Hunting Dogs | Bluestem Kennels

On Breeding, Hunting and Pupdates

January 9, 2013

Charity Upchurch Kennel Update, Puppy Update Dog Training, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Hunting North Dakota, Hunting Wisconsin, Korthals Griffon, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Ruffed Grouse, Woodcock Leave a comment

Update on 2013 Litters

We are excited to announce that we have one litter bred and a second breeding soon to come! I noticed Sue’s proestrous (bleeding) on our short hunt in the Sandhills on the Sunday before Christmas. Breeding took place between December 27th and New Year’s Eve, so we’re looking at a March 1stish whelping and May 1stish homegoing for Sam and Sue’s 2013 litter. Mae’s proestrous was noted on Saturday and she is not yet ready to breed, but it will be any day now (if I had to guess it would be within the next 2-7 days). So, that’s approximately a March 15thish whelping and a May 15thish homegoing. It will be a very busy spring here with two litters on the ground at once, but we can’t wait!

We finally had a good dose of snow right before school let out for Christmas break, but when I went to photograph the dogs and kids in the fresh snow, my camera’s battery went dead. I was able to get some good shots of everyone on Sunday, finally.

Four dog romp: Sue on top right, Sam bottom left, BB’s head and Mae’s hindquarters. Wirehaired Pointing Griffons.

Mae, Sue and Sam with Conrad and Caleb on the sled hill. Wirehaired Pointing Griffons.

Mae on the lookout for squirrels or coons with Sam following closing behind, hunting up…ummm…something else:) Wirehaired Pointing Griffons

Sam’s girlfriends having a serious conversation. Mae on left, Sue on right, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons.

Sue on the sniff. Wirehaired Pointing Griffon.

Sue on the sniff and already looking paunchy 2 weeks pregnant. Wirehaired Pointing Griffon.

Mae having a big run down the hill. Wirehaired Pointing Griffon.

BB also had a good run. Wirehaired Pointing Griffon.

Big daddy Sam looking quite serious. Wirehaired Pointing Griffon.

A Pleasant Hunting Surprise

After some fruitless tries at hunting pheasant in Southeastern Nebraska and Northeastern Kansas, Charles and Matt hit a few quail spots last weekend with some success. I’ll eventually get a full hunting blog post out on it, but I wanted to share these photos.

Sam on point, Matt walking in, BB honoring

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon retrieving rabbit

Sam retrieving a cottontail rabbit. Photo by Charles.

Two rabbits and three quail for Charles, Sam and BB

A blast from our hunting past

A Sunday Lincoln Journal-Star article took us into the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s photo archives and back to our days before Wirehaired Pointing Griffons. This photo was featured in the June 2003 issue of NebraskaLand magazine. AKC Brittany Sir Sheaf Stout “Sheaf” (1996-2010) was our first child and family hunting dog. Here he is pictured in the winter of 2002 during the Heartland Chapter #491 Pheasant Forever’s Youth Mentor hunt held at Hunter’s Creek (now Grandpa’s Acres) near Syracuse, Nebraska. Pictured with Sheaf are Dustin Charval (youth) and Charles Upchurch (mentor). (The full Lincoln Journal-Star article: http://journalstar.com/sports/local/outdoors/birds-and-snow-a-great-winter-mix/article_f1384d3d-1691-5a84-b3ef-d49a867d1f6e.html)

Before we had griffons…photo courtesy of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission

Pupdates

Rob and Abby have been having some great woodcock an ruffed grouse trips up in Wisconsin. This photo was taken back in October at the age of 5 months. Abby is now 7 months old (from our 2012 “D” litter from Sue and Sam) and lives with Rob and his family in eastern Illinois. Here’s Rob’s report first-hand:

The folks I went grouse hunting with finally sent some pictures. Here is Abby with the birds she helped harvest. She pointed one of the woodcock and flushed one of the grouse. She retrieved both to my general location. Her registered name is Bluestem’s Quail Hammering Abby.

Rob and Abby (from Bluestem Kennels "D" litter from Sam and Sue, 5 month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon female) after a successful October day of hunting ruffed grouse in Wisconsin.

Rob and Abby (from Bluestem Kennels “D” litter from Sam and Sue, 5 mo old female Wirehaired Pointing Griffon female) after a successful October day of hunting ruffed grouse and woodcock in Wisconsin.

Abby (7 mo old female Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) on left, hanging out with Ruby the GSP and fellow griff, Ace.

