Meet Alice

[casts_by_fly]

Hi all,

 

 

This is Alice. Alice joined us on Sunday at 11 weeks old. It’s been quite the emotional journey to get her, but she’s here now.

Alice is a Slovak roughaired pointer.  It’s a pretty rare breed most anywhere but especially here in the US. I estimate fewer than 100 born in the US per year. We know the breed because back in 2018 when we lost our lab, we decided we wanted an adult dog and we came across Mara who at 5.5 years old needed a new home. They are a lovely breed and incredible gun dogs   We always said we’d have another one someday but when we moved back to the US we thought for sure that meant importing one.  We found there are a couple breeders here but not many litters per year. 
 

Then one day this spring I was looking up breeders for something and came across an ad for a litter. And it was local to my in-laws. After some back and forth emails we had a phone call and long story short (1) he was 2 miles from my in-laws and (2) the dogs were closely related to Mara. We wanted one so badly but 4 dogs in the house would have been just too much. We agonized over it but it was the right call for us. 
 

less than a month later ruby died. A month after that Mara nearly died. 
 

Fast forward to a week and a half ago and the same breeder had another litter from the same pair with one female left. It would be the last time this female would be bred. We knew we had to do it, even though we are still planning to add one more in the spring. 
 

Alice is now happy with her two buddies here at our house. She’s still got some

settling in to do but I think she’s going to be just fine. 
 

 

[DaubsNU1]

Wonderful!  Congrats! 

[GaryH]

Congrats and good luck with your new buddy.

[A-Jay]

Sweet ~

Alice is a cutie and one Super Lucky Pup.

Congrats to you & your pack.

Let the fun begin.

 

We've been getting the itch ourselves . . .

A-Jay

 

[J Francho]

Are those GSDs or Malinois?

 

Alice is beautiful! Congrats!

[A-Jay]

22 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Are those GSDs or Malinois?

Belgian Malinois pups at 9 wks.

A-Jay

[Darth-Baiter]

ALICE IS ADORABLE!

 

my sis got a puppy malinois.  she is spending so much time and resources on training.  hahah..

 

dog is a handful.  I know my limits and was offered a free pup.  NOPE!!!  heck NOPE!!

[Mobasser]

Alice is beautiful! Congratulations on your new girl!

[GRiver]

Beautiful, congratulations 

[casts_by_fly]

Thanks guys!

[GreenPig]

Wonderful 

[Hammer 4]

Great  looking pup. Congrats on getting her.

[galyonj]

New dog day!

 

@casts_by_fly, in that last photo, is that a pudelpointer she's chilling beside?

[casts_by_fly]

34 minutes ago, galyonj said:

New dog day!

 

@casts_by_fly, in that last photo, is that a pudelpointer she's chilling beside?

 

No, that's mara our other Slovak wirehaired (roughaired) pointer.  That's what Alice will look like when she grows up.  

 

Slovaks were a cross between Weims and Bohemian pointers (Czesky-Fousec) after WW2.  The Czesky is more is less a griffon variant.  The aim was to keep the coat and temperament from the Czesky while adding size and stamina from the Weim.  They are great versatile dogs for rough shooting.  They point birds, retrieve anything you want (birds, fur, small deer), will blood track larger game, etc.  They are closer working than a pointer or a lot of GSPs.  I don't know if Mara is typical, but she'll range out to 50-75 yards in more open terrain and tighten up in thicker stuff.  As far as pointers go, she's got a steady and intense point.  She probably works a little too close, but that's maybe because of her training before I got her.  I don't know how she'd do on grouse, but on pheasants she's great.  She's also maybe the best crippled bird finder I've ever seen and I was on quite a few shoots in the UK with a range of different dogs.  She's come back with birds I thought I missed.  For the guy that just likes to go walk around mixed bag hunting, a SRHP is a great dog.  

[galyonj]

That's fascinating. My dogs are useless but they're sweet. lol

 

15 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Sweet ~

Alice is a cutie and one Super Lucky Pup.

Congrats to you & your pack.

