Hope that you all are staying cool in this hot, hot summer! Our next litter (maybe litters?) won’t be until Spring of 2025, so if you are looking to get on our reservation list or just want to ask questions in general, you can reach us at bluestemkennels@gmail.com. If you’ve sent me an email in the last couple of weeks, we’ve been on the road, but I’ll be sure to answer them in the coming days.

We were podcast by Bill Tomlin of The Whoa Post in Episode 21 on June 24th. It is available on all podcast platforms, or you can try this link: https://pca.st/episode/7bef06bd-9943-4bfb-866e-503ea39063e1 It was really fun and I hope that you give it a listen!

On our way out to Nebraska, we met Ruth’s retirement family in Missouri who also has her mom, Fire (now Bella). Ron and Bonnie used to go back and forth between Arizona and Minnesota, but have sold their home in Minnesota and now are either in their RV or in Arizona.

Ron, Ruth and Bonnie
Ron with Fire, Bonnie with Ruth
Gracie the GSP, Ruth and Fire on the campsite. Photo by Ron Funk.

I know that Ruth and Fire have a great home in Arizona and it sounds as if Charles may go out that way to hunt with them in January or February.

It was great to have a cool down while we were out visiting in Nebraska, the heat of the day was only 75 or 80, so when we would get out in the morning it would be in the 60s.

Here are some pictures from one day when we were roading the dogs out in the Sandhills. It is tough to get good shots of running dogs from a moving vehicle, especially when my telephoto lens is on its last legs (I’ll be getting a new one for my birthday/Christmas). This isn’t something that we just do out of nowhere with the dogs, we start with fast, long foot walks and build up to this. We might be going 10 mph when we’re driving the truck. We live right next to a busy road and they are around the truck in the farm yard, so they know to stay out from under tires. But it is a situation where I have to say, “we are professionals, don’t try this at home!” because of the risk if you haven’t been doing this for a long time.

From left: Duke, Sally, Briar, Obi and Belle in a swampy green valley in the Sandhills
Left to right: Briar, Sally, Duke, Belle and Obi running out in the open.
Left to right: Duke, Briar, Belle, Obi and Sally heading into a windmill.

I got a few extra pictures of the “little girls” as we call them: almost two-year-old Briar and five-month-old Belle. Here’s Belle:

Belle on the run
Briar and Belle checking something out.
Belle retrieving a stick in the water

Belle using the string on the Dokken to retrieve since she’s used to smaller ones

Now here’s Briar’s batch of photos. You can see that she has more brown in her coat than most of my other dogs, similar to a Stichelhaar. This coat style goes all the way back to my foundation pair of Sue and Sam. I have not seen it since then. She is DNA tested 100% Griffon, but this harkens back to when all of these European rough-haired breeds were all one.:

Briar standing in the prairie
Briar checking something out
Briar on the move through the grass
Briar on the water retrieve

Here are some field shots of Sally:

Sally taking a stroll on the prairie
Sally with a look of joy on her face

Here’s our younger male, Duke:

Duke on the run with Obi in the background
Duke was also having a grand time on the prairie

Last but not least, our patriarch Obi, who is getting ready for NAVHDA Invitational:

Obi mid-stride with the sand dunes in the background
Duke and Obi going all-out in the field

Multiple times during our excursion we saw prairie chickens in the field, at one time it was a large group of six or eight, so it should be a good year for bird hunting. Once again, taking photos of moving animals in a moving vehicle is very difficult, so I didn’t get as cool of picture as I wanted.

Prairie chicken in flight!

Here’s one more photo of everyone swimming for Dokkens in a pond:

Obi, Duke, Sally, Belle and Briar in the pond

Like I’ve said before, the weather was just perfect for running dogs out in Nebraska, but now we’re back in the South Carolina heat. Griffons love to have fun and so making the training fun makes it easier for everyone.

Charles has already been back out with the local NAVHDA chapters doing the serious training while I get everything ready for Caleb to start his sophomore year of high school (I can’t believe the first day is August 1st!). He has also acquired his learner’s permit, so we’re practicing driving.

The clock is ticking on the 2024 AWPGA National Specialty events in November, so I continue to plug away at that.

Here’s the entry form for the AKC Hunt Test held in conjunction with the 2024 AWPGA National Specialty: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11DdLegFUMG6sM0KMj3olPK9Ao7S2ztGQ/view

Here’s the entry form for the Working Griffon Field Trial held in conjunction with the 2024 AWPGA National Specialty:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SmSCQSlPQ-L6JE5sd0xVX6D1CBbtDYPR/view

Here’s the link to our online auction where you can bid on the donated items. All proceeds go to supporting the 2024 AWPGA National Specialty. https://awpga.betterworld.org/auctions/2024National

Here’s the schedule of events, we’re looking forward to seeing everyone! https://www.awpga.com/2024-natl-specialty-schedule.html

Everyone stay cool in this hot summer weather and we’ll keep everyone posted on the road to the 2024 NAVHDA Invitational in Iowa.