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In The Natural History of Dogs, a fascinating and enlightening study of the development of the dog breeds of the world, authors Richard and Alice Feinnes classify most dogs as having descended from one of four major groups, all of which trace back to separate and distinct branches of the wolf family. These four classifications are the Dingo Group, the Greyhound Group, the Northern Group and the Mastiff Group. It is important to have at least a basic understanding of these groups, as very few breeds of dog are of pure descent; instead, they owe their widely diverse characteristics to an intermingling of the blood of as many as all four of the groups.

FROM HIS ANCESTORS…

It is believed that the solid-colored Pointers are the result of the cross that was made to the Greyhound many generations ago. On occasion, solid-color black, liver and, more rarely, orange and lemon Pointers may be seen. The highly developed eyesight of the Pointer can easily be attributed to the breed’s sighthound ancestor, as can a Pointer’s aloof and aristocratic demeanor.

The Pointer, whose ancestors are many and greatly varied, today possesses a purity and nobility that are all his own.

The Dingo Group traces its origin to the Asian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes). Two well-known examples of the Dingo Group are the Basenji and, through the crossing of several European breeds, the Rhodesian Ridgeback.

The Greyhound Group descends from a coursing-type relative of the Asian wolf. The group includes all those dogs that hunt by sight and are capable of great speed. The Greyhound itself, the Afghan Hound, the Borzoi and the Irish Wolfhound are all examples of this group. These dogs also are known as the coursing breeds or sighthounds, though they are not true hounds, as they do not hunt by scent. It is worth noting that the Pointer has been influenced by this group of swift-moving hunters.

The Italian Pointer is known as the Bracco Italiano, colored in chestnut, orange and/or white.

The Arctic or Nordic (Northern) Group of dogs is a direct descendant of the rugged northern wolf (Canis lupus). Included in this group are the Alaskan Malamute, Chow Chow, German Shepherd and the much smaller spitz-type dogs.

The Perdiguero de Burgos stands between 20 and 24 inches tall and weighs up to 66 pounds. He is known as the Spanish Pointer.

The Braque du Bourbonnais, in brown, liver or orange roan, is also known as the Bourbonnais Pointer, a handsome French hunting dog.

The fourth classification, and the one that is of special interest to those who wish to research the history of the Pointer, is the Mastiff Group. This group owes its primary heritage to the Tibetan wolf (Canis lupus chanco or laniger). The great diversity of dogs included in this group indicates that they are not entirely of pure origins, as they have undoubtedly been influenced by descendants of the other three groups.

The widely divergent descendants of the Mastiff Group are known to include many of the scenting breeds—breeds that find game by the use of their olfactory senses rather than by sight. These breeds include those we now classify as gundogs and the true hounds.

As man became more sophisticated and his lifestyle more complex, he found that he could produce dogs that could suit his specific needs from the various descendants of the wolf. Often these needs were based on the manner in which man himself went after game on particular terrain. The importance here is that man had taken control of the individual dogs that mated. Specific characteristics were prized, and inbreeding practices were employed to perpetuate these characteristics.

TROPHY MODEL

One of the legendary show Pointers of all time was Eng. Ch. Lune Prince, owned by Mr. T. Moorby. Prince was so revered by enthusiasts of the breed that he was used as a model by the Pointer Club for one of its trophies. During his career in the ring, he obtained 700 firsts and 33 Challenge Certificates.

One type of hunting dog that man developed retained the wolf characteristics of pursuing the prey until it was cornered and killed or chased up a tree. This practice is more or less typical of that group of dogs known today as our scenthounds. While their tenacity was held in high regard, the hounds’ willingness to continue the chase for miles, if necessary, often became rather tiresome for their owners. Thus was born a need for the hunting dog that never followed through with the chase or the attack. The dog’s job was not to do the hunting or killing but rather to assist the human hunter by finding the game and indicating his discovery to the hunter quietly so as not to scare away the birds. Furthermore, like any good assistant, the dog obeyed his master’s commands without hesitation.

A well-balanced pointing dog, the Braque Saint-Germain derived from the Pointer and is characteristically colored in orange and white.

The Braque d’Auvergne, one of the many pointers of France, stands 24 inches high and is marked in a black and white roaning pattern.

References have been made to the existence of this kind of dog as early as the time of the ancient Greeks. Written records point to the existence of a rough-coated breed of dog in Italy that signaled his discovery of game to the hunter by assuming a rigid position and placing his body in direct line with the find.

