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“U” Litter Three Weeks Old

March 18, 2024

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

All of these cute little ones have homes and it takes me a few days to respond to emails these days, but if you want to reach out, I’m at bluestemkennels@gmail.com.

Here’s this week’s video. It was a little cool for outside today, so we are inside in the whelping box.

They started food today with much fanfare and excitement. I didn’t want to try and get them started on food and run the video camera at the same time, so you just get a still photo of that. All I do is take canned puppy food and mix it with prepared puppy milk replacer to make a soft puppy mush. If there were a larger litter or some puppies who were small, I may have started them on food sooner, but where they were getting plenty fat from mom I didn’t feel the need to rush this year.

It was really warm earlier this week, like 80 degrees, so they got to go outside on the lawn one day. They squirm around and get back into a pile at this point, not a really big excitement.

“U” Litter puppies squirming on the lawn

They made it back into their puppy pile in the sun

Here are there individual photos. There still really isn’t a lot going on personality wise, they are just busy being puppies. They will move into the outdoor kennel on the back patio a week from today so that they quit stinking up my basement and get lots of fresh air and room to run around.

Females:

Unique

Unity

Ursula:

Uma:

Uschi:

Males

Uriah:

Upman:

Charles and Duke run in the NAVHDA Utility Test at the Carolinas Chapter this weekend and I’m hoping the best for them. The duck search is always such a pain, we’ll see where it all comes out. I’ll check back in with you all next week.

Welcome “T” Litter!

August 1, 2023

Charity Upchurch Kennel Update, Puppy Update, Uncategorized Dog Training, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, NAVHDA Invitational 2023, OFA CHIC, Puppies, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

The “T” Litter of 2023 between Wyo Plainsman Kenobi NA I, UPT III, UT I “Obi” and Bluestem Peaches En Regalia NA I, UPT II, UT III arrived the morning of Saturday, July 29th. We had three live births and a few angel puppies. The live births were two boys and a girl.

On Sunday afternoon it became apparant that Ruth was rejecting one of the boys. He was cold to the touch no matter how much I tried to incubate him and whenever I tried to get him to latch, Ruth was pushing him away, even going so far as to pick him up and move him away from the others. I attempted to bottle feed him and keep him warm, but eventually let nature take its course and put him back with mom. I’ve seen other breeders attempt to hand raise rejected puppies, only to have to put them down for internal defects at 5-7 weeks old.

As much as we try for large, perfect litters (and I’ve been blessed with many in the past) we don’t always get those. I had a breeder friend this spring lose an entire litter to spontaneous abortion a week before the puppies were due, with no explanation.

So here’s the two “T” puppies today. It is difficult to get photos when they are young like this, where the mom is constantly cleaning and fussing over them.

This is the majority of what goes on at this age: nursing and cleaning

We were scheduled to go to the vet this morning to have everyone looked over, but they pushed us back to tomorrow morning. Ruth will be examined for breeding clearance one more time prior to retirement. This time she’ll be paired with our young male from Iowa, Duke, who comes out of Coppershot bloodlines, to see if we get higher productivity. There is also a litter planned between Ruth’s younger sister, Sally, and Obi. But that’s to talk about another time, back to puppies.

I’ve had questions about the wood chips in the past. It is just what has always worked for me. They are absorbant, sanitary and easy to clean up a spot if they get soiled. Any time I have tried any sort of pads or fabric, the dam digs all around and ends up burying the pups and they get all tangled, which is unsafe. The female wants to spend most of the time quiet and alone with the pups, so if I’m worried about pups in fabric it is counterproductive.

That is not to say that I don’t spend a ton of time with the pups. I go down about every hour to make sure everyone is warm and where they are supposed to be. And of course Ruth needs feedings and potty breaks. Right now I have Ruth mostly eating canned puppy food since it is high nutrition and supplements the moisture from her drinking water so that she can produce milk.

She has plenty of good milk and her teats are all working. While the struggling third boy was alive she was pretty fussy, but now that is resolved she has settled down into the routine of being a mom. I’m not seeing any off-color discharge or feeling anything retained in her uterus, so I’m hoping for smooth sailing from here on out. Once the puppies hit the two-week mark on August 12 I will feel in the clear.

