vom James River, as a kennel registered with the Deutsch Kurzhaar Verband, adheres to the testing and breeding regulations of the DKV.  In order to qualify for breeding, the dog must, AT A MINIMUM,  pass either the Solms, AZP, HZP, or VGP, receive a conformation rating of at least “Good”, be certified free of Hip Dysplasia, and for males, receive the HN certificate.  

While no dog is perfect, each breeding at the James River kennel is made with the goal of producing animals as close as possible to our ideal.  In addition to the minimum breeding requirements of the DKV, a dog in our breeding program must meet the following criteria:

• Passing the DKV Derby with a minumum score of a prize II. 
• A Zuchtschau conformation rating of at least “Very Good”.
• Pass our formal evaluation of our dogs against our ideal dog, consisiting of Intelligence, Temperament, Tenacity, and Conformation. 

All of our dogs are constantly evaluated during all phases of training for intelligence, temperament, and natural ability.  In addition, the breed tests of the Deutsch Kurzhaar Verband are used to evaluate the inherited and learned abilities of the dog.  A dog displaying high levels of natural ability is always preferred to a dog that might achieve a good test score, but required more training to achieve that performance.

Using the performance requirements of the VGP as our “road map” we expect a versatile dog to be able to handle many tasks in a variety of terrain.  The proper Deutsch Kurzhaar searches a field purposefully and energetically with good use of nose.  Pointing is expressive and intense.  Dogs which show early pointing and natural staunchness are much preferred for breeding stock. 

The love of water and desire to search reeds and other aquatic cover without seeing game is of utmost importance.  Desire and tenacity give the dog perseverance.

A keen nose and the ability to focus are needed to track wounded game over long distances.  Cooperation is shown in the willing and quick retrieval of such game to the hunter.  Dogs which have keen noses hunt into the wind, point game from long distances, and are adept at finding crippled game on land or water.

Aggression toward predators is required for males and desired in females.

The dog must be cooperative and work with the handler, but must be independent enough to find and retrieve wounded game over long distances.

Not every dog we have owned has met our standards for breeding.  In the end, we will not breed a litter if we will not keep one of the pups for ourselves.