Bluestem Kennels

Nebraska Sandhills and North Dakota 2026

November 1, 2026

Charity Upchurch Hunting Tales, Hunting Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Puppies, Hunting Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, NAVHDA, NAVHDA Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, Upland Hunting Trips, Waterfowl Hunting Trips, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Bird Hunting, Duck Hunting, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Hunting North Dakota, Korthals Griffon, NAVHDA, Nebraska Sandhills, North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association, North Dakota pheasant hunting, Sharptailed Grouse Hunting, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

Before I get into the hunting photos, I just noticed as I logged into the dashboard to write this post that this is my 400th blog post. What started out as an easy way to show puppy photos to my families has really grown into a passion project. Thank you for being a part of this incredible journey that has taken my mediocre writing all over the globe. I started writing poetry and essays in elementary school, eventually moving on to high school, college and small town newspaper, then corporate technical and catalog writing and now this. We are in a semi-retirement period in regards to puppies and do not currently have any breeding plans and are not taking any reservations or deposits. We’ll let you know once that changes. I’m always at bluestemkennels@gmail.com to answer questions from my owners or puppy updates.

Alec Schrank has Luna, a 2025 X Litter puppy between Obi and Sally. I somehow missed his quail hunting photo with his buddies from last year when I was compiling the pupdates over the last month or so. She did 26 retrieves!

Three hunters posing by the back of a pickup truck, with a hunting dog sitting on the tailgate and a collection of game birds laid out. — Alec with Luna and his buddies, along with a bunch of quail

She also got a NAVHDA Natural Ability Prize I with a maximum score of 112 points at the Volunteer Chapter test over in Tennessee recently. He said, “Rainy morning in Pelham, TN. We got delayed about an hour for lightning, but then it was great conditions aside from the light wind. Luna KILLED the pheasant track.” I’ve always thought that the pheasant track is the hardest part of the natural ability test, sometimes the dog gets way off and never does find the bird. I’m so proud to hear that Obi and Sally’s pup got down to business! Congratulations to Alec and Luna!

A person in an orange safety vest kneels next to a large dog in front of a banner that reads 'VOLUNTEER CHAPTER NAVHDA' with logos and a scenic green landscape in the background. — Alec with Luna at the Volunteer Chapter test with a NAVHDA Natural Ability Prize I, maximum score 112 points

Nebraska Sandhills 2026

Our son Caleb went out to the Nebraska Sandhills over his fall break with Charles and had a productive hunt. It was in the 90s in the afternoon, so it was too hot to hunt the dunes. He didn’t get to connect with any grouse, but he did get a drake woodduck while jump hunting ducks along the creeks. That is one of my favorite ducks to harvest with them being so colorful. Caleb said that he enjoyed getting some shooting in. He was annoyed with the fact that the woodduck dove under the creek bank with some heavy brush after it had been hit and Belle couldn’t get in there to get ahold of it. He ended up having to reach in there and grab it with his hand. But at least the duck was retrieved. The hen woodduck pictured here was harvested by Charles.

A young person in camouflage clothing stands in a grassy field, holding two ducks in each hand while displaying a shotgun slung across their body against a clear blue sky. — Caleb with a drake and a hen woodduck

Charles finally did get into some sharptailed grouse after Caleb flew back to the Carolinas. NAVHDA senior judge and longtime Griffon owner Ron Granai along with Ted Gagnon of Wet Acres Griffons made the trip out there from Massachusetts, but they all had a sparse hunt. The Sandhills involve so much walking and many times you are chasing birds hundreds of yards from one dune to the next, it is definitely not easy!

Two dogs resting in a field with tall grass, beside a fence displaying a shotgun and hanging game birds under a clear blue sky. — Molly and Belle with a couple of sharptailed grouse on October 10th

A brown and white dog playing in tall grass, holding a toy in its mouth. — Belle retrieving two sharptailed grouse at once on October 11th

Charles then took a break to work-from-home at my mom’s house before he headed up to North Dakota. This also gave the dogs a well-needed rest.