Today we think of the Pointer as a distinct breed of dog, but in fact the name refers to a dog that works the field in a distinctive manner, not unlike that described in ancient Greece. Countries throughout Europe developed their own unique breeds of “pointers” or “pointing dogs” based upon the demands made by their specific terrain. The results of these efforts can be seen in Italy’s Bracco Italiano and Spinone Italiano, Germany’s Shorthaired and Wirehaired Pointers, the Braque Francais and Brittany of France, as well as Britain’s contribution, the breed known simply as the Pointer.

A photograph from the turn of the 19th century, showing trained Pointers in the field. The photo was captioned “Waiting the Flight.”

Popular but controversial opinion has influenced many to believe that all of the pointing breeds owe their basic foundation to Spain and that the Pointer, as developed in Great Britain, owes its source exclusively to the Spanish Pointer, the Perdiguero de Burgos. However, many of Britain’s Pointer aficionados beg to differ.

Drayton Lady and Eng. Ch. Coronation, a brace of show and working Pointer bitches owned by Mr. H. Sawtell, circa 1935.

The Pointer and His Predecessors, written by William Arkwright of Sutton Scarsdale, near Chesterfield, England, is the most universally accepted work on the development of the Pointer breed. He began work on his book late in the 19th century and researched the material included over a period of 30 years. Throughout this work, Arkwright, while fully admitting the existence of a Spanish Pointer in England, maintained that the influence of the Spanish dog had little, if any, effect on the development of his chosen breed.

POINTERS ON THE CONTINENT

Every major European nation has produced its own version of the Pointer, with Germany and France leading the list. France has nine such breeds, including the multi-talented Brittany, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, also called Korthals Griffon, and the seven Braques named for their regions, such as the Auvergne, Bourbonnais and Saint-Germain. Germany has six distinct pointing breeds, including the Stichelhaar, Weimaraner, Pudelpointer and the German Short-, Wire-and Longhaired Pointers.

Hungary boasts its talented Vizsla; Slovakia its Cesky Fousek; the Slavs their incredibly popular Dalmatian; Italy its Bracco Italiano and Segugio Italiano, both gaining fans in the UK; Spain its Perdiguero de Burgos and Navarro; and Portugal its Perdigueiro Portugueso. Belgium’s Shorthaired Pointer is considered extremely rare, as are the two Danish breeds, the Old Danish Bird Dog (or Gammel Dansk Hønsehund) and the Hertha Pointer.

ADAPTABILITY AND SOPHISTICATION

Hunting has demanded different skills through the ages, and the dogs that man has used in this pursuit have also changed. In the earliest stages, man hunted to obtain food and to get rid of dangerous beasts. As man developed his techniques, and hunting began to be regulated by the government, it became a sporting event and the duties of his dogs became increasingly complex. Those who fancy the Pointer as a hunter believe that their breed represents the highest level of canine adaptability and sophistication.

Lending credence to Arkwright’s belief is Anecdotes of Dogs, written by Edward Jesse, Esq., and published in 1880. Jesse wrote of the Spanish Pointer in England during his day and describes a dog so unlike the Pointer as we know it that it is difficult to associate the two breeds. “How well do I recollect in my early youth seeing the slow, heavy, solemn-looking, and thick-shouldered (sic) Spanish pointer, tired with two or three hours’ work in turnips, and so stiff after it the next day, as to be little capable of resuming his labors.”

In 1895 this rare black bitch, Leader, made a name for herself in the field. She belonged to breed expert William Arkwright.

Although he does go on to explain away the streamlining of the breed by a simple cross to the “fox-hound,” certainly one would question whether the so-called foxhound of that era had the conformation that would produce the lithe lines and increased speed of the Pointer as we know it. Arkwright not only dismisses the Spanish dog as the foundation of the Pointer, he also casts doubt on Spain as the origin of the pointing breeds in the first place. He refers to a letter written by the US Vice Consul in Valencia, Spain in 1900. In that letter the Vice Consul stated that pointing dogs existed in Spain for many generations and were the descendants of an original pair that were presented as gifts to the Spanish court “by an Italian prince.”

The famous Lloyd Price’s Pointer, named Wragg. This painting was published in 1881 and is an interesting comparison to the Pointers of today.

Sandford Dum Dum is an example of an old-time Pointer, produced from Foxhound and Spanish Pointer breeding.

Colonel David Hancock has researched this question of origin quite thoroughly in his excellent work The Heritage of the Dog, and the Drury book British Dogs revealed that the first record of the Pointer in Great Britain is the Tilleman painting of the Duke of Kingston with his kennel of Pointers in 1725. Drury describes these dogs as “…the same elegant Franco-Italian type as the pointing dogs painted by Oudry (1686–1755) and Desportes (1661–1743) at the end of the 17th century.”

Eng. Ch. Flagon of Ardagh was a top winner of the late 1920s/early 1930s. He added to his many honors two further Challenge Certificates in 1933, at the age of seven.

