NADKC News Articles

NADKC Participates in the 2007 National Pheasant Fest

by John Kreuscher

"Exciting!" is the best word to describe the NADKC-sponsored booth at the January, 2007, Pheasant Fest in Iowa. An estimated 24,510 people attended the Pheasant Fest over the three days, which set a new record attendance for the event.

Pheasant Fest attracted lots of hunters, many of whom own hunting dogs. As a result, the event had a large emphasis on hunting dogs and hunting dog seminars. The Sporting-Dog Village area of the event was represented by many different breed clubs. The NADKC booth was located near the Pudelpointer, Deutsch Langhaar and Small Münsterländer booths. The Deutsch Drahthaar Club had a booth nearby as well, but it wasn't staffed. We owe special thanks to Steve Remspecker and Purina for their extra support of the Pheasant Fest and our Club's booth there.

Member Rich Runge had his "B" litter vom Jaeger-Haus at the Pheasant Fest on Friday. The puppies were a huge attraction. One of these puppies was featured by one of the TV news crews in their live coverage of the event, which was pretty exciting! Rich was also interviewed by the Fort Dodge (Iowa) newspaper for their story on the Pheasant Fest.

On Saturday, Rich brought back one of his black and white-ticked puppies, Bekka to the Pheasant Fest. Bekka had a big day and was petted by thousands. She was calm and so cute. The puppies were by far the biggest draw at our booth, and the novelty of Bekka’s black and white coloration attracted additional attention and questions from visitors. Jim Smith alternated Satan Rote Hecke (a/k/a "Sam") and Cora vom Erntemond during his turns manning the booth. Saturday was the biggest day, drawing huge crowds of visitors. A professional photographer stopped by to take photos of Bekka and Cora. He was impressed how they laid on the dog bed for a handsome pose. Many thought that our DKs were the best-looking and best-behaved dogs there!

Rich's litter had solid liver, liver ticked, black and white ticked, and black and white roan puppies. Questions from event-goers provided an opportunity to explain why most Kurzhaar breeders take reservations for males or females, but not color.

Sunday morning represented the smallest attendance for the 2007 Pheasant Fest. A snowstorm continued until mid-morning, which kept many at home. Our booth didn't have a Kurzhaar present that day and it noticeably reduced the number of people stopping by the booth. Nevertheless, Steve Waters traveled snow-packed roads to help out at the booth on Sunday.

Our Club brochure was an excellent resource to rely on at the NADKC booth. The most commonly asked question was the difference between the German Shorthaired Pointer and the Deutsch Kurzhaar. This is covered on the back of the brochure. Having our web site also proved very important. We stressed that more information is available on the club web site and that breeders are listed on the web site, as well. With the large number of people visiting our booth, many brochures were given out to people who seemed to have serious interest. We all believe that many of these people will check out the NADKC and our breed.

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Photo slideshow - "2007 Pheasant Fest" by John Kreushcer

Photo Slideshow Pheasant Fest - Click to stop or start.

It was exciting to talk to so many hunters about DK. It was a good reminder of the benefits of our breed and all the work that goes into testing and certifying DKs to support our breed standard. There were some extra exciting discussions when someone would stop and tell us they have a DK. Steve Waters had a great conversation with Chris Fritz about DKs. It was rewarding when someone that stopped by already knew something about Kurzhaars. We never talked to anyone that had a bad comment or opinion about a Kurzhaar. Someone was looking at the expected litters from vom Gänsehimmel kennels. That person proudly explained to us that "this means goose heaven kennel".

The next Pheasant Fest will be January 18–20, 2008 in St. Paul, Minnesota. NADKC will need members to help with a booth. At this year's event, the Small Münsterländer Club had a double booth. This allowed them much better exposure and allowed them to put two adult dogs on the table. That is something our club may wish to think about and take into consideration when purchasing booth space next year. The Münsterländer group didn't have any puppies at their booth, but they handed out 2,750 brochures and business cards on Saturday.

A special thanks to Jim Smith and Rich Runge for the extra work they did to get the NADKC booth organized. Thanks also to all the members that helped at the booth or stopped by the booth. Jim, Rich and John Kreuscher were tired after the show ended on Saturday. Rich had lost his voice several times. Nevertheless, enough time was found for a beer and a toast to our Kurzhaars on Saturday evening before we all retired.

An older gentleman talked to John Kreuscher at our booth about Kurzhaars. He used to hunt, but now participates in National Frisbee competitions. He heard about Kurzhaars because a top Frisbee dog is a DK. After he left, John told this to Jim Smith. Jim just smiled and said "DKs are the ultimate versatile breed".