Abby’s brother, Gomer, lives in Central Illinois with Kyle and Jenna. He will be heading to Tom Dokken’s Oak Ridge Kennels (http://www.dokkensoakridgekennels.com/) for training soon and appears to be enjoying a great life!

Gomer (7 mo old male Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) and Jenna are ready for a snack.

Gomer (7 mo old male Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) is ready for a bath.

Gomer (7 mo old male Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) fetching up a shed deer antler.

Gomer (7 mo old male Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) on point in the snow.

We received a Christmas card from Rick’s family who lives just a few miles east of us and 10 month old Dottie (from our 2012 “C” litter from Sam and Mae) was featured, sporting some holiday cheer.

Dottie (10 mo old female Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) had a Merry Griffmas!

Dottie’s sister in North Dakota, TracHer, has been having a great pheasant season with Susan and Tom! Here she is lugging around a big North Dakota rooster, good girl!!!

TracHer (10 mo old female Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) retrieves a big boy from North Dakota!

Another shot of TracHer (10 mo old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) and the North Dakota rooster.

There’s nothing like the North Dakota prairie. TracHer (10 month old female Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) in her element.

A huge thanks (as always) to everyone who contributed photos to the blog. We’ll be sure to keep you posted on the breeding of the second litter and any end-of-hunting season adventures. Until then, stay warm and enjoy the extra moments of daylight we’ve been getting in the great outdoors!

More Field Trial Action and Pupdates

September 28, 2012

Charity Upchurch Field Trialing, Kennel Update, Puppy Update, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons AKC Field Trials, Amateur Walking Derby Stakes, American Field Region 19 Field Trials, Bird Hunting, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Puppies, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons 2 Comments

On Field Trials

Saturday, September 22nd was a big day for AKC field events in the Lincoln, Nebraska area, so the kids and I hit the road to visit friends and family involved. Our first stop was the Missouri Valley Brittany Club’s AKC Hunt Test at Yankee Hill Wildlife Management Area just southwest of Lincoln, near Denton. Although Charles and I lived in Lincoln for a couple of years in the 1990’s, I had never been to this WMA. It is very nice, lots of good cover and space, I can see why the Nebraska Game and Parks selected it as a new spot to plant pheasant for the youth hunting weekend in October. Yet I digress.

I was headed to the test to visit with my friend Sally Jo Hoagland from North Platte. Although she is probably closer to my mom’s age than mine, she is one of the top (if not THE top) Weimaraner breeders in Nebraska (Weimshadow Kennel) and one of the only professional dog trainers in Central Nebraska (Four Paws Dog Training). We had met at the Grand Island Kennel Club Dog Show earlier in the year after first connecting on Facebook, due to our mutual involvement with NAVHDA and AKC. It was funny that at the hunt test I not only knew Sally Jo, but probably 90% of the people at the test and what was even funnier is that we were not the only family of spectators.

The hunt test environment is very family friendly, there are usually multiple families with elementary age children running about, so we all look out for one another’s kids and there is never any worry about any of the dogs being mean. The dogs typically sit quietly in their crates or on their stakeout chains and love to have the kids mess with them.

Following lunch at the hunt test and a good visit with friends and fellow local hunt test junkies, we loaded up and headed north to Branched Oak Field Trial Grounds near Raymond. Although we had been there for hunt tests in the past, this field trial environment was completely different. The German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Nebraska’s field trial over last weekend was four days long and had 235 entrants, making it one of the largest AKC field trials of the entire year. Our “camp” was out in the back 40, so when the kids wanted to go to the clubhouse to get some sweets and sodas, we had to wade through the melee. As most field trials are on horseback, most of the other camps consisted of a camper/horsetrailer/dogtrailer combo, a stakeout chain of 10-25 dogs and at least one horse. Anytime someone walked down the dirt road in the midst of the gypsy village, all 235 dogs barked and spazzed out on their chains. This was with the exception of BB of course, who really wanted her people very close to her in this strange setting. I don’t think that any of us were comfortable and felt pretty alien: a family with small children and one griffon surrounded by herds of barking shorthairs, German Wirehaired Pointers and Vizsla dogs along with their owners who reminded me of the rodeo crowd; not sure if their faces are red from being sunburned or last night’s whiskey, or both. The only time that I saw any other women is when they came out of their campers to water their dogs or smoke a cigarette.