Let the fun begin.

 

We've been getting the itch ourselves . . .

A-Jay

 

 

Five baby malligators is a whole handful. Good luck with that, sir.

[TOXIC]

I could see the weim influence immediately.  That’s our choice of breeds.  Our last boy left us about 2 years ago and I’ve been stalling the wife on replacing him.  He was our second Weimaraner.  First was a standard, second was a blue.  Both lived to around 13 and we really like the breed.  I won’t be able to hold off too much longer as the wife is slowly wearing me down. 😂

[casts_by_fly]

9 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

I could see the weim influence immediately.  That’s our choice of breeds.  Our last boy left us about 2 years ago and I’ve been stalling the wife on replacing him.  He was our second Weimaraner.  First was a standard, second was a blue.  Both lived to around 13 and we really like the breed.  I won’t be able to hold off too much longer as the wife is slowly wearing me down. 😂

 

there is either 1 or 2 males left in Alice's litter.....

[A-Jay]

37 minutes ago, galyonj said:

That's fascinating. My dogs are useless but they're sweet. lol

 

 

Five baby malligators is a whole handful. Good luck with that, sir.

That's pic is from the breeder / trainer.

Looking at maybe two.

We're still in the shopping mode.

Or perhaps just trying to decide our sanity level.

A-Jay

 

[J Francho]

I've been thinking my next dog would be a Mal. They can't be too far off a GSD in terms of PITA factor? Or are they?

 

@casts_by_fly thanks for the background on the breed. Don't know a bunch about hunting dogs but I've been around enough Weimies to know what they're like. Sounds like an awesome companion for what you do. 

[galyonj]

33 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

That's pic is from the breeder / trainer.

Looking at maybe two.

We're still in the shopping mode.

Or perhaps just trying to decide our sanity level.

A-Jay

 

 

I gotcha. That's much more reasonable. lol

[casts_by_fly]

50 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I've been thinking my next dog would be a Mal. They can't be too far off a GSD in terms of PITA factor? Or are they?

 

@casts_by_fly thanks for the background on the breed. Don't know a bunch about hunting dogs but I've been around enough Weimies to know what they're like. Sounds like an awesome companion for what you do. 

 

Alice is dog #5 for us over the past ~18 years.  Two labs, two slovaks, and one wirehaired vizsla.  I used to small game hunt a lot when we lived in the US at first.  When we moved to the UK, how I hunted shifted a bit.  Now back to the US, my hunting has changed again and I don't small game hunt anymore really (NJ isn't great for that).  That said, slovaks are lovely dogs.  They aren't quite as high energy as GSPs and pointers- they are more in line with a lab.  They need exercise and a job, but a fenced back yard and some retrieving bumpers every other day is enough.  In the summer, swimming is great.  In the house, slovaks are loving dogs.  Mara is a big lab dog and bed cuddler.  Big is an apt word.  She's thick, long, and pretty tall.  We have her down to about 75 lb now but that's about as light as she gets.  In the realm of hunting dogs, Slovaks are among the biggest breeds on the whole.  Weims are similar.  Compared to weims, slovaks are normally a little more chill (the Czesky influence).

[A-Jay]

2 hours ago, J Francho said:

I've been thinking my next dog would be a Mal. They can't be too far off a GSD in terms of PITA factor? Or are they?

 

Not wanting to hi-jack this one.

Sending a PM.

A-Jay

[TOXIC]

@casts_by_fly our last Weimaraner, a blue, was 115lbs and not chubby at all.  Vet was amazed at how big and how in shape he was.  I got him for my wife because I was traveling a lot and he bonded with her from the beginning.  Make no mistake, I was an alpha but he naturally protected her and the house with gusto. 😂 Our first Weimaraner was my dog and I took him everywhere with me.  As you probably know, weims have a propensity for separation anxiety because they are a Velcro breed.  Luckily neither one of ours destroyed anything from the time they were puppies.  I have thought about other breeds but always come back to Weimaraners. 

[Dwight Hottle]

Sweet looking pooch congrats.