It’s a rainy weekend here in South Carolina, so that is perfect weather for a new post. Last weekend we had some sun, so we got some chukars out of the bird hut and planted them for our 6 month old puppy Molly (NAVHDA Church Road’s Blue Molly). We were impressed with her scenting, pointing and retrieving abilities. Charles is still a sharp gunner, connecting on all four birds. Sometimes I had direct sun in my lens, making for bad photos, so I didn’t get great captures on all four birds but it was enough for a nice collection nonetheless. Our home sits adjacent to a Duke Energy power line cut, which makes for a convenient dog training area.
Chukar taking the shot from CharlesMolly bringing in the retrieve to CharlesMolly thinking that she’s coming to me while Charles reloadsMolly alert and on pointMolly bringing in a bird through the roughMolly with the retrieve-to-hand to CharlesMolly with another staunch pointCharles telling Molly what a good girl she is as he takes the birdOn point again in some thick coverMy favorite capture of the day: Molly’s reaction to the bird flushYet another retrieve, slightly blurred due to the direct sunlight in my camera lensYet another retrieve through the brushMolly’s last retrieve-to-hand for the day to Charles
Pupdate
Our latest pupdate was from Clint and Shelli Krow from Pennsylvania. They have a 2022 R Litter pup from Obi and Ruth. You can definitely see the resemblance to mama Ruth in this shot, taken up in Maine with her Pudelpointer and German Shortaired Pointer siblings.
Pudelpointer, Rosie the Griffon, and a German Shorthaired Pointer on a dock in Maine
If you have a Bluestem pup, feel free to share your updates with me at bluestemkennels@gmail.com. Although we are not currently producing litters, we love to hear from our many owners across the country.
I’m seeing great success in the fields throughout the U.S. on social media and I hope that continues for everyone. Our dogs will be out later this season and I’ll make sure to keep you updated here. Until then, enjoy time with your dogs and the sport that we all love.
We love hearing from our puppy owners and have many fantastic photos to share. If you are a Bluestem puppy owner, feel free to share photos and updates to bluestemkennels@gmail.com. We are in a semi-retirement period with no current breeding plans, but we’re still hunting with and training our own dogs. You’ll see our dogs in action over the coming months during hunting season so stay tuned.
I was excited to be interviewed by Chewy aka chewy.com about the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon breed recently and to be featured under the “Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Temperament” section of their breed profile. You can read my contribution here: https://www.chewy.com/education/dog-breeds/wirehaired-pointing-griffon
Charles’s hunting season began with an unconventional and dogless hunt. He drew an alligator tag for the state of South Carolina and made a trip with Caleb to the Lowcountry Lake Marion for a successful hunt. They weren’t in the boat more than an hour before having one in the boat.
Caleb at the lakeGator in the boatCaleb, Charles and the gator at the processor
Pupdates
Lorraine Sinnott in Iowa is always sharing her old girl Maggie with me on Facebook. She is from our 2015 J Litter between Sam and BB.
Maggie chilling out in her senior years.
Kelvin and Nancy Childers in Colorado shared photos of their 2018 O Litter pup between Chief and Fire, who goes by the name of Breeze. She is their second Bluestem pup, with their first being from our A Litter between Sam and Sue in 2010 (who has since gone over the Rainbow Bridge).
Breeze in the flowersRescue Griff Max with the lighter coat with Nancy and Breeze
Joe Martin out in Iowa has two of our pups: his first from when we were in Nebraska, which is “Gus” from our 2021 Q Litter between Chief and Fire. The second he flew down to the Carolinas for “Wade” from our 2025 W Litter between Duke and Briar.
Here’s what Joe had to share:
“Wade has had a very good start to his hunting life! I was a little worried about him being gun shy as he did not respond as well as I had hoped around the house. We eased him into gun shots for a few weeks and I decided that maybe an actual outing would be better. I took Wade and Gus out on New Year’s Day with the hopes of finding a bird to shoot at on a quick walk. We didn’t have any luck finding a rooster or a quail but he had fun. I sent pics from his first actual hunt trip on the 1-2. He had zero negative reactions to gun shots with the excitement of birds. I was able to get him out on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th. His growth was incredible. He’s a full on hunting dog now. Pointing pheasants, quail, and honor pointing. He really loves to retrieve the downed birds! In the last 4 days we were lucky enough to shoot 28 roosters and 13 quail. He got so much growth in such a short amount of time! I’ll attach pictures of us with his first rooster shot off of his point as well as some other pics. Gus has been an amazing instructor to his mini me.”
