We enjoyed memorial day with puppies at Zorbaz for some pizza!

Eule got a little solo time to hunt with Ryan last weekend while Berda was at the Stillwater Veterinarian clinic for her A.I. You heard right. If all went well we should have pups on the ground February 20th. Our C litter will have the same sire as Eule. We are super excited as she has been an amazing addition to our family.

Eule is a tracking machine and was made for late season pheasant hunting when they hide in the cattails. We are gearing up for some serious training after the hunting seasons close for the year.

Summer of 2019 we did a lot of training and I learned how to read her body language. We had done many over night tracks and tracks after heavy rains. She has such an amazing nose that I enjoy following her around cheering her on, she is after all still a Diva and requires praise and encouragement. During training I figured out she wants me to want her to find it, otherwise she would rather looks for other game. I am her own personal cheerleader amd that is how she wants it. We tested in Germany where she successfully completed an overnight track, when we got home we went on a few tracks. One of which which she found where the deer had bed down over night, the hunter had hit the deer but had not critically wounded the deer. The hunter confirmed that he has the same buck on his trail camera this year. Hopefully he will find success this year. The othe tracks ended at the property line because of lack of permission to continue on the track.

Fast forward to 2020 I got a call Wednesday night to help a hunter find his deer. So I packed up Berda and headed out early the next morning. She tracked the wounded buck for quite awhile, we were kicking out other game also, she pointed pheasant, kicked up several deer and a whole flock of turkeys. She pressed on and I was thinking we haven't practiced in a year and there a lot live game that would be much more fun for her. At one point we had to go back to the truck and drive around a river. The hunter asked if I was sure it crossed the river. I said I'm not but she is. The hunter asked the property owner if we could continue the track on his property, thankfully he agreed. I got her back in the area on the other side of the river and nose to the ground and off she went. Finally locating the deer for the hunter. This animal would have been a total lost because of the snow covering the track and coyotes. But because he backed out and waited for a dog we ended with a happy hunter, a happy dog, and a happy KlM Owner.

Today the newest edition of the Kleiner Munsterlander (KlM for short) standard from the FCI (Fédération cynologique internationale) has been made available. The updates to the standard are intended to preserve the versatility of the KlM as a well rounded hunting dog in the field, forest, and water, who is also laut (loud on game.)

The KlM remains in the pointing group along with other breeds such as the Deutsch Kurzhaar, Deutsch Drahthaar, Pudelpointer, Weimaraner, Duetsch Longhaar to name a few.

The JGHV is the system that is used to evaluate dogs throughout Germany. This system is also used in North America by different breed clubs in the USA and Canada and the results are reported back to Germany for documentation in their database. Using the same system to evaluate the dogs is a vital tool to breed programs all over the world.

We observed and HZP near Saterland, Germany in September and the handlers were from Hungry, Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands, some driving many kilometers to test their dogs under the JGHV system. I believe this is a testament of the quality and value that JGHV testing system has to offer breed clubs and programs around the world.

We are on our 4th year raising day old pheasant chicks. We are very fortunate that the Perham Sportsman Club gets pheasants and sells them to area people to raise and release. We keep the birds in brooding rings in the garage with heat lamps for the first week. I made the rings with some bolts and wing nuts and some material I bought at the local Menards. I think it can be used on the walls of a bathroom. When I went there to find something I pulled a sheet off the rack to see if it was flexible enough to make a ring, but sturdy enough to stand up on it's own. We are on our third year and it works great.

The first year I struggled with bedding, they like to pick at everything and pine chips was not a good choice for us. I think they got impacted gizzards as I lost a lot of them. I use a layer of newspaper because it makes cleanup a lot simpler and for the first few days just put a layer of paper towel down on top of the newspaper. This prevents them from eating a bunch if wood chips.

