About Us
About Us
We fell in love with this wonderful, versatile breed of dogs in 1983 when we brought our first pup home and romped daily with him along the banks of the White River near our home, then in Fishers, IN. Our love affair with German Shorthairs soon moved us to our 60 acres - dogs gotta run, right? - on a ridge tucked into lush farmland curving into a bend in the White River northeast of Indianapolis. Steadily we have read about, watched, and worked with the breed in the show ring, obedience ring, and the field. We teamed up with Rick and Becky Feigh in the late '90's as breeding and showing partners, and added Patti Martin to the Team in 2012.
We have actively exhibited our dogs in AKC shows and Hunting Tests to demonstrate their sound conformation and temperament as well as their strong natural hunting ability. To share these marvelous animals with others, and to improve our own stock we have bred a limited number of litters; restricted to situations where we thought we had a chance to produce something great and could be sure we had the time to nurture the pups and develop the best possible homes for them. To date our breeding program has produced 50 AKC bench Champions, 3 UKC Champions, 3 International Champions, 3 Companion Dogs, 22 Junior Hunters, 4 Senior Hunters, two Novice Retrieving Dogs, 2 Fastcat titles, 1 Coursing Ability, 1 Tracking Dog, a certified Farm Dog, 2 Trick Dog titles, and a string of agility titles you'll have to ask my friend Lisa about 
. We've worked on our 'people' credentials too over the years. Both Phil and Char held many offices in the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Indiana over a span of 20 years and were instrumental in getting AKC Hunt Tests started in Indiana. Phil continues to judge the Hunt Tests. Char has served the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of America in many capacities; Yearbook Committee, Breeder Education, National Specialty Show Executive Committee. She is Vice President and Show Chair of the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Middle Tennessee. In 2009 she was granted the thrill and honor of judging the National Sweepstakes, and in 2012 began her AKC judging career. Becky served the GSPC of Indiana as Secretary for 10 years, has directed the Hamilton County 4H Showmanship program for 17 years, and currently serves on the Juniors Committee for the GSP Club of America and represents the East Central region on the national Club's Board of Directors. Becky will judge the National Sweepstakes in 2020.
We were lucky in the purchase of our first dog; obtaining a quality blended bloodline from an experienced breeder. We were blessed with knowledgeable and generous mentors from whom we could learn “dogs” and the craft of breeding. For over twenty-seven years now, through our travels and the many wonderful contacts the world of German Shorthairs has given us, we have tried our best to safeguard and build that reservoir of knowledge. The goal of our modest breeding program has been to preserve and improve on the fine qualities we started with. We consider the conformation strengths of the White River line fluid, graceful movement, strong toplines, beautiful heads, and an overall balance of size, bone and proportion which results in a dog beautiful to watch in the backyard or the show ring. They are built with the right stuff to work effortlessly in the field all day. Functionally White River's strengths are devoted biddable temperament, high intellect, outstanding nose, natural pointing, backing and retrieving instincts.
We believe we have a unique recipe in our pedigrees. White River has taken the rich heritage of the strong Midwestern Serakraut and Huntabird lines and woven them with some of the best from the West (Weinland, Prairiestar) and the East (Kingswood, Riverside), all with the underlying common threads of the famous Columbia River and Feuherheim which serve as the foundation for conformation quality in the US. We are thankful for our good instincts and proud of our ability to improve on each generation. White River breeding stock is screened for known health defects: OFA hips/elbows/cardiac, CERF,CD, LD. We stand squarely behind the dogs we produce, and will always be a resource for their owners. We are concerned that our pups have the best life possible, and that their people are as thrilled with them as we are.
Click HERE for a conversation between Showsight Magazine and founding Breeder Char Rutar.