North Dakota 2026

Charles had a banner year in North Dakota, probably the best in the last decade. The corn and sunflowers were still standing dry and the soybeans were harvested. They had a cool, wet spring, unlike the moderate drought conditions in the Sandhills. Obi and Belle did the heavy lifting with pointing and retrieving. Molly was along for the hunt, but did find a downed rooster before the others did towards the end of the hunt.

Three dogs standing in a field next to large straw bales with a blue sky in the background. Some hunting birds are visible on top of the bales. — Obi, Molly and Belle with the rooster limit on October 17th

Three hunting dogs sitting on grass in a field, with a fence in the background. Several pheasants are hanging on the fence, and the sky is clear with a few clouds. — Obi, Belle and Molly with a grouse, two green winged teal and two roosters for October 18th

Three dogs sitting in front of a pickup truck with a metal dog crate, surrounded by tall grass and two dead pheasants on the tailgate. — Obi, Molly and Belle with the bird bag for October 19th

A grassy landscape with two hunting dogs lying on the ground and three pheasants standing near a wooden post with a blank sign. — Tired dogs: Obi, Belle and Molly with a nice mature North Dakota rooster limit for October 20th

Two dogs sitting in a field with two birds hanging on a fence in the background, under a clear blue sky. — Obi, Belle and Molly with a couple of roosters for the last day on October 21st.

Charles will make one more trip out to Nebraska later on this year for a late season pheasant hunt in Nebraska. He also has a woodcock hunt in the works for somewhere here in the Southeastern U.S. I did not dress my dogs up for Halloween for yet another year, but I love to watch social media for the other dressed up dogs. Everyone out there keep enjoying the fall litters, hunting, hunt testing and all other things dog fun.

Molly at 6 Months and a Pupdate

October 3, 2026

Charity Upchurch Bird Dog Training, Hunting Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, NAVHDA, NAVHDA Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, NAVHDA, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

It’s a rainy weekend here in South Carolina, so that is perfect weather for a new post. Last weekend we had some sun, so we got some chukars out of the bird hut and planted them for our 6 month old puppy Molly (NAVHDA Church Road’s Blue Molly). We were impressed with her scenting, pointing and retrieving abilities. Charles is still a sharp gunner, connecting on all four birds. Sometimes I had direct sun in my lens, making for bad photos, so I didn’t get great captures on all four birds but it was enough for a nice collection nonetheless. Our home sits adjacent to a Duke Energy power line cut, which makes for a convenient dog training area.

Molly bringing in the retrieve to Charles

Molly thinking that she’s coming to me while Charles reloads

Molly bringing in a bird through the rough

Molly with the retrieve-to-hand to Charles

Charles telling Molly what a good girl she is as he takes the bird

My favorite capture of the day: Molly’s reaction to the bird flush

Yet another retrieve, slightly blurred due to the direct sunlight in my camera lens

Molly’s last retrieve-to-hand for the day to Charles

Pupdate

Our latest pupdate was from Clint and Shelli Krow from Pennsylvania. They have a 2022 R Litter pup from Obi and Ruth. You can definitely see the resemblance to mama Ruth in this shot, taken up in Maine with her Pudelpointer and German Shortaired Pointer siblings.

Pudelpointer, Rosie the Griffon, and a German Shorthaired Pointer on a dock in Maine

If you have a Bluestem pup, feel free to share your updates with me at bluestemkennels@gmail.com. Although we are not currently producing litters, we love to hear from our many owners across the country.

I’m seeing great success in the fields throughout the U.S. on social media and I hope that continues for everyone. Our dogs will be out later this season and I’ll make sure to keep you updated here. Until then, enjoy time with your dogs and the sport that we all love.

Pupdates Galore, a Chewy Shout Out and an Alligator!

