The Deutsch-Drahthaar was created in the late 19th century by a small group of dedicated breeders who had set out to create a hunting dog breed that would satisfy all aspects of German hunting. Even though many people felt that there were already enough versatile breeds, this group of breeders succeeded in creating a versatile hunting dog that could generally outperform the breeds from which it came. The breed was called the Deutsch-Drahthaar, and the group of original breeders founded the Verein Deutsch-Drahthaar (VDD) in 1904. In 1971, a group brought the VDD to the United States.

At v. den Briarwoods we strive to create the ultimate in versatility.  We try to introduce our dogs and new pups to a wide variety of game animals at a very early age.  We don't want you to buy a versatile dog to just be used for upland birds, or  waterfowl.  This breed can point, retrieve, blood track wounded game, and will trail furred game.  We even have some that we use for tree dogs.  We want our dogs and future pups to be able to hunt everything from doves to wild boar.  Our dogs are hunted all year on a wide variety of furred and feathered game.  The drahthaar is the ultimate in hunting dogs with the proper training and handling.  These dogs are not pets!!  We do raise our pups in the house with us, and we prefer that.  This will build a bond between you and your new pup, but the purpose of this dog is to hunt.  This is not a breed for a weekend warrior hunter that might get out 5 to 10 times in a season.  These dogs need to hunt.  We also would like our puppy buyers to take their pups through the testing program, so that we can evaluate our breedings.  This will also help you and your pup in the long run.

We will gladly help anyone wanting to test or needing help in the training area.  We don't claim to be pro's, but our dogs spend over 200 days a year in the field, so we see a wide variety of game and hunting applications for the dogs.  We hunt upland birds for some of the hunting operations here.  Waterfowl on the state impoundments along the North Carolina coast, and we hunt for the local landowners and farmers as depredation/extermination hunters on things like nuisance wild boar, deer, etc...With doing all of this we hope to breed and continue the TRUE VERSATILITY in the drahthaar.....

Click here to see a movie about these versatile dogs.