Finally, and contrary to what has been readily accepted by many theorists, research indicates that the pointing dog was well established in France long before the Spanish Pointer made its way to Great Britain. Moreover, those French dogs, very frequently seen throughout Great Britain, far more closely resembled the Pointer of today than the Spanish dogs.

DOG SHOW CONQUERED

England’s prestigious Crufts Dog Show has been conquered by the Pointer on two occasions, the first of which was in 1935 by Pennine Prima Donna, owned by A. Eggleston, and the second in 1958 by Eng. Ch. Chiming Bells, owned by Mrs. W. Parkinson.

OTHER INFLUENCES

“Horses for courses” is an old saying among British stockmen that has served as the basis for the development of many kinds of prized livestock. Translated in layman’s terms, this adage simply refers to choosing a breeding formula that will produce a horse best suited to work in the terrain of the region. This formula not only applied to horses but also was the basis upon which many of Britain’s outstanding dog breeds were developed. Often this practice required going to totally unrelated breeds for what was needed. At times a dash of one breed, a smattering of another and perhaps even a sprinkling of two or three others were necessary to complete the recipe for the ideal dog! Although this practice was not particularly something to be shouted from the rooftops, it is to what we owe the incredible characteristics of some of our modern-day breeds, including the Pointer.

THE POINTER’S RANGE OF SKILLS

The Pointer owes a good deal of the respect it enjoys among hunters to the popularity of what was called “wing-shooting” or shooting the game in the air. To accomplish this, a dog had first to locate the birds by scent and then alert the hunter to their presence by standing at point. When the hunter approached, or upon signal, the dog would flush out the covey and set the birds to wing. Although many breeds were accomplished at perhaps one of these skills, few could compare to Britain’s Pointer in the excellent manner in which they performed the entire range.

Perhaps the question of the Pointer’s country of origin will never be satisfactorily answered, but there is no doubt that the gene pool of its descendants is certainly diverse. Breed historians acknowledge that at least four crosses to other breeds were employed to bring about the Pointer as we know it today. The four breeds credited are the Greyhound, the Bloodhound, the Foxhound and, more surprisingly, the Bull Terrier.

This original painting of a Spanish Pointer by renowned dog artist Reinagle appeared in The Sportsman’s Cabinet in 1803.

At first reading, these crosses may seem to be somewhat bizarre choices. However, you will see how these crosses made perfect sense in our forefathers’ attempt to produce the ideal hunting dog. You will also see that these astute breeders had to take a bit of the bitter for the sake of the sweet. There are a number of problems resulting from these crosses that continue to haunt the breed today, many generations later.

This photo, circa 1930, was captioned “Pointers at School on the Moors.”

Nancolleth Billy Mischief was the name of this dog bred by Mrs. F. A. Rowe in 1931.

Rock of Ballymoy, a Pointer of the 1930s, was bred by Mr. G. Davies and owned by Mrs. M. V. Christian.

His Grace the Duke of Montrose was a renowned Pointer expert who owned one of the most important kennels in the breed. Two Pointers of his breeding are shown (foreground) in this photo taken at the 1930 Ulster Gun Trials.

REMARKABLE!

One of the most remarkable Pointers in the breed’s history was the dog Drake, who had been bred by Sir R. Garth and sold by him at what was then considered a “staggering figure” to Mr. R. J. Lloyd Price of Wales. The dog was then at the advanced age of seven years but was said to work the field far better than even puppies of the highest class. The speed at which he worked was such that he sent up a cloud of dust when he stopped to drop to the scent of game.

Let us look first at the Greyhound cross. There can be no doubt that the use of Greyhound blood gave the modern Pointer its speed, elegance and grace. The short sleek coat harkens back to the breed’s Greyhound ancestor, as does the long, well-arched neck, graceful underline and turn-on-the-spot agility. On the other hand, the Greyhound cross can plague the breeder with excessive refinement of head. A narrow front and rib cage, a tilted pelvis and excessive loin arch are also undesirable characteristics that sometimes appear in the Pointer.

The Pointer is not alone in its use of the ancient Bloodhound for its highly developed scenting ability and robust constitution. The undesirable features that accompanied those highly desirable Bloodhound characteristics, however, were the plodding movement, long rounded ears andstraight underline, with which Pointer breeders are still forced to contend.

Foxhound blood was also incorporated for scenting ability and easy maintenance. The well-developed rib cage and relentless endurance were positive assets as well. Such advantages were not without their price, however, as round bone, plain heads, long ropy tails carried vertically and houndy underlines plague the breed to this day.

