Ch. Cumbrian Black Pearl, winning a Group at Santa Barbara KC in 1983, handled by Corky Vroom. The following year Black Pearl was the number-one Sporting Dog and the top Pointer of all time.

      In 1889 the black and white dog Rip Rap came on the scene to distinguish himself in field trials. This color was not desirable by American fanciers at the time, but Rip Rap changed their minds. He sired 19 field trial winners, including Young Rip Rap, a famous producer and show dog. Ripsey, sired by Rip Rap, became the most famous dog of Edmund Osthaus’s kennel, one of the leading field Pointer breeding establishments for decades.

      James Monroe Avent and Hobart Ames founded the National Bird Dog Championship in West Point, Mississippi in 1896. Bird dog trialers consider this the most important of all trials, though it wasn’t won by a Pointer until 1909, when the three-year-old Manitoba Rap, bred by W.T.F. Fielde and owned by Thomas Johnson, did so. In 1915 the 6,000-acre Ames Plantation became the event’s permanent home where the trial is still conducted. Among the Pointers who have dominated the trial, three of the early multiple national winners were bitches: Mary Montrose, four-time winner; Becky Broomhill, three-time winner; and Mary Blue, two-time winner. Other multiple winners over the decades were Ariel, Paladin, Palamonium, and Whipporwill’s Rebel.

      On November 14, 1900, the Pointer Club of America held its inaugural field trial at Jamesport, Long Island, New York. FC Alford’s John and Fishel’s Frank appeared on the scene in the early 1900s and upped the ante for the breed in field trials. Frank sired 58 field trial winners, including “Peerless” Mary Montrose, the four-time national winner and Winners Bitch at the 1917 Westminster show, Comanche Frank and John Proctor, the latter two going back to Alford’s John. All of these dogs won nationals and established major lines in Pointers in the US.

      A number of important show dogs emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, including Ch. Governor Moscow, the 1925 Westminster Best in Show (BIS) winner, as well as Ch. Nancolleth Belle and Ch. Dapple Joe, both Westminster Group winners. The next Pointer Westminster BIS winner was Nancolleth Markable, bred by Mrs. F.A. Rowe, who took the title in 1932. Other Westminster Group winners of this period were Ch. Benson of Crombie (1934) and Ch. Nancolleth Marquis (1935).

       AMERICAN POINTER CLUB

      The breed’s current AKC parent club is the American Pointer Club, Inc. (APC), which was established in 1938. The APC acts as the guardian and promoter of the breed in the US. One of its main goals is to protect the breed standard and encourage its members to breed to it. Another important goal is promoting the versatility of the Pointer breed. The club does this in many ways, including sponsoring agility, obedience, field trials and hunting tests in conjunction with the APC’s national specialty. Further, the club created the Versatility program to award Pointers who achieve excellence in multiple areas of competition (conformation, agility, field, tracking and hunting tests). The VA (Versatility Award) and the VAX (Versatility Award Excellent) are the titles earned through the program.

      The Elhew kennels of Bob Wehle were established in 1936, based on Gem of Fearn, a Scottish import, and Frank of Sunnylawn. The foundation of this kennel was Elhew Midge, who has been called “the Lamborghini of Pointers,” establishing a whole line of exquisite, intelligent Pointers. No Pointer expert would dispute that the Elhew line dominated the field for the last half of the 20th century, so much so that many Pointer folk refer to the “Elhew Pointer” as if it were a separate breed or model. Although Bob concentrated on field dogs, he was proud to maintain conformation in his line and on the rare occasion would show one of his “good-looking” Elhew dogs in the ring with success. To this day, the Elhew dogs are a force in the breed; the breeding programs of Rick and Suzanne Glover, the Yellow Rose kennels and others continue to concentrate on these dogs.

      The most important Best in Show winner from this period is no doubt Ch. Nancolleth Beryl of Giralda, whose record of 21 BIS awards was not surpassed for nearly five decades, when Ch. Cumbrian Black Pearl overtook the record in 1984. Another great dog was Int. Ch. Drumgannon Dreadnaught, the sire of 19 champions and a Best in Show winner in the US and England.

      Ch. St. Aldwyns Radiance, BOB at Westminster in 1974, handled by Jeffrey Lynn Brucker.

      Ch. Humble Acre Sandstorm, shown winning an American Pointer Club specialty in 1978, handled by Karen Prickett.

      The American Pointer Club (APC) became a member of the AKC in 1938 and held its first show in conjunction with the famous Morris and Essex Show in May of the follow year. The winner of the show was a lemon and white dog named Int. Ch. Pennine Paramount of Prune’s Own, born in 1935, sired by Marlais Marksman, the most influential Pointer of the 1930s, who had as many fans as he had detractors. Some believe that he was too houndy with a down face, and he passed these qualities (and many good ones) to his progeny.

      The 1950s saw the prominence of Mary Wadsworth Rich’s Vilmar kennels, as Ch. Vilmar’s Lucky, living up to his name, won the national specialty 5 times, not to mention 12 Best in Show awards. The first orange champion was also a Vilmar dog, Ch. Vilmar’s Skogis Herta. Two other greats from the 1950s, both Westminster Group winners, were Ch. C P and Ch. Captain Speck, Lucky’s sire. In 1954, five Pointers were inducted into the Field Trial Hall of Fame, which is a part of the National Bird Dog Museum located in Grand Junction, Tennessee. The five dogs were Fishel’s Frank, John Proctor, Luminary, Mary Montrose and Muscle Shoal’s Jake.

      The decade of the 1960s brought forth Ch. Maryjay’s Majesty, owned by Enos Phillips. He was a liver and white who won 13 BIS, 2 Bests in Specialty Show (BISS) awards and 61 Group Ones, including the APC’s national in 1963 and 1964. Bob Parkers’s Truewithem bloodlines relied heavily on his prepotency. Another great Pointer of the period was Ch. Crookrise Danny of Muick, who won Group One at Westminster in 1964.

      The Cumbrian kennels were founded in 1967 by Henri Tuthill, basing his line on his first champion, Ch. Shandown’s Prima Donna, and English imports such as Ch. Cumbrian President and Ch. Sunset of Cumbrian. Cumbrian’s dedication to the breed has paid off richly, in producing nearly 100 champions including the all-time top-winning Pointer Ch. Cumbrian Black Pearl in the 1980s.

      The top Sporting Dog for 1970 was a Pointer by the name of Ch. Counterpoint’s Lord Ashley, whose record of 20 Bests in Show by a male Pointer has not been overtaken. Lord Ashley was bred by Ruth Still. Among his impressive wins were the APC national in 1965 and 1966 and the Group at Westminster twice. The decades of the 1970s and 80s saw many great accomplishments in the show ring and a historic first in 1978 when the first Dual Champion Pointer, excelling in field and conformation, was achieved: DC Scanpoint’s Touch of Troll, owned by Karin B. Ashe. Few could ever imagine going beyond a dual championship title, though DC/AFC Scanpoint’s

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