September 26, 2026

Charity Upchurch Hunting Tales, Hunting Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Puppies, Hunting Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, Kennel Update, NAVHDA Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, Puppy Update, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Puppies, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Bird Hunting, Chewy Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Dog Training, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Pupdates, South Carolina Allligator Hunt, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

We love hearing from our puppy owners and have many fantastic photos to share. If you are a Bluestem puppy owner, feel free to share photos and updates to bluestemkennels@gmail.com. We are in a semi-retirement period with no current breeding plans, but we’re still hunting with and training our own dogs. You’ll see our dogs in action over the coming months during hunting season so stay tuned.

I was excited to be interviewed by Chewy aka chewy.com about the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon breed recently and to be featured under the “Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Temperament” section of their breed profile. You can read my contribution here: https://www.chewy.com/education/dog-breeds/wirehaired-pointing-griffon

Charles’s hunting season began with an unconventional and dogless hunt. He drew an alligator tag for the state of South Carolina and made a trip with Caleb to the Lowcountry Lake Marion for a successful hunt. They weren’t in the boat more than an hour before having one in the boat.

Caleb, Charles and the gator at the processor

Pupdates

Lorraine Sinnott in Iowa is always sharing her old girl Maggie with me on Facebook. She is from our 2015 J Litter between Sam and BB.

Maggie chilling out in her senior years.

Kelvin and Nancy Childers in Colorado shared photos of their 2018 O Litter pup between Chief and Fire, who goes by the name of Breeze. She is their second Bluestem pup, with their first being from our A Litter between Sam and Sue in 2010 (who has since gone over the Rainbow Bridge).

Rescue Griff Max with the lighter coat with Nancy and Breeze

Joe Martin out in Iowa has two of our pups: his first from when we were in Nebraska, which is “Gus” from our 2021 Q Litter between Chief and Fire. The second he flew down to the Carolinas for “Wade” from our 2025 W Litter between Duke and Briar.

Here’s what Joe had to share:

“Wade has had a very good start to his hunting life! I was a little worried about him being gun shy as he did not respond as well as I had hoped around the house. We eased him into gun shots for a few weeks and I decided that maybe an actual outing would be better. I took Wade and Gus out on New Year’s Day with the hopes of finding a bird to shoot at on a quick walk. We didn’t have any luck finding a rooster or a quail but he had fun. I sent pics from his first actual hunt trip on the 1-2. He had zero negative reactions to gun shots with the excitement of birds. I was able to get him out on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th. His growth was incredible. He’s a full on hunting dog now. Pointing pheasants, quail, and honor pointing. He really loves to retrieve the downed birds! In the last 4 days we were lucky enough to shoot 28 roosters and 13 quail. He got so much growth in such a short amount of time! I’ll attach pictures of us with his first rooster shot off of his point as well as some other pics. Gus has been an amazing instructor to his mini me.”

Joe with Wade and some buddies and roosters

Cliff Herr from Oklahoma also has a 2021 Q Litter pup between Chief and Fire, who goes by Quyen. He shared these photos with me when we lost her littermate Sally in a car accident earlier this year.

A shot of Quyen in the truck bed with another rooster

Sheri and Stelios Gatanas from New Jersey have a 2025 V Litter pup from Duke and Briar who has been out on the hunt and they captured these great photos for me. Ledger is the dog with the shorter coat and full blaze on the face (I do not have the call name or breeding of the second Griff).

I have three pupdates from the X Litter of 2025 between Obi and Sally. They are particularly special after losing Sally earlier this year.

The first is from Pericle and Dara Magagnoli up in New York. Dara had the following to share about Millie:

“We were so saddened to hear about Sally. Our hearts truly go out to you and your family — what a tremendous loss. We are grateful for Millie every single day–and feel like we see a lot of Sally in her. She is exactly what we hoped for in a dog: smart, affectionate, goofy, curious and endlessly sweet. She attracts attention everywhere she goes — offering her belly to any who will rub it, and to say she is loved would be an understatement. She has two friends who come over regularly to romp around the yard and pond together — Tula, a Malinois, and Colby, a Chihuahua mix. We take her everywhere with us. She’s become a favorite at Lowe’s and at our local cidery here in Chatham (I keep thinking maybe one day we’ll run into your sister there!). She gets lots of interaction with both kids and other dogs, which she absolutely loves.”

