The two puppies of the “T” Litter are four weeks old now and up on all fours. They still prefer to run around their whelping box rather than outside, but that will change in the next week to week-and-a-half. I am so thankful that this is the last day of the summer heat wave, so that they can move out on to the back patio tomorrow.
They are able to regulate their body temperature at four weeks old and I think that it is very important that my puppies grow up like dogs instead of toddlers. They will have access to rope bones and balls to play with in the kennel, but they would rather chew on each other most of the time (as you’ll see in this week’s video). As I’ve said previously, I don’t use a lot of fabric with my puppies due to sanitation and safety issues. I don’t want something that they’ll poop on, then chew on later. Or something they can get wadded up in and suffocate. Any toys that they have with them need to be cleaned twice a day.
These are hunting dogs. They need to be comfortable in the outdoors. If someone goes camping, they will likely be staked out on a chain at night or sitting in a dog box in the back of a truck. Not to say that indoors time isn’t important, puppies need to be crated at night, housebroken and spend tons of time indoors with their people once they go home. And I touch on a little bit of that exposure to the crate and the house during their time here. But outdoors hardiness is important to me at this point in their lives.
I am taking them out into the yard twice a day, but they are not huge fans of it at this point. The big open world is scary to them. Yet even though they whine a bit (normal for this age), they are starting to explore. Their faces are a little grubby from just having eaten.
Female pup, Tabitha:
Female pup, Tabitha, faceFemale pup, Tabitha, side profile
Male pup, Tobin:
Male pup, Tobin, faceMale pup, Tobin, side profile
They have just started consistently eating from the dish in the last day or so. Before I was having to encourage them with spoon feeding to bait them into the dish, but now they go for it. They are fed canned puppy food twice a day.
Eating from the dishCloseup of eating from the dishCloseup of Tabitha eatingCloseup of Tobin eating
Here is this week’s video of the puppies playing in the whelping box:
So like I say, they leave the indoors for the back patio tomorrow, which will make my house a lot less smelly (puppies fart and poop a lot). Then they’ll really start to run around this week. I’ll also start the transition from canned food to wet kibble. We’re already working on noise conditioning during their feedings, where I’ll bang on a pan while they eat.
In big dog news, Sally and Charles are in Delaware today with the NAVHDA DelMarVa Chapter running the Utility Test. Since he’s been focused on Obi for Invitational, we are really just hoping for a pass today. We’ll see, we already have her signed up for Rappahannock in Virginia at the end of November just in case.
Best wishes to everyone out there with pups, folks training and testing, and especially those getting ready for bird season to open soon! I’ll be back next weekend with more to share.
The two puppies of the “T” Litter turned two weeks old yesterday. They are starting to open their eyes and ears, they are moving around quite a bit more and are huge compared to when they were born. My webhost has changed some of the settings on posting video links so I hope that I have this in correctly:
The puppies are still primarily nursing and sleeping. We’ll start on little spoonfuls of puppy mush, which is canned dog food and milk replacer mixed together, just so that they get a sense of eating something other than mom’s milk.
Ruth really does not like the camera around the pups, so it disturbs her to try to get too many photos or videos. She will become more relaxed with it as the puppies get older and more independent.
Here are their individual photos.
Female pup, Tabitha:
Tabitha, female pup, faceTabitha, female pup, back
Male pup, Tobin:
Tobin, male pup, face (his eyes are fine, there is just one that hasn’t finished opening, totally normal)Tobin, male pup, back
I’ll be back next with with another update on the puppies.
In other news…
The big dogs have been keeping busy, Sally’s hip and elbow screenings came back normal and we’re waiting on her thyroid. Obi just had his elbows x-rayed and his thyroid tested. Both of them are with Charles in New Jersey this weekend at a special East Coast NAVHDA Invitational training. Sally is just prepping for UT but we’re closing in on the final weeks before Invitational in September for Obi. Considering the fact that only about 25% of Griffons who make it to Invitational pass the test, the odds are against us, but every effort is certainly being made to be part of that 25%.
