PJ Wildfire
Induction Year: February 6, 2010
PJ Wildfire
P.J. Wildfire, FDSB # 1052380, was whelped on April 20, 1975, the product of a mating of Checkmate’s Dandy Dude and Wyoming’s Gretchen. Lynn Sommer of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, was the breeder. P.J. Wildfire was owned by Joe and Pat Vicari of Hampshire, Illinois, and trained and handled to his wins and placements by Joe Vicari.
Impressively, P.J. Wildfire had over 100 wins and placements in American Field and American Kennel Club competition. In one-hour competition in 1979, P.J. Wildfire won the Michigan German Shooting Dog Classic and the National German Shorthair Pointer Association (NGSPA) Region 2 Open Shooting Dog Championship; in 1980 he was the Ohio German Shorthair Shooting Dog Champion; in 1982 he was the National German Pointing Dog Association (NGPDA) Open and Amateur Shooting Dog Champion, the NGSPA National Pheasant Amateur Shooting Dog Champion, and the NGSPA Region 5 Amateur Shooting Dog Champion. Additionally, in 1983 he won the NGSPA National Amateur Shooting Dog Championship and the NGSPA Region 5 Open Shooting Dog Championship; in 1984 he was the NGSPA Region 8 Open Shooting Dog Championship and the NGSPA Region 5 Amateur Shooting Dog Championship; in 1985 he won the NGSPA Region 5 Open Shooting Dog Championship.
The Field Dog Stud Book reflects that P.J. Wildfire sired 65 dogs with 522 recorded placements in Shorthair American Field competition. Nine of his get went on to win 37 one-hour titles. The American Kennel Club (AKC) records reflect that P.J. Wildfire, an AKC open and amateur field champion, won the 1980 German Shorthaired Pointer Club of America (GSPCA) National Amateur Championship, sired 16 AKC Field Championships, 12 AKC Amateur Field Champions, and one GSPCA National Amateur Champion.
The NGSPA named P.J. Wildfire as its 1984 Shooting Dog of the Year as well as the 1985 and 1986 Futurity Sire of the Year. He was also named the 1988 GSPCA Sire of the Year and in 1991 was elected into the GSPCA Hall of Fame.
P.J. Wildfire, who died in 1990, is one of the leading German Shorthaired Pointers in American history. He was not only a great field trial dog, but his bloodlines continue to impact today’s generation of field trial Shorthairs.