A string of German Shorthaired Pointers at the AKC Field Trial on Saturday

Maybe I’m only drawing these caricatures because I was nervous and scared that my 3 year old was going to wade into a pack of freaked out hunting machines. I don’t want to hurt any field trialer’s feelings and I’m sure we’ll be back for more, so I’ll get more comfortable and quit seeing things that make me want to point them out. But as the hunt testing environment is where my fellow griffoniers find themselves, I wanted to point out the differences before anyone else decided to strike out into the field trial world. Not that I have any serious ideas of other griffoniers going this route, as a few of them have raised questions about participation.

Our take on it is that Korthals wanted to breed a foot hunting dog that was faster than the bootlicking continental breeds of his time. We do not believe that hunt testing does enough to test the athleticism and endurance of the animal, as it is a brief exercise that is only looking for the dog to satisfy the training requirements of the test (search, pointing, retrieving, steadiness, honoring etc.). Even in NSTRA and BHU trials, the field is too small for it to be a valid test of athleticism. We intend to continue to participate in walking stakes at AKC field trials and other trialers at the event encouraged Charles to look into American Field’s Region 19 events.

In my brief readings on American Field Region 19, these are events that last longer than an hour and are on open terrain and wild birds, which is a lot like what we are doing for hunting anyway, where we walk for at least an hour before stopping for water and usually two hours before we really stand or sit around for any lengthy period of time. I would suspect that BB would be the first griffon to ever participate in American Field, should we decide to check it out.

BB placed 4th out of 5 in the Amateur Walking Derby stakes last Saturday, beating out a Vizsla her same age, working the terrain more thoroughly and having the one bird find of the run. Although we are flying in the face of current convention with the breed, we worry more about the prevelance of designer house pets and conformation show-only dogs than about our involvement in walking stakes at field trials. I really just wish we could channel the spirit of Korthals to ask him himself, but in the meantime we’ll just keep doing our research to support our methods and having fun with our dogs.

BB’s Fourth Place Ribbon.

Pupdates

TracHer is busy as usual in North Dakota, she’s 7 months old now and been out on a few sharptail grouse and Hungarian Partridge hunts. She’s even retrieved a few of them! Most recently, she brought a live rabbit into the house through the doggie door while company was over, luckily they were fellow hunters!

TracHer on left (7 month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) with Susan and her old buddy Zephyr with Tom and their limit of sharptail grouse!

TracHer and her bunny (7 month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon)

TracHer retrieving a sharptail grouse (7 month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon)

Mike out in Colorado has also been working with TracHer’s “twin” sister Frankie on some pheasants. He’s been working on steadiness on the point and he says she’s doing a great job! Both TracHer and Frankie are from our 2012 “C” litter with Sam and Mae.

Mowgli is 18 months old and is from our 2011 “B” litter out of Sue and Sam. Quite the looker! I saw his brother Duke’s owner at the movie theater when I was taking the kids to see Finding Nemo 3-D, so hopefully I’ll get to see him soon.

Mowgli (18 month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) and his neighbor friend the Dachshund chilling on the deck

Coming Soon to Versatile Hunter

Well in less than a week, we’ll be headed back out to the Sandhills for some more hunting. There are no words for how terrible Eastern Nebraska has been this year thus far. The swamps are too dry for early teal and snipe, then the prairie chicken grounds have all been mowed for hay. Damn drought. We are going to have to start commuting to not only the Sandhills, but the Rainwater Basin of Central Nebraska, the pheasant fields of South Dakota and Southwestern Nebraska as well as the quail fields of Kansas. I hope that this is a temporary blip in the hunting situation in this part of the state because I don’t see us moving anytime soon. But we are in fear of this being the beginning of a total collapse in hunting in Southeastern Nebraska.

Shirts!!

Oh and one last thing, be sure to check out the new t-shirt designs on our Shop!! You can either click the button at the top of the page or go directly to http://www.wirehairedpointinggriffongear.com Buy a shirt to show your griffon pride, 100% made in the USA, from the shirt itself, the artists designs to the embroidery and screenprinting!!

A little too much adventure…

August 15, 2012

Charity Upchurch Kennel Update, Puppy Update Dog Training, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Lost Hunting Dog, Missouri River, Swimming, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

It was our second Sunday in a row for an all-pack walk, so we thought we would mix things up a little and try a different spot than normal. This area is along the Missouri River, south of Plattsmouth, Nebraska. Even though the road we were walking on is a good 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile from the Missouri (when it is cooperating with channelization) the area was completely submerged in about a foot or more of water all last summer. So, even though we are in a drought this year and the vegetation is shorter than normal in most other places, due to the remnant moisture in the soil, the cover was 4-8 feet tall.