I have some news myself that I’ve been keeping under my hat a bit. Over the summer I was nominated to run for the position of secretary for the American Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Association, the national AKC breed parent club. Much to my surprise, I won the election and will take over as AWPGA secretary effective September 1. This is not my first position within the club, I was editor of the Griffonnier magazine from 2014-2018 and most recently was the show trophy chairperson for the Eastern Regional Specialty in Pennsylvania back in March.
I want to thank my fellow candidate, Kendall DeSanto, for running a clean race with me. As we are longtime friends in the breed, there was no mudslinging involved. You may recognize Kendall from his presentation of the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon breed in past years at the National Dog Show that is televised on Thanksgiving (hosted by the Kennel Club of Philadelphia). Here’s a photo that I took of him showing at the 2014 AWPGA National Specialty in Maine.
Kendall DeSanto in 2014 at the AWPGA National Specialty in Maine
Thank you to the membership for having the confidence in me to carry out the duties of secretary for the club. I will devote myself to the cause. Thank you also to outgoing secretary Beth Schweibinz for all of your hard work and guidance that I will need in the coming months during the transition.
So between Invitational, puppies and my new board of directors position, there is a lot going on here! I’ll be back next week with another update on the pups. Everyone keep working hard, hunting season will be here soon for some relaxation and fun!
Please email bluestemkennels@gmail.com to inquire about future litters.
Yesterday Caleb and I took Ruth down to York Vet for a pregnancy confirmation ultrasound. At 44 days it was about 10 days too early to do a puppy count x-ray. Since the possibility exists that some of the skeletons showing are not viable puppies, I don’t do puppy count ultrasounds or x-rays. I just do an ultrasound to confirm a pregnancy and that there are enough puppies en utero to trigger a natural whelping. In the event of a one or two puppy pregnancy (which thank the Lord I have not encountered) the puppies don’t generate enough of the hormone that makes labor start, so folks have to c-section those pregnancies.
Ruth with a vet tech and Dr. Ashley Goforth of York Vet doing the ultrasound yesterday.
My biggest preoccupation with Ruth right now is balancing outside time and staying cool in this heat wave. I let her out to run morning and midday, then bring her inside early and late afternoon. She is still comfortably fitting in her crate at night, but the indoor kennel is set up for when she needs to move over to sleep in there in a week or so. We are also feeding her extra midday, focusing on things like meat, bones and vegetables to give extra puppy development nutrition. Now we just wait the two to three weeks for the little ones to arrive!
Ruth taking a nap and keeping cool in the house a couple of afternoons ago
Keep on Trainin’!
Last weekend we found a great pond to work with Obi on blind retrieve for NAVHDA Invitational. The blind retrieve skill is where the dog is sent, does not do a duck search and goes directly to the far end of the pond, retrieves the duck, then swims back to the handler on the other side of the pond. Charles says that the Invitational pond is around 100 yards across one direction, the one that we were practicing on was right at 125 yards.
Typical for when you are starting off on a skill, the dog needs commands to complete the task. On the side of the pond where the duck is placed in plain view (in a gap in the vegetation), someone hides in the shrubbery to briefly call the dog in the event that the dog gets confused about what is going on and turns back towards the handler. The first time we did it, Obi needed two re-directions, the second time he only needed one, the third time he did it with no commands. After three back-and-forths across the pond the dog had swam 750 yards, so that was enough for one day. Plus the oppressive Southern afternoon heat was creeping up on us!
I’m going to once again put the training photos in a gallery, if you want to see enlarged versions you just click on the first photo then page to the right with the arrow to the see the remaining photos.
Obi swimming to the bank for the duckObi picking up the duckObi swimming with the duck to CharlesObi bringing the duck to the bank to CharlesObi’s second swim across with a duckObi’s third pond swim coming to CharlesObi’s third water retrieveObi closing in with the duck in mouthObi retrieving to handObi looking at Charles after his third retrieve
Tomorrow Charles, Caleb and the dogs will be up to Rimrock Preserve in Statesville, NC at the Foothills NAVHDA training day. It sounds as if there will be other Griffs and owners there too if anyone wants to pop in and observe. My gang usually doesn’t get a bunch of training done on those days, with Charles helping other handlers and dogs on their skills quite a bit.