Gus and Wade on pointJoe with a rooster and WadeJoe with Wade and some buddies and roosters
Cliff Herr from Oklahoma also has a 2021 Q Litter pup between Chief and Fire, who goes by Quyen. He shared these photos with me when we lost her littermate Sally in a car accident earlier this year.
Quyen with a roosterA shot of Quyen in the truck bed with another rooster
Sheri and Stelios Gatanas from New Jersey have a 2025 V Litter pup from Duke and Briar who has been out on the hunt and they captured these great photos for me. Ledger is the dog with the shorter coat and full blaze on the face (I do not have the call name or breeding of the second Griff).
I have three pupdates from the X Litter of 2025 between Obi and Sally. They are particularly special after losing Sally earlier this year.
The first is from Pericle and Dara Magagnoli up in New York. Dara had the following to share about Millie:
“We were so saddened to hear about Sally. Our hearts truly go out to you and your family — what a tremendous loss. We are grateful for Millie every single day–and feel like we see a lot of Sally in her. She is exactly what we hoped for in a dog: smart, affectionate, goofy, curious and endlessly sweet. She attracts attention everywhere she goes — offering her belly to any who will rub it, and to say she is loved would be an understatement. She has two friends who come over regularly to romp around the yard and pond together — Tula, a Malinois, and Colby, a Chihuahua mix. We take her everywhere with us. She’s become a favorite at Lowe’s and at our local cidery here in Chatham (I keep thinking maybe one day we’ll run into your sister there!). She gets lots of interaction with both kids and other dogs, which she absolutely loves.”
Brianna Powers in Virginia had the following to share about Waffles:
“I wanted to let you know that Waffles is the best boy. He has fun camping with us, loves the water, and has a great sniffer. He’s starting out in dock diving soon. His drive from toys is crazy. I’m also looking into scent work and agility soon. He does good with his kitty siblings and has lots of doggy friends at day care. We couldn’t be happier with him. Thanks for your passion for this breed. I’m not sure I can own another type of dog now!”
Waffles out on a kayak adventure with her peopleBrianna and Waffles out fly fishing
Jon Pinion down in Georgia shared a couple of snaps of Liesl.
Liesl’s first birthday on June 8, 2026A recent photo of Liesl in the flower bed
Thank you so much to all of my puppy owners for providing great homes for these dogs, please stay in touch!
Good luck to everyone out there in the fields this fall chasing birds around, along with training and hunt testing. We’ll keep you up-to-date on our dog adventures here. I’m always at bluestemkennels@gmail.com, even though we are not currently producing litters. The heat is gone and fall is in the air, hooray!
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.
Sally and I at the 2023 Eastern Regional Specialty in York, PA working on her AKC Senior Hunter. March 2023Charles captured a photo in October of 2025 of Sally, Belle and Obi in North DakotaSally with the “X” Litter in June of 2025Sally pulling me along in canicross at Crowders Mountain State Park (NC), November 2025
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.
We hope that you all had a Merry Christmas and many blessings for the New Year! As many of you know, life with dogs is never dull. Keeping a breed going takes the work of many and there’s always something to do: whether it is training a young dog or keeping the adult dogs healthy and entertained. As of now, we’re still saying that we’re taking a break from litters, but all of these puppies on the ground with our breeder friends makes us miss our littles.
Yet soon enough we’ll have something to keep us occupied with bringing home a new male puppy at the end of the month. Our VC Obi is the stud and the female is a Firebirds/Aux Lake cross. For those of you who don’t know, Gary Engebretson of Firebirds in Wisconsin and Larry Woodward of Aux Lake in Kansas are both well-tested NAVHDA breeders. We’re hoping to compliment what we already have going in our breeding program with that blood.
I tend to get lost in hunting updates and haven’t been good about posting “pupdates”, so here we go with my effort to catch up! I only pull from my texts and email, there is no way for me to keep up with everyone’s socials at this time. When I have time to check Instagram and the Griffon Facebook groups, I do appreciate everyone sharing the photos of their pups, I guess I need to just do a better job of downloading and managing them as I see them (but I don’t).
Pupdates
Back in May of 2025 (keep in mind that we had three litters go home in 2025, so I am way behind) BJ from Tennessee took his male pup Blair from the 2024 “U” Litter between Obi and Sally to the Missouri Southern Chapter of NAVHDA for his Natural Ability Test at one year, two months old. Here is what BJ had to say about the experience:
Wanted to let you know Blair passed the NA test with a prize 2! A feat made more remarkable by the fact I only got him over birds three times last year and his handler has no idea what he’s doing.