There are probably few breeds more alert or persistent and determined than the Bull Terrier, and this is what the early Pointer breeders sought. However, the barrel chest, the overly broad front and the hard-bitten terrier eye and expression were contributions the Pointer did not need.

Despite such problems, the Pointer breed rapidly took shape, and the future of the breed was certainly given a major boost in the right direction by the aristocratic names who took up the breed: Lord Lichfield, the Duke of Kingston, Lord Mexborough and the Earl of Lauderdale, just to name a few.

Four early dogs are generally given credit for laying the foundation for all that was to come in the breed: Brocton’s Bounce, Stater’s Major, Whitehouse’s Hamlet and Garth’s Drake (who was said to be one-eighth Foxhound) were the names that dominated Pointer circles. Eng. Ch. Ranger, a dog owned by Mr. Newton, became the breed’s first bench champion, winning three first prizes at England’s premier events—Leeds and Birmingham in 1861, and the final award at Chelsea in 1863. Eng. Ch. Flash gained her title at Birmingham in 1865. The first field trial champion was Drake, born in 1868, bred and owned by Sir Richard Garth. Henry Sawtell bred and owned the breed’s first Dual Champion, Faskally Brag, who was also a sire of significant impact.

Stainton Startler was born in 1932 and won his first Challenge Certificate in 1933 at the Scottish Kennel Club Show.

Pennine Prima Donna, born in 1931, is not considered a champion despite having won 12 Challenge Certificates and even Best in Show (BIS) at Crufts.

In the end, British stockmanship produced an elegant animal, strikingly painted and blessed with exquisite balance and proportion. Of crucial importance was his unmatched ability to perform in the field. Here was a tenacious hunter willing to meet the demands of any job assigned to him. Descriptions such as “a paragon of the pointing breeds” and “a non-stop hunting machine” reverberated throughout the hillsides, sounding loud and clear across the English Channel to the rest of Europe and then across the Atlantic to America.

Jake’s Carolina Boy, an American-bred Pointer of the 1930s. He was owned by Miss Claudia Lea Phelps and won the Amateur Derby Stakes, held by the Pinehurst Field Trials Club in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

POINTERS IN THE UNITED STATES

English settlers coming to America, a country overflowing in game and open land, no doubt brought their superb hunting dogs with them, thus the beginning of the Pointer in America can be traced to pre-Colonial times. The first documented importations of Pointers began in the late 1870s, notably those of the newly formed Westminster Kennel Club, including their trademark dog Sensation, and the St. Louis Kennel Club, which imported a fast field dog named Sleaford in 1877. The famed Westminster Pointer, as history would have it, hardly lived up to his namesake: as a matter of fact, his “unsensational” show record reflects that he won his championship entirely under Westminster judges and was sold at auction for $35, not an impressive sum even back then. Some other famous imports of this period were: Bow, imported by T.H. Scott; Meteor, the first small Pointer who excelled as a stud dog, imported by the St. Louis Kennel Club; Faust, imported by S.A. Kaye; and Croxteth, brought over by Rev. J.C. MacDonna in 1879 and sold to Mr. Dodeffroy of New York. This young dog improved the quality of American Pointers, being a better size and shape than the dogs in the States, with stronger bone, more muscle and a long, lean head, different from the cloddy heads imported by the others.

WESTMINSTER COAT OF ARMS

The Pointer became the symbol of the nation’s most prestigious dog show, the Westminster Kennel Club show. The club’s first English import, “Sensation,” is used as the club’s logo. The Pointer took the honor of Best in Show at that show three times during the 20th century. The first Pointer to win Westminster was R.F. Maloney’s Int. Ch. Governor Moscow in 1925. The second of these victories was claimed by Ch. Nancolleth Markable, owned by the famous Giralda Farms, in 1932. Over 50 years later, in 1986, Ch. Marjetta National Acclaim, owned by Mrs. A.R. Robson and Michael Zollo, won Best in Show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, the third and last Pointer to win Westminster in the century.

Arnold Burges’s The American Kennel and Sporting Field was published in 1876, and the National American Kennel Club followed, along with Dr. N. Rowe’s American Kennel Stud Book. The first pointing-dog field trial, sponsored by the Tennessee State Sportsmen’s Association, was held in October 1874 near Memphis, Tennessee. A black and white Pointer named Rex, owned by A. Merriman, came in sixth place, scoring 67 out of a possible 100 points.

The very first Pointer to be registered by the American Kennel Club (AKC) was a black and white dog by the name of Ace of Spades, even though this dog was by no means one of the first dogs imported into the country. Whelped in June 1875, Ace was owned by J.J. Snellenberg of New Brighton, Pennsylvania. He was sired by Button, who was out of David Stewart’s brace imported from Britain.

