Wherrypoint Kennel

A post card in a shop window said 'GLP' puppies for sale, with a picture of a stunning dog 'Cadanbyrig Fayrac' or Alma with her 13 pups. A German Longhaired Pointer? There's no such thing!' Intrigued, we went straight home to find out more.  A quick internet search later revealed this rare, energetic, intelligent Hunter Pointer Retriever, is an excellent dog in the field. Loyal, hardworking, not for the novice! On 21 December 2008 we came home with a bundle of brown fur to our house in London.  The journey with 'Bold Knight', had begun.

As responsible dog owners puppy training classes were taken and Good Citizen classes followed but, this couldn't take away from owning a hunting dog in London. Two years on, an awful lot more training and with much support from the German Longhaired Pointer Club we had fallen in love with this dog. Having caught the bug for country sports our exit out of London was only a matter of time. Although continuing to train in parks and open spaces, after two years we realised that London, urban foxes and GLPs were not a good combination and in 2010 moved to Norfolk.

 

After many compliments about Bold Knight's conformation and handsome looks, he was entered into Crufts in 2009. He won a 1st in his class beating a show champion and shortly after sired his first litter, which has been successful in the field and show ring. Questor Jacob achieved show Certificate of Merit in 2012 and Questor Jude has received a number of working awards.

Despite the low number of dogs in the UK since GLPs were first recognised by the Kennel Club in 1997, the breed has made a significant mark in the field with four (Rob and Theo Gould) dogs being made up to field trial champions. However, we have been surprised by the low numbers of registrations and recognised that the UK gene pool needed to increase. This was mainly down to the quarantine laws which made importing and breeding with more popular European dogs challenging. Undeterred, and after much discussion and advice with the club and an international judge, we imported a foundation bitch for our planned kennel. A great deal of enquiries were made and several lines from successful Dutch kennels were scrutinised.  In Meerpoel kennel, Someren we found everything we were looking for. The wonderful Harrie Bukkems, a committed hunter and shower of the breed was using dogs from Germany and the Netherlands. Breeding for many years, Harrie's dogs are good all round workers, with excellent temperament and superb coats. He is well regarded in the breed and has a number of national and one international show World Champion, Mira Anique V.D. Meerpoel WW09. From her litter in 2010 I was allowed to hand pick at five week old, our foundation bitch Konstanze.

 

We have achieved a great deal in a relatively short period of time with the support of many. The breed is fantastic and has many supporters and some who have worked tirelessly promoting the dogs as the ultimate HPR and taking the GLP from an unknown breed to field trial championship status. This is where the breed is today. 

 

GLPs can be seen at working tests and field trials hosted by the club at Discover Dogs , Crufts and the CLA Game Fair.