I’m going to be totally frank, having angel puppies and losing ones born alive completely sucks. I cry and pout. That’s why you’re just hearing from me now, I had to get all that out of my system and get Ruth, the puppies and I in a good place before I sat down to write. But these are the fires that forge animal breeders. At this point, we’re one of the longest consistent breeders of Wirehaired Pointing Griffons. In order to produce what we want in hunting dogs and to continue this passion project of ours, we have to push through the sorrow and aggravation.

In other news, Charles continues to train Obi for Invitational and Sally is signed up for a Utility Test in Virginia at the end of this month. We just did all of Sally’s health clearances and are waiting for the results to come back, Obi goes in for elbows and thyroid in a week, then everyone gets their eyes looked at by an ophthamologist in the middle of the month for the OFA certification. I have Duke’s K-Locus DNA coat test sitting on the dining room table. Never a dull moment around here.

So, I’ll check back in on the blog when the puppies are a week old, please keep us in your prayers for everyone’s continued health. Best wishes to everyone else out there with pups and training for tests. Email bluestemkennels@gmail.com with any questions.

“R” Litter Seven Weeks Old!

March 13, 2022

Charity Upchurch Kennel Update, Puppy Update, Uncategorized Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Puppies, South Carolina, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

This week we will be heading to the vet for first shots, examinations and microchips! Then they go home a week from today on Sunday the 20th. This week we’ll work on walking on a leash a little bit. One of them will get bird and cap gun work. They will both get crate conditioning. I will continue with outdoor exercise every day, because it is fun! As you can see in the video this week, they come when they are called to the generic “puppies!”. They’re in the middle of their de-worming regimen.

It is always bittersweet when they go home because you will miss their company, but it is so rewarding sending them home to their new families!

And here is their seven week old video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DLy_E7JJP8&ab_channel=CharityUpchurch

My daughter is here from Nebraska for her spring break, so I need to run and spend time with her (and not just the dogs!), so I’ll sign off for this week and be back next week with homegoing pictures.

Merry Christmas from Bluestem Kennels!

December 21, 2021

Charity Upchurch Uncategorized Leave a comment

Merry Christmas from Bluestem Kennels! We’re taking some time off this week to enjoy family, but wish all of you a blessed holiday season. Ruth goes in for an ultrasound on December 30th to find out if we’re having puppies! Here’s Obi our stud and her in Central Nebraska at the beginning of the month hunting with Charles (Sally is behind Ruth in the dog box). Feel free to email bluestemkennels@gmail.com if you are interested in our upcoming puppies. We’ll start back to talking to folks about dogs on Monday, December 27th.

R Litter: Spring 2022

November 7, 2021

Charity Upchurch Uncategorized Bird Hunting, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, NAVHDA Puppies, NAVHDA Utility Test, Nebraska Sandhills, Pheasant Hunting, Puppies, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Leave a comment

We are ready to start interviewing and taking deposits for our Spring 2022 R Litter. Please email me at bluestemkennels@gmail.com if you are interested. I have sent an email to everyone who is currently on my contact list, so if somehow it was spam foldered, please consider this your notice to get back in touch with me. I will be taking 10 reservations with deposit on typically 8-14 pups per litter, first come first served (so the sooner you get back in touch with me, the higher likelihood you will get a pup this spring).

The breeding that we’ll be working on over the next year is the pairing of Obi and Ruth. Obi is the sire and his registered name is AKC/NAVHDA Wyo Plainsman Kenobi NA I, UPT III, UT II. Ruth is the dam and her registered name is AKC/NAVHDA Bluestem Peaches En Regalia NA I, UPT II, UT III.

Obi and Ruth with Charles, sharptailed grouse opener in the Nebraska Sandhills, September 2020

You can see all of their pedigrees, hunt test results and health clearances at the “About Our Dogs” page, which has a button in the brown navigation bar above.

This is a breeding that we are relying on to build on our already strong foundation of Wirehaired Pointing Griffons that are sound in health, have great stamina for all day hunts, cooperative and mentally stable members of the family. In our eleven years of breeding, we’ve placed around 150 puppies successfully.

