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The Flatbrook Legacy
Flatbrook Sporting Dogs was
founded in Branchville New Jersey by Rob and
Wendy Gerity. Initially, Wendy wanted a
companion and Rob wanted a hunting partner.
He had Springer Spaniels while growing up,
so getting a Springer was an easy choice.
During the late 1980’s, they started
breeding, had several litters and were
producing good working Springers and found
the whole process was gratifying.
One day in the early 1990’s,
Rob was hunting with a friend and his
Brittany .
The Brit’s pointing and retrieving enhanced
Rob’s hunting experience immensely. At that
moment, Rob decided he wanted a pointing dog
that retrieved in the field and from water.
At about the same time, one of their friends
owned Shelties and had started exhibiting at
dog shows. They invited the Gerity’s to
join them at a show one weekend, and Rob and
Wendy thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Now they were in search of a pointing
gun dog that Wendy could show and Rob could
hunt. After several months of research,
they decided upon the Wirehaired Pointing
Griffon.
They started going to shows
hoping to see Griffons. They loved the
uniqueness of the breed, as well as what
Griffons do in the field , and their
temperament. They
heard about a Griffon breeder in
Massachusetts that offered incentives for
buyers of their puppies that would show and
hunt-test their dog. Ultimately, they
visited Linda and Ted Gagnon’s Wet Acres
Kennel. They got on a list and waited a
year, which seemed like an eternity. What
they got was a wonderful little bitch, (CH)
Wet Acres Blaze of Glory. Blaze was
out of a superb breeding of CH Fireside’s
Rollicking Ruckus JH and CH Fireside’s Wet
Acres Jalapeno JH (Hally’s dame was CH
Fireside’s Animation). Blaze was a
wonderful puppy, earning a Group One in a
puppy show, but more importantly, she bonded
totally with Wendy -- Blaze was her dog.
Rob, feeling a little left out and knowing
how long it took to get a good Griffon,
started looking for a quality male.
Lightning does strike twice!
Rob found Elaine Hunsicker (Firesides
Kennel) who bred Blaze’s sire. To make a
long story short, Elaine called and said she
had a puppy for Rob. He had heard that the
litter was sold out and the puppy had been
 returned
to Elaine. Rob didn’t want someone’s
hand-me-down. Nonetheless, he immediately
jumped in his car for a five hour
trip--fretting most of the way. As he
walked up to Elaine’s, the puppy came
bounding out of the door and leaped into
Rob’s arms. Love at first sight!
The dog, (CH) Fireside’s Hot Stuff -
Flame, was Rob’s canine best
friend. Flame passed away in early 2008 and
there will be
fond memories always of their "boy"
With Blaze and Flame, the
Gerity’s were extremely blessed, but smart
about it. They dealt with two of the
premier breeders on the east coast, found
two compatible dogs (the lucky part), and
found two great mentors for both showing and
hunting. They bred Blaze three times with
Flame. The Gerity’s luck, unfortunately,
was about to run it’s course, as they lost
Blaze in a C-Section and were forced to
raise a litter pups by hand. The Gerity’s,
who also raised Springer’s and Spinoni, were
traumatized by the loss of Blaze.
After several litters, from
CH Flatbrook’s Too Hot to Handle JH
 --
Brooke (Byrnie’s dame and Blaze's daughter), and several other breedings from their other female, tragedy
struck again, Brooke was stolen.
By this time, Rob had changed
careers and had became a professional dog
photographer. Traumatized by the loss of
Blaze and then, Brooke, combined with the
potential conflict between showing dogs
which might competing against clients’ dogs,
Rob and Wendy decided to abandon breeding
altogether.
Rob and I continued to stay
in touch over the last five years. The Gerity’s decision to give up breeding
roughly coincided with our decision to begin
breeding. After much tumult regarding what
to name our kennel (Whitestar, Greyhawk and
many other names were considered), I
approached Rob about acquiring the rights to
the Flatbrook name. After some discussion,
we agreed, and Flatbrook Griffons emerged
like a Phoenix, but now in southern
California.
We feel blessed to have
connected with the Gerity’s and look forward
to trying to follow in their remarkably
large footsteps.
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