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.
If you’d like to inquire about future litters, feel free to email bluestemkennels@gmail.com. I have been quite busy as of late and am a few days behind on responses, so I apologize if you’ve sent an email this week and haven’t heard from me. Tomorrow is email day and I’ll get back with you then.
Yesterday the pups got their first shots, microchips and veterinary examinations at Steele Creek Animal Hospital right across the border in Charlotte. I’ve been going there for my orthopedic tests since we moved to the Carolinas, but the vet that I normally use doesn’t have weekend hours so I wanted to see how these folks did. I was very impressed with the professionalism, they even checked for the boys testicles without me having to ask. All of the pups checked out with a clean bill of health, weighing in between ten and twelve pounds.
Dr. Schuver of Steele Creek Animal Hospital of Charlotte
Here is this week’s YouTube video:
Here are the last individual photos of them. We did live bird and dead bird introductions. They were smitten as expected!
Female:
Female, Victoria, checking out the live quailFemale, Victoria, picking up the dead quail
Males:
Male, Vaughn, pointing the live quailCaleb walking Vaughn from the live bird to the dead quail station
I would have gotten more leash pictures, but I have a feeling that my telephoto lens is on its last legs and it was struggling to focus while they were walking. Each pup was walked on the leash by Caleb.
Male, Vaughn, picking up the dead quailMale, Valentino, checking out the live quailMale, Valentino, picking up the dead quailMale, Vincent, checking out the live quailMale, Vincent, picking up the dead quailMale, Vance, getting walked out to the live quailMale, Vance, checking out the live quailMale, Vance, picking up the dead quail
This is the exact sequence that I’ve been following with my pups for several years now and it seems to be a good first impression on birds. Of course, the owners need to continue the process of bird and noise exposure, but at least it isn’t a brand new process starting out.
Really there is nothing left to do now but send them home! I’ll make sure to catch up on the phone one more time with all of the new owners before you head over to my house. Looking forward to meeting everyone in person and getting these little monsters home!
All of these pups are spoken for, but feel free to reach out to bluestemkennels@gmail.com about our future plans.
The “V” Litter is getting downright crazy these days. Their teeth are coming in, they love to run and fight with each other, they are attacking my fan palm tree, biting my pants and shoes, you name it, they are up to it. We’ve made it through picks and so here are the pups and where they are heading.
Males:
Male, Vance, face. He’s going to New Jersey.Male, Vance, side profileMale, Vaughn, face. He’s going to North Carolina.Male, Vaughn, side profile.Male, Vincent, face. He’s staying in South Carolina.Male, Vincent, side profile.Male, Valentino, face. He’s going to Arkansas.Male, Valentino, side profile.
Female:
Female, Victoria, face. She’s going to Kentucky.Female, Victoria, side profile.
I almost forgot to add the YouTube video for the week!
We also pulled out the kiddie pool today since it was 75 degrees out and let the pups splash around in there. This week I start with cap gun fire while they run and play. They get their first vaccinations and microchips on Saturday, then Sunday they’ll get to meet some live and dead birds. Next Sunday will be our last blog post update before the puppies go home! Talk at you then.
All of these pups are spoken for, but feel free to email bluestemkennels@gmail.com regarding future litters.
I’ve had a busy weekend getting the puppies de-wormed and keeping them fed, exercised and their kennel cleaned, so I’m a little late on posting. I took the photos out of normal order, so I’m going to drop those in first, post my YouTube video and I need to get on my way for the evening and get ready for the week.
I’ll be getting with the future owners over the next week and a half about what we think is the right placement for everyone, the males are all so even, it is going to be a tough decision. They all look great as you can see! Catch you all next week!
All of these puppies have homes, but if you’d like to talk to us about future litters shoot us an email at bluestemkennels@gmail.com.
I’m a day late to post because yesterday the basement was just beyond stinky with the pups and the weather was nice enough to move them and their kennel to the back porch. They’ve made the transition from puppy mush to kibble over the last week and they still nurse when Briar lets them.
Here is this week’s YouTube video:
And here are their individual photos. Although most of the new owners and I don’t decide who is going where exactly for a couple of more weeks, we did decide that the girl is going to Kentucky to live with an electrical lineman and his girlfriend since he is gone for long periods of time during storms and she’ll be able to handle the female better. Now it is just a matter of figuring out which male will go where!
All of the puppies are spoken for, but feel free to reach out to bluestemkennels@gmail.com to inquire about future litters.
After we did our puppy video and individual puppy pictures, the little ones got their first mush meal. I mix canned puppy food with puppy milk replacer and they love it. It is always a mess since I start by spoon feeding them, then blobbing some on their blanket and letting them find the bowl. They should be ready for the puppy saucer going forward, but it is good to have the first taste out of the way so that I know they are ready for it.