Our puppies are sold with Limited AKC and NAVHDA registrations, this means that they are not automatically eligible to breed (the requirements to lift the breeding restriction are on the “Puppies” button above). You give a gender preference to me (or state no preference) at reservation with a deposit. Puppy placements are first come, first served by reservation order. If there isn’t enough of a particular gender, you are given the option of the opposite gender, wait for a future litter, or a refund. Deposits are fully refundable, no questions asked, up until the date of the puppies 3 week birthday (at that point I keep the deposit if the owner backs out, with few exceptions). I do breeder picks based on the input of the future owners desires for the dog and the needs that the individual puppies have.

Puppies come with: at least 3 rounds of deworming, tails docked and dew claws removed, first vaccinations, microchips, limited AKC and NAVHDA registration papers, and a three year health guarantee against fatal genetic defects or genetic hip dysplasia. They are seen by a veterinarian twice before they go home: for claws/tails right after birth and for shots/microchips right before they go home at 8 weeks. The breeding is anticipated for around Christmas, with puppies born in February and going home in April.

The puppies need to be picked up from my home in Clover, South Carolina on or during the week following their 8 week birthday. As soon as they are whelped, we know their 8 week birthday so that you can prepare to travel for the pickup. I no longer offer air cargo shipment as an option. Regulations change regularly regarding taking a pup on a flight as a carry-on (if you are considering this you need to research your options and find out if an air carrier near you allows 8 week old puppies to fly with an interstate health certificate).

The puppies are exposed to dead birds, live birds and cap gun fire. Once they are moving vigorously at around 5 1/2 weeks, they go outside to run and play at least twice a day. I take litter photos once a week in the beginning, then around 2-3 weeks of age I take individual photos of the puppies weekly. I also do weekly YouTube videos of the litter. I update my Facebook page every few hours as they are being born.

Although we do prefer hunting and hunt testing homes, we realize that the Eastern US is hardly a Mecca of bird hunting, therefore we are open to active outdoors non-hunting homes interviewing (no apartments, please).

Due to the rampant selling of information and constant robocall harassment in the past, I have stopped releasing my telephone number on my website or through Google. Please email me and we can exchange phone numbers.

The breeding is planned on being repeated in 2023, so you can also contact me if you are not ready for a puppy in 2022, but would like to be placed on my contact list for future litters.

These parents are proven wild bird hunters with successful NAVHDA hunt tests under their collars, as well as great family pets.

Obi and Ruth, wild Nebraska Pheasants and Quail October 2020

Ruth, Obi and Fire, North Dakota mixed bag October 2019

Caleb and Obi, Nebraska pheasant youth season opener 2020

Ruth and Obi, Nebraska pheasant and quail 2020

Obi Nebraska Sandhills Snipe, October 2020

Ruth, Nebraska Sandhills duck, October 2020

Ruth AKC Senior Hunter pass at GWPC of Eastern Nebraska

Obi Fourth Place in the Amateur Walking Derby at the Heart of America GSPC AKC Field Trial

Obi First Place in both the Open and Amateur Walking Derbies of the AWPGA AKC Field Trial

Hunting for our dream

September 5, 2021

Charity Upchurch Uncategorized Hunting Dogs, Nebraska Sandhills, South Carolina, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Leave a comment

In case you missed the news, we’ve moved! We are now located in the rural area between Clover and Lake Wylie, South Carolina known as Bethel Township. Our place has three acres and a small barn, perfect for raising these dogs.

I won’t post too many detailed photos of our property since there have been so many problems with Griffons being stolen throughout the country and I don’t want to be in that position. Luckily there is always someone around our little acreage neighborhood keeping an eye on things. Where we are living is in the middle of a large family farm that was split between the family members, so everyone around us is related. The properties are all between one and forty acres, and the folks have animals of one sort or another, shoot guns, drive trucks…we fit right in. It is fun for Charles to be able to train dogs right in the yard. A much better option for us than one of the many subdivisions in the Charlotte metro area.

Right now Charles is working with Caleb and Sally on getting ready for the NAVHDA Natural Ability Test at the end of the month. Without much wild bird hunting around, the next few years will allow us to focus our efforts on our hunt testing and field trialing prowess. Caleb will be the first junior handler for the Foothills NAVHDA Chapter, so regardless of how Sally comes out, it will be a great experience for him. Plus, if we don’t like the prize that she gets out of this test, Charles can re-test her in the spring if he feels the need to do so.