Brianna Powers in Virginia had the following to share about Waffles:

“I wanted to let you know that Waffles is the best boy. He has fun camping with us, loves the water, and has a great sniffer. He’s starting out in dock diving soon. His drive from toys is crazy. I’m also looking into scent work and agility soon. He does good with his kitty siblings and has lots of doggy friends at day care. We couldn’t be happier with him. Thanks for your passion for this breed. I’m not sure I can own another type of dog now!”

Waffles out on a kayak adventure with her people

Jon Pinion down in Georgia shared a couple of snaps of Liesl.

A recent photo of Liesl in the flower bed

Thank you so much to all of my puppy owners for providing great homes for these dogs, please stay in touch!

Good luck to everyone out there in the fields this fall chasing birds around, along with training and hunt testing. We’ll keep you up-to-date on our dog adventures here. I’m always at bluestemkennels@gmail.com, even though we are not currently producing litters. The heat is gone and fall is in the air, hooray!

Welcome Molly!

July 6, 2026

Charity Upchurch Hunting Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Korthals Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

Back at the beginning of June, Charles and Caleb went up to Wisconsin and picked us up a puppy. A new puppy always helps to heal the wounds of losing a dog. In our case, we went through the two retirements of Duke and Briar, then lost Sally after being struck by a car.

Her registered name is Church Road’s Blue Molly. We still have a bit naturally heavier coats than we would like since we’ve moved to the South, so Molly will bring in a bit tighter coat to get us closer to where we want to be. I was excited to see perfect puppy canine teeth too.

The boys are working with her on early training introductions and I’m really just hanging out and helping with housebreaking and socializing. She and Belle are funny friends with each other.

It is absolutely scorching hot down here during the days, so I hope that y’all are trying to stay cool. Here are a few photos of Molly. Happy Summer!

Saying goodbye to Sally

May 3, 2026

Charity Upchurch AKC Hunt Tests, AWPGA, Hunting Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, Kennel Update, NAVHDA Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons AKC, Korthals Griffon, NAVHDA, North Dakota hunting, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons 2 Comments

AKC/NAVHDA Bluestem Sally Forth SH, NA II

January 31, 2021 – January 29, 2026

It was a dark Thursday evening between the ice storm and the snow storm that we recieved this past January and February in the Charlotte Metro. Caleb was walking the three dogs: Obi, Sally and Belle down the power line cut like he does every night. Well that night Belle and Sally took off after some deer. I had just returned home from school, so Caleb and I jumped into the truck and drove up and down our road honking for the girls to come back.

We made a turn back through our farmyard to make sure that they hadn’t made it back to the kennels and headed out for another loop. Two cars ahead of us suddenly hit their brakes (it normally is not a busy road, but it was this evening for some reason). The car in front pulled over and the second car went around. My headlights shone right on Sally’s lifeless body.

It was instantaneous, with the bumper making contact with her head and the tire rolling over her vitals. The neighbor stopped by in his truck as well all stood there a moment.

“You were a good girl, Sally.” I said before asking Caleb what he wanted to do. “Do we move her to the side of the road to get shovels to load her up?”

“No, let’s just pick her up and put her in back.” he responded.

So we loaded Sally up in the dog box and took her home. Belle showed up on her own an hour later. She had found Sally’s body by the barn before coming into the house and was whining. She whined that night and the next day over it.

Both Charles and I were working the following day and Caleb had a half-day of school, so he took it upon himself to bury her in the old horse pasture before the next storm was upon us.

We’ve owned dogs for thirty years together and have had so many close calls. It was just time for our card to get pulled.

I look forward to seeing Sally in the Happy Hunting Grounds with all of my other old pups. Here are some highlights from her life recently, with the most special being her inclusion in the AWPGA Working Standard video. This was recorded at the Sandhills Pointing Breeds Club in November 2024 as a part of the AWPGA National Specialty in North Carolina. The best part is between 5:19-6:10 where she is featured in the “coule” section.