Edmund Orgill of New York, who greatly favored the lemon and white dogs, bred and owned many famous Pointers in this period, including Ch. Orgill’s Rush, born in April 1876, as well as Beulah, Rap, Rose and Ruby. In September 1882, Don, owned by R.T. Vandevort, made Pointer history by winning first place in the Free-For-All stake of the National American Kennel Club’s trials in Minnesota.

Ch. Shandown’s Touch O’Kings, BIS at Forsyth KC in 1972, handled by Bobby Barlow under judge Mrs. John B. Patterson.

Imports continued from England in the 1880s with the arrival of Eng. Ch. Graphic and Nell of Efford, imported by Mr. James L. Anthony of New York in 1885. These dogs owned by Mr. Norrish came from Devonshire, England. They proved top winning dogs and valuable breeding stock.

A group of the most important Pointer men in the US banded together to create the Pointer Club of America to safeguard the breed: among the members in 1890 were Hon. John S. Wise, president; George W. LaRue, secretary and treasurer; and James L. Anthony, first of four vice-presidents. Artist Gustav Muss-Arnolt was the Pointer Club of America’s first AKC delegate.

Ch. Cumbrian Black Pearl, winning a Group at Santa Barbara KC in 1983, handled by Corky Vroom. The following year Black Pearl was the number-one Sporting Dog and the top Pointer of all time.

In 1889 the black and white dog Rip Rap came on the scene to distinguish himself in field trials. This color was not desirable by American fanciers at the time, but Rip Rap changed their minds. He sired 19 field trial winners, including Young Rip Rap, a famous producer and show dog. Ripsey, sired by Rip Rap, became the most famous dog of Edmund Osthaus’s kennel, one of the leading field Pointer breeding establishments for decades.

James Monroe Avent and Hobart Ames founded the National Bird Dog Championship in West Point, Mississippi in 1896. Bird dog trialers consider this the most important of all trials, though it wasn’t won by a Pointer until 1909, when the three-year-old Manitoba Rap, bred by W.T.F. Fielde and owned by Thomas Johnson, did so. In 1915 the 6,000-acre Ames Plantation became the event’s permanent home where the trial is still conducted. Among the Pointers who have dominated the trial, three of the early multiple national winners were bitches: Mary Montrose, four-time winner; Becky Broomhill, three-time winner; and Mary Blue, two-time winner. Other multiple winners over the decades were Ariel, Paladin, Palamonium, and Whipporwill’s Rebel.

On November 14, 1900, the Pointer Club of America held its inaugural field trial at Jamesport, Long Island, New York. FC Alford’s John and Fishel’s Frank appeared on the scene in the early 1900s and upped the ante for the breed in field trials. Frank sired 58 field trial winners, including “Peerless” Mary Montrose, the four-time national winner and Winners Bitch at the 1917 Westminster show, Comanche Frank and John Proctor, the latter two going back to Alford’s John. All of these dogs won nationals and established major lines in Pointers in the US.

A number of important show dogs emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, including Ch. Governor Moscow, the 1925 Westminster Best in Show (BIS) winner, as well as Ch. Nancolleth Belle and Ch. Dapple Joe, both Westminster Group winners. The next Pointer Westminster BIS winner was Nancolleth Markable, bred by Mrs. F.A. Rowe, who took the title in 1932. Other Westminster Group winners of this period were Ch. Benson of Crombie (1934) and Ch. Nancolleth Marquis (1935).

AMERICAN POINTER CLUB

The breed’s current AKC parent club is the American Pointer Club, Inc. (APC), which was established in 1938. The APC acts as the guardian and promoter of the breed in the US. One of its main goals is to protect the breed standard and encourage its members to breed to it. Another important goal is promoting the versatility of the Pointer breed. The club does this in many ways, including sponsoring agility, obedience, field trials and hunting tests in conjunction with the APC’s national specialty. Further, the club created the Versatility program to award Pointers who achieve excellence in multiple areas of competition (conformation, agility, field, tracking and hunting tests). The VA (Versatility Award) and the VAX (Versatility Award Excellent) are the titles earned through the program.

The Elhew kennels of Bob Wehle were established in 1936, based on Gem of Fearn, a Scottish import, and Frank of Sunnylawn. The foundation of this kennel was Elhew Midge, who has been called “the Lamborghini of Pointers,” establishing a whole line of exquisite, intelligent Pointers. No Pointer expert would dispute that the Elhew line dominated the field for the last half of the 20th century, so much so that many Pointer folk refer to the “Elhew Pointer” as if it were a separate breed or model. Although Bob concentrated on field dogs, he was proud to maintain conformation in his line and on the rare occasion would show one of his “good-looking” Elhew dogs in the ring with success. To this day, the Elhew dogs are a force in the breed; the breeding programs of Rick and Suzanne Glover, the Yellow Rose kennels and others continue to concentrate on these dogs.

