Bluestem Kennels

Sorry that I’ve been absent from posting, but we took a family vacation to the Black Hills of South Dakota (and Wyoming) and the Pine Ridge of Nebraska.  It was quite an adventure!  While we were there, we visited Badlands National Park, Minuteman Missile National Monument, Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Crazy Horse Memorial, Devils Tower National Monument, Wind Cave National Park, Custer State Park (SD), and Ft. Robinson State Park (NE).  We also climbed Harney Peak in the Black Elk Wilderness, swam at Evans Plunge Natural Hot Springs, and saw the fossils at Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, SD.  We love our public lands not only for hunting, but for hiking and exploring too!  With the sad events over the last week, it is nice to have these fresh memories of how good America can be.

The Upchurches at “the faces”

In our absence Aaron, Keri and the girls watched over the litters.  And boy did they grow!  It is hard to believe that “K” litter pups are going home this weekend.  Here are some of the shots that I got of them before they went home.  I apologize that my photos aren’t going to be up to normal standards for awhile.  We were caught in a thunderstorm (with heavy rain and pea-sized hail) the entire 2 hour descent of Harney Peak and it killed my Canon Rebel XS DSLR.  So I’m down to my little Canon Elph until I can get to the camera store for a replacement DSLR.

All of the “K” Litter pups checked out in good health at Heartland Pet Hospital in Bellevue, Nebraska on Wednesday afternoon.

A pup getting some vet tech love

Dr. Andrew Kliewer DVM listening to their innards

A mess of pups trying out the new flooring

Charles helping me unload the pups from the vet visit

Velma hangs by while the “K” Litter mobs the food dish

Velma and the “K” Litter pups waiting to be let out

And it is already time to post homegoing pics!  Here is Karen going home to New Mexico with Rob and Joanne.  Her new name will be Mitzi Mambo and she’ll live on a mesa full of desert quail and jackrabbits.  She will be the sister of a few Cairn Terriers too.  Photo taken inside of their sweet rolling home (RV).

Kate and Maurice, from just across town in Papillion, Nebraska, decided that they didn’t have enough little ones to chase around and added Krystal to their pack.  She will become Murphy and will be chasing pheasants and ducks before we know it.

Kristov went home to Minnesota early this morning with Matt and his expecting wife, but I forgot to take a picture (oops!).  Hopefully I can talk them into taking a selfie and send to me to share with you all.

Kylla went home with Zoe and Peter to North Dakota.  She will become Olive, and my fourth or fifth pup to be a part of the Central Dakota NAVHDA crew.  NoDak has so many great hunting opportunities, we can’t wait to see her in action.

Rick and Peggy took Kalli home to Grand Island, Nebraska, in the heart of the Rainwater Basin, one of the top waterfowl regions in the country.  She’ll live next to a sandpit lake where she can swim as much as she wants.  New name TBD.

I have video of both of the litters, but I’ll need a bit more time to get it all put together.  I really want to get the photos out today, because in TWO WEEKS the “L” litter goes home too!  We still need to figure out picks, which we’ll work on early this week.  I have whole mess of homegoings tomorrow, so I can post those videos when I get those photos up.

These individual photos are in the same order of the individual photos that I took a few weeks back.

Laverne face, female

Laverne back, female

Laverne stacked, female

Lynda face, female

Lynda back, female

Lynda stacked, female

Lillian face, female

Lillian back, female

Lillian free stacked, female

Leia face, female

Leia back, female

Leia stacked, female

Lucina face, female

Lucina back, female

Lucina stacked, female

Larry face, male

Larry back, male

Larry stacked, male

Laius face, male

Laius back, male

Laius stacked, male

Laertes face, male

Laertes back, male

Laertes stacked, male

Luke face, male

Luke back, male

Luke stacked, male

Thank you to my daughter, Cordelia for being my puppy modeler.  And of course, thank you to Aaron and family for taking care of everyone while we were gone.  I had better sign off for now, as I still have paperwork to put together for the pickups tomorrow and of course, regular dog/puppy chores.