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April 19, 1970 - November 5, 1976
I had my first opportunity to have a purebred field dog, a German shorthaired pointer, in 1970.
All I really wanted was a "huntin' dawg," but it soon grew into much more. Ilse (pronounced "ILL sa") was from
Dual Champion bloodlines. Back then, I didn't even know what a dual champion was. I bought her because
of a cute spot on her right side and because she would point a bird wing on a fishing rod (I learned later that any
half-way well bred bird dog will point anything as a pup). Ilse and I did everything together - dog shows, field
trials and, of course, hunting. I was fortunate that her quality was such and my training was adequate enough
that she not only finished her show championship, but became the top female German shorthair in show competition in
a 6 state area for a period of time in the mid-1970s, until her tragic death when some unknown person poisoned her during
a Nebraska hunting trip in November 1976. To this day, I still miss her terribly and often choke up when speaking of
her.
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