All was going well until a mile or so into the hike, when the 3 year old child decided he needed a break. The road had ended anyhow and Charles and the dogs would have to wade through zero-visibility tall weeds for a half-mile or so to get to the river. Here is a video of short clips of our hike up until the point of us stopping for a break, including some random shots of sunflowers at the end: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s0jYVoPoeU

About a half hour or so later, Charles turned back up, sounding rather disgusted. “Is BB with you?” he queried. She wasn’t. He hadn’t seen her since before he reached the river. Given the fact that she ranges farther than the other three dogs and that it was pretty warm (probably 85, not heatwave hot), he thought that she had jumped in the river and gotten sucked downstream in the strong current. My gut told me otherwise. I’ve seen BB go for a long time without drinking and she is way more into running than swimming. She’ll get out in the water if there is something to retrieve or if there are people or other dogs out, but I just couldn’t see her navigating the steep bank of the Missouri into the swiftly moving river.

Standing in the tall vegetation, we called and called and whistled for BB. I kept the other three dogs and the kids at our spot in the shade, calling and whistling from where we were while Charles headed back down to the river calling for her. 20-30 minutes of calling and searching. The vegetation was working against us and absorbing our noise. We ran out of water and since we’d been in the field for over 2 hours and it was another mile hike back to the truck (which takes about 30 minutes with the kids), it was time to move. We were hoping that maybe BB was back at the truck, but otherwise we’d replenish our water supplies and continue our search. It was only 3 PM and we had another 6 hours until dark.

Caleb fell behind and wanted to take a break, playing in the dirt on the road next to a soybean field. As the soybeans are only shin high and it was about a 20 acre field, I thought that this was probably my one chance to have my voice project and echo off of the nearby valley hills to the west. I spent a good 5 to 10 minutes calling her name to the sky and whistling. Looking back at Caleb playing in the dirt, I swore I saw a little reddish brown fur pop around the bend of the soybean field. I ran over and thank God it was BB! At first she was happy to see me, but then she got really “low dog” with her tail between her legs. She knew she had been bad, meaning that most likely she got onto and chased a deer.

Every one of our dogs has had the experience as an older pup/younger dog of being overpowered by prey drive and the desire to run, chasing a deer, getting lost for a few hours, but then pulling their wits together and finding the pack. It scares everyone, but is an important learning experience for the dog to keep checking back with the people. This is an essential skill to keep Wirehaired Pointing Griffons as foot-hunting dogs and not just another out-of-control field trialing breed.

It felt good to be heading home together with all four Wirehaired Pointing Griffons we arrived with!

On the ride home, I found out that not only did BB have a misadventure, but when Charles came up on the Missouri, Sam piled in and swam about a third of the way out into the main channel, then realizing he needed to get back, tried to swim against the current to make his way back to shore, but was no match to the Mighty Mo. Sam was sucked around a bend where Charles couldn’t see him. The frightened owner ran the bank around the bend, calling for the dog. The echo off of the other bank was confusing the dog, thinking that his boss was on the opposite bank. Luckily Charles had Conrad’s blaze orange shirt in his hand, so he began waving Sam into the approaching wing dam. Sam successfully made it to the calm upstream from the wing dam and climbed the rocks out of the churning channel.

That particular area is a bit too wild for all of us. Maybe Charles with one dog can handle its peril, but the pack will stick to our usual spots.

In other news, I did receive a cute picture of Kyle and Jenna in Illinois, along with their puppy, Gomer, formerly known as “Darryl”. They will be getting married soon and their pup will be their first baby (as was our first pup together):

Jenna and Kyle in Illinois with their 10 week old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Gomer, from our recent “D” litter

Susan and Tom in North Dakota sent over another great photo of TracHer on one of her first wild bird points, on sharptail grouse at 5 months old:

TracHer in North Dakota from our “C” litter on point, 5 month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Sixteen more days until opening day of hunting season for us! I plan on getting some videos made showing my grooming techniques this weekend to post for next week’s check-in, then it will be time to shift gears into the next phase of my writing year. Thanks for coming along!

