My first close friend in life was a mixed breed puppy that was given to me by my father as a birthday present when I was eight years old. I instantly became fascinated with the simple reward method of training and how easily the dog could be taught to sit, come and put its paw up to shake hands.  

Though my first pups training never went much beyond those three commands, I took great pride in the dog’s ability to do those few things and a few other things that I had not taught it. For example, the pup loved to swim, chase squirrels and birds and did all without any coaxing. On occasion he even caught a bird and I even saw him pull a small fish out of the pond across the street from my home one hot summer afternoon.

My father told me that the dog did those things naturally do to the presence of some spaniel blood in the mix. Of course I had no idea that he eluded to the dogs instincts at the time. I eventually learned that those abilities could be attributed to hunting instinct passed down over many generations of breeding. Even in my mixed breed puppy those instincts were apparent. 

A boys’ simple awe of how dogs operate in their environment and that warm feeling of having an unconditional companion is likely why, with few years as exception, I have not been without a dog.  

During my youth and still today I often hear my mother tell stories of how much bird dogs and bird hunting had meant to my grandfather and how he held any quality hunting dog in high esteem. In fact one of the few photos I have of my granddad is of him bird hunting with his favorite setter.

Those family stories of my grandfathers love for hunting and hunting dogs, my own love for dogs and my undying passion for hunting and all things outdoors are what lead me to purchase my first bird dog in 1986; a German Shorthair.

From that time until 2003 I have owned and hunted over German shorthairs.  

To my own good fortune in 2003 I discovered the versatile hunting Deutsch Kurzhaar. I also discovered a practicing performance-based breeding and training system that I have come to believe is the most productive system for advancing the right genetics to produce the best versatile hunting dogs in the world today; the Kurzhaar.

Since discovering the Deutsch Kurahaar and the ideal measurement system I have dedicated myself to training and hunting the versatile Deutsch Kurzhaar and supporting the German performance based breeding system that I respect and participate in. 

My purpose and goal at vom Sturmland is to produce and improve upon, thru the worlds premier performance based breeding system, the most biddable, versatile, huntable and livable Deutsch Kurzhaars possible for broad spectrum hunters that respect and embrace the system that developed the versatile hunting Kurzhaar