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.
I was totally not prepared to have to find a home for a puppy over 4th of July weekend, but one of my future owner’s elderly father fell and it was just not possible for him to watch a puppy and care for his dad. But I did it and hopefully that is it for this round of puppies, but one never knows when crisis will strike.
It has been super hot and I’ve been out giving the puppies pool time in the afternoons. I put the photos on Facebook and Instagram, I’ll get them up on the blog next post since I’m super tired and just need to get through this week’s video and photos!
We’ll do photos first since those are ready and the YouTube is still digesting. These guys just get cuter and more active by the week. They got their front nails trimmed yesterday and got their new collars.
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
And here’s this week’s YouTube video:
So it’s time to start evaluating puppies for homes and talking to new owners about what they are looking for in a puppy versus what they are seeing in the videos and photos. So those of you up for a Duke x Briar puppy, think about what you want and I’ll start making earnest evaluations of these guys.
I’ll be back on Sunday with the five week update of the “X” litter, stay cool!
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.
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 three week update of the “W” Litter:
It has been unbearably hot here the last few days, but luckily all of the puppies are in the basement until they are four weeks old. Once they reach that age, they are able to regulate their body temperatures, plus they just get too stinky to be inside.
I haven’t started feeding these guys mush yet since they are so big and fat on mom. With there only being six, she can easily handle them. I will start mush tomorrow, just so that we can start the process over the week of them being able to gnaw on kibble once they get outside.
When I walked in this morning with the cameras they happened to be nursing, so I pulled a chair up to the kennel and stood leaning over the top to make this video:
When they are in this “in between” stage before they are running the yard, these are the worst individual photos to take. The lighting isn’t great, they don’t want to hold still, just not my best photography. But here they are anyway:
Female:
Wynonna
Female Wynonna faceFemale Wynonna back
Males:
Winston
Male Winston faceMale Winston back
Wade
Male Wade faceMale Wade back
Waylon
Male Waylon faceMale Waylon back
Wycliffe
Male Wycliffe faceMale Wycliffe back
Washington
Male Washington faceMale Washington back
I’ll be back on Sunday with the three week update of the “X” litter!
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’s today’s two week update of the “X” litter pups between Obi x Sally.
Sally and the “X” Litter pups
Everyone is developing as they should, with their eyes opening and scooting around on their little legs. Here is the YouTube video for the week:
Here are their individual photos. We don’t even start the process of evaluating for homes until around the 5-6 week mark, but this is where we start to be able to tell them apart. I do not call them by these names, these are just for online identification purposes only.
Males:
Xander
Male Xander faceMale Xander body
Xavier
Male Xavier faceMale Xavier body
Xerxes
Male Xerxes faceMale Xerxes body
Females:
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 three week update of the “W” litter between Duke and Briar. They are getting really big and active, so it will be fun to try and put it all together in this heat! Try to stay cool out there!
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 two week update of the “W” Litter:
We are planning a temporary retirement from breeding starting in 2026. Our youngest is an upperclassman in high school and our two older are back in Nebraska, so we’re needing a bit more freedom of movement than producing litters every year. 2025 is our 15th year in a row (minus one year off for COVID lockdown) and we feel like we deserve a break.
I’ve decided to have a blog post for each litter, rather than trying to cram them all in to one post. So “W” Litter will be on Wednesdays and “X” Litter will be on Sundays. So here is the video and individual photos of the “W” Litter 2025 between Cedar & Spruce’s Apollo NA III UT III “Duke” x Bluestem’s Carolina Briar Thicket JH “Briar”.
Female:
Wynonna
Female Wynonna faceFemale Wynonna back
Males:
Winston
Male Winston faceMale Winston back
Wade
Male Wade faceMale Wade back
Waylon
Male Waylon faceMale Waylon back
Wycliffe
Male Wycliffe faceMale Wycliffe back
Washington
Male Washington faceMale Washington back
Oh and last but not least, here is the YouTube video. It was a hot one, but it was their first time outside and it didn’t seem too traumatic for them.
Thanks for checking in on us, I have to get ready to put dinner on the table and then hop on to an AWPGA board call so I will talk at you again on Sunday with the “X” litter.
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.
The puppies chose not to wait until I was done teaching school for the semester and arrived during the last week. Briar and Duke’s “W” Litter arrived on Wednesday, June 4th. Luckily Caleb was home to watch over the process. He is not the first one of my children to whelp a litter of puppies, Cordelia helped BB whelp a litter 8 years ago to the month. There are five boys and one girl in the litter of six.
