Through most of the early 1800s, modern day Germany was split into several different independent states. Some were large and rich in resources and wild game, such as Eurasian boar and red stag, and some were much poorer. Although many common citizens had farms and owned their own land, the right to hunt—including on their own property—was reserved for the state’s nobility. German nobles were often lavish and wasteful in their hunting practices, putting on massive feasts and excessive celebrations centered around week-long slaughters.

But the French Revolution in 1789 sent shockwaves across Europe’s nobility that continued to see effects through the early and mid-19th century. In 1848, following suit from much of Europe at the time, the hungry lower and middle classes of German-ruled states revolted. As a result, the affluent middle class, which was emerging from the Industrial Revolution, could now participate in the “noble” sport of hunting.

How German Laws Shaped The Versatile Breeds

The “Jagdrecht,” or the right to hunt one’s own land, or lease those rights to another, was one of the most successful laws granted after the 1848/1849 revolts in Germany. These rights, although evolved, still stand presently. The Jadgrecht created a deep connection between hunting and the land that would become the foundation of German hunting culture, ethics, and careful game management.

The emphasis on ethical hunting started formally in the 1870s when individual German states adapted laws to prevent over-hunting and poaching. This was largely due to the massive new surge of middle-class hunters who bore witness to the excessive waste of game by German nobles in the past. 
While the German nobility had the resources to afford large kennels with various specialized breeds, such as pointers and hounds, to fit different hunting tasks, most middle-class individuals lived modestly and could not afford such luxuries.

These specialists were also simply not up to the task for the common German hunter. They may have been excellent in their own trade, but they always lacked elsewhere. And so, from the farms to the cities, the need and clamor for one dog to do it all grew.

The Folly of Nationalism in Dog Breeding

Fueled by a newly found German identity after the end of the Franco-Prussian wars and the unification of Germany in 1871, the country saw unprecedented economic growth. Germany suddenly began to compete with England on the world stage. This new tension also affected the genetic pool of hunting dogs available to hunters. Although many Germans still imported pointers and setters from England, breeders were often encouraged to breed out the English genetics. This was further emphasized in 1879 when there was a formal call to categorize German hunting dogs into new “breeds.”

This nationalist push for having “uniquely German” dogs created a new preoccupation with the appearance of hunting dogs and “pure breeding” dogs with limited genetic working potential. This resulted in a profound deterioration in the performance of many hunting breeds still in their infancy, such as the stichelhaar and Griffon, and dealt a huge impact to the development of the versatile hunting dog community that had at the time made great progress.

Hegewald’s Call

Sigismund Freiherr von Zedlitz (better known as “Hegewald”) took a prominent position in the effort to create a German hunting dog capable of serving the wide range of needs for the common hunter. He decided to breed the water-pudel and the English pointer. The pudelpointer, as it was called, enjoyed a lot of success before 1900. However, a philosophical difference of opinion occurred early in the history of the breed club, and advocates of “pure breeding” once again triumphed, ruining progress towards the breed’s performance and hunting utility.

But despite the shortcomings within the pudelpointer community, Hegewald continued to be a leading figure and advocate for the ideal type of German versatile hunting dog—a dog that could serve every need of the German hunter.

Hegewald was not a breed specific advocate, but rather an advocate for a type of dog that he felt German breeding had yet to achieve. He called this concept of an ideal type of a German versatile hunting dog a “Geb- rauchshund” and detailed what traits this dog should carry in his 1881 influential essay. This essay was a call for a hunting dog suited specifically to the needs of the German hunter. A dog that is equally at home in the field, water and woods. A dog that is as focused on recovering the game after the shot as finding it beforehand.

A New Versatile Breed: The Drahthaar

Hegewald’s new ideas and vision for the Gebrauchshund soon took hold in the hunting community, and in 1891, the organization for “Testing the Hunting Gebrauchshund” was formed; later becoming the JGHV—which still stands today. This organization was designed to measure the performance of all German hunting breeds based on a standard of field, water, and forest tests under real hunting conditions. This would give hunters the best possible genetic stock to meet their range of needs.

Emboldened under this new testing system, many took Hegewald’s call for cross breeding based on performance even further. Soon, with new scientific evidence, many deemed all rough haired breeds related and therefore usable breeding stock for a new breed of dog. The newly formed testing system would be their guide, letting performance steer the direction of this new breed. A breed that would be called the Deutsch drahthaar.

Combining the very best genetics in testing performance of the rough haired breeds: the pudelpointer, stichelhaar, and Griffon, with Deutsch kurzhaar genetics added sparingly to improve field performance, the Verein (organization of ) Deutsch Drahthaar (VDD) was formed on May 11, 1902.

But this new breed, and the organization behind it, was met with great resistance and ridicule. Long established breed clubs and the hunting press called the dogs mutts, who were stealing genetics from “pure-blooded breeds” and even accused the VDD of “bastard breeding.”

Despite all the opposition from the German hunting establishment, the drahthaar movement spread throughout the country. The performance of the drahthaar was simply unignorable at testing events and converted more and more hunters. Despite the attacks by the breeding establishment, the formal German Hunting Utility Dog Trial Register soon accepted the drahthaar. By 1926, nearly 50 percent of the dogs listed in this registry were DDs. The breed that was once ridiculed and scorned was now, by far, the most popular versatile hunting dog in Germany.

Coming to America: The VDD-GNA

The genetics of the drahthaar were seriously damaged from World War II, and it took a great deal of effort to restore the breed to prominence. But thanks to the efforts of many dedicated individuals, the breed saw a quick comeback.

In 1951, twenty litters were registered. By 1984, of the over 6,000 continental pointing breeds in East Germany, the drahthaar accounted for more than 50 percent—speaking volumes to the breeds popularity and power.

After the Second World War, many American soldiers stationed in Germany pursued hunting there, encountering many fine drahthaars in the process. They returned home with these dogs to use their wide range of hunting ability on American soil.

One of these American soldiers was Lavern Howell, who was stationed in Grafenwoehr in 1971 and was a member of the VDD in Northern Bavaria. Lavern, and his wife Dagmar, were dedicated drahthaar people who already had an established kennel in Germany—vom Vilseck. The Howells planned to return to the United States, and discussed with the chief breed warden of the VDD if and how they could establish a sister group in the United States, under the same governing testing and breeding regulations of the organization of the VDD in Germany.

In 1971, thanks to the efforts by Howell and a few dedicated individuals, the Verein Deutsch Drahthaar-Group North America (VDD-GNA) was established. It was the first of its kind.

In the first five years, membership remained hovering under 40 members, with roughly the same number of puppies produced yearly in 1976.

Today, the drahthaar has seen massive success and popularity from Americans with now over 1,500 members of the VDD-GNA and over 1,300 puppies produced yearly—which incredibly accounts for over 1⁄3  of the total drahthaars produced in the world.

American hunters have seen the true utility of the drahthaar—who is equally at home retrieving mallards in Arkansas as he is in Bavaria. They are prized for their blood tracking ability and loved by bird hunters across the country—with dedicated chapters of membership that span East to West.

But with this explosion of popularity comes a great deal of responsibility. As Americans, we have seen too many hunting breeds, such as the Irish setter and Weimaraner, suffer from putting appearance above performance. This shortsighted philosophy was the very reason the drahthaar was formed over a century ago. Let performance always guide this breed and the men and women behind them, for they are not ours to change, but ours to preserve.