“A picture with my 5 month old granddaughter who is living with us through the coronavirus.  Piper is affectionately know as "Auntie Piper" and is really very good around our granddaughter.  Piper did not grow up with small children in the house but they were all over the neighborhood we lived in and she has always interacted well with them.  In addressing the reason we are looking to give Piper up, I can assure you it has nothing to do with her interactions with people.  She is wonderful with everyone she meets.  

Let me described the circumstances that have led us to consider giving Piper up.  I'll say first that this is one on the hardest decisions my wife and I have ever made.  We really love this dog but we now think it best for Piper and for us to find her a new home.  Piper can be aggressive when meeting new dogs.  This was never much of an issue for us in our old home.  We had lots of places to exercise her off leash where we would rarely run into another dog she did not know.  We have moved to a new neighborhood and we run into new dogs daily.   She has recently injured one and brought both local town officials and the environmental police into the picture.  Always keeping her on leash might have been an answer but this neighborhood is full of wildlife. We see several rabbits a day and at least one other random creature every day as well--coyotes, fox, deer, raccoon, turkey--you name it.  This is a problem on a leash because Piper often starts when she gets the scent, and my wife, who has had two knees replaced, has been pulled over on a couple occasions and is still recovering from one fall. So between worry that the town may eventually take action and the danger she poses just to walking her on lead in this area, we have to consider a new home.

I don’t mean to suggest that other dogs are always a problem.  I’ve never had a problem while hunting—she ignores other dogs and gets about her business.  I’ve never had an issue with dogs she knows.  We had a dog walker for many years who routinely walked her with multiple dogs and who introduced her to new dogs regularly.  Not only did she not have any problems, the dog walker believed Piper helped her keep the other dogs in-line and she loved having her with her when there were a lot of dogs around.  Further, most times when Piper meets a new dog of similar size and temperament, Piper will size them up and be playing within a few minutes.  But sometimes, especially if another dog jumps in her face before she is ready, Piper will go after it.

Your home situation sounds ideal.  I am a little concerned there could be an issue when you first introduce Piper to the other dogs at the family cottage.  The good news is, Piper respects a pack.  She is very submissive when meeting a large number of dogs who are clearly in a pack.  The one thing that troubles me is the Boston Terrier in the mix.  Piper was routinely attacked by a couple of Boston Terriers when she was very young and has always had a tendency to treat small, loud dogs particularly aggressively.  You might give some extra care to their early interactions.  But once Piper is part of her new pack, she will be fine.

Obedience commands:
We use “here” rather than come; heel; whoa; “hup” I use (misuse) as a general command in the field that mostly means pay attention to me, either follow my hand signals—she will hunt in the direction I point, or to hunt closer.  I used to use a whistle a lot.  5 short blasts means here, 1 blast stay/pay attention; 2 blasts means go in the direction of my hand signal.  I have not practiced the last two in a while but she still responds at a distance to the 5 blast “here” command.

I have one unusual command “rouse”.  It basically stay away from there.  I developed it because we use to walk a beach with designated piping plover cover and I needed to keep her out of those regions.  It can be used to keep her out of a particular room or the vegetable garden.

She hunts out to about 50 yards (unless she is chasing something—see below) and checks in frequently in heavy cover.
We hunt mostly quail and pheasant because that is what is stocked near us and I am particularly fond of eating quail.  We also hunt woodcock and I take her up north for a week every year to hunt grouse; usually Maine but also New Hampshire and one year, upstate NY.  The first couple days on grouse are always a challenge as she breaks point a lot and chases.  But after a couple days she seems to get it and we always come back with birds.  By the way, you can always tell when Piper has broken point and is chasing.  She barks like crazy when chasing game.  This is bred into Small Munsterlanders and is a disqualification under the German system if they do not bark while chasing fur.  When she does chase, she ventures pretty far—the main reason I still use the whistle command.

Piper is eight now, very healthy and active with no medical issues.  We can provide all her medical records.

Piper is a great dog and we believe, given the right situation, anyone taking her would be lucky to have her.  We just want to make sure that Piper will be happy and well looked after.

Please let us know what you think and feel free to ask anything else you can think of.

Frank and Ali”
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