Health Testing Updateand Breeding Thoughts
All of my dogs are seen by a vet at least twice a year, actively breeding females usually three or more. In the past, I’ve only done OFA Hip or PennHIP x-rays. I’m in the process of getting my three younger dogs through OFA CHIC certification, in the long form that is the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals Canine Health Information Center. For the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon breed, the screenings needed for CHIC are: hips, OFA elbows, ACVO Eye Exam and an Autoimmune thyroiditis blood panel from an approved veterinary laboratory. Keep in mind that these are simply certifications of clear health that we already know exists through close veterinary observation. I will post the results to the blog as they come in (everyone but Sally already has hips, Sally is x-rayed hips and elbows in a couple of weeks) and update my About Our Dogs page as well.
Some points of clarification about health testing in general. The health tests for OFA CHIC do not cover all of the genetic problems known in the breed. You need to trust your breeder to be educated about other issues, to know how to watch out for them, and to be honest with their breeding to exclude dogs exhibiting them. I do that. Making a laundry list of the problems in our breed is not within the scope of this blog post, maybe another day. Additionally, health testing an individual dog does not certify a clear pedigree. Puppies have been bred with hip dysplasia (not by me) that have had generations of clear ancestors. We are all standing on the shoulders of giants and trusting that those who have gone before us have made sound breeding decisions.
Breeding is a passion project for us. Working to recover what Korthals intended for the breed and creating a healthy hunting dog with family member temperament is for our purposes as well as spreading the joy to others. We will be keeping a pup out of this litter and keeping one in the spring as well.
It’s strange when a hobby takes over your life. Nineteen years of owning and hunting with Wirehaired Pointing Griffons and thirteen years of breeding them. This will be my twentieth litter whelping soon, all natural breedings (no artifical insemination) and natural whelping (no c-sections). Charles and Obi are heading to our Super Bowl of hunt training, the NAVHDA Invitational, in September. It has been a grand adventure and I pray that we can keep it going.
Conclusion
This is a deadly heat wave, keep the dogs cool! If they are outside, make sure that they have access to shade and water. Exercise them early in the morning. Keep them brushed out so that their fur isn’t holding in heat. Make sure that they have access to open water or a pool after exercise. Know the signs of heat stroke in dogs and how to save them if they start to stroke out (oops, there’s another article). Everyone stay cool, hydrated and safe now. Keep us in your prayers. Talk at ya later.
Please email bluestemkennels@gmail.com regarding future litters. Ruth is at right around 30 days gestation (God willing) and is starting to show. We go to the veterinarian for an ultrasound on July 13 and will hopefully see a pregnancy. I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted here, on Facebook, and on Instagram as news develops. Here are a few photos of her from the last couple of days:
Ruth having a rest on the living room floor yesterdayRuth side profile in the drivewayRuth having fun in the yard
Dogs generally don’t show much in the first 30 days, but I can definitely see and feel a little pooch. Keeping her cool in the heat and spending plenty of quality time with her indoors are a priority right now for the completion of a successful pregnancy. Please send us good thoughts and prayers for the weeks ahead.
Training
Charles is out dog training pretty much every weekend and spends time working on skills with the dogs daily. I went out for a training day with the Carolinas Chapter of NAVHDA towards the beginning of June and got some photos. My camera seemed to be focused on Sally, so here is a gallery of her training photos. You can click the first photo of the gallery to see an enlarged version, then page through the remaining enlarged photos.
Sally on pointSally pointing while gunners shootSally retrieving chukarSally retrieving to CharlesSally close-up on pointSally runningAnother shot of Sally retrievingClose-up of Sally retrievingCharles sending Sally to duck searchSally with the duckSally shaking off after giving up the duckSally swimming through water liliesSally with a duck retrieveCharles working with Sally on steady by blind
Her training day was basically a mock Utility Test and Sally is probably at the level of passing this fall, fingers crossed.
We also worked with Duke on skills for the Utility Preparatory Test and Obi for Invitational, but my photos of them were not as focused or plentiful. Here’s Duke’s selection:
Duke on pointCharles walking in to Duke’s pointDuke in the fieldDuke retrieving a bumper in the water
And last but not least, by a long shot, Obi:
Obi bringing in the dummy in the double mark retrieveCharles watching Obi work on the double mark retrieveObi on left with “S” litter pup Chase on right at a NAVHDA training day. Photo by Ian Taylor
One of our puppy owners caught the above photo of Obi with one of his pups and posted it to Instagram on Father’s Day, so cute!
