SHARPSHOT KENNELS

About Us

Welcome

Let us introduce ourselves.  Sharpshot Kennels is owned by Joyce Ruigrok and Dan Delaney.   The Kennel name was registered in the Irish Kennel Club for our Spinoni which we have owned since l991.   Prior to that we were in other breeds, and have a combined knowledge in working gundogs for more years than we care to acknowledge !!! .  We finally settled on Spinoni because we were looking for a gundog  that would meet all our requirments as we both hunt, trial and show our dogs.  The Spinone fitted the bill perfectly as most of our rough shooting is done in heavy cover as well as open ground.  We also needed a dog that could sit patiently out wildfowling without complaining.  The spinone willingness to learn and please its owner is an added bonus.  Add to this their wonderful temperment and steadiness and you have the perfect gundog.

In the beginning some of our hunting friends thought that such a heavy set dog could not compete against some of the faster more racier dogs in the field, they have come to learn how wrong they were, as our adult dogs which weigh around 35kilos can hunt all day and want to continue, at the end of each days hunting they look at us as if to ask why are we stopping !!

We are the only Kennel in Ireland to breed a full champion -  Ch. Sharpshot Bradley; he first won his Show Champion title and then went on to qualify in the field.  Following in his footsteps is his half brother Ch. Sharpshot Tiratore, who has also gained his title.   We also bred the first Spinone puppy to win a Best Puppy in Show, Sharpshot Huntress.

We are the first kennel in Ireland to introduce the Lagotto Romagnolo and the Bracco Italiano. We are proud to have Zorro the Bracco living with us; another delightful Italian Breed.

At the moment we are the only Spinoni kennel in Ireland field-trialing our dogs although there are many Spinoni used for rough shooting in Ireland.

Other interests include fishing, both fresh water and sea.  When we get the time we like to take some of the dogs down the river bank and spend the evening fishing (we still haven't managed to train the dogs to retrieve fish!) However they do like to eat them.

Anybody interested in visiting our Kennels is more than welcome.  If ever you are in Ireland, and would like to meet the dogs and talk Spinoni, accept us as you find us and you will be made more than welcome.