Emailing back and forth with a friend yesterday we came to discuss deerhound temperament and other importances ( is that a word ? ) when making the decision to breed or buying a puppy . Though I haven't bred a litter in decades and never bred deerhounds , I am still always wondering , whom I would breed my girls to and why - it is a nice pastime and my ideas why to breed and whom to breed and to whom to breed have certainly evolved over they years - my standards seem pretty high ( all in theory of course ! ) and I just am curious , how do you make your decisions , what are your main goals - also , as puppy buyers , what do you look for in a breeder/in the parents of your special pup ?
Just briefly to my ideas - most and foremost I do want a sound , robust dog , sound in body and mind , functional , still able to do the work and with a stable , friendly , easy to live with temperament . I do not really care about the "latest interpretation of the standard "( = who wins at the shows , though winners can be really good dogs ,winning is just not a reliable indication for me ) ,those seem to come and go just like fashion does , still , of course , the dogs have to comply to the basic standard . I would like to know as much about the ancestors/siblings/family of the dogs in question as I could - this also goes for byuing puppies ! - I hope , I would not compromise with regards to health or temperament issues . And ,as a puppy buyer , I want to know that the mom/parents /other hounds of the breeder do live a good live , are part of the family , have something meaningful to do (every so often at least - this can be good long hikes or lurecoursing or any other activity they love ) and , that they are just plain kept well , even when teir show/brood carreers are over . Also , there are certain healthtetst I'd like to have done on them - no matter how reliable they are ( heart , liver being the most important - perhaps cystinuria and factor VII , too , while we are at it - if there are more out there , I'd have to think about those , too ) .
Oh my , this is only a little bit of what goes through my mind when thinking about this topic ; I also do have specifics which I want to have regarding the confirmation , still , all over soundness is te most important thing for me , inside and out.

As a puppy buyer (I dont breed) the most important thing I would look for and want is a sound tempermant (apart from soundness). It is no good having a dog that looks the part but has a dodgy tempermant

Good one Verena - what does one look for in a deerhound? For me it is conformation and temperament.

By conformation I mean how closely the dog conforms to the breed standard and not what happens to be popular in the show rings at a given moment ( as that is another subject unto itself ).

Sound temperament is even more important to me because my deeries are my constant companions - we live in one another's company for the majority of every day. Each of them has a distinct personality to be sure, but all have generous hearts and sweet natures. I could not ask for more.

Whilst on the subject of temperament, this is my first Deerhound, when I went to look at the litter, I didn't have a clue about conformation as I had no intention of showing, all I wanted was a 4 legged, well balancd puppy, who was alert. I bought my pup from Sue Phillips and as soon as I walked into her house and garden I knew. Sue had a small child, these pups were used to kids, there was a lovely family atmosphere about the whole set up, which to me breeds well balanced dogs in itself. If I had gone to look at a litter that were kept in a shed, with no family interaction that would have put me off. I didn't care whether he was a dog or a bitch, it didn't matter.

Hi Lurch I have a pup from Sue too - shipped him over to Canada a couple of summers ago. He's from the Wild west von der Oelmuhle X Ladygrove Spook litter. Is your's? Maybe we have siblings?

Murphy is your dogs Uncle! Spook is Murphy's litter sister from Grey Ghost and Kilbourne Nimrod

Ah that was a pairing of two beautiful dogs I must say. Nimrod especially is my favourite deerhound ever. Is Murphy magnificent? His nephew is Rufus, the one in the middle of my avatar. Lovely grey colour stands out nicely against my two dark ones. Pleased to meet you!

When I was looking for a mate for Bree, apart from the obvious things like soundness and health, I was looking for a sire that would compliment her and for dogs with certain lineage. I love Bree's type so I wanted something similar.

After you said who you were I popped onto Sue's website and had a look!

Yes, two lovely dogs. Murphy is quite light grey too, infact his coat is quite marble looking with the black running through. He is a beautiful dog, loving and is a part of our family, we all love him to bits and are very happy with him. We had a lurcher that was DHxGHx collie who was a hard act to follow, a one in a lifetime dog, but apart from puppy naughtiness, Murphy has grown into a fine dog.
He is on Sue's website, Ladygrove Phantom.

Pleased to 'meet' you!

from Helen and Uncle Murphy!