Otherwise, when we’re not out training, we’re just hanging around the yard. Charles had some quail escape and Ruth found one in the back driveway.
Ruth pointing a wayward quail
With the temperatures rising, it was time to get the kiddie pool out for the dogs. They each have their own style of getting wet.
Ruth likes to sit in the pool and scoot aroundObi gets his whole body wetSally usually ignores it, but sometimes digsDuke doesn’t want his rear wet
So those are the goings on here lately, I will be sure to post in a couple of weeks once we get the ultrasound results on Ruth. Everyone have a safe and Happy 4th of July, please be sure to keep your dogs crated in a safe area while lighting fireworks (typing that just brought up a childhood memory of our family cocker spaniel attacking a Roman candle as it was going off). Dogs and fireworks don’t mix. The biggest problem with trained gun dogs is that they’ll run towards the sound of the shot thinking that there is a bird down and you lose your dog in the commotion if you’re not careful. So for everyone’s sanity, put the dogs up.
Please email bluestemkennels@gmail.com with inquiries regarding future puppies. Due to the high volume of telemarketers and robo-callers, I discontinued releasing my phone number online. Once you’ve emailed your interest we can arrange a time to talk.
As of right now, I have thirteen reservations with deposit for this litter that was just bred. As my deposits are fully refundable until the puppy is three weeks old, I can and do have folks back out or move their reservation to the following year at the last minute.
I will not be like the breeders in Europe who post photos of their mating dogs in a tie, that is just too graphic for me. We had our first breeding on May 30 and our last tie on June 2, so four days of breeding and one of those days had two ties. We’ve walked Obi and Ruth together since and he has shown no sign of being interested in her any further, so we’re going to assume that the breeding was a success.
The first week of July, I will take Ruth to the vet for an ultrasound to confirm pregnancy. We will not know the size of the litter at that time. I do not take my females for a puppy count ultrasound due to the risk of disease exposure. A nearby breeder lost a litter to disease exposure from the vet going for a puppy count ultrasound and I just do not like the risk. After thirteen years of whelping puppies, I know what is going on during the whelping and when the female is finished, so a puppy count is not necessary.
Here are some photos of Ruth today, so that we have a benchmark to watch her tummy develop. I have recent photos of Obi that I’ll share in the training news.
Ruth running in the yard
We will repeat the breeding of Obi and Ruth one last time in the Spring of 2024, so anyone who puts down a deposit will roll over to that litter should they choose to do so. It is a double NAVHDA Utility Prize breeding, Ruth with a Prize III and Obi with a Prize I. Obi will be going to NAVHDA Invitational in Ohio in September. We will be keeping a female pup either from the litter this fall or the one in the spring (it is already factored into the reservation numbers), so it is a breeding that we’re relying on to produce great hunters and healthy family dogs.
Spring 2024 will also be the first litter between Duke and Sally. Sally just achieved her AKC Senior Hunter and has a NAVHDA Natural Ability Prize II under our Junior Handler son Caleb. Duke has his NAVHDA Natural Ability Prize III also with our son as Junior Handler. Sally is preparing to run the NAVHDA Utility Test in the Fall right after Obi goes to Invitational. Duke is still young, but has fantastic hips and health with an amazing wire coat. I need to start compiling the stats (health clearances and hunt tests) for the two young dogs since Spring 2024 may bring their litter to the ground first, we just have to see what the good Lord and Mother Nature brings us.
“A” Litter 13th Birthday
Speaking of thirteen years, we can barely keep track of our human children’s birthdays, so we are bad about marking litter birthdays. April 30th was the 13th birthday of our “A” litter between Sue and Sam. I was staying home with my youngest son Caleb, who just turned 14, and decided that it might be fun to have puppies.
Little did I know that I was making a decision that would change the course of our lives entirely! Breeding and training Wirehaired Pointing Griffons has become our lifestyle. Care of the dogs and making sure that they are healthy and ready for both bird hunting season and hunt tests is ingrained in our daily routine.