His only subtractions were in search and desire. In talking with the judges after, they said it was a close call but he wasn’t going out and searching where the birds “should be”. They said it seemed like a lack of experience in the field and was confirmed when I told them about his limited exposure.
Thanks for the advice on the tracking portion. I did as instructed and it really panned out. The dog tracking before Blair caught its pheasant and ran all over the field with the bird. Since that field was ruined we had to go to an unprepared field the judges hadn’t planned to use. The bird shot away from the judges like a rocket. It went about five yards and hooked a 90 degree left turn. I was panicking. When I approached the judges they were also panicking. They said we’d give it a shot but that they might need to retest that portion because everything was stacked against Blair.
Blair put his little nose to the ground and followed right along for the first 15 yards. I was thrilled. Then he stopped. Then he turned 90 degrees in the wrong direction and made a 20 yard loop. My heart sank. But he circled back behind us, made contact with the scent, and trailed the pheasant all the way to a point. I almost teared up. It was that beautiful.
The judge said afterward that the dog completely bailed them out on that track. He said Blair was notably calm and focused and patient during that exercise.
My first NAVHDA event – much less test – was a great success. My fellow handlers were delightful and the judges were gracious with their time and the way they handled the event. I hope you’re as pleased as I am with the result. Thanks for your work with the breed. Blair truly did that on his natural abilities.
BJ and Blair in the field by Debbi McCaulBlair working scent by Debbi McCaul
Blair ended up with a NAVHDA Natural Ability Prize II with 103 points. A great job for a new dog and handler to the sport! Sorry BJ that it took me so long to get you a shout out!
Our next puppy NAVHDA test news was from Tate in Indiana with Willow. She’s from the early 2025 “V” Litter between Duke and Briar. At seven months and in her first heat cycle, she scored 110 points for a Prize I Natural Ability at the White Creek NAVHDA Chapter in Indiana back in August. Awesome work Tate and Willow!
Willow at seven months old in August with her NAVHDA NA I
In other news from the “V” Litter from early 2025, Bazooka is maturing nicely with Eva down in Arkansas.
Bazooka on the hunt at 11 months oldBazooka on the duck retrieve
Next we have Millie (2025 X Litter Obi x Sally) who is with Dara and Pericle in Upstate New York. She’s been looking super cute in the snow.
Millie with a beautiful head shotMillie in the snowA side profile of Millie in the snow
Millie’s sister Luna in Mississippi is having lots of adventures with her airman owner Alec, both in and out of the field.
Alec and Luna in the fieldAlec and Luna with their best girl on the tarmac
Last but not least, we have Gary with Marcus who is right here on Lake Wylie, South Carolina. He’s also handsome! Gary is out of the 2025 W Litter between Duke and Briar.
Gary with another cute puppy faceGary taking lake life seriously
Look at all of those cute dogs! I’ll keep telling myself that we’re taking time off from having puppies for now. I will be sure to keep you all posted as to when we start making plans otherwise.
Nebraska Pheasant and Quail 2025
Charles had a good trip out to south central Nebraska for pheasants and quail in December.
Belle and the first day’s limit of pheasantBelle and Charles’s Day two single roosterFront to back: Belle, Sally and Obi all on pointBelle with a limit of quail on day 3
East Coast Woodcock
The weekend after Christmas, Charles and Caleb headed out for woodcock here back on the East Coast and each took a limit.
Some Sundance Shorthairs with Caleb, Charles, Belle and some limits of woodcock
We’re all thankful for our successes in the whelping box and the field for 2025 and are looking forward to new adventures in 2026! I’m sure I’ll get inspired to get my camera out and brag on our new puppy, so keep an eye out in another month or so and I’ll be back. Let’s stay warm and push through to spring.
Where has the time gone? How has it been three months since I’ve written my last blog post? We’re in semi-retirement right now with no firm breeding plans. I appreciate y’all who have been checking in, you never know if an accident could happen with two females and a male on the property.
I also love the pupdates coming through email and text. I have totally neglected re-posting those, I feel terrible. Let’s plan those over Christmas break, since I decided to go back into teaching middle school English this year and it is hectic just keeping up with the dogs and a son in his junior year of high school. My head kennel tech/son Caleb is currently holding straight A’s since freshman year with hopes of going to either Clemson or The Citadel to major in urban planning and civil engineering. Our older son Conrad is getting ready to graduate from Metropolitan Community College Omaha with an Associate’s Degree in Information Technology. Our oldest, daughter Cordelia is the sales manager at an optometrist and is thinking of finally using her finance degree in banking.
