Here are some testimonials from past litters.
 | In late 2003 I purchased a male started dog from Brian Johnston of Powder
River Sporting Dogs. Charlie (our Griffon) is a wonderful, intelligent dog.
He is eager to please, which makes him very easy to train. He picks up new
commands and tasks quickly and is a joy to have around. Brian made the
purchase of Charlie very easy and he is, in my opinion, a good and
conscientious breeder. He communicated very well both before and after we
acquired Charlie. Brian is obviously concerned ,not only about breeding an
excellent Griffon, but about the welfare of the Griffons he sells. I have no
hesitation in recommending both Brian Johnston and his Griffons.
William
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| I must tell you Brian has been a wonderful breeder and a truly nice
person. He took good care of the litter and gave me great information
the entire way through whelping and has contacted me a few times to check up
on my pup and her progress. The pup I have is about 6 months old now
and she is tremendous. I keep her as an indoor pet as well as a field
dog. She is already retrieving and has been hunting now a quite a bit.
She makes a great companion and she works well also. I had my pup
house broken and following basic commands in about 3 weeks (about 12 weeks
old). This is a tremendous breed. The only problem I really have with
her is that she loves water too much. She tends to have a fit if she
can not shower with me or if she hears the bath tub water running she has to
be in it. In the field however she is fantastic at diving into water and
after some work....retrieving. I would be happy to answer anything more you may want to know about her or my experience...just ask away. I highly recommend Brian and powder river sporting dogs. Great breed. |
Rob
| Wow! What a great dog. My friends are jealous because she is showing strong hunting instincts plus she is a tremendously social dog. When she greets me her whole body wiggles. She is 6 months old now and has mastered come, sit, kennel, potty, and is working on heel. She is a very fast learner. I'm not just saying that because she is my dog, she is ( it makes training easy). I love her and I can't imagine living without her. My husband incidentally is quite fond of her as well. She and I have explored a lot this winter. I've gone to places I haven't been since I was a kid. Yesterday while looking for vacation land she flushed her first partridge, by accident of course but is was fun to see her try to find it. I couldn't be happier with her. I will send pictures at some point. Especially since your grampy and all. I will stay in touch. God Bless, Florence, Benny, and Lucy |
| I purchased a male pup from Brian in September of 2003. I've had Labs, Brits and English Setters over a period of years and liked every one of them. I trained every hunting dog I've owned. My last Lab died and I started to look for another pup when I heard of a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon. I had never seen the breed so I went on the internet to check it out. I went on a job in central Oregon and saw a Griffon in a pickup at a convenience store. I asked the owner how he liked the dog. He said the dog retrieved ducks and pointed ringnecks and chuckars. He gave me the breeders name that he had purchased the dog from. As luck would have it the breeder only lived about 20 miles from where I was working. I gave the people a call to see if they had any pups for sale. They had no pups but invited me out to see their dogs. I was impressed with the dogs. I went back on the internet and run across Brian at Powder River. He stated on his website that he breeds his dogs to be very birdy. That's an understatement. I've never had a pup that was intelligent, birdy and easy to work with as this pup from Brian. I would recommend anyone who is interested in a Griffon to talk with Brian. You can't go wrong. You'll get a dog that does it all and will be one of the best buddy's you've ever had.~~~~~~~~~~Tom~~Coos Bay, OR. |
| I would be happy to talk to you about the dogs. We went to the Griffon
breed 2 years ago, looking for close in pointing dogs that don't shed much.