Bluestem Sally Forth at 7.5 months, meeting her new vet

Sally is weighing in at 43 pounds and is a cute little dog. She was the smallest of the litter, so we are hoping that she doesn’t get much bigger than what she is now. Her coat is changing from her puppy fluff to her adult coat and we think that the warmer weather down here has it coming in shorter and tighter than with dogs past. Or it could just be her genetics, it is tough to know for sure.

You can see where the lighter softer coat is being replaced by a harsher, darker coat

This is the first Labor Day Weekend since 1995, when we were both still in college taking summer school classes, that Charles hasn’t been hunting the Nebraska Sandhills this weekend. I’ve been hunting there pretty consistently over the last 20 years. It is pretty emotional being away.

Nebraska Sandhills Sunrise, one year ago today

So then, why are we here in South Carolina? There was an offer that we couldn’t refuse. We are hoping that we can retire here, then have a big pickup with a dog box and an Airstream trailer that we can live out of during hunting season upon retirement. I love being between the beach and the mountains but still in a rural lifestyle. Charles will be back in Nebraska for a hunt in December and hopefully as we get settled in there will be more time for hunting travel. Our older son graduates this spring, then there’s one more kid for me to get through school. I will be mostly homebound until that task is completed, but am going to focus on conditioning in that time because hunts like Himalyan Snowcock, chukar partridge and white ptarmigan are going to take some serious athleticism.

I have found that keeping our Facebook page updated has been an easier task than sitting down to blog. Here are some miscellaneous photos of the dogs that I’ve taken with my phone recently:

AKC/NAVHDA Bluestem Peaches en Regalia, NA I UPT II “Ruth”

AKC/NAVHDA Wyo Plainsman Kenobi, NA I UPT III “Obi”

As far as breeding this year, we are planning on a litter between Obi and Ruth in the spring. I will make a formal breeding announcement in a few weeks, then start to take new inquiries while getting back in touch with my contact list. I thought that I would bounce back to kennel work at the computer faster than I have, honestly. Having all of my things boxed crammed into a semi then stuffed into an empty house is like nothing I have ever experienced before. I pray that this is our last stop, but we’ll see where life takes us.

AKC/NAVHDA Sweetgrass Sandhill Sioux “Sue” 05/26/2004 – 08/20/2021

I will be sure to do a better write-up about the life of Sue at a later date with more pictures, but I would be amiss if I didn’t mention the passing of the Griffon who started it all for us. She was born the day before our first son, Conrad, and spent her first 8.5 years living with us in our first house in Bellevue. Upon her retirement from hunting and having puppies, she went to live with the Knispel family in Cedar Butte, South Dakota (just west of White River, near Badlands National Park). She passed at the age of seventeen, after a long life of many adventures and being very loved. There are so many more pictures and stories to go with Sue, but this will have to do for now. See you at the happy hunting grounds, girl.

If you’ve been following our Facebook page, this isn’t much new material, but I’ll be getting the good camera out for Sally’s NAVHDA Natural Ability Test with Caleb in a couple of weeks and there will finally be some fresh content.

Good luck to everyone out there in the wild bird fields and with fall hunt testing. The future of the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon breed is looking bright thanks to all of our efforts.

Q Litter Homegoings!

April 6, 2021

Charity Upchurch Bird Dog Training, Field Trialing, Kennel Update, NAVHDA, Puppy Update, Uncategorized, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons AKC Hunt Tests, North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Puppies Leave a comment

Feel free to email bluestemkennels@gmail.com if you wish to enquire about our 2022 litter plans. I am hoping to get through the 2022 interest emails by the old tax filing deadline of April 15th.

Over the last couple of weekends the Q Litter has gone to their new homes. They are really a handful at 8 weeks old and I am so glad that they are with their new owners getting into a routine and having plenty of individual attention. We still have Sally here (her litter name was Quarry) and she is very sweet but obviously does normal puppy annoying behavior, like chewing stuff that she is not supposed to and having potty accidents. I am not going to try and sugar-coat housebreaking a Griff. They are really one of the toughest breeds to get through in my experience. Where I can have an English breed fully broken by 12-16 weeks, I’m honest with myself in knowing that I’m still going to be struggling at that point and not to expect to be accident-free until 20 weeks with a Griff.