Two Week Old Puppies plus The Soapbox

June 21, 2012

Charity Upchurch Kennel Update, Puppy Update Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Puppies, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Leave a comment

Sue and the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon pups take respite from the heat in the basement living room

This week we played a bit of musical pens due to the heat. The wooden whelping box with cedar chips is out in the garage due to space and child (three year old boy) issues. The garage is well insulated, but not set up to be cooled yet (I can make it hotter, but not colder). It is the eventual goal to have the room climate controlled, but we’re not quite there yet. The beginning of this week brought a few days of 95+ degree weather and it just got to be what I thought was too hot for everyone. So I ran to PetCo and splurged on the 24″ tall Precision exercise pen. It has been on our wish list for awhile, but the weather forced us to make the purchase and it was perfect for the pups and Sue. Yesterday a front moved in and cooled things down, so I was able to open the garage door to air and move the pups back out there.

While they were in the house, the pups were on top of a plastic sheet covered by a blanket and wow, I’m glad I don’t use cloth as my normal bedding. Cedar chips really rule, they keep things smelling clean, are absorbant and give the pups something to nestle down into. I had to change the blanket twice a day to keep things half as clean as the cedar bedding. Charles reads lots of old bird dog literature and he says that is what the old timers swore by it for puppy bedding, just because of the natural disinfectant that the turpines in the cedar create.

Speaking of old timers, Delmar Smith, realizing that Charles and I are breeders, spoke to the old days of puppy rearing at Pheasant Fest. He said that it was expected to lose half of a litter to disease and the elements. Not to say that loss doesn’t occur anymore, but the advancements in sanitation in puppy rearing conditions, vaccinations in the kennel population and increased awareness of temperature control have greatly increased puppy production.

Before I keep rambling, I’ll share the picture of one of the pups with its eyes coming open. I didn’t want to annoy all of them to pull them out to take a picture.

Two week old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon pup with its eyes open

Here’s the still shot of the litter:

Litter of seven, two week old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon pups, Bluestem Kennels “D” Litter

Here’s this week’s exciting and action packed YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnf0OeM447o

Before I give you some updated photos on a few pups from previous litters, I have a couple of random things I want to soapbox on.

In my recent reading online, I see that there are a number of people who aren’t taking seriously the warning that most breeders provide about restricting exposure and contact prior to the puppy being through their shots and even being careful after that throughout the first year. Those first couple of months in the new home, the pup should really not be exposed to dogs outside of their packmates. Anywhere there is animal feces of any kind or even just eutrophic looking water should be off limits. Puppy classes, doggy daycare or socialization with non-packmates has to wait until the puppy shots are done at a minimum. These are serious risks to the health of the puppy. Breeders are even wary of having other dog owners on their property when there are puppies on the ground, for fear of fecal material on their shoes. I don’t even let outsiders near my puppies until after 4 weeks of age and even then, they are washing their hands and I’m checking their shoes that they are not contaminating my facility. It sounds paranoid, the the health of my puppies is my utmost concern.

That’s the end of my soapbox time. Now let’s look at some fun pictures!!

13 week old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon puppy from Sam and Mae’s litter, TracHer in North Dakota, had fun flower picking!

13 week old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon puppy Frankie, from Sam and Mae’s litter, kicking it on the patio in Colorado with owner, Mike

Two year old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon from Sue and Sam’s first litter, Whiskey, watches Andi and a chicken in Nevada

That officially brings me to the end of my allotted blogging time for the week folks. If you just can’t get enough of us here at Bluestem Kennels, please be sure to follow my mobile updates on our Facebook page by giving us a “Like” at Bluestem Kennels ~ Wirehaired Pointing Griffons https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bluestem-Kennels-Wirehaired-Pointing-Griffons/185207431498228

Some Notes on Sue and Sioux Falls

May 23, 2012

Charity Upchurch Bird Dog Training, Kennel Update Dog Training, German Wirehaired Pointer Club of Nebraska, Gun Dog, Heartland NAVHDA Chapter, Honoring another dog's point, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Midwest Tri-State NAVHDA Chapter, Sioux Falls South Dakota, South Dakota Pointing Dog Club, Steady to Wing and Shot, Water Retrieve, Whoa Training, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons 2 Comments

By popular demand, I need to update you all on how Sue is doing! She is very heavy, but is still living outside for a little while longer. She and BB were sharing a kennel while Mae was on a strict diet after her puppies left, in order to get her teats to retract, but I recently moved BB in with Mae by the request of Sue (plus Mae is doing fine on getting back into shape). BB is still very puppy and likes to play, so Sue was getting tired of that business. She is still taking walks twice a day, but is moving much slower than everyone else and eats and drinks double her normal rations. We have houseguests over the Memorial Day weekend, but after they are gone I will be moving Sue into the house for monitoring. I suspect that she will whelp the first or second week of June.