We live in a colder climate so the nature of these dogs fits our
environment. (They are both somewhat lethargic on hot days). That is exactly
what we got in these dogs. The female Griffon (Heidi) I purchased from Brian has done very well. She is 11 months old now and is pointing and retrieving very well. I also have a 2+ year old male Griffon purchased from a breeder in Champion MI. The breeders of the male are "show" people. The male has excellent confirmation and has a very strong drive to please. He is now steady to wing and shot. I guided and hunted at a local preserve with the male last season. I also had him in Montana (into wild birds) and I duck hunted here in Michigan with him last season. We shot somewhere close to 200 birds over him. I have attached a picture of him at 14 months. Comparing to 2 dogs, Brian's female has much more prey drive. At 10 months she is steady on point and she'll find more birds faster than my male. I have never had any problems with her moving too far out away from us and I have only had to introduce her to an electric collar. She received light stimulation once or twice when not responding to a whistle and I have had no problems since then. I haven't tried to steady her to wing and shot. The trainer I train with doesn't believe dogs should be steadied until after the first full bird season. She whoa broke very easily and required one 10 min session of force breaking to retrieve to hand. I am looking forward to her first full season in the field. Because she has much more prey drive, she is more challenging indoors. Both dogs are kenneled at night and during periods throughout the day when no one is home. The male spends significant time in the house with my wife and kids. Heidi is very docile and loves to play with the kids, however, she can't be left unwatched indoors. I believe she will get better as she grows up but we see a clear difference at this age. She has chewed up a few pair of shoes and a piece of furniture when the kids left her by herself (for which I blame the kids). She also chases my daughters indoor cat relentlessly, where as our older male dog generally leaves the cat alone. I train both dogs once a week with friends at Just-a-muc Gun Dog Training Center using pigeons early in the year and pheasants starting about August 1. I whoa broke her on a training table and trained her to come on a whistle using a pulley system at 6 months. The owner of the Training Center has said he hasn't had many pups at the center who can do the things she can do at her age. The last thing I would say is that I do spend significant time training. We see dogs at the training center who can't do a thing because their owners don't work with them but for 10 minutes, 2 times a month. The pup of Brian's that I have has great drive which is maybe the most important trait. If you get one you clearly have great stock to develop an excellent pointing dog. Norm |
| I wanted to let you know how satisfied I am with your kennel, service and
my new pup. From our first conversation, straight through pick-up you always had time for my questions. If I left a message, someone got back promptly. I had contacted two other regional WPG breeders during my initial investigation, including an on-site visit to one. Your kennel and service stood out. The web site is very informative. You run a first rate operation. The pup is a treat. She is smart and shows great drive. At 10 weeks old, basic commands are a snap. She went into the shallow part of the creek at first sight and shows a love for water. She socializes well with other dogs and people. It's easy to see the pups are treated well during those critical first weeks. She'll be a top flight hunter and is a great addition to our family. Feel free to use me as a referral. I'll send you some photos. Best Regards, K.C. |
| We thought you might enjoy seeing Star at a year old. She has fit right in
with the family and enjoys being in the house and the pool- which is not
like any hunting dog we've owned before! My wife is trying to take over our
hunting dog and turn her into a house pet. Star seems to agree with her
right now but Clay and I have plans for her this fall. We are looking
forward to hunting the Iowa pheasant and water fowl. Star will have to leave
the Shepherds at home with my wife and get used to the outdoor life with the
men of the family.
She sure is a lot of fun and we thank you very much for such a good dog. She has a lot of drive and a lot of natural ability. We have never seen such a soft mouth and a willingness to please. She did very well in her obedience classes. We'll let you know how the hunting goes. -Scott
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| Brian, |
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Hi
Brian:
Just a
quick note to say thanks. Cody is the best dog, not alone is it the best
companion for my wife, but for
me she is my hunting partner. I have never trained a hunting dog before,
but she has done a great job on me. At 10 months old she has had at least
80/90 birds shot over her. She was in the field at 6 months old just
having fun and she is still having fun. I never used a shock collar and
never will. Her ability to find the birds
is incredible. I' am already looking for a good Grouse Hunting spot for
next year. I may even be coming out
to ND.
Thanks
again Brian she is something else.
Best
Regards:
John &
Jo
Brian,
Connie and I wanted to update you about our dog (Toolie-short for Talula)
we purchased from you about 1.5 years ago. Toolie is a small female with
a high level of intelligence and vigor. From the time she came to us,
Toolie was pointing birds and locking up on dummies and pheasant wings.
Finally, Connie let me put Toolie with a local trainer who works
primarily with pointers. He keeps telling us, we were fortunate to
have found such a dog-intelligent, soft, attentive and with such a good
nose; (of coarse I think this has to do with the breeding!). I hope to
hunt with Toolie this coming fall after the both of us are trained! That
would be Toolie and me; Connie, of coarse does not need to be trained
because Toolie and Connie are inseparable when they are at home-haha-Connie
and her shadow!
More to
come,
Kevin and
Connie
Hi Brian, I just wanted to
let you know the puppy I purchased October 2006 is a great hunting dog
with a spectacular nose and enthusiasm. We lived in Brainerd at the
time, but since have moved to Thanks once
again, Hi Brian,
I have been meaning to drop you a line to let you know how Louie has
been doing and to send you a few pictures of him. They were taken last
year in SD.
I can't speak highly enough of him, he is the best dog I have ever
owned. I am also quite taken with the breed. After a few days of
hunting he decided that he must be a pointer and has been pointing out
the birds ever since without any pointer training!
My bird loss ratio has been greatly reduced as well, if he sees them
go down then he will find them no matter what. I have had more
enjoyment out of last falls hunt than the last 20 years of hunting
combined I just can't think of even one negative to report with the
exception of perhaps the breed does not handle very hot weather too
well, which is usually not a problem.
I have talked my wife into letting me purchase another male pup from
you. I wanted to ask what your breeding schedule looks like for the
future. Preferably next spring or perhaps this summer? Please advise.
One of the big problems that we had last fall is wearing the dogs out,
I found that I could actually use two dogs to keep them fresh and
rotate them.
Thanks again for a great dog, Jeff A
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