First taste of puppy mush
The pups are getting up on their feet, barking, howling and wagging their tails. They are starting to seek and enjoy human attention. This is where I feel comfortable really starting to take them out of the whelping box and playing with them. If we get a warm day soon, we can go outside (but it looks like that is at least a week away).
Here is this week’s YouTube video:
Then here are their individual puppy photos. This is probably going to be the last time that I can get their individual photos by myself on an elevated surface. We’ll either have to be on the ground or I’ll have to have Caleb help me going forward.
Female:
Female, Victoria, faceFemale, Victoria, back
Males:
Male, Vincent, faceMale, Vincent, backMale, Valentino, faceMale, Valentino, back (you can see his heart spot, hence the name)Male, Vaughn, faceMale, Vaughn, backMale, Vance, faceMale, Vance, back
I spent lots of time playing with and feeding puppies today, so I need to get on with my evening. I’m glad to share with you all these cute little beings and how they grow and develop. I’ll be back next weekend.
All of these puppies are spoken for, but if you’d like to inquire about future litters, feel free to email bluestemkennels@gmail.com.
The five puppies of the “V” Litter are off to a strong start and mama Briar is taking great care of them. I’m not having to rotate pups or fuss over any of them. There are four boys and one girl and they are all fat and healthy.
Briar and the five pups of the “V” Litter at two weeks old
I like to just show life as it exists and didn’t want to mess with Briar as she was nursing, so she did have a wood chip in her bangs that covered her eye. They are warm and snug in the house during this cold weather and won’t go outside at all until they are at least four weeks old. That is when they are old enough to regulate their body temperature.
Here is this week’s YouTube video:
Now we have their individual photos and kennel names. These are names that I just give them to identify them in photos, I don’t actually call them by these names.
Female
Female, Victoria, faceFemale, Victoria, back
Males:
Male, Vincent, faceMale, Vincent, backMale, Valentino, face
Male, Valentino, back
Male, Vaughn, faceMale, Vaughn, backMale, Vance, faceMale, Vance, back
They all look a little funny at this age being so small, but I look forward to sharing with you every week as they grow! Check back next weekend for the next installment.
All pups are spoken for, feel free to email bluestemkennels@gmail.com about future litters.
I felt comfortable enough with my veterinary support team in Bellevue, Nebraska to take Briar back with us to visit our adult children. The Christmas visit had been planned for a long time, but Charles left Duke and Briar together in the dog box in North Dakota in October, we confirmed a pregnancy right after Thanksgiving, so we nearly cancelled. I’ve whelped far more litters in Bellevue and have made sure to breed a line that whelps naturally without complications.
I’d had her set up sleeping next to me on a blanket in the AirBnB, but the night of the 26th she was restless and digging at the carpet under the nightstand. There was a mudroom adjacent to the outside door and it was open to the living room so that I could just set up an ex-pen to keep her from running the house tearing stuff up while she was whelping. I took up residence on the living room couch and heard the first pup arrive around 11:30 PM Central/12:30 PM Eastern (that is why their birthday is on the 27th, since that is when most of them were born, and even the first two were after midnight Eastern).
Even though the sandbox was there, she had dragged a blanket out on to the floor and was whelping on the blanket on the floor. After the second pup was born, I lifted Briar off of the floor and into the plastic sandbox with a different blanket to keep the mess contained. I didn’t have to take any sacs off of the puppies, she did it all herself and had the five pups by 1:30 AM Central/2:30 PM Eastern. Four boys and one girl, all healthy and nice with no stillborns.
We drove straight from Bellevue to home in Clover, South Carolina in one 18 hour shot. The sandbox fit perfectly in the back of my Toyota Sequoia and we kept the heat cranked up. The trip home was uneventful, we just had to make sure that Briar was walked away from the dog polluted gas stations and truck stops for fear of tracking disease in to the nest. We got the kennel set up in the basement the next day.
They are growing like weeds and all seem healthy at one week old yesterday. I have matched the puppies with their owners and the one immediate alternate knows who they are. If you are farther down the list, I’ll be in touch soon and let you know what it looks like for Sally and Obi’s litter later in the spring/summer (or if anyone drops out of this litter).
Here are their one week photos:
V Litter One Week Old
I don’t take individual photos, take videos or assign them names until they are two weeks old. This is because of potential mortality during early life, which is totally normal for breeders. These all appear healthy and strong. I will be back next Saturday to let you all know how they are doing!
For those who have emailed me in the past week, I will be sure to get back with you tomorrow, I’ve been busy matching up owners for these little ones and with the holidays. I hope that it was merry and bright for you all!