A very big Sue in the yard this morning

Last weekend was the South Dakota Pointing Dog Club’s AKC Hunt Test in Sioux Falls, SD. The organizers are actually the Midwest Tri-State NAVHDA Chapter, who takes on that name to put on AKC Hunt Tests. As there were a number of other griffons entered by fellow breeders that we had only visited with online and over the phone, we decided to go ahead and enter BB and Sam into the Senior Hunter Test even though we were unsure if the dogs were prepared.

We also entered the AKC Water Test, which is a requirement for the Senior Hunter title for the Spinone Italiano and German Wirehaired Pointer, but not the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon (even though it should be). As I had all three children there, I did not anticipate being able to see anything worth taking pictures of, but as it was a hike to the pond, the organizers had me assist in handling the two dogs while our fellow testers kept an eye on the kids back at camp. I wish I’d had my video camera, because Sam and BB both did fantastic. It is a basic water retrieve, where the handler stands 6 feet from the bank, holding the collar of the dog. A thrower pitches a dead duck into the water and a blank shot is fired by a gunner. Once the duck hits the water, you release the dog and they swim to retrieve. It does not have to be retrieved to hand, but can be dropped within two steps of the handler.

Sam and BB’s AKC Water Test Ribbons

As avid hunters, one would think that Senior Hunter would be easy for us, but hunt testing and hunting are not the same thing. Similar to Junior Hunter, you are running in a brace with an unfamiliar dog, but unlike Junior Hunter that is only testing search and point, Senior Hunter has to be 100% steady to wing and shot (no creeping allowed at all, not a single step) and also back the other dog’s point. At the Junior Hunter level, the handler is firing a blank pistol at the flush, whereas at Senior Hunter there are gunners firing live ammunition and the dogs should retrieve. At the Senior Hunter level, you are allowed to use the “whoa” command for steadiness (which won’t be allowed at the Master Hunter level, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there).

As soon as you “fail” a step in the process, the dog and handler are pulled from the test. The first day, BB couldn’t help herself and busted a covey of quail. Both days, Sam creeped a couple of steps on his points. The second day, BB almost made it through the test, but of all things, she didn’t find a bird! This is the same dog that found 6 birds in 8 minutes during her first Junior Hunter run. Even though we didn’t take home any SH ribbons on the weekend, it was good for us to see what is required to pass the test and what we need to work on.

As Charles is the trainer for the big dogs (I’m puppy trainer and kennel tech [sanitation, exercise and nutrition]), he’ll be working on making the dogs absolutely staunch on “whoa”, regardless of the situation. We work on “whoa” in the yard, but they are kennelmates and they aren’t working birds. We should take advantage of some training days with the Heartland NAVHDA Chapter or the local AKC German Wirehaired Pointer Club of Nebraska so that we can attempt to replicate the testing environment with dogs from outside of our kennel. As he can use “whoa” in Senior Hunter, we are going to take advantage of that and work them towards the automatic response without command that is expected at the Master Hunter level.

We’re still bouncing around some training ideas and absorbing the suggestions we got from other handlers and the judges. Charles got up the next morning and flew out on business (non-dog, the one that pays the bills), so we haven’t had much of a chance to talk it through. We’ll keep you posted as to what direction we go with our training and how it is working. I think the absolute soonest we could get back into the SH field is at the August test in Sioux Falls, but we might decide to wait until Spring of 2013.

Our favorite part of the hunt testing environment is that it is fun and family friendly. It gives us something to do with our dogs in the off-hunting season other than having puppies and keeping up with exercise. I can see that this is a hobby that we will enjoy for a good portion of the rest of our lives. We are hooked!

Snow, Cold and Goings On

February 11, 2012

Charity Upchurch Kennel Update Dog Training, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Puppies, Whelping Boxes, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons 2 Comments

Winter has finally arrived in Nebraska. It has been unusually mild, with only one or two significant snows up until last weekend. I had wondered if Mother Nature was going to be like the animated segment in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where she skips significant seasons (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZLP0siJI-8), but it our case going directly from fall to spring. But alas, after our 70 degree day in January, she reminds us now that it is indeed winter.