The most important Best in Show winner from this period is no doubt Ch. Nancolleth Beryl of Giralda, whose record of 21 BIS awards was not surpassed for nearly five decades, when Ch. Cumbrian Black Pearl overtook the record in 1984. Another great dog was Int. Ch. Drumgannon Dreadnaught, the sire of 19 champions and a Best in Show winner in the US and England.

Ch. St. Aldwyns Radiance, BOB at Westminster in 1974, handled by Jeffrey Lynn Brucker.

Ch. Humble Acre Sandstorm, shown winning an American Pointer Club specialty in 1978, handled by Karen Prickett.

The American Pointer Club (APC) became a member of the AKC in 1938 and held its first show in conjunction with the famous Morris and Essex Show in May of the follow year. The winner of the show was a lemon and white dog named Int. Ch. Pennine Paramount of Prune’s Own, born in 1935, sired by Marlais Marksman, the most influential Pointer of the 1930s, who had as many fans as he had detractors. Some believe that he was too houndy with a down face, and he passed these qualities (and many good ones) to his progeny.

The 1950s saw the prominence of Mary Wadsworth Rich’s Vilmar kennels, as Ch. Vilmar’s Lucky, living up to his name, won the national specialty 5 times, not to mention 12 Best in Show awards. The first orange champion was also a Vilmar dog, Ch. Vilmar’s Skogis Herta. Two other greats from the 1950s, both Westminster Group winners, were Ch. C P and Ch. Captain Speck, Lucky’s sire. In 1954, five Pointers were inducted into the Field Trial Hall of Fame, which is a part of the National Bird Dog Museum located in Grand Junction, Tennessee. The five dogs were Fishel’s Frank, John Proctor, Luminary, Mary Montrose and Muscle Shoal’s Jake.

The decade of the 1960s brought forth Ch. Maryjay’s Majesty, owned by Enos Phillips. He was a liver and white who won 13 BIS, 2 Bests in Specialty Show (BISS) awards and 61 Group Ones, including the APC’s national in 1963 and 1964. Bob Parkers’s Truewithem bloodlines relied heavily on his prepotency. Another great Pointer of the period was Ch. Crookrise Danny of Muick, who won Group One at Westminster in 1964.

The Cumbrian kennels were founded in 1967 by Henri Tuthill, basing his line on his first champion, Ch. Shandown’s Prima Donna, and English imports such as Ch. Cumbrian President and Ch. Sunset of Cumbrian. Cumbrian’s dedication to the breed has paid off richly, in producing nearly 100 champions including the all-time top-winning Pointer Ch. Cumbrian Black Pearl in the 1980s.

The top Sporting Dog for 1970 was a Pointer by the name of Ch. Counterpoint’s Lord Ashley, whose record of 20 Bests in Show by a male Pointer has not been overtaken. Lord Ashley was bred by Ruth Still. Among his impressive wins were the APC national in 1965 and 1966 and the Group at Westminster twice. The decades of the 1970s and 80s saw many great accomplishments in the show ring and a historic first in 1978 when the first Dual Champion Pointer, excelling in field and conformation, was achieved: DC Scanpoint’s Touch of Troll, owned by Karin B. Ashe. Few could ever imagine going beyond a dual championship title, though DC/AFC Scanpoint’s MacKenzie did just that when, in 1984, he became the first Dual Champion Pointer to earn the Amateur Field Champion title. He was trained in the field by Steven Ashe and handled by Karin and Kristen Ashe.

The Marjetta kennels of Marjorie Martorella made a name in Pointers beginning in the 1970s. Marjorie bred her first Pointer litter in 1974 and over the past three decades has produced over 100 champions. Marjorie’s foundation dam, Ch. Truewithem A Taste of Triumph, sired by Ch. Counterpoint’s Lord Ashley, produced 4 BIS winners among her 29 champions: Ch. Marjetta Lord Carlton, Ch. Marjetta Lady Vanessa, Ch. Marjetta Mylestone and Ch. Marjetta National Acclaim, the 1985 Westminster victor, handled by Michael Zollo and owned by Mrs. Alan Robson. The Marjetta Pointers have been used as the foundation of many current kennels, including Birnamwood, Homestead, Karolina, Kingscroft, Olympus, Steinhoff and Sunset.

Coming into prominence in the early 1970s, the Shandown Pointers of Shan and Leon Shiver owned and produced many top Pointers; among them were Ch. Shandown’s King’s Ransom, Ch. Shandown’s Playboy, Ch. Shandown’s King of The Road, Ch. Shandown’s Dress Parade, Ch. Shandown’s Black Knight, Ch. Shandown’s Touch O’Kings and Ch. Shandown’s Diamond Jim.