The only thing that I can think of to account for the longer period of time is that they have so much to learn as a versatile breed that it just takes them longer to get everything down. And they are just a slower maturing breed anyway; Obi is 17 months-old and still has some very puppy behavior.

Let’s do photos first, then I’ll talk about what we’re working on with Sally. I’m just going in the order of pickup for simplicity’s sake.

Joe and family, with Qbert going to Iowa

We are excited to have Joe and Qbert (he will be called something else, but I always forget to write down their new call names and so I’ll just refer to their litter names, sorry) just across the river in Iowa and hope we get to train with them soon.

Ricardo and Quartz are off to Colorado

Ricardo has an older Griff who will be showing Quartz the way on pheasants in Colorado. They have a population of white ptarmigan out there that I hope that we get to chase someday, so maybe we’ll meet again.

Cliff’s family and Queen on their way to Oklahoma

Cliff also has Belle from our “C” Litter between Sam and Mae, so this is their second Bluestem puppy. They had just come up from taking their granddaughters to show their pigs. Belle and the pup are still figuring out their relationship but it is going well so far.

Greg and his wife with Quince going to North Dakota

Greg also has Epsilon from our J Litter between Sam and BB, so yet another two Bluestem puppy family. He will be getting spoiled since both Greg and his wife work independently and someone always has the dogs with them. And of course North Dakota is one of our favorite places to visit during hunting season, hopefully the bird population up there bounces back in the next few years.

Jim and his family with Qiana

Jim and his family lives out on an acreage in central Nebraska. This is their first Griff, so they are in for an adventure. But Jim has had hunting dogs his whole life and his dad was a trainer of Labarador Retrievers so they’re ready for action.

Aaron and his wife heading back to Ohio with Quest

Aaron has a Bluestem pup that goes by Pepper from our D Litter between our original breeding pair Sue and Sam. He says that Quest and Pepper are getting along splendidly and she is really fitting in with the family. Aaron also wins the “traveled farthest” award for coming almost 800 miles one way to pick up his puppy.

Quentin going to Michigan with Paul and Deb

Second in the “traveled farthest” award is Paul and Deb, flying out from Michigan to rent a car and drive back home with Quentin. They also own a pup by the name of Fielding from our O Litter between Fire and Chief with their daughter Galen and her fiancee. Galen works in IT for a major Detroit auto manufacturer and her fiancee is a police officer, so all four of them take turns raising the dogs with schedules all over the place.

Travis and family with Quetzal going to Kansas

Travis and I have been in contact about getting his family a puppy for a long time, but being active duty in the Army with consistent deployment and his wife home with three kids, there was no way she was going to let him get a puppy until he retired! So happy military retirement, Travis and thank you for your service! Bird numbers in Kansas have been good lately, so I’m sure you’ll get a chance to chase some of them around.

I suppose I should set up a tripod and take a family picture of us with Sally, but it has not happened yet, so here are just a few candids from around the house.

Charity Upchurch Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Puppies

Sally and I taking a selfie

Sally on top of her big sister Ruth, who is almost exactly four years older

On Good Friday, Charles took Caleb and mama Fire out for some preserve hunting. Caleb shot a rooster and a few of the chukar, with Charles harvesting the rest. The most important to me was that Caleb and Fire had a good time.

Caleb trying to pose with Fire

Caleb showing off his rooster and his smile

As fas as what we are working on with Sally, I focus on the housebreaking and crate training. If someone isn’t watching her to catch accidents, she is in a crate near the rest of us so that she can still interact and hear what we are doing. Charles is working on whoa and heel using treats in the morning.

When we started out working with dogs twenty years ago, we didn’t do much other than housebreaking the first year and letting them on to wild birds. This was sort of the old field trialer dog training mentality. But as we’ve matured as dog owners, we’ve found that the sooner we work with them the better. Not overtraining or hacking on the pup, but just fun basic command learning and general obedience.

Especially with Griffons, if they are not exposed to a little pressure to behave right away, because they are so sensitive it is extremely difficult to impossible to break bad habits since their feelings get hurt so easily. It’s better to get them used to being trained early so that when you get to the more advanced steps they are not as difficult to handle.

