The Deutsch Drahthaar is a mid-sized substantial dog of noble bearing. Sizes range from 57cm to 64 cm for females and 61 to 68 cm for males. Average females will weigh 65 pounds give or take and males may way up to 90 pounds. Coats do vary a great deal both in length and hardness. The ideal coat is described as “serviceable” and easy to care for; its primary function being to provide protection for the dog from water, briars, and brush. It should be of medium length and should be hard, dense and wiry. Most DD’s will have their distinctive eyebrows and beards. Temperaments should be stable. They make excellent pets for the family but that definitely is their secondary purpose. Their first primary job is that of hunting companion. A Drahthaar should never be placed in the hands of a nonhunter. These are not dogs for the designer dog aficionados. These dogs are apex predators and will not be happy in the home unless there exists an outlet for their base instincts. Will these dogs really hunt everything? You bet they will; from rabbits to quail, from pheasants to ducks, from pigs to mountain lions. They have the drive and tenacity to be by your side at the end of the day regardless of the game you chase.

What goes into make a Deutsch Drahthaar puppy? Great question! First of all over 100 years of highly selective breeding! Around 1900, hunters in Germany were greatly dissatisfied with the quality of the hunting dogs available to them, and because of that, they committed heresy. They took the best of the best dogs from the four primary hunting dogs available and bred them together. Their amalgamation created the Deutsch Drahthaar. They cared not at all what the dog “looked like” (sound familiar AKC) only as to what the dog performed like. Performance was first, last and the only thing that mattered. To maintain this level of performance, a testing and evaluation method against a given standard was developed. This system has been tweaked and continues to be changed over the years, to meet the requirements of our evolving hunting dogs and hunting venues. Now critics, usually guys selling non-DD’s, will tell you they test their dogs every day in the field while hunting and that we only “play test” our dogs. OK, fair point until you look at the facts. First of all, every dog in a DD’s pedigree has met at a minimum our requirements to become breed certified, which includes finishing our breed hunt tests. All breeding DD’s are gunfire stable, are free of hip dysplasia and OCD. They have all met the minimum standard in coat and confirmation. Now this doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get a perfect genetic puppy but I think it certainly increases the odds in you favor. Don’t you? Now a word about our testing system. Our system was devised to ensure that our dogs will perform basic hunting tasks that he will encounter while hunting – searching, pointing, retrieving, tracking, gunfire. This system was envisioned and developed by hunters for hunters. Our judges who enforce the system are accomplished dog people, having to be first of all hunters, dog trainers and handlers themselves; also having to constantly continue their education through seminars.

What goes into a Dilmunfast puppy? We absolutely train, hunt and test our own dogs. We strive to produce dogs of profound character and confidence. We desire a high degree of mental stability and focus which we feel leads to superior temperaments. We work along established bloodlines that have been proven to produce consistent performance.
We strive to maintain the versatility of the breed and look for puppy buyers who are looking for a dog to perform all functions of hunting. Our dogs will hunt everything from fur to feathers with an emphasis on blood tracking. An excellent blood tracker, in our opinion, will only be able to perform his task if he has the mind to perform this concentrated task.
We want to breed dogs that want to be a part of your family. These dogs do far better when incorporated into your everyday lives. We want dogs that want to hunt and work with you. After all what good is a dog that can not be handled by all members of your family or that can’t ride with you in the front seat of the truck?

If you are looking for a hunting partner that will be high powered, cover a lot of ground and will work hundreds of yards away from you, you’ll not be happy with one of ours. Our dogs tend to be close working with a high degree of cooperation and biddability. They tend to be thorough and methodical. We desire to produce pups that can be handled and hunted by anyone. This is not to say that our dogs are lack luster or boot lickers but quite the opposite. Our dogs want to be part of a hunting team. Full bag limits are not our only goal here. My joy in hunting starts the moment the dog is let out of the truck with excellent bird work and with a dog that clearly enjoys what he’s doing.

The male dogs that we use are either known to us or those whose opinion we value. We shy away from the “trendy” or dogs who may be the “flavor of the month”. We look at not only the performance of that male but what did his littermates do? What have his offspring done? The male must have the coat, conformation, drive, performance and temperament that we demand. We want the total package.