I am in touch with two of the owners of “A” litter puppies who are still thriving! Whiskey is still going strong out in Nevada:
Old man Whiskey at thirteen from our “A” litter between Sue and Sam
Winston has a young niece from our 2018 “O” litter between Fire and Chief, so by my best guesstimate that makes Winston her uncle. They live together out in Colorado.
On the left is Breeze from our “O” litter, with her big uncle Winston from our “A” litter at 13
NAVHDA Invitational Training
Charles and Obi have been training for NAVHDA Invitational nearly every weekend. Last weekend a group from the Carolinas Chapter got together and we were lucky to have Terry Ann Fernando of The Accidental Bird Dog podcast and blog https://accidentalbirddog.com/ available to photograph. We appreciate her willingness to donate her talents.
Obi and CharlesObi on pointObi on point with the bird right in front of him.Obi holds his point while the gunner takes a shot.
Even though Sally is not going to Invitatational, she tagged along for the training to prepare for her Utility Test in the fall.
Sally stopped (looks like either a back or a stop-to-flush)Sally on point.A tongue-out point from Sally at the hot end of the day.
Speaking of end-of-training-day heat, Sally is going out again tomorrow with Charles and Obi to trains and she has some shag on her, so it is time to groom. Best wishes to everyone out there doing spring hunt testing and having puppies, I know that I missed my little ones this spring because of my daughter’s college graduation back in Nebraska. But hope springs eternal around here with the cycle of new life and I’m looking forward to puppies arriving at the beginning of August!
Charles, myself, the graduate Cordelia (22), Conrad (19) and Caleb (14) at the graduation reception.
Happy New Year from Bluestem Kennels, the South Carolina home of hunting AKC and NAVHDA Wirehaired Pointing Griffons!
We are still awaiting Ruth’s winter heat cycle, but it looks like it will be any day now. We are taking a break from breeding this cycle, but that will drive when she comes into season this summer for our Fall 2023 litter with Obi. We still have spots left on the 2023 reservation list and then we’ll also go for one last litter from Ruth in Spring 2024 before she retires from breeding. Most likely we’ll also do a first litter of Duke and Sally for Spring 2024. Contact us at bluestemkennels@gmail.com if you’re interested in a pup from us in the future.
Puppy Brag!
While I was busy with puppies in the fall, I missed an accomplishment announcement for the first Ruth and Obi pup to NAVHDA test Natural Ability. Congratulations to Clint and Bluestem Ramble on Rosalind “Rosie” on their NAVHDA Natural Ability Prize II, 101 points at seven months-old! They tested on September 10, 2022 with the Keystone Chapter in Central Pennsylvania. That is an amazing accomplishment for a first-time handler and young pup, we couldn’t be more proud!
Congratulations to Clint and Rosie on a NAVHDA Natural Ability Prize II at seven months-old!
Duke’s Health Scans
Then right after the pups went home at the end of October, I got Duke over to Steele Creek Animal Hospital in Charlotte for his hip and elbow x-rays and advanced bloodwork. We are so happy that everything came back looking good! It is only through close work with our veterinarians that we keep our dogs and puppies healthy for hard hunting.
If you look at the graph on this report, the square represents that average of the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon breed. Duke’s chances of developing hip issues are significantly lower than the average. Obi’s are slightly lower, but both are perfect for stud dog purposes.
Also his elbows show no sign of problems, which is another good thing. We had extensive bloodwork completed on his thyroid, liver and kidneys and that all came back normal. The reason that we tested the liver and kidneys even though it is not required by any breed clubs is that there are starting to be problems in certain bloodlines in the Upper Midwest where the pups are getting liver and kidney problems at young ages. We have a friend with a pup (not from us) who is battling it now and it is not something that we want to bring into our breeding program.