Ch. Marjetta National Acclaim, Best in Show at Westminster in 1986, with handler Michael Zollo.

MORE THAN COMPARING LEMONS AND ORANGES

by Wayne Cavanaugh

In 1979 the very first Pointer with black pigment (a black nose and eye rims) to win the national specialty was Henri Tuthill’s orange and white Ch. Cumbrian Sea Breeze. He was 100% English breeding out of an imported dam and by an imported sire. Joyce and Athos Nilson had imported his sire, and Henri had imported his dam from George Holliday, who had obtained her from Peter Woodford at the Stonethorpe kennel. So after 40 consecutive years of liver-nosed national winners, Sea Breeze finally turned the tide.

Prior to this historic win, no Pointer had ever won the national, or even the breed at Westminster, that didn’t have liver nose and eye pigment; that is, they were all either livers or lemons. It is generally accepted worldwide that yellow-marked Pointers with liver eye and nose pigment are called “lemons,” and yellow-marked pointers with black noses are called “orange” regardless of the shade of yellow, which can be anything from deep bronze to pale buckskin. The reason for this is simple: they produce very different colors when bred—no black nose, no black puppies. Actually with the exception of a few superb imports in the late 1960s and early ’70s (a few Crookrise, Toberdoney and Cumbrian dogs from England, and later some from Scandinavia), oranges with black noses and black and white Pointers simply were not even seen in the show ring. That is, they were all liver and white, or the occasional recessive lemon and white, neither of which can carry for black!

The very next year, in 1980, another orange and white won the national, Ch. Rossenarra Amontillado of Crookrise, an orange and white English import. “Myles,” as he was known, was only bred to 7 times, due in part perhaps to his then “rare” color, but produced 22 champions, including 3 Best in Show winners—2 blacks and one orange—and still remains on the top sire list. Of the top 13 sires of all time, 6 are his descendants. Perhaps as important, 14 of the last 20 national Best of Breed winners are his descendants. Myles was tightly line-bred on Ch. Crookrise Flint of Kitty Edmonson’s old Crookrise line.

Ch. Marjetta National Acclaim, a liver and white, was a Best in Show winner at Westminster. “Deputy,” as he was known, was a line-bred dog of the old Truewithem line of the late Bob Parkers. Interestingly, he had a cross to one of those first wave of orange and white imports, Ch. Crookrise Jesse, through his sire’s side. Deputy was a hugely popular stud dog, sire of 107 champions, and also remains on the top of the top sire list in the number-one spot. Of the top 13 sires of all time, 3 are his descendants. While he never won the national specialty, 8 of the last 20 national Best of Breed winners were descendants of his; amazingly, all 8 are also descendants of Myles.

The year 1974 marks a special occasion for the Crookrise kennels of England and their dedicated breeders Walter and Kitty Edmonson. At the 1974 national show, Ch. Crookrise Greg won Best of Breed, the first time this kennel won the American national since their inception in the early 1900s. Another Crookrise dog won the national in 1980, this being Ch. Rossenarra Amontillado of Crookrise. Even though the kennel has not produced a top-winning dog in its history, being a small operation, the Crookrise dogs can be found in all but one of the dogs that have won the national specialty in the past 25 years. While the breed no longer has as many large gene pool families as it did in the past, there are few top-winning Pointers in the American show ring today that don’t have some variation of the old Crookrise-Truewithem (or a similar English-American cross). This longstanding kennel is continued on by the Edmondsons’ daughter, Cicely Robertshaw.

Sally Barton started her Coralwood kennels in 1977. Her acquisition of foundation sire and dam Ch. Sydmar Coralwoods Grand Slam and Ch. Sydmar the Heartless Wench from Paul Nykiel formed the basis of her current breeding line. She has produced many Best in Show Pointers, including Am./Can. Ch. Coralwood-Ash Hollows Bronx Bomber, Ch. Coralwood-Ash Hollows Wild Indian, Ch. Coralwood-Troon Leads The League and Ch. Coralwood Fielder’s Choice. One of the top dogs bred by Sally came in 1996, in Ch. Oncore’s C’Wood Sportin Good, bred with Dr. Patricia Haines. Owned by D. Hardy and Nicholas Urbanek, he won multiple BIS and countless Group placements. There is no doubt that Sally will continue to hit home runs for the Pointer in the show ring.

Ch. Woolmen’s Apricot Li’ l Tipaway, BOB at Santa Barbara KC in 1982, handled by Bobby Barlow.

