Our last Pointer litter was born in 2015. They will be the last Pointers born at Grandiose and when our last one passes on, so ends Grandiose Pointers.
Shortly after that litter was born, we tragically lost the sire to that litter who was one of the sweetest Pointers I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting in my life. Due to life complications, living in Alaska with only one local vet who is skilled at OFA xrays, and his unfortunately loss, we were unable to complete his official OFA hip testing. Apparently, for one puppy owner, this makes me a horrible, disreputable liar who is the worst person they have ever come across in their life. I’ve found “reviews” slandering my kennel name across multiple random review websites in all corners of the internet. They all say the same thing, that he bought a puppy, was told health testing would be done, it wasn’t done. That I stopped responding to his emails, and I apparently tried to sneak things into the contact (my very generic, boiler plate contract that literally says you will take care of the dog, report any health issues to the breeder, neuter by 12 months, co-own until neuter, and if anything ever happens and you cant keep the dog its returned to the breeder.) Not sure what I was sneaking in there, considering I still have the long email chain in which this buyer asked to increase the neuter age to 18 months (done) and remove the co-ownership clause until neutered (also done – although in an oversight – because hello, I was raising a litter of puppies! – I apparently forgot to remove it in one version and corrected it when he asked about it.) Maybe that’s what I was “sneaking in”. Heaven forbid your breeder is listed as an owner on your AKC registration for your neutered companion Pointer. OH THE HORRORS!!
This same buyer would send me novels about how horrible I was at raising puppies and how he couldn’t believe he bought such a horrible puppy because it did things like dig holes in the yard while he was at work and had the audacity to bring earthworms into his home to roll on and OMG THE GERMS that his children were potentially exposed to because of the feral puppy I sold him. Oh. And destroyed a screen door. Any help I tried to offer was treated with disdain. I was told I was being defensive when trying to assist. And after about the hundredth email about how horrible this puppy with typical unsupervised, low guidance puppy behaviors was, I probably was defensive. Training suggestions, crating suggestions, MENTAL exercise suggestions were met with “I know how to raise a dog.” Took me awhile to figure out this “doctor” just wanted a status symbol dog to lay around and look pretty and be part of the décor for his million dollar house. Man this has been a trip down bad memory lane…The last message I received from him (when I apparently “stopped replying”) was around the time Locke died. Locke’s death was posted publicly, and I haven’t heard from this buyer since then. 2 years later, the “reviews” stating Grandiose Pointers is a SCAM started popping up.
Here’s the thing guys. Should I have done Locke’s hips sooner. Yep. Is HD an issue in Pointers? Nope. And most breeders don’t even bother with hip testing in the breed. BUT. If a hip score is important to you on the level that you will feel cheated and scammed if one is eventually not provided to you, then DO NOT BUY A PUPPY FROM A LITTER WITH ONE OR BOTH PARENTS UNTESTED. It’s really just that simple. You were not scammed. You knew the sire was untested when you purchased the puppy.
For reference, Puzzle (the litters dam) has OFA Excellent hips. Only ONE of the 4 grandparents of this litter had hip scores. And two of the 8 great grandparents had hip scores. That’s a pretty crappy vertical hip pedigree, honestly. But just evidence that Pointer breeders have never prioritized OFA hip scores. Hip Dysplasia, in any breed, is not black and white. We could breed only Excellent to Excellent and get Dysplastic offspring. Health testing results and how they are a piece of the puzzle in responsible breeding and not a black and white checklist is a post for another day, however.
Grandiose Cardigan Welsh Corgis 