Speaking of advanced steps, Charles is taking Obi and Ruth down to Lincoln for AKC Senior Hunter runs this weekend, so we’ll see how those go. I had forgotten about the tests and am scheduled to lifeguard, so I am a little bummed that I won’t get to do some field photography. We’ve also got them signed up to do the Utility Preparatory Test for NAVHDA in May, so I need to make sure to keep my calendar open that weekend to get some good photos.

Good luck to everyone with their Bluestem puppies, we are all in this challenging and joyous situation together so don’t hesitate to shoot me an email with questions. And of course don’t be afraid to turn to your local NAVHDA chapter members for help and advice.

The End of 2020!

January 2, 2021

Charity Upchurch Uncategorized Leave a comment

Breeding Announcement

My reservation list for this litter is currently full, but if you wish to be on the backup contact list in the event of someone dropping out or us having more puppies than reservations, please e-mail bluestemkennels@gmail.com.

We had four ties between AKC/NAVHDA Bluestem Otoe Chief, NA II and Bluestem’s Prairie Fire, NA I between Wednesday, December 2nd and Saturday, December 5th. When Fire and I went back to see Chief on Sunday, December 6th neither he or Fire showed any interest in continuing, so we assume that step one was completed. I am hoping that she retained the pregnancy, but after last year (two ties and zero puppies) I am not taking any chances. Fire and Chief had two litters previous to last year, so we know that it is possible, but for whatever reason the pregnancy didn’t come to fruition last year. So Fire and I are heading down to rural Lincoln on Monday to Hillcrest Veterinary Clinic to have an ultrasound to confirm pregnancy. I am pretty old fashioned, so this is my first time having a female ultrasounded to confirm pregnancy at 30 days. I am excited to see how the process works and hope that we get the results that we are anxiously anticipating! If things are going as planned, puppies will be whelped at the beginning of February and go home at the beginning of April.

God Must Need Griffonniers

2020 was the worst year for losing breeders of the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon. I just got the news yesterday that Rob Garity of Pennsylvania, founder of Flatbrook Sporting Dogs (now operated by Dick Byrne) passed. I had never met him, but really feel the urgency of continuing with our work when we’re losing so many good people.

Chuck Speiss was half of ChuKar Kennels in Michigan along with his wife, Karen. They never missed a national specialty, here he is pictured in 2014 in Maine. He handled in the field and Karen in the show ring. He was very generous with the AWPGA (American Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Association) in that every year he made a metal Griff yard art sculpture. We’ll miss him.

Chuck Speiss, far right, chatting with the Terrys

We also lost the best groomer in the breed, Claudette Blackburn, who was half of Elevage Des Battures in Quebec, Canada. She handled in the ring and Dominic Brisson handled in the field. I’m sure that Dominic will miss her expertise in his kennel and we’ll all miss her knowledge and passion for the breed. Her male Bayou made the cover of NAVHDA’s Versatile Hunting Dog magazine for his influence on Wirehaired Pointing Griffons. I was lucky enough to meet her and learn from her at the grooming seminar at the 2014 Maine Specialty. See you at the big Griff party in the great beyond, Claudette.

Claudette Blackburn showing Ron Granai how to groom the head

Life Goes On

I promised to post pictures of Chief since he moved in with Kyle in November 2018. He is the father of Ruth and so we didn’t want to have any father-daughter accident litters. (I am still flabberghasted at the handful of “oops” litters I’ve had from one tie and then no puppies from two intentional ties last year. But I guess it was my turn of having bad luck breeding after ten years of nothing but good.)

Fire, BB and Chief, North Dakota 2015

BB, Chief, and Fire, again North Dakota 2015

Chief in Downtown Omaha, Summer 2016

Chief, BB and Fire hanging at the lake, Summer 2016

Chief and Fire, North Dakota 2017

Chief going home with Kyle, November 2018

Chief is also immortalized in my entryway over my leash hanger in a painting by my cousin Sierra Furtwangler, check out her Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/UnFckedFabricOmetry

Psychedelic Chief Retrieves a Pheasant by Sierra Furtwangler

End of 2020 Hunting Update

Charles keeps busy in the field while I mainly stay home finishing up unpacking from our move (yes, it was two years ago but we are still unpacking) and overseeing the tile project in the kitchen, bathroom and bar (about 400 square feet overall). We started the tile project the day after Thanksgiving and we have to be done by the beginning of February in the event that we have puppies!

