Bluestem Kennels

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.

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.