Killbuck’s Viceroy

NA 112 / UT 204

Although German Shorthaired Pointers first caught the American sportsmen’s eyes after World War II, it would be fair to say that the most significant evolution of the breed took place in the 1960’s through the 1980’s, when they became faster dogs with superior pointing instincts, and were able to dominate all other continental pointing breeds in head to head, field trial competition. Our breed, the pudelpointer, has also undergone a significant evolution in North America, albeit one that began a few decades after the shorthair. The one individual, likely above all else, who has witnessed more of this development than any other, is Bill Athens of Killbuck Kennels.

To say that Bill has a fair amount of experience with pudelpointers would be a gross understatement. Bill’s first pudelpointer, Diergard’s Caret was whelped in 1980. Under Bill’s training and handling, Caret would earn a Utility prize , at under three years of age! Since his first litter, in 1985, Bill has consistently produced some of the best pudelpointers in North America and has served as mentor to new pudelpointer owners who were either looking for their next great hunting companion, or who wished to throw their hat into the ring of pudelpointer breeders. Prior to the advent of email, Bill would physically mail a large packet of magazine articles and other such information, all written about the pudelpointer, to anyone who had been interested enough in the breed to contact him. Few breeds were fortunate enough to have an ambassador like Bill Athens. In nearly forty years of producing pudelpointers, one of the greatest, and certainly the most historically important, dog produced at Killbuck Kennels, was Killbuck’s Viceroy, or “Vice” as Bill would call him.

Viceroy was whelped in 2011 out of Cedarwoods Feisty Hector (Utility 204) and Killbuck’s Mona (UT 194 Prize II). Recognizing Vice’s potential, Bill chose to send his dog to professional trainer, Kyle Hough of Schwartzwald Kennels in Andreas, Pennsylvania for his utility training. It was Kyle who rounded the ambitious young dog into one of the top scoring NAVHDA dogs in the country, and in the process, set the stage for Bill and Viceroy to alter the course of the pudelpointer in North America.

Kyle recalls that Viceroy was quite green when he first arrived at Schwartzwald Kennels and that it was a real testament to the dog to come as far as he did in such a short period of time. Kyle states that, to this day, Viceroy had the absolute best coat he has ever seen on any pudelpointer. Furthermore, Kyle states that Viceroy had as good of a nose as any dog you will ever find. Kyle recalled that during his Utility tests, Viceroy found more birds in the field than were planted for him. He also caught multiple mallards during his search for ducks. Kyle Hough has earned the reputation of being a virtuoso when it comes to preparing dogs for the NAVHDA duck search. He explained that while he is capable of bringing a great search out of a dog that is lacking in drive and/or water love he would prefer to work with a dog like Viceroy that naturally excelled in those areas. Viceroy clearly demonstrated that through his four sanctioned NAVHDA Tests (1 Natural Ability, 2 Utility, and 1 Invitational) where he never scored less than the maximum “4” in any water subject. Kyle also recalled that Viceroy, as all great pudelpointer stud dogs should, had a fantastic temperament and could be left along with other male wirehairs and shorthairs, without any fear shenanigans would erupt.

Kyle Hough was able to achieve a maximum 204 point Utility on Viceroy while still just three years of age. The following year Kyle handled Viceroy in the 2015 NAVHDA Invitational where a failure to honor his bracemate’s point tripped him up. Oftentimes a failure at the Invitational is the end of a dog’s testing career, or at least, not the part that people talk about as time goes by. Viceroy’s failure however created a legend which was often repeated when his name arose, however seemed too far fetched to be believed. As the story went, Kyle Hough so enjoyed working with Viceroy, that he offered Bill Athens the deal of a lifetime. Kyle agreed to re-train and re-test Viceroy at the Utility level, and then take him on to the Invitational, where Kyle was certain he could pass the test. All Kyle wanted in return, for this two year commitment, was for his bird and test fees covered. It is unheard of for a professional dog trainer to essentially volunteer to train and test a dog for free, however Kyle confirms that he did just that, and requalified Viceroy with his second, UT Prize I score, a 201. At that point, Bill decided to retire Viceroy from testing and he was not able to finish his NAVHDA career with a Versatile Championship.

Individual accomplishments, while rewarding to the dog’s owner and trainer, do nothing to advance the breed. It is a dog’s progeny which determine if he/she will be remembered by the greater pudelpointer community, after the dog is conscribed to history. To this point, Viceroy is in a very select group of pudelpointers who has produced multiple (three) NAVHDA Versatile Champions. VC Bruedersthal’s General Cooper, VC Killbucks II Eddy, and VC Killbucks II Java are all Viceroy pups. VC Killbuck’s II Eddy happened to also be trained by, and is regularly hunted by, Kyle Hough. It is quite rare for a top performing stud dog to produce a dog whose abilities exceed their own. Kyle, however, reports that as good as Viceroy was, his daughter, Eddy is markedly better! Kyle says that he loves Eddy’s sweet temperament and her cooperation is at the utmost highest level making her a very easy dog to train and a pleasure to hunt in the field.

VC Killbuck’s II Java (Bella) is owned by NAPPA member, Ryan Byrd of Brookeside Pudelpointers. Ryan reports that “despite having no prior experience training a versatile gun dog, I convinced Bill Athens to sell me a puppy. Not knowing where to start, I began training with a pro-trainer who spent more time teaching me how to handle Bella than training Bella on most days. On multiple occasions, he stated “you have a 204 dog”. At the time I did not fully appreciate the comment. Now after qualifying for the invitational twice with 204’s and passing the IT, I fully appreciate his comment and understand what he saw in Bella. We are truly thankful for the opportunity to have trained and tested a Viceroy puppy. Without the drive, cooperation, and eagerness to please inherited from her sire and dam, I know we would not have achieved our goals. Bella’s puppies have also inherited these same qualities and demonstrate the importance Viceroy has had, and will continue to have on the breed.”

As is always the case, a dog such as Vice, is the product of the genetics found within their pedigree, coupled with proper training. If you wish to learn more about the breeders who continue to work with these genetics please visit the North American Pudelpointer Alliance website at https://pudelpointer-alliance.com/breeders.