Sally and I at the 2023 Eastern Regional Specialty in York, PA working on her AKC Senior Hunter. March 2023

Charles captured a photo in October of 2025 of Sally, Belle and Obi in North Dakota

Sally with the “X” Litter in June of 2025

Sally pulling me along in canicross at Crowders Mountain State Park (NC), November 2025

We had prospects on a pup this spring, but things fell through for reasons beyond anyone’s control. So it looks like our next pup will get to us at the end of June from Wisconsin.

Belle just earned her NAVHDA Utility Prize III at the Saluda River NAVHDA test, but Charles wants to re-test for a higher prize.

Losing Sally has been tough, it knocked a female out of my breeding program in addition to losing a family member. We had just retired Briar, so now Belle is it. We are not sure when we’ll be ready to breed her since she just turned two. We typically wait until three to begin breeding, just to make sure that the female is fully mature.

I have puppy update photos to share, but I’m going to hold off on that until I’m out of teaching school for the summer. Good luck to everyone out there with spring puppies, as well as training and testing. We’re really in a great spot as a breed and it isn’t a bad time for us to take a break. When we started back in 2010 there were very few good breeders in the U.S. Between the AWPGA AKC breeders and the NAVHDA breeders (some do both as we do, others only do one of the two) there is a hearty gene pool.

So stay tuned as things develop here and enjoy spring! If you ever need to reach out, I’m always at bluestemkennels@gmail.com.

Happy New Year 2026!

January 1, 2026

Charity Upchurch Hunting Tales, Kennel Update, NAVHDA, NAVHDA Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, Puppy Update, Upland Hunting Trips, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons dog, dogs, East Coast Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, Korthals Griffon, pets, South Carolina Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

We hope that you all had a Merry Christmas and many blessings for the New Year! As many of you know, life with dogs is never dull. Keeping a breed going takes the work of many and there’s always something to do: whether it is training a young dog or keeping the adult dogs healthy and entertained. As of now, we’re still saying that we’re taking a break from litters, but all of these puppies on the ground with our breeder friends makes us miss our littles.

Yet soon enough we’ll have something to keep us occupied with bringing home a new male puppy at the end of the month. Our VC Obi is the stud and the female is a Firebirds/Aux Lake cross. For those of you who don’t know, Gary Engebretson of Firebirds in Wisconsin and Larry Woodward of Aux Lake in Kansas are both well-tested NAVHDA breeders. We’re hoping to compliment what we already have going in our breeding program with that blood.

I tend to get lost in hunting updates and haven’t been good about posting “pupdates”, so here we go with my effort to catch up! I only pull from my texts and email, there is no way for me to keep up with everyone’s socials at this time. When I have time to check Instagram and the Griffon Facebook groups, I do appreciate everyone sharing the photos of their pups, I guess I need to just do a better job of downloading and managing them as I see them (but I don’t).

Pupdates

Back in May of 2025 (keep in mind that we had three litters go home in 2025, so I am way behind) BJ from Tennessee took his male pup Blair from the 2024 “U” Litter between Obi and Sally to the Missouri Southern Chapter of NAVHDA for his Natural Ability Test at one year, two months old. Here is what BJ had to say about the experience:

Wanted to let you know Blair passed the NA test with a prize 2! A feat made more remarkable by the fact I only got him over birds three times last year and his handler has no idea what he’s doing.

His only subtractions were in search and desire. In talking with the judges after, they said it was a close call but he wasn’t going out and searching where the birds “should be”. They said it seemed like a lack of experience in the field and was confirmed when I told them about his limited exposure.

Thanks for the advice on the tracking portion. I did as instructed and it really panned out. The dog tracking before Blair caught its pheasant and ran all over the field with the bird. Since that field was ruined we had to go to an unprepared field the judges hadn’t planned to use. The bird shot away from the judges like a rocket. It went about five yards and hooked a 90 degree left turn. I was panicking. When I approached the judges they were also panicking. They said we’d give it a shot but that they might need to retest that portion because everything was stacked against Blair.