He headed up the Sandhills at the beginning of November for deer season, stopping for a brief hunt with Obi, Fire and Ruth in Northeast Nebraska. He only hunted one small area but got into both quail and pheasant successfully!

Northeast Nebraska mixed bag in November

He also got a nice muley buck in the Sandhills on opening day on public land. It was the busiest he had seen the area in years with Nebraska being one of the few states without massive COVID restrictions. License plates were spotted from all over the nation and trucks were everywhere, so the pressure was on to drop something as soon as possible because there might not be anything left in the area on day two.

Charles’s 2020 Nebraska Sandhills Mule Deer

The weekend after Thanksgiving Charles took our youngest son Caleb and our youngest dog Obi on a European tower shoot. It was a great opportunity for Obi to get into lots of retrieves and Caleb to get some more dog handling experience. The pheasants that were shot on this trip by Charles and his friends were turned into fried pheasant fingers for our New Year’s Eve celebration.

Eleven-and-a-half year old Caleb and one year-old Obi

Then at the beginning of December while I was getting Fire bred, Charles met up with a gang in south central Nebraska to chase some pheasants and quail on some private land. He said that it was very thick cover with lots of birds hiding out in little draws and creekbeds. Obi let a lot of the older dogs do a lot of the work, but he kept up, worked cover and had some good moments. Ruth was a workhorse.

The bird gang with Ruth and Obi

Bird haul from the last day in south central Nebraska with Obi and Ruth

He’s also been getting out with the dogs and our neighbor who has private access in Iowa. Iowa is visible from our house, so it is not that far away to get into some good spots. Sam has a nice little Deutsch Drahthaar, a breed that the genetics of the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon contributed to.

Charles with Ruth (in the dark), Sam with Elsa the Deutsch Drahthaar

Home Life

Griffons don’t just get it done in the field, when properly exercised they are relaxed in the home and fun company.

Charity with Fire, Ruth and Obi

Obi, Ruth and Fire

Fire and Ruth

Pupdates

I have a couple of hunting pupdates. Here’s Bluestem TracHer SH, NA III having fun up in North Dakota with Susan and a rooster retrieve. She’s from our 2012 “C” Litter between Sam and Mae:

Bluestem TracHer SH, NA III

Here’s Han from our surprise K litter between BB and Chief in 2016. Picking up a pintail duck water retrieve in Missouri for Mark.

Bluestem Han

We love to hear from our puppy owners, keep sharing the photos!

From our family to yours, best wishes for a 2021 filled with adventures and good health. We hope that you all had a quiet and healthy holiday season full of good cheer. We’ll keep you posted to new developments in the coming weeks. Praying for puppies!

Gun Dogs Don’t Quarantine

May 29, 2020

Charity Upchurch Uncategorized Leave a comment

Homeschool is finally over and things are starting to open back up in the Omaha area. The dogs and kids kept us plenty busy during the time that I’ve been away from the blog. One of my cousins is a vegan cooking blogger (I know, it seems odd) and she was recently writing about how she has stopped apologizing for taking time away from her blog and not posting for a long time. Writing and blogging takes time and energy, so when stuff is hitting the fan it goes to the back burner. We are all healthy here and have just been staying home as much as possible.

A couple of brief shoutouts. My “A” litter turned ten years old at the end of April. I keep in touch with Whiskey out in Nevada and Winston in Colorado and they are both in good health. Their mama Sue is sixteen years old and still hanging around a farmyard in rural central South Dakota. Their sire Sam was killed in an ATV accident at his retirement home in Kentucky several years ago.

Congratulations to Bluestem Winchester “Chester” and owner Sal in New York on his NAVHDA Utility Prize I and being our first pup to qualify for NAVHDA Invitational. He is from our “C” litter between Sam and Mae. Mae recently passed at the age of fourteen at my brother’s house in Valentine, Nebraska.

Training

Luckily dog training is a pretty remote practice, so Charles has been able to continue to work with Ruth on whatever her next hunt testing steps may be. Either AKC Senior Hunter or NAVHDA Utility Test.

He has also been doing obedience training around the house with the dogs. This is a big help to me since I am still trying to get my youngest boy through online hunter’s safety and the older one through online driver’s education.