Duke was our first dog to go into retirement this year, he went out to Oregon to live the good life with Ben. We really appreciate Ben giving Duke a great home. Duke has put out some nice puppies but we really want to focus on higher level hunting test dogs. A NAVHDA UT III is respectable, but there are enough VCs nearby between our Obi and our friend’s dog Gauge that we think that we have what we want for males here.
Duke and his new GSP buddyDuke with ducks and Ben
Briar has gone to live another fantastic retirement life in Virginia with Priscilla. I absolutely love Briar’s size and she is the sweetest dog, but she just didn’t have what we wanted in the ability to take pressure in training. She was my pick of that litter, we bought her back from someone and love her genetic contribution to the breed, but whatever happened with guns and pressure in training while she was away was not good. She has her Junior Hunter, but we were nervous to try more advanced things with her. So she is a beloved family pet to a couple who spends a lot of time with her along the James River.
Briar’s adventures in retirementMore of Briar’s adventures in retirement
Sandhills Hunting
Charles and the rest of the pack: Obi, age 6, Sally, age 5, and Belle being almost two went out to the Nebraska Sandhills at the beginning of October for grouse and ducks this year and it was rough hunting. Caleb went with him and got skunked. Here is the run down of the game bag:
It was day four of the hunt when he and Belle got on the board with two grouseDay five was one snipe with BelleBelle with a limit of woodducks at an old creek haunt of ours
After a week, Caleb came back home to get back to school after fall break. The dogs and Charles spent a few days of working in Nebraska, then they made their way up to North Dakota. The hunting is never a giveaway up there, but it was more productive in a short amount of time than the Sandhills this year.
Day One North Dakota: Obi and Belle with two roosters and a grouseNorth Dakota Day 3: Sally, Belle and Obi with two ducks (one a nice drake mallard) and three roostersNorth Dakota Day 4: Belle and Sally with three roosters and a grouse
Charles is actually packing up today to go out to South Central Nebraska for pheasants. It is going to be a snowy trip, so it will be interesting to see what comes of it. I will be back sometime over Christmas break, I hope that everyone enjoys their holiday season!
All puppies are spoken for, but feel free to email bluestemkennels@gmail.com in the event that anyone backs out at the last minute.
I’m going to make this a quick post because it is late. We’ve been battling the heat and so I was up early doing bird exposure with the “W” litter (photos on Wednesday), then midday was pool time (it was too hot and messy to get any good photos) and then it was birthday video and photo time in the evening.
Everyone is getting big and it is hard to believe that we are coming up on the puppies going to the vet soon for microchips and first shots. If I can get everyone in the house to come outside to help me wrangle puppies when I let them out, I do that. They are everywhere.
Here is this week’s YouTube video:
Then here are the individual puppy photos, starting with the males:
Xander
Male Xander faceMale Xander body
Xavier
Male Xavier faceMale Xavier body
Xerxes
Male Xerxes faceMale Xerxes body
Females:
Xena
Female Xena faceFemale Xena body
Xantia
Female Xantia faceFemale Xantia body
Xaria
Female Xaria faceFemale Xaria body
Xandra
Female Xandra faceFemale Xandra body
Xyla (who had just been digging in the red dirt)
Female Xyla faceFemale Xyla body
Okay that is everyone! It is getting late here and we need to be up and around early to avoid the heat, so we’ll check back in on Wednesday with the last installment (until photos with their new owners) of the “W” litter at 7 weeks old!
All puppies have homes at this time, but email bluestemkennels@gmail.com to be on the contact list in the event that someone backs out at the last minute.
As promised, I have the pool photos from last week. They also like to play in their large water dishes to stay cool. Their kennels are under a covered porch awning, so there is always shade in the hot southern summer.
Here is Briar and the six puppies of the “W” Litter:
Here are the eight puppies of the “X” Litter:
Both litters were de-wormed yesterday and showed no signs of worminess. I feel lucky down here that folks keep the vermin animals at bay, back in Nebraska we had a terrible time with the wildlife poop in the yard bringing us nasty worms.
Here is this week’s video:
I finally finished the “W” litter picks and let the new owners know today. I’ll start working on sorting out this litter this week.