Blair put his little nose to the ground and followed right along for the first 15 yards. I was thrilled. Then he stopped. Then he turned 90 degrees in the wrong direction and made a 20 yard loop. My heart sank. But he circled back behind us, made contact with the scent, and trailed the pheasant all the way to a point. I almost teared up. It was that beautiful.

The judge said afterward that the dog completely bailed them out on that track. He said Blair was notably calm and focused and patient during that exercise.

My first NAVHDA event – much less test – was a great success. My fellow handlers were delightful and the judges were gracious with their time and the way they handled the event. I hope you’re as pleased as I am with the result. Thanks for your work with the breed. Blair truly did that on his natural abilities.

BJ and Blair in the field by Debbi McCaul

Blair ended up with a NAVHDA Natural Ability Prize II with 103 points. A great job for a new dog and handler to the sport! Sorry BJ that it took me so long to get you a shout out!

Our next puppy NAVHDA test news was from Tate in Indiana with Willow. She’s from the early 2025 “V” Litter between Duke and Briar. At seven months and in her first heat cycle, she scored 110 points for a Prize I Natural Ability at the White Creek NAVHDA Chapter in Indiana back in August. Awesome work Tate and Willow!

Willow at seven months old in August with her NAVHDA NA I

In other news from the “V” Litter from early 2025, Bazooka is maturing nicely with Eva down in Arkansas.

Next we have Millie (2025 X Litter Obi x Sally) who is with Dara and Pericle in Upstate New York. She’s been looking super cute in the snow.

Millie’s sister Luna in Mississippi is having lots of adventures with her airman owner Alec, both in and out of the field.

Alec and Luna with their best girl on the tarmac

Last but not least, we have Gary with Marcus who is right here on Lake Wylie, South Carolina. He’s also handsome! Gary is out of the 2025 W Litter between Duke and Briar.

Look at all of those cute dogs! I’ll keep telling myself that we’re taking time off from having puppies for now. I will be sure to keep you all posted as to when we start making plans otherwise.

Nebraska Pheasant and Quail 2025

Charles had a good trip out to south central Nebraska for pheasants and quail in December.

Belle and the first day’s limit of pheasant

Belle and Charles’s Day two single rooster

Front to back: Belle, Sally and Obi all on point

East Coast Woodcock

The weekend after Christmas, Charles and Caleb headed out for woodcock here back on the East Coast and each took a limit.

Some Sundance Shorthairs with Caleb, Charles, Belle and some limits of woodcock

We’re all thankful for our successes in the whelping box and the field for 2025 and are looking forward to new adventures in 2026! I’m sure I’ll get inspired to get my camera out and brag on our new puppy, so keep an eye out in another month or so and I’ll be back. Let’s stay warm and push through to spring.

Fall 2025 Update!

November 28, 2025

Charity Upchurch Hunting Tales, Hunting Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, NAVHDA Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Bird Hunting, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Nebraska Sandhills, North Dakota, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Leave a comment

Where has the time gone? How has it been three months since I’ve written my last blog post? We’re in semi-retirement right now with no firm breeding plans. I appreciate y’all who have been checking in, you never know if an accident could happen with two females and a male on the property.

I also love the pupdates coming through email and text. I have totally neglected re-posting those, I feel terrible. Let’s plan those over Christmas break, since I decided to go back into teaching middle school English this year and it is hectic just keeping up with the dogs and a son in his junior year of high school. My head kennel tech/son Caleb is currently holding straight A’s since freshman year with hopes of going to either Clemson or The Citadel to major in urban planning and civil engineering. Our older son Conrad is getting ready to graduate from Metropolitan Community College Omaha with an Associate’s Degree in Information Technology. Our oldest, daughter Cordelia is the sales manager at an optometrist and is thinking of finally using her finance degree in banking.