East Coast Griffon Event Announcement
I almost forgot this! The AWPGA is hosting a regional specialty event in York and Wellsville, Pennsylvania from Thursday, March 16 through Sunday, March 20th. Thursday is a field training day, Friday is the regional specialty dog show in York, Saturday and Sunday are AKC Hunt Tests in Wellsville. I will be driving up on Thursday so I’ll miss the field day, but I will be hanging around at the show on Friday, then running Sally and Duke in AKC Senior Hunter on Saturday and Sunday. After spending ten years in the gallery and helping out at hunt tests, I’m finally going to handle myself. I don’t know that I’ll get any passes, but we’ll have fun running anyway. There is a Facebook group called “AWPGA Eastern Regional Events 2023” that has all of the details. https://www.facebook.com/groups/375079241463081
Our Training
Charles has been working with training Obi for NAVHDA Invitational, Duke and Sally for UPT or AKC SH, and Ruth just to keep her active. Here’s just a couple of random training photos from the last couple of months where he is working with our Griffons and the English Pointers of the neighbors’.
Ruth with the green collar on backing the Pointers in December.Obi on the right backing one of the Pointers yesterday.
We hope that every one of our puppy owners and followers had a blessed holiday season. We were lucky to have our two adult children come back to us in South Carolina from Nebraska. Here is a photo of the five of us at the harbor in Charleston: Charles, Conrad is 18 and an Information Technology student at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, Cordelia is 21 and a senior in Agribusiness at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, Caleb is 13 and is in eighth grade here in SC and then me.
I’ll get back on the blog once Ruth comes in to heat here in the next few of weeks, then we’ll know a little bit more about our puppy making schedule this summer and fall. Stay warm until then, especially my poor people up in North Central Nebraska and South Central South Dakota who have snow drifts up to ten feet tall and are still getting roads and driveways cleared for travel. They have my prayers daily.
Feel free to email bluestemkennels@gmail.com to be placed on the backup contact list in the event of anyone backing out on this litter at the last minute. I will start doing interviews for our Fall 2023 litter once our 2022 litter goes home, so you can reach out about that too.
Duke’s NAVHDA Natural Ability Test
You cannot put the pressure of your breeding kennel on a junior handler and our 13 year-old son Caleb had fun handling Cedar and Spruce’s Apollo “Duke” to a NAVHDA Natural Ability Prize III, so that is really all we can ask for. They tested at the Foothills NAVHDA Chapter in Hickory, NC on Saturday. The pheasant track was spot on and he did great in the water, but it took him 15 of the 20 allotted minutes to get started in the field search. To his credit, he was the last dog in the field and it reeked of bird stench after nine other dogs ran ahead of him, so I could tell that it made Duke a bit confused and timid, wanting to point every place a bird had been planted. I’ve seen pro trainer/handlers come up with a “No Prize” on Natural Ability, so we are not disappointed. At nine months old Duke is still young enough to Natural Ability test again, but we won’t and just continue on to prepare for the Utility Preparatory Test. But the most important thing for him and for Sally is to get out west into the wild bird fields this fall.
Caleb and Duke ready to runDuke in the fieldWaiting for the waterChecking of the attributes
“S” Litter at Five Weeks Old
The pups are growing like weeds and are large enough to run the yard. We’ll do that a couple of times a day going forward. They have their first collars on and are picking up and carrying around toys. They love to chew on each other and their toys. Caleb is also my puppy assistant and I catch him doing the silliest things sometimes, like getting in their dog house.
Caleb has turned into a puppy
Here are their individual pics. Keep in mind that this is just a snapshot of this puppy. This doesn’t show their personality, size or conformation very well at all. They are just now starting to develop their different coats and I’m getting a better idea of who will fit well where.:
Male pup, Sebastian:
Male pup, Sebastian faceMale pup, Sebastian body
Male pup, Simon:
Male pup, Simon faceMale pup, Simon body
Male pup, Samson:
Male pup, Samson faceMale pup, Samson body
Female pup, Simi:
Female pup, Simi faceFemale pup, Simi body
Female pup, Spokanne:
Female pup, Spokanne faceFemale pup, Spokanne body
I need to go ahead and sign off for now, the day is getting away from me and I need to start talking to folks about travel plans and puppy picks. I’ll be back next week on Tuesday, Monday has just become too crazy for me with kid activities and so the weekly updates will shift a day for the rest of their time with us. Good luck to everyone in the field with hunting and testing.