Sally and Obi’s “X” Litter pups arrived on Sunday, June 8th. Puppies started arriving about 10:30 AM and we were done by 3:30 PM. There are three boys and five girls in the litter of eight. No stillborns in either of the two litters. They both have their whelping boxes and kennels in the basement until the pups are four weeks old, when they get too stinky to be inside and they are able to regulate their body temperature.
So that brings us to a total of eight boys and six girls between the two litters, for a total of fourteen puppies. I need to reach out to folks with 2025 reservations to see if they are confirmed, then check in with the people who have reservations for 2026 to see if they want to move up a year. Then I would be open to taking new deposits.
My females absolutely hate the camera at this point, so I try to limit the exposure. At around two weeks when the puppies’ eyes are open, we can start taking individual pictures.
Here are the Briar and Duke pups at one week old:
Six snugglers of Briar and DukeBriar and the pupsCloseup on a yawnerFaces
Here are the photos of the three day old litter between Sally and Obi:
Nursing babiesSally and the pupsCloseup of nursing pups
So like I say, right now my priority is getting in touch with my folks with deposits down and figuring things out from there. Briar and Duke’s litter will be 8 weeks old on July 30th, so that is when they can start going home. The weekend following is August 2nd and 3rd. Sally and Obi’s pups will be 8 weeks old Sunday, August 3rd, so that is the first day that they can go home. The following weekend is August 9th and 10th. All puppies need to go home by Sunday, August 10th due to my school schedule next year.
Thanks for reading and I’ll post again a week from today when the “W” litter is two weeks old!
We recently complete breedings for two different litters, the first being a repeat breeding of Cedar & Spruce’s Apollo NA III, UT III “Duke” and Bluestem’s Carolina Briar Thicket JH “Briar”. We normally do not do back-to-back heat breedings, but we’ve found a good home for Duke as a finished gun dog in Oregon, so he will be flying out of here in the coming week. The Duke and Briar breeding was on April 6th, so that puts puppies being whelped around June 8th and going home mid-August.
The second breeding of VC Wyo Plainsman Kenobi NA I, UPT III, UT I x 2 and Bluestem Sally Forth SH, NA II was completed on August 10th, with puppies being whelped around June 12th and going home mid-August. As of right now, we have ten reservations between the two litters, so if the breedings take and depending on the litter sizes, there may be additional puppies available (or not). We will get pregnancy confirmation ultrasounds mid-May to verify that the breedings took. Please email bluestemkennels@gmail.com if you wish to discuss.
AWPGA Working Standard Video
While we were at the field events of the AWPGA National Specialty North Carolina, held at the Sandhills Pointing Breeds Club in Jackson Springs, North Carolina, Terry Ann Fernando and her team at On Point Design filmed a video of the AWPGA Working Standard. Thank you to Vicky Foster and Melanie Tuttle for coordinating the efforts and our friends Karen Krautz, Laura Kojima and Amy Caswell-O’Clair and their dogs to come together with Charles, Sally and Obi to make an educational and informative video.
You can see Obi at 4 seconds and 2:47, where Sally and Charles get a lot of air time. They are the opening still shot with the chukar, at 12 seconds, 2:09, 4:37, 5:20 and 6:30. The coule scene is Charles and Sally, showing off her French roots from her Quebecois great-grandmother Bourg-Royal’s CB Bluestem NA I, UT III “BB”.
We hope you enjoy this fantastic video, all copyright belonging to the American Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Association.
So I’ll be back when we get pregnancies (hopefully) confirmed mid-May. Enjoy training in the cool spring weather!
The “V” Litter finished going home last Saturday and everyone is spoiled and loved. Our next litter will be later this year between Obi and Sally, email bluestemkennels@gmail.com.
Eva with Valentino to Arkansas
The first to go home was Valentino with Eva to Arkansas. She is a vet tech who duck hunts, so he will be well cared for and have adventures.
Tate with Victoria to Kentucky
Tate is excited to take Victoria out west for adventures and be able to leave her home with his girlfriend when he has to go out as an electrical lineman for storms. They will be based in Kentucky
Sheri, Stelios and Vance to New Jersey
Sheri and Stelios drove down all the way from New Jersey and picked up Vance early one morning. He will be a hunter and companion.
Alex and Vincent to South Carolina
Vincent went home with Alex down towards Charleston. He will hunt waterfowl and be a buddy.
Joe and his girlfriend took Vaughn to North Carolina
Vaughn went home with Joe and his girlfriend to the Raleigh, North Carolina area. They will hunt and try out NAVHDA.
It’s always fun to see everyone go home to their new families to become beloved members. I’ll take a break from blogging in between litters to catch up around the house and farmyard. I’ll be back to let everyone know when Sally comes into season for the next litter this year. Take care of yourselves until then.
Bluestem Kennels 