Dogs and kids alike enjoyed the snow last Saturday!

Sam races through the snow

Sue, Sam and BB sled with the kids

Mae wanders about in the snow

Although you can’t tell in the picture from last week, Mae is certainly with puppies. Her tummy has grown considerably since this last picture and like all pregnant mamas, her priority is food! We will have her X-rayed the first week in March to get a puppy count and expect her puppies to arrive sometime around March 15th.

My Valentine’s Day present is a whelping box kit and we have a spot in the garage prepared for setting it up. The actual whelping will most likely occur inside the house in the laundry room, which is an easier spot for me to access for monitoring but will keep mama and pups out of being messed with by the human kids. We’ll have a disposable carpet remnant on the floor and a woodchip-filled sandbox to warmly welcome them into the world. As the pups get bigger and squirmier, we’ll transition them into the heated garage with the whelping box. Once they hit 3 1/2-4 weeks, they’ll be big and strong enough to move into an outdoor kennel with an insulated dog house.

Tonight is a designated “dog party” night, where the dogs come in to hang out and watch evening “telly” (TV) with the family. Mostly, they chew on their cow hooves, which gives off a bit of a barnyard breath aroma, but they last longer than the 15 minute rawhides and keep them from perpetually wrestling with each other or breathing in people’s faces for attention.

Wirehaired Pointing Griffons in the house

TV time the evening of Feb. 11th: Mae, Sue, BB and Sam

First breeding of year complete!

January 13, 2012

Charity Upchurch Bird Dog Training, Kennel Update, Pedigree Profiles, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Dog Training, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Nebraska Pheasant Hunting, Nebraska Sandhills, Puppies, Puppies from Hunting Parents, Sharptail Grouse Hunting, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Puppies, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons 1 Comment

We are pleased to announce that our first breeding of the year is complete between our 3 year old male, Sam, and our new 5 year old female, Mae. Sue was anticipated to come into season first, but Mae surprised us. Mae and Sam bred from January 9-11, therefore pups are expected March 13-15. Hey game birds, “Beware of the Ides of March!”, new hunting puppies will be here!

Hunting photos of Sam can be found on our “About Us” page (I have yet to load this season’s, but they can be found on the individual blog posts containing the hunting tales on bluestemkennels.com [pre-10/01/2011] and versatilehunter.com [10/01/2011-present]). His pedigree is a link at the bottom of the “About Us” page.

Mae came into our home on December 3, 2011 from That’s My Point Kennels in Wheatland, ND where she had successfully whelped and nursed 3 previous litters and was known as “Aspen” http://www.tmpkennels.com/ As you can see from the previous owner’s website, she was raised with young children. At the age of one, she successfully scored a Prize II on her Natural Ability Test from the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA).

Mae’s Natural Ability Test Results

Her AKC/NAVHDA pedigrees also spoke of her potential for us. Her sire, Marquis Georgeous George hails from French import blood and the prestigious Herrenhausen kennel. Barbara Young of Herrenhausen is an AKC and International Conformation Judge, therefore she knows and breeds good dogs. The dam, Full of Grace, is out of the famed Fireside blood. Fireside’s Spontaneous Combustion won 3rd place in the sporting group at Westminster last year and was the first Wirehaired Pointing Griffon ever to place at WKC.

Mae’s AKC Pedigree

The hunt testing results and the strong conformation background in the pedigree drew me to “Aspen”. She was the Butcher family’s companion in the home and field, therefore even though I was nervous about bringing a new member into our pack, I thought that these things put together boded well for “Aspen” being a good match for us and our breeding program.

I made the following YouTube video this morning of all my dogs running in the yard, just as a visual reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSb7jdZXPz8

Mae has thrived in our home and in the field. Not even a week after bringing her home, we had her out on planted hen pheasants for training:

(Click on any of the photos to see a larger version)

Mae working the field on December 9, 2011

One of Mae’s points 12/09/2011

Another point on 12/09/2011

Charles walks into Mae’s point

Mae retrieves on 12/09/2011

After our first training day with planted birds in a controlled environment, we felt comfortable enough to use Mae to assist in guiding at Pheasant Haven right before Christmas.