The pups are four weeks old and really moving and grooving! All are spoken for at this time, but if you’d like to be on the contact list in the event that someone backs out at the last minute, email bluestemkennels@gmail.com. That will also put you on our list for information about future breedings. Plus, I always post here. Our next litter is planned for Fall 2023.
I have to run my son to his fencing club practice, so let’s get down to the business of pictures and video!
Male pup, Sebastian:
Male pup, Sebastian faceMale pup, Sebastian body
Male pup, Simon:
Male pup, Simon faceMale pup, Simon body
Male pup, Samson:
Male pup, Samson face (it was hot out so he is panting)Male pup, Samson body
Female pup, Simi face
Female pup, Simi faceFemale pup, Simi body
Female pup, Spokanne:
Female pup, Spokanne faceFemale pup, Spokanne body
Female pup, Sue:
Female pup, Sue faceFemale pup, Sue body
They moved out on to the covered porch yesterday so that they get more acclimated to the outdoors to make them tough hunting companions. I had to get up in the middle of the night to put them in the dog house, but they were all in there when I woke up this morning. I’m hoping that they learn quickly that the dog house is warmer at night than the cement.
They also have transitioned from puppy mush with formula/canned food to just straight canned food. I suspect that once their teeth start to pop out, we’ll have them on kibble soon. Here is their video for the week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95zASVo8bmA&ab_channel=CharityUpchurch
Alrighty, it is time to get suited up for my son’s fencing club practice and on with the week. We’ll start talking about puppy placements next week and making sure that our travel plans are lined up for pickup.
Caleb and Duke run in the Natural Ability Test at the Foothills Chapter of NAVHDA on Sunday, so I’m hoping that they have great success!
We had our first mating between Obi and Ruth over in Valentine, Nebraska on June 20th, so today should be their last day of breeding most likely. Assuming that everything is successful, that puts puppies being whelped at the end of August and going home around Halloween. I will be getting in touch with those on my reservation list soon, but wanted to get a blog post done. My son graduated about a month ago and it has been non-stop since the last week of school in the middle of May. If you’d like to be on my back-up contact list for this litter or are interested in future litters (the next will be planned for Fall 2023 since my daughter graduates from college in Nebraska in the spring), you can email me at bluestemkennels@gmail.com.
On Saturday, May 21st, something happened that we’ve been waiting on for our 12 years in NAVHDA. Obi and Charles got a NAVHDA Utility Prize I and punched their ticket to NAVHDA Invitational 2023. They tested with the Hudson Valley NAVHDA Chapter outside of Charles’s hometown of Newburgh, New York. If you’d like a step-by-step walkthrough of a NAVHDA Utility Test, you can go back to my blog post from October 28, 2021 titled “Our 2021 Utility Tests”. I wasn’t actually at the test this spring, I was at home in South Carolina taking care of kids and dogs, so it is tough to write about something that you didn’t participate in. I appreciate the Hudson Valley NAVHDA Chapter hiring a photographer to document the event, I think that this is something that all chapters should consider doing. Thank you to photographer Jacquie Kuritzky for the use of the photographs!
Obi at the UT test photo by Jacquie KuritzkyObi retrieving photo by Jacquie KuritzkyCharles taking instruction from the judge, photo by Jacquie Kuritzky
She also captured some photos of Sally on her first shot of the Utility Preparatory Test. She didn’t pass, but has plenty of time at the age of sixteen months. The only skill she didn’t perform was the retrieve of the dead duck, which led to the no-pass.
Sally and Charles, photo by Jacquie KuritzkySally has a high-style point like her great-grandmother Sue, photo by Jacquie KuritzkySally retrieving a chukar in the field, photo by Jacquie Kuritzky
The grand finale after the reading of the scores:
Charles getting the water cup for the Utility Prize I with Obi, photo by Jacquie Kuritzky
After our graduation reception here in South Carolina and our youngest son Caleb’s trip to YMCA camp, we headed out to my hometown of Valentine, Nebraska to see my family and have some fun.