After about a week they have enough feathers that they get enough lift that they can get out of the brooding rings and we end up chasing them all over the garage. That is when we move them out to our coop that we made out of old pallets. It works good. If I had to do it again I would build a split door, we have a chicken wire door on the inside that swings in and a solid door that swings out. Both are about 12" higher that the floor so they can't run out under your feet. I would Split the outside door and have the door go all the way to the floor, This would make clean up easier. Right now it is a little tricky to clean out the coop.

We have our share of struggles every year, with skunks, fox, hawks, raccoons, and neighborhood dogs, but overall we have been successful. A fly pen is a must for when they get a little older. We dug the chicken wire down and out about a foot which is important if you have predators. If you think you don't have any predators get pheasants and you will soon find out what is really in the neighborhood. 1 year we trapped 13 skunks. It is totally if you build it they will come situation.

There are all sorts of plans and ideas and information on the web if you need ideas. I will tell you this, it is pretty amazing to watch them fly away at 8 weeks. All the work is worth it!

Friday afternoon we headed for Illinois to help out with the 2019 KlM-GNA VJP - This is a JGHV test or more commonly know in the states as a German Hunting test. NAVHDA modeled their testing system off of the JGHV system, The VJP is the spring puppy test were they are looking for the natural abilities of the dogs. You can find more info on the specifics of the test on our testing info page.

This year the rabbit track portion of the test was held at the Northern Illinois Brace Club (NIBC) or better known as the Northern Illinois Beagle Club. Cheri and Larry were amazing hosts and very knowledge experienced dog people. We had an absolute blast. We got to meet Larry's Teckel (aka Wire Coat Dachshund) Larkin.

Larry was our Field Marshall for both days and we had a hoot! Saturday we were honored with 4 fabulous little girls ranging from 7-12 and Larry passed the time challenging them to hit his hat with a stick. The girls all seemed to enjoy there time at NIBC. 

Be prepared, it is important!! The things that I usually forget are to put sunscreen on, bring a hat and carry water, you would think I would have this figured out by now, but sadly no, I managed to get sun burnt on the first day and didn't carry water with me. I at least had a hat but only because Ryan had a couple extras in the truck.

Advice for new handlers, use a slip lead, a 10'-12' cord with a loop to slide over your wrist and then hook in your dogs collar. When your dog is on the rabbit track you let go of the loose end and your dog walks away to track with no resistance. This will help so you don't distract your dog when trying to mess with the leash clip. We saw dogs lose their concentration and get a bad start on the track from this on multiple occasions over the weekend.

Overall it was a great weekend with great people, I always learn something, which makes the trips to tests worth it!

Karla and Katie attended the 2019 Pine to Prairie Pheasants Forever Banquet in Cormorant, MN this past weekend and Katie must be a lucky charm. Usually, the plan is to donate but lady luck aka Katie was having a hot streak! Katie was one of the lucky youth that took home a shotgun that night. She tried her hand at some of the games and came up victorious on a few, winning a slingshot and a pool floaty. All in all it was a great night for a great cause. Next time we will bring Ryan and Grace.

What a weekend! The MN Monster Buck Classic took place in Perham, Mn this past weekend. Ryan and Jim Julson gave a intro to blood tracking seminar to crowds of varying sizes Friday, Saturday, & Sunday.

Jason and Asha stopped up Saturday with Odin (Arlo vom Eiswald) He is a handsome (roan small munsterlander puppy) braunschimmel Kleine Munsterlander puppy that caught everyone's attention. He was so sweet and playful!

Donna, Kuni, and Kira came to help with the event. It was a great time and gives us all a chance to talk about the dogs that we all fell in love with. This amazing versatile pointing is a great addition to any hunting family.

Kuni was regally hanging out on the table waiting for another visitor to the booth.

Abbie vom Eiswald is a sweet girl that is a lot like her momma. This spunky braunschimmel (Roan) small munsterlander will be turning heads. We were sad to see her go but she has an amazing family on the east coast. They braved the snowy roads to come pick her up. We were thrilled to hear that they mad it home. She had travel buddy as they brought Ace with them and made a pit stop in PA to drop him off.