Here are the individual “X” litter photos, starting with the males:
Xander
Male Xander faceMale Xander body
Xavier
Male Xavier faceMale Xavier body
Xerxes
Male Xerxes faceMale Xerxes body
Females:
Xena
Female Xena faceFemale Xena body
Xantia
Female Xantia faceFemale Xantia body
Xaria
Female Xaria faceFemale Xaria body
Xandra
Female Xandra faceFemale Xandra body
Xyla
Female Xyla faceFemale Xyla body
We’re on the countdown of the last few weeks with these guys, per the USDA puppies can go home on their 8 week birthday and following days/weeks. All of the new owners are getting excited and I’m excited to meet them in person. We actually have our first three-peat puppy owner, so that is exciting, as well as two people getting their second Bluestem puppy.
I’ll be back on Wednesday with the six week update of the “W” litter. I know I keep saying “stay cool” but that is really what our life here revolves around these days! The dog days of summer…
All puppies have homes at this time, but email bluestemkennels@gmail.com to be on the contact list in the event that someone backs out at the last minute.
They moved out on to the back patio today, so with two kennels it’s like 101 Griffons back there. They seem to have adjusted well and are eating kibble and drinking water just fine. Both litters will get collars this week so that they are easier to catch up in the yard. They’ll get play outside of the kennel twice a day and have toys available to them while they are kenneled. I’m exposing them to loud noises as they are being fed, just as a part of the beginning of early gun conditioning. It will evolve into me firing the cap gun while they are playing in the yard in another week or so.
Here is the YouTube video for the week:
Here are their individual photos starting with the males.
Males:
Xander
Male Xander faceMale Xander body
Xavier
Male Xavier faceMale Xavier body (while howling)
Xerxes
Male Xerxes faceMale Xerxes body
Females
Xena
Female Xena faceFemale Xena body
Xantia
Female Xantia faceFemale Xantia body
Xaria
Female Xaria faceFemale Xaria body
Xandra
Female Xandra faceFemale Xandra body
Xyla
Female Xyla faceFemale Xyla body
I’ll be back on Wednesday with the five week update on the “W” Litter! Please reach out to me if you are looking for a female puppy, I’d love to chat.
All puppies have homes at this time, but email bluestemkennels@gmail.com to be on the contact list in the event that someone backs out at the last minute.
Here is the four week update on the “W” Litter.
Here is the video of the litter shot today:
Here are their individual photos, starting with the female.
Wynonna
Female Wynonna faceFemale Wynonna body
Males:
Winston
Male Winston faceMale Winston body
Wade
Male Wade faceMale Wade body
Waylon
Male Waylon faceMale Waylon body
Wycliffe
Male Wycliffe faceMale Wycliffe body
Washington
Male Washington faceMale Washington body
They’ve made the transition to the outdoor kennel and are now on hard kibble as well as nursing from mom however much she’ll tolerate it. They’ll get daily time in the yard and lots of play with Caleb and I. I’ll let folks know once availability ends and the spot has been taken, then come back on Sunday with the four week update on the “X” litter. Stay cool and enjoy the 4th of July safely!
All puppies have homes at this time, but email bluestemkennels@gmail.com to be on the contact list in the event that someone backs out at the last minute.
We’re in our last few days indoors with the pups and this housekeeper will be so happy for it. There’s just a funk that goes along with keeping animals, no matter how clean you keep it.
The puppies will transition this week from canned puppy food all the way up through kibble. Once they move outside, they are given strictly kibble, the canned puppy food draws too many flies. So the “W” Litter goes out on to the covered back porch Wednesday, then this group will follow (in a separate kennel, there is room for two) a week from today.
Here’s the YouTube video for the week:
And here are the individual photos for the week, males first. And my camera has been acting up in portrait mode, which makes the flash go off a bunch of times right in the puppy’s face. So I opted to get sort of low light crummy photos instead of having them flinch a bunch of times from the flash.
Males:
Xander
Male Xander faceMale Xander body
Xavier
Male Xavier faceMale Xavier back
Xerxes
Male Xerxes faceMale Xerxes back
Females:
Xena
Female Xena faceFemale Xena back
Xantia
Female Xantia faceFemale Xantia back
Xaria
Female Xaria faceFemale Xaria back
Xandra
Female Xandra faceFemale Xandra back
Xyla
Female Xyla faceFemale Xyla back
I wish that they would all pose nicely at this age, but the honestly don’t at all. There are no really good photos until you get them outside running around. They are kind of awkward before that. I’ll be back on Wednesday with the four week update on the “W” Litter.