Duke was our first dog to go into retirement this year, he went out to Oregon to live the good life with Ben. We really appreciate Ben giving Duke a great home. Duke has put out some nice puppies but we really want to focus on higher level hunting test dogs. A NAVHDA UT III is respectable, but there are enough VCs nearby between our Obi and our friend’s dog Gauge that we think that we have what we want for males here.

Briar has gone to live another fantastic retirement life in Virginia with Priscilla. I absolutely love Briar’s size and she is the sweetest dog, but she just didn’t have what we wanted in the ability to take pressure in training. She was my pick of that litter, we bought her back from someone and love her genetic contribution to the breed, but whatever happened with guns and pressure in training while she was away was not good. She has her Junior Hunter, but we were nervous to try more advanced things with her. So she is a beloved family pet to a couple who spends a lot of time with her along the James River.

More of Briar’s adventures in retirement

Sandhills Hunting

Charles and the rest of the pack: Obi, age 6, Sally, age 5, and Belle being almost two went out to the Nebraska Sandhills at the beginning of October for grouse and ducks this year and it was rough hunting. Caleb went with him and got skunked. Here is the run down of the game bag:

It was day four of the hunt when he and Belle got on the board with two grouse

Belle with a limit of woodducks at an old creek haunt of ours

After a week, Caleb came back home to get back to school after fall break. The dogs and Charles spent a few days of working in Nebraska, then they made their way up to North Dakota. The hunting is never a giveaway up there, but it was more productive in a short amount of time than the Sandhills this year.

Day One North Dakota: Obi and Belle with two roosters and a grouse

North Dakota Day 3: Sally, Belle and Obi with two ducks (one a nice drake mallard) and three roosters

North Dakota Day 4: Belle and Sally with three roosters and a grouse

Charles is actually packing up today to go out to South Central Nebraska for pheasants. It is going to be a snowy trip, so it will be interesting to see what comes of it. I will be back sometime over Christmas break, I hope that everyone enjoys their holiday season!

“W” and “X” Litter Homegoings

August 17, 2025

Charity Upchurch AWPGA, Hunting Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Puppies, Hunting Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, Kennel Update, NAVHDA Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, Puppy Update, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Puppies East Coast Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Puppies, Hunting Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, Korthals Griffon, South Carolina Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

All of our 2025 puppies have gone to their new homes and we are going into a semi-retirement period with no current breeding plans. We have two adult children in Nebraska and our youngest is a junior in high school, so we would like the freedom to travel right now. This is our fifteenth year straight of breeding Wirehaired Pointing Griffons and breeding requires considerable time at home. This isn’t a permanent closure, just a temporary pause. We’ll keep our social media and website updated as to when we have some breeding plans established.

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The song “Everytime You Go Away” from the mid-80s has been playing in my head a lot lately, with these two litters going home over the last couple of weeks. I will try not to make this post too sappy. It really helped to go through the photos and look at all of the happy families after we spent the weekend putting away the puppy things. I cry very little, but there were some tears shed this weekend since we are doing a semi-retirement to take a break and slow down our breeding program as we get older. My term as secretary of the American Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Association also expires at the end of the month, so it will be a nice time of renewal and rebirth as I go back to teaching middle school English Language Arts full time.

I’m just going to post the photos in the order that I have been posting their puppy photos.

“W” Litter Homegoings

Wynonna went out to the coast to Charleston, SC with Erin and her daughter.

Winston went across town to the other side of Charlotte with Lisa and her family; this is their second Bluestem puppy. Also pictured is Roux from the “T” litter between Obi and Ruth.

Winston with Lisa and family of Charlotte

Wade flew back home (to us) into Omaha to live on the other side of the Missouri River in Iowa with Joe and family. This is their second Bluestem puppy, also having Gus from the “Q” litter.

Waylon is staying right here on Lake Wylie with Marcus.

Wycliffe went up to Maryland with David.

Wycliffe and David on their way to Maryland.

