At the beginning of 1974 John purchased his first Weimaraner from Dianna Crawford - Tooronga Weimaraners - Victoria, Australia.  John met Dianna through Pamela Nelson (Tanzingen Weimaraners) who lived near his home in Dandenong. John had always been a shooter and show dogs weren't high on his priority list when he purchased his first boy 'Ben'. Ben was sired by Pam's dog 'Ch. Kuruwa Autumn Mist CD' and out of Dianna's bitch 'Nebelgrau Mitzi'.  John joined the Weimaraner Club of Victoria and this lovely young boy was shown by John as a baby puppy. Ben used to accompany John to work on weekends when things were quiet, but unfortunately one day he wandered away from the job site and was struck & killed by a car.

Ben

Dianna Crawford and Pamela immediately helped him source another Weimaraner, this time a bitch  - she was born 23-6-1974 and bred under the 'Belgrigio' prefix of Hector Pidutti who owned Mitzi's sister Ariel. Dianna at this time was looking after Frances Weatherly's top winning dog 'Ch. Greymar Noble Monarch' - Noble who was the sire of Hector's litter. John purchased Belgrigio Claudia (Cindy) in the August. John and Cindy spent a lot of time together, quail and duck shooting as well as obedience & shows. 'Cindy' was to become the foundation bitch of 'Silvahunter Kennels'. John became a committee member for the Weimaraner Club of Victoria and his involvement in the breed deepened.  Cindy gained her first pass to CD in early 1975 as well as several CC's towards her show title.

In 1975, John became quite actively involved with the Weimaraner Club of Victoria and had decided he needed another male.  He had seen Ch. Aquila Cheyenne win the Dog CC at the Royal Melbourne Show and decided to purchase a male from his owners - Bert and Judy Smith of Mildura, Victoria. Jujondy Cherokee (Zac) was to become John's foundation dog and stud dog.  Not only did Zac gain his show title, he gained his Retrieving and Field Trial qualifications and at a time when Weimaraners were laughed at in the Retrieving Trial circles - Labradors being the dominant breed - Zac earnt the respect of many triallers and judges with his many wins and placings, if he had been trialling today he would have undoubtedly become a Retrieving Trial Champion (NRD and RRD were never heard of in the 70's). Zac won the Weimaraner Club of Victoria's 'Morago' Trophy for retrieving 4 years running until the trophy was changed from Retrieving to Field. John was awarded four small replicas from this trophy and the trophy donor stripped all inscriptions and started the trophy again for field.

In 1976 Cindy and Zac were bred under the 'Silvahunter' prefix for the first time.  John's brother Robert kept the pick dog from this litter Silvahunter Graubenn (Ben).