I think I found the german shorthair puppy I was searching for. When I started searching I wasn’t sure if I could find the perfect german shorthair. German shorthairs in general are very high spirited and can sometimes be hard to train. My personality and feelings tell me that a softer more biddable dog would suit me much better than a firecracker. The trouble is that many breeders intentionally breed away from the more timid or easy-going shorthairs. Everyone wants to have a field trial champion dog. If I have to ride a horse to keep up with my dog, then that’s not the dog for me. I was looking for a mild mannered family dog that could go foot-hunting with me for local pheasant and chukars. The search ended this week when I found Abby in Denver, Colorado.

Abby is the name that the breeder has given and I think I will keep it as a call name. Female puppy names are hard for me to decide on, so buying a dog that already has a name is a plus. One of the things you do after buying a puppy is to fill out the AKC registration papers. Typically the official registered AKC name will be longer and reflect the dogs parents or the kennel or breeder name. In Abby’s case the breeder is a first-time breeder and both parents are somewhat unproven in the field. So I have the choice of naming Abby after her sire or dam, or simply starting from scratch with my own clever name. I have decided to include Annabella, the name of my town into the names of my dogs. I could do something clever with A’s like Annabella’s Adorable Abigail or something like Bell’s Annabella Abigail. I have plenty of time to think about it. Any suggestions?