The Solivia kennel of Susan Olivia Lewis Thompson began in the early 1970s with Irish Setters and English Cockers, but eventually got into Pointers, Susan’s childhood pet. Since its inception, Solivia has bred over 120 American and international champions, in all colors including solids. One of the foundation dogs here is Ch. Orion of Crookrise, bred by the Crookrise kennels in England, who, when bred to descendants of the old Truewithem line, produced many champions, including Am./Can. Ch. Solivia’s Blackheart Bravado, himself the sire of 26 champions; Ch. Solivia’s Baby Bunting, the dam of 13 champions; Ch. Solivia’s Briarpatch Bunny; Am./Int. Ch. Solivia’s Maid of Cotton, CGC; and many others. Another great Solivia dog is Am./Braz./Mex./Int. Ch. Onsage Marquetry of Solivia, a top international show dog and sire.

Four-time national specialty winner, Ch. Jason of Kinnike won eight BIS awards during his career, which spanned most of the 1980s. He won his first BIS at 14 months of age and his last specialty from the Veterans Class at 8 years old. The historical wins of Ch. Cumbrian Black Pearl, setting a new BIS record for Pointers with 22 all-breed shows, took place in 1984, when she was the number-one Sporting Dog and number-three all-breeds. On her way to the record, she won 84 Groups.

Ch. Bee Serious Kinsman, BOB at Westminster in 2000, handled by Peter Green. Judge, Houston Clark.

In 1986 Ch. Marjetta National Acclaim won the prestigious BIS award at Westminster. In all, he won 19 BIS awards and became the breed’s top sire with 107 champion offspring. “Deputy,” as he was called, left his mark on many winning kennels, including Ablearm, Bee Serious, Tahari, Coralwood, Paladen and others. While we’re talking about top producers, we must acknowledge two top-producing dams, Deputy’s mom, Ch. Truewithem A Taste of Triumph, dam of 29 champion get, and the reigning top-producing dam Ch. Sydmar the Heartless Wench (Blair), who produced 31 champions in just 4 litters. Her progeny include five BIS and two specialty winners, and she has herself won many prestigious classes.

Den and Elsa Lawler began their Bee Serious Pointers in 1985 with Ch. Marjetta Kountry Music, bred by Glen Boyer and Marjorie Martorella. She produced eight champion progeny. In the early 1990s, the Lawlers had great success with the BIS-winning bitch Ch. Marjetta Reatta of Kintyre, bred by Marjorie Martorella, handled by co-owner Cindy Lane. Then came along “Elliott” in 1996: formally Ch. Albelarm’s Bee Serious, bred by Mrs. Alan Robson and Michael Zollo, presented by Peter Green and co-owned with Judy and Frank DePaulo and DeeAnne Malanga. By 1997 Ch. Albelarm’s Bee Serious won 22 BIS and 122 Group Ones, not to mention Best of Breed at Westminster from 1996 through 1998. These two top-drawer Pointers became the inspiration and foundation of the Bee Serious Pointers. The next great dogs out of Bee Serious were Ch. Bee Serious Kinsman, who became the top Pointer in 1999 and 2000, and Am./Can. Ch. Bee Serious Lord Jim, JH, the top Pointer for 2002.

Three-time national specialty winner Am./Can. Ch. Luftnase Albelarm Bee’s Knees, CD, JH became the country’s number-one dog all-breeds in 1989. During her career she won 47 Best in Show awards and 147 Group Ones. She was sired by Westminster BIS Ch. Marjetta National Acclaim.

The Kinnike kennels of John and Erica Bandes began in 1979 and has produced over 100 champions, including 4 of the breed’s 8 Dual Champions and many titled field dogs. The four Kinnike Dual Champions are DC/AFC Kinnike Wythelde, SH, the breed’s first bitch Dual Champion; DC Kinnike Blackthorne; DC/AFC Kinnike Hedda, JH; and DC Kinnike Simon, JH. The Kinnike bloodlines are based on the famous Crookline dogs from England and can be found in the Luftnase and Albelarm stock as well. Among the top dogs here are multi-BIS-winning Ch. Jason of Kinnike, Ch. Kinnike Hannah, CD, JH and Ch. Kinnike Mathilda, JH; both bitches are the dams of two Dual Champions. The next Dual Champion from this kennel should be Ch. Kinnike Stewart JH, totaling five.

Thanks to the dedicated breeders that we’ve mentioned, many new dogs and kennels continue to enter the show world and finish on top. One such dog is Cheryl Laduc’s multi-BIS-winning Ch Cookieland’s Life Of Leisure, co-owned with A. Cantor and A. Walker. The Pointer in the US thrives in the show ring and in the field, often dominating the competition and proving that the breed is as near perfection as a pure-bred dog can be.