We started with Griffons 20 years ago. At that time the Griffon was hard to find. They were only located, for the most part, in the Western United States and Canada. Living in Northern Michigan, I had been showing my Irish Setters and upland game hunting with them, mainly for grouse and woodcock. My partner began researching the Wirehaired Pointing Griffons. After learning they were close hunters and great family dogs, we decided we really wanted one. At that point--the search was on!!
Who would have guessed that only one hundred miles away there was a breeder with a litter!! We were so excited! We purchased our first puppy. She was a beautiful female and we named her Abby.
Abby is a very smart girl who absolutely loves the woods!
Soon after, Remmy, half brother to Abby, arrived. We purchased him from the same breeder. His sire is:
Am-Can CH Wolfsprings Burgundy
Then, one day, a phone call! Abby's littermate, her full brother, needed a new home. With open hearts we welcomed Aiko. Amazingly, Aiko was already fully trained by a professional bird dog trainer.
Well, now there were three, and...we were hooked!!
Then came--another Griffon! SageGrouse arrived, a beautiful, bred-to-the-standard female. Her first time in the field she pointed and retrieved a woodcock without having any training at all. Wow! What a girl!
We did not take lightly the decision to raise Griffons. We decided to breed Remmy to Sage based on their outstanding temperaments, their good health, and their excellent hunting abilities. Mostly Remmy and Sage have, very successfully, hunted Grouse and Woodcock in Northern Michigan.
Manitou Griffons has been a preservation breeder for 20years, breeding a well rounded Hunting Griffon who can also be a wonderful family companion.
Our name is taken from the Indian legend about the origins of the Manitou islands (North and South Manitou).
According to the legend, a wild fire was raging in northern Wisconsin. A mama black bear and her two cubs were trapped on the shore, so the mother bear began swimming. The cubs followed. She swam almost all the way to Michigan. Becoming exhausted, she encouraged her babies to keep to swimming, instead, they became North and South Manitou Islands, while she became the Sleeping Bear Dunes, ever watchful of her children in the lake. So welcome to MANITOU WIREHAIRED POINTING GRIFFONS!!