Sam (front) and Mae (back) with the hunters on 12/22/2011

Sam, myself and Mae guided a hunt on 12/23/2011 also

The afternoon following the December 23rd preserve hunt, we were on the road for the Sandhills where we busted up some cattails with the whole gang, Mae included, on Christmas Eve:

Mae on the left, with the rest of the pack, Charles, and the Christmas Eve Sandhills pheasant

Charles and all four dogs on the dunes

We spent a couple of hours on Christmas Day chasing grouse with Mae and the rest of the pack, but didn’t find any. We’ll be back for them in September!

Our last outing was on January 2nd with some chukar and quail from a game farm that we had never used before and wanted to try out. It is important for newer dogs to get individual training attention when they are usually braced (in pairs) or ran as a pack.

One of Mae’s points on 01/02/2012

Charles shoots one of the chukars over Mae on 01/02/2012

Charles walking into one of Mae’s points 01/02/2012

Closeup of Mae’s point that Charles was walking into

Double chukar flush over Mae and Charles 01/02/2012

Mae had more than one retrieve on 01/02/2012, but this was the only photo that turned out well

Even though we’ve only had Mae a limited time, we are confident in her ability to produce quality puppies for our kennel and contribute to our development of the breed.

I will close with a picture of the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon breed’s founder Edward Korthals. This was taken in 1891 when he was presented the German Kaiser’s award for breeding. I use this photograph as guide for the dogs that I will continue working to create. Mae fits into this perfectly.

Korthals and his prize specimens

To reserve a puppy from one of our spring 2012 litters, please call (402) 682-9802 or e-mail bluestemkennels@cox.net

A New Year’s Training Day

January 6, 2012

Charity Upchurch Bird Dog Training, Kennel Update Bird Hunting, Chukar Partridge, Dog Training, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Quail, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons 2 Comments

Sunday afternoon we ventured to Country Lane Game Breeders in Dwight, Nebraska and picked up some quail and chukar partridge. It was a longer drive than we usually take to buy training birds, but it took us down some Nebraska highways that we haven’t been down before.

Monday morning we set out with our two oldest children, 10 year-old Cordelia and 7 year-old Conrad, to plant some birds and get some one-on-one work with 10 month-old “BB” and 5 year old (but just finished her first month with us) “Mae”.

(Author’s Note: Please click on any of the photos to see a larger version)

Conrad and Cordelia were troopers on a cold, windy day

Charles takes down a quail in front of BB

BB retrieves the quail

Charles takes the retrieve from BB

Charles walks into BB pointing a chukar

Charles takes aim

BB retrieves the chukar

Mae on point

Charles walks in for the flush and shoots the chukar

Mae on retrieve

Charles walking into Mae's point from the side

Closeup of the same point by Mae

A surprise double flush (see the second bird getting up behind Charles?)!

Mae bringing in the retrieve

We started at the field around 10 AM and the kids lasted on the march (without a lunch even) until 1:30 PM. Charles and Mae stayed out another hour after we returned to the truck and picked up some more birds out of the woods. Monday night we dined on chukar/quail chili and Tuesday night was chukar/quail pot pie. Important work for the dogs and delicious meals to boot!

Charles is talking about taking Sue and Sam back to our training field this weekend to clean up the escapees, but other than that we are looking forward to a slow weekend around the house after the holidays and before the last push of wild bird hunting in Nebraska for the season, ending January 31st.

Pupdate: Roxy at 8 months

November 14, 2011

Charity Upchurch Puppy Update Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Puppies, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

Randy from Utah took his 8 month old female pup “Roxy” from our 2011 “B” litter up to North Dakota for some pheasant hunting with great success! Thank you to Randy and Pam for sharing the photos!

Randy, Roxy and roosters!!

Roxy playing in the yard

Here are some recent photos of our seven and a half month old female, BB, out on opening day of Nebraska pheasant season on October 29th.

BB and Charity looking for birds. Photo courtesy of Ultimate Upland

BB on the run. Photo courtesy of Ultimate Upland

We’ve had some great hunting this year, make sure to check out our hunting blog at http://versatilehunter.com/.

Canadian Whiskey

October 5, 2011

Charity Upchurch Kennel Update, Puppy Update Bird Hunting, Dog Training, Goose Hunting in Canada, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Puppies, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

Good ol’ Whiskey, a male out of my 2010 litter who lives in Nevada, is up to the business of hunting again. His hunter, Pete, took him up to Canada for some goose hunting and they experienced some great success!

“Bring on the geese!!”

“Here you go, dad!” says Whiskey retrieving a snow goose

Pete and Whiskey had a successful day

Bluestem Kennels