I don’t have photos from all of the training that he has been doing, but here are some field shots. Obi is signed up to do his NAVHDA Natural Ability Test in August and seems ready to go.

Obi on the run at six months

I feel so blessed that we got out to Wyoming in January to pick up Obi before all of this COVID-19 business got crazy.

Here’s Ruth and Charles working on backing or honoring with a dog dummy. Backing or honoring is where there is a dog already on point (symbolized by the dummy) and the other dog has to come in and point behind the dog who is already pointing. Some dogs naturally back but most need to be trained so that they don’t go past the dog who is already pointing and “steal the point”.

When Ruth does the process correctly, Charles launches the pigeon from the trap and shoots the bird, then she is allowed to retrieve it.

Backing dummy on left, Charles center, Ruth on the right

Charles shoots the bird

Ruth brings back the retrieve of the pigeon

Charles walking in on the bird while Ruth is pointing

Ruth with another retrieve

Allie

Ruth’s sister Allie came up from Oklahoma in March where her original home wasn’t able to care for her any longer. We worked with her for a couple of months to evaluate where she was with socialization and training. We determined that she should be spayed and placed in an active companion home. Although she has a great nose and point, her retrieve needed full force fetch training and she is too tall to be a breeding female. I really didn’t want to have someone travel to come and pick her up, even though I know that I could have found a home quickly if I had put it on the internet. By a stroke of luck, when I went to have her bloodwork done for her spay, I found out that one of my vets was looking for a dog to trail run with her. So Allie is now home with Dr. Tucker.

Allie on left and Ruth, right after Allie’s arrival

From front to back, Allie, Obi, Ruth and Fire

Two sisters: Allie and Ruth

Allie after a full spring grooming

Allie with Dr. Tucker, under the portrait of great-grandfather Sam

Having four dogs living in the house full time was not an ideal situation and is actually outside of the city ordinances of where I live had Obi been over 18 months old. But luckily it was all resolved before we were in conflict with the law. I really want to be here for my pups, but I cannot guarantee that I will always be in a position where I have the time or space to take one back. But I will always help them find a new home if need be.

Other news

Charles got his first turkey. He will be our fourth of July feast.

Charles and a nice tom turkey

That is pretty much all of the news for now unless you want to hear about my battle with plantar fasciitis and how I’m having to re-tool all of my hunting footwear and pants. I don’t think that is blog-worthy just yet, maybe when I get it all figured out and am successful back in the field.

Speaking of the field, countdown to about three months left before season. I’ve been out of commission for the most part with health issues for two seasons now, so I’m itching to get back after it.

I’ll also sit down another day and write about our breeding plans for next year. It would help if we had them all finalized too.

But good luck to everyone out there training and getting ready for summer and fall tests. This plague really put the brakes on so many people’s testing schedules and our National Specialty has been cancelled this year.

Stay safe and healthy.

Fire’s Results

March 25, 2020

Charity Upchurch Uncategorized Leave a comment

I had Fire x-rayed a week ago today and there were no puppies. Although we were disappointed, with the social distancing and travel guidelines in place currently this is the best year for it to happen. It is easy to second guess myself about timing and wonder what went wrong. I will probably start using progesterone testing in some instances to target ovulation better. I’ve had big litters on one accidental tie, then to have no puppies with two ties…I guess it just wasn’t meant to be this year. Especially where I have future owners traveling from high infection areas and one who is even under voluntary quarantine due to being at an exposure site. Omaha itself is a bit of a hotspot and we have none of our tourist attractions open or restaurants available for dine-in.

So we just keep training and hunting and testing and planning for 2021 litters.

I am also homeschooling my two boys right now and this week I am on my own designing curriculum. Next week we should have some assistance from the district, but it will still be a lot of me. I hope to get on the website and fix my old entries so people aren’t confused about puppies, but it will take some time.

Everyone stay safe and healthy.

Bluestem Kennels

“U” Litter Three Weeks Old

Welcome “T” Litter!

“R” Litter Seven Weeks Old!

Merry Christmas from Bluestem Kennels!

R Litter: Spring 2022

Hunting for our dream

Q Litter Homegoings!

The End of 2020!

Gun Dogs Don’t Quarantine

Fire’s Results

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