Washington will live with Joanne and family in the North Carolina Sandhills on the other side of Charlotte.

Washington with Joanne and family of the NC Sandhills

“X” Litter Homegoings

Xander went home with Zach down into Central South Carolina. Zach got extra redneck bonus points for wearing a King Ropes hat, of which I’ve not seen one since leaving Nebraska.

Xander and Zach of Central South Carolina

Xavier went up to Virginia with Brianna and her husband

Xavier with Brianna and her husband off to Virginia

Xerxes will live between South Carolina and Mississippi with Reed and his family.

Xerxes and Reed headed for adventures in South Carolina and Mississippi

Xena will live in Georgia with Jon and family.

Xena off to Georgia with Jon and his family

Xantia joined the Air Force, currently stationed in Mississippi with Alec and his wife.

Xaria went to Upstate New York with Dara and Pericle.

Xaria with Pericle and Dara of Upstate New York

Xandra went up to Maryland with Amy.

Xyla went home to Ohio with Aaron (with the beard). I am pretty terrible with names unless I have them written down, so I know that the younger man is his son. This is his third Bluestem puppy, having an old girl from our “D” litter still going and another from our “Q” litter.

Xyla going to Ohio with Aaron to be his third Bluestem puppy

So that is it for puppy homegoings for awhile. I do hear from owners with photos and updates, so slowing down with breeding will give me a chance to share more of those. And of course we’ll still be testing and hunting. Stay tuned in the future, even if I don’t post as frequently, I’ll try to get on once a month. Get ready for fall, here it comes!

“X” Litter Seven Weeks Old

July 27, 2025

Charity Upchurch Hunting Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Puppies, Hunting Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, NAVHDA Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Puppies East Coast Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Puppies, South Carolina Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

I’m pretty sure that everyone is going to show up to pick up their puppies, but feel free to email bluestemkennels@gmail.com in the event that someone doesn’t show up. We don’t have any immediate breeding plans for the future and are taking a little semi-retirement, so we’re not taking deposits or reservations on future litters at this time.

It is super hot here and these guys are all super crazy, so it keeps us super busy. Here’s the photos from the leash and bird exposure this morning.

Males:

Xander

Xavier

Xerxes

Females

Xena

Xantia

Xaria

Xandra

Xyla

And here’s the last video for this litter! Next blog posts will be of the photos of the new families. Always a fun and exciting time for everyone!

“W” Litter Seven Weeks Old

July 23, 2025

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All puppies currently have homes, but feel free to email bluestemkennels@gmail.com in the event that anyone backs out at the last minute.

The six puppies of the “W” litter have had their leash and bird exposure, as well as plenty of kids’ cap gun fire. They’ll get their crate exposure after they come home from the vet’s office on Friday. At the vet, they will have their exam, first shots and microchip.

Of course here is the last weekly silly YouTube video:

We decided to forego the posed shots and just use action shots this week. These were actually taken on Sunday when everyone in the household was around to help. The “X” litter will go through the same process this coming Sunday.

Female:

Wynonna

Males:

Winston

Wade

Waylon

Wycliffe

Washington

Now normally we use a dead quail for the dead bird exposure, but our dead bird refrigerator died (things that you have when you train dogs) a few months back, so all I had was a chukar. I use zero pressure, there is no expectation for them to pick it up. New puppy owner can get bird wings online and yank them around the yard with string like I did here if they would like. I just put them in an exercise pen and drag the dead bird around until it gets their attention.

I also like to keep the live bird caged so that they can’t put their mouth on it. We don’t want to create any bad habits by letting them chase or put their mouth on the live bird. You can let puppies chase live birds for a little bit, but I think it is better to keep them on a check cord to not create a bird busting habit.

The first puppy from this litter goes home July 31 and most leave the weekend following. It’s always a joy to raise a litter and I can’t wait to see how happy all of the new families are when they pick up their new puppies.

We’ll be back one more time with puppy photos and videos on Sunday with the “X” litter, then it will be time to post homegoing photos after that.