Ruth, Obi and Sally wasted no time getting down the roadPuppy Duke is closest to the camera here, it took him a bit to figure out the game: run!All together now…Mama Ruth bringing it back inThen a swim behind the kayakTaking it way outSally and Obi swimming back to shoreRuth swimming back to shoreDuke swimming back to shore
All of this exercise was right when we got to town around the 14th, long before Ruth and Obi started breeding, so none of this should effect that. We had a good visit in Nebraska and the dogs enjoyed their outings.
The next step is to have a pregnancy confirmation ultrasound in a month, so I’ll let you know how that goes. Charles and I will keep working with Sally to get her UPT skills down for a fall re-test, then Caleb will run Duke in the Natural Ability Test. I need to find somewhere in Charlotte who does Penn-HIP x-rays for Sally in the next few months. I should probably also find a place that will collect and store Obi’s semen in case an accident were to happen. You hate to consider the possibility, but they are dogs.
One other item to note: we are not really planning on studding out Obi. He is a part of our breeding program and it would take a really special female with a fellow breeder friend to get me to stud him out. Stud services come with risks: there are sexually transmitted dog diseases, the female can turn and fight an unfamiliar male; there are just too many bad variables for us to want to do it.
I’ll keep you all posted as things progress here, everyone stay cool this crazy hot summer.
Now that our oldest son has finally completed his schoolwork for his senior year of high school, I feel like I can breathe! He finished on Friday and will walk across the stage in about a week and a half.
A quick update on our breeding plans: it looks like I’m full on reservations for Fall 2022 Obi x Ruth, but folks can and do back out. Feel free to email bluestemkennels@gmail.com to get on my contact list for litters. The next planned breeding(s?) after that will be Fall 2023 since our daughter is graduating from college back in Nebraska in the spring of 2023. But accidents can and do happen, so I can’t totally count that season out even if I try.
In the meantime, Charles, Obi and Sally will be heading up to the Hudson Valley (NY) NAVHDA Spring Test this weekend. It will be Obi’s second and final UT run. He was a very high scoring Prize II at the Carolinas Chapter Test and Charles wants to see if he can get a Prize I. Sally will be running her UPT Test, the practice test for the UT.
Obi, Duke, Sally and Ruth in the kennels
When we’re not working with them in the yard or socializing with them in the house, the dogs spend their time in their kennels. They are crated indoors at night.
Charles, Obi and Sally have been putting in lots of training hours at various grounds in the area, but I hardly ever leave “Tiny Farm of Bethel, SC” since there is so much to do here! I managed to catch some pics of them working in the yard yesterday.
Sally on the trackSally with the duckObi with the duckObi retrieving to hand
I hope that they have fun in New York and give it their best shot! Charles grew up right near where the test is being held and so he is going to get to visit his dad while he is there too.
Duke is almost six months old and is turning out nicely! His teeth all seem to be in their correct places, he is learning his commands, we’re working on getting his fitness built up, he has a nice coat and he isn’t too large. When we weighed him a few weeks back he was 30 lbs., so we are hoping that he tops out in the 50-55 lb. range but we will see. Dukes lineage is a combination of Coppershot, Des Battures and Stonyridge, so I am expecting great things from him!
Duke on the moveDuke in the fieldDuke pointing me and being cute
I look forward to our trip to the Nebraska Sandhills this summer so that he can get a big long run in behind the truck! And do lots of swimming at the lake too.
Ruth has really bounced back from the puppies and now it is just a matter of watching and waiting for her next cycle. I suspect that it is going to be in July or August, but I will keep you posted. I normally do not do back-to-back litters with females, but it took us three attempts to get an outside male raised and turned out properly to breed with her. A female pup from this fall’s litter is going to a breeder, then we will keep an Obi x Ruth female for our program in 2023.
Ruth running the hillsRuth creeping through a low spot
We are so blessed to have our place here where we can work with the dogs right in the yard. I’ve been busy planting domesticated flowerbeds and trying to keep the wild woods at bay as much as possible. My vegetable garden is already exploding with lettuce, spinach and collards. I hope to add chickens for eggs and meat goats next year. Charles keeps a funny collection of birds for training.
Domestic mallards and a rooster pheasant
He has a whole other quail house on the back hill that I’ll have to get pictures of later.
Good luck to everyone at their spring tests, may we all savor the thrills of victory and withstand